Chapter Seven: The Handmaid Orchid

A unique predicament results in the first meeting between a warrior and an ingénue.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Poor Zhao Yun winced and rubbed at his shattered eardrums, briefly wondering whether, before that morning, he'd ever created such an unfavorable reaction in the opposite sex. He quickly dismissed this thought as too trivial to take up any more of his attention, and returned to the more urgent matter at hand.

Putting on what he hoped was a reassuring smile, Zhao Yun murmured soothingly, "Please don't be frightened, Miss. I'm not going to hurt you." The girl in white standing before him seemed to calm down. At the very least, she stopped screaming. Yet her eyes were still wide, as she timidly pointed at a spot behind Zhao Yun's head and asked in a tiny, helpless voice, "But what of that man behind you?" Puzzled, Zhao Yun frowned and wondered out loud, "Who?" while turning. He saw no one, and realized that he'd just been tricked.

Swiftly whirling back around, he saw that the girl was already disappearing down the stone path in a flurry of white hemp and trailing scarlet.

Xi Tian scrambled across the courtyard like a madwoman, careening blindly past silver brooks and golden gingko branches. What is an armored warrior, with blood still fresh on his clothes, doing here? her mind screamed in confusion as she sprinted down the stone path. Still, he is extraordinarily handsome for a homicidal type, she mused with a silly smile...and nearly smacked face-first into a towering pear tree as a result of her distraction.

"Ow," she grumbled painfully, almost getting pelted on the head by the handful of green pears that dropped down following her encounter with the trunk. Clutching her nose, Xi Tian circled around the obstacle and continued her aimless flight.

So determined upon escape was she, that she barely avoided crashing into another obstacle seconds later. However, there was no circling around the tall, solid wall which blocked her way like there had been with the pear tree. The only gate leading outside was a small, red-framed entrance carved out of the whitewashed brick...about two-thirds her size.

She stopped, and groaned in dismay. The pint-sized gate had been made specifically for her then-twelve-year-old younger sister, Xi Ai, when the family had first moved into this country estate a couple of years ago. There was no way the nineteen-year-old Xi Tian could possibly fit through that small and narrow entrance now.

Soft gold eyes widened in alarm at the heavy sounds of clanking armor not far behind. Xi Tian fretted at the realization that the spear-wielding stranger must still be after her—and here she was, trapped before a solid white wall with only a puny hole as her sole escape route. Unless...

Perhaps, if she got down on her hands and knees, and sort of shifted her body sideways, she just might be able to squeeze her way out...

No good. Xi Tian hadn't realized until then just how petite her younger sister had been. Now, she found herself unfortunately lodged halfway out of the child-sized gate—and in a rather unflattering position, no less.

At that moment, Zhao Yun emerged from behind a billowing curtain of weeping willows. Walking over to the still-stuck Xi Tian, he set his Fierce Dragon against the wall to plainly show that he meant no harm. Then, kneeling down to match her height, he gently tugged the humiliated girl free from the red gate.

"Please, don't be frightened," he murmured softly, brushing some tiny flecks of paint off her raven hair. "I'm Zhao Yun of Changshan."

Introducing himself must have made some progress with the girl, for she tore her gaze away from the gruesome bloodstains on his armor and actually made brief eye contact with him. Feeling reassured that he must be doing something right, Zhao Yun continued on.

"I'm afraid I lost my way in the wilderness around Chang Ban Slope last night, and the master of this house was kind enough to give me a night's lodging," he told her, feeling compelled to explain his presence. "You have nothing to fear from me; I would never hurt you, Miss...?"

Here, his voice trailed off questioningly. Xi Tian lifted her head to meet his kind brown eyes, then quickly dropped her gaze to the ground, feigning timidity to buy herself some time to think. Somehow, she managed to recall the reason her father had her dressed up as the plainest of handmaids in the first place, so she decided to lie about her true identity.

"They call me...they call me Orchid—" name derived from one quick glance at her surroundings—"because I tend to the flower gardens here. I have no proper name, for...for I am an orphan," she replied unthinkingly.

First Firelight, and now Orchid? Privately, Zhao Yun wondered who was naming the handmaids in this household. Yet his compassionate expression bespoke the fact that he also felt rather sorry for the so-called orphan standing before him.

This softening on his part emboldened Xi Tian as to the success of her charade, and she raised her head to see just how handsome Zhao Yun was up close. However, her movement also gave the latter a clear, frontal view of her own features as well.

Something about Xi Tian's face struck a chord of familiarity in Zhao Yun, so that he frowned thoughtfully and wondered out loud, "Have we met before?"

Xi Tian froze and immediately turned her face sideways, frantically bringing up one white sleeve to her cheeks in an effort to hide her features as best she could.

"Of course not. Why would you say that, General Zhao?" she squeaked out.

Zhao Yun could only shake his head and reply vaguely, "I don't know, really...It's just that I feel like I've seen you before."

His words only caused Xi Tian to blush and dip her head to further hide her face, and this was how Lord Xi and Yinchun, the latter carrying baby Liu Chan in her arms, found the pair minutes later.

Seeing that his warrior guest had, indeed, discovered Xi Tian like he'd feared, Lord Xi spoke up tensely, "Ah, General Zhao, I see you've met the little handmaid..."

His daughter lifted her head upon recognizing his voice, before quickly supplying him with her false name.

"Orchid," she spoke up, with a slight yet meaningful tilt of one charcoal eyebrow.

Lord Xi nodded understandingly, before turning to Zhao Yun and improvising, "Of course. The little handmaid Orchid. You see, she wasn't here last night, because she, ah, just came back early this morning from a visit to her ailing old mother."

Hearing this, the Tiger General gave a small, puzzled frown. Xi Tian caught sight of his confused look, and quickly amended, "My adopted mother," by way of clarification, as she remembered what she'd just told Zhao Yun about herself being an orphan.

With a well-practiced curtsey in the warrior's direction, she then apologized sweetly, "I hope you'll forgive me, General Zhao, for not being here last night to welcome you."

Zhao Yun smiled down kindly at her bowed head, before reaching over and helping her up.

"There's no need for any apologies, Miss Orchid," he insisted chivalrously.

Xi Tian offered a bright smile back, knowingly deepening the dimples at each side of her mouth. Her father observed this interaction between the couple with growing alarm. Quickly clearing his throat, Lord Xi spoke up a bit too loudly, "Ah, Yinchun, go fetch some water so that General Zhao may wash off his armor."

His strategy worked. Zhao Yun hastily let go of Xi Tian and turned to his host.

"That won't be necessary," he reassured the old man. Glancing at a nearby sundial and noting the time, the youthful warrior added, "I really should be getting back to the road now."

As Zhao Yun walked over to Yinchun so that Liu Chan might be transferred to his own arms, Xi Tian cheerfully volunteered, "I can accompany General Zhao to the front gate."

"Nonsense, child," her father hastily declared. "It's really the host's duty."

And with that, he swiftly escorted the Tiger General away, before his daughter could say another word.

After Lord Xi had seen Zhao Yun off, he slowly returned to his house and shut the front gates. On his way to his study, he passed a handmaid in the hallway.

"Firelight, what's Miss Xi Tian doing right now?" he asked.

"She's changing," came the prompt reply.

Lord Xi chuckled fondly at this report, before seating himself down at his desk. Picking up a new brush and dipping it in freshly-ground black ink, the former politician occupied himself with finishing the letter he'd been writing prior to the bandit attack.