Chapter Five

The Wang Prince

Monday

Naoko Wang was the eldest of the siblings Ling had invited to these talks. Ling had voiced his hopefulness for the prince's approval to his wife and Mei last night after he received word that Wang clan had been the one to absorb the largest number of the Zhao clan, taking the 53 children and elders that would need care thanks to their parent's/children's involvement in Takeshi's plotting.

Ling was still surprised when he was woken by an aide just after five to inform him that Naoko had arrived in the city, and was ready to meet with Ling at Ling's earliest convenience. Ling had gotten up then, and dressed, before eating breakfast with Huan and going over the paperwork involving the transfer of prisoners to the imperial prison, before he finally went down to the throne room just after six.

Naoko was waiting in the courtyard, but seemed surprised Ling had been willing to see him so soon. He had arrived early, mostly so that his aides could arrange transport to their new clan members and had wanted to be sure to inform the palace of his presence so there would be no concern about his behavior. He expected Ling to be on edge after last week.

Neither brother met with what they had expected, instead were pleasantly surprised by each other's easy demeanor. After the initial introductions, that included a gold wrapped figurine of the Sage of the West , Ling invited Naoko to join him for a walk around the garden. He sensed no ill will from Naoko.

Naoko waited until they were a bit away from the palace before he spoke " I have heard from Kenja that you seek peace between the clans. Is this true?"

"I- Yes that is my intent." Ling said, surprised she had said anything about it, after all he had asked her not to spread it around to avoid anyone trying to undermine his planning before he managed to take the crown.

"Kenja and I have been friends for a great many years, our clans have come to a peaceful accord. She would not have mentioned your plan to anyone else." Naoko said sensing Ling's line of thought. "Now. How are you intending to make this unifying happen? I assume you have decided to leave us in charge of our own clans as Kenja didn't mention anything."

"Yes, you will remain leader of your clan, I have no desire to remove you from your seat. I am hoping to end the fighting we all grew up enduring. I don't expect it to happen overnight." Ling said with a tired sigh.

Naoko nodded, smiling. Ling was just as Kenja described. For the first time in a long time Naoko felt relieved. Ever since their father had declared the race on, Naoko had been dealing with the stress over keeping his clan safe. He had traveled to Aerugo and Creta himself in search of an answer. When he received word that Ling Yao had won, he had hoped that Ling was still as kind as he had remembered.

If anything Ling was kinder. That he intended to leave his siblings in charge of their clans whenever possible was a relief. He had gone into this willing to step aside should that be the price of this treaty. He would have packed away into the desert himself if that's what it took. Fortunately for him that wasn't what Ling was asking. With this in mind, he turned to Ling and asked "If it is no trouble may I send for my family to join us in the palace? They are in the city."

"Of course. Just let your guards know the numbers and they will have the maids arrange it. " Ling replied. After last week, he had agreed to have a guard placed on anyone he had not yet approved.

"Very well. Thank you, my lord."

"Please. Call me Ling. We are brothers after all, we should try to get along." Ling said with a smile.

"Then please call me Naoko."

Tuesday

The aides informed Ling that Naoko's family had arrived the evening before, but he waited until morning before inviting his brother to join himself and his family in the dining hall to introduce themselves informally.

Ling, Lan Fan, Mei, Huan, and Ping were in the hall, Ping in Ling's lap and Huan in Lan Fan's. Naoko entered first, followed by three women, and a baby. Ling stood to greet his brother who bowed in return before introducing the family behind him. Erity was introduced as his wife, a young lady about the same age as Naoko who was holding the baby, who was introduced as Naoko's daughter, Emiyo. Emiyo was nine months old. Standing next to Erity was Jia, who as it turned out was Naoko's second wife. The third woman, standing behind the others was Naoko's mother, Nayida. She was fairly young looking, Ling would guess she was in her early thirties. Of course, if he had to guess he would place Roy Mustang in his mid twenties, so that meant very little.

Once the two families had settled back into their seats, the servants departed and everyone relaxed slightly. Guards still lined the walls, but these men had grown up with guards around them constantly, so they hardly noticed. Ling introduced Ping as his Heir and Huan as his second son which made Naoko smile, since it was no secret where the second boy had come from he was pleased to hear Ling intended to raise the boy as his own instead of 'just' a ward which they had both seen far to many times in there childhood.

Lan and Mei soon were caught up in conversation with Erity and Jia. Long was equally relieved to note that Naoko did not seem to favor one over the other with them. Nayida was quiet throughout the meal, but Ling assumed it may be strange to return to the palace. As far as he knew none of his father's wives returned once they had produced an heir.

They lingered over brunch, enjoying each other's company, and Ling hoped that he and Naoko could perhaps become friends in time. Nayida smiled mostly through out the exchange, which relieved Ling, hoping that she was comfortable in his presence. She still had not spoken, but then, Ling remembered the one time they had gotten summoned as a group when he was a child the mothers had all been very quiet, even his own. It still made him sad sometimes that she was gone, he hoped she would have been proud of him.

Ling was relieved that the younger women were not silent as the mothers had been. He hoped that never changed. Lan Fan had been hard to convince that it was okay to relax and allow the guards to watch over them, especially after last week, so he was especially relieved she was happily exchanging advice with Erity.

Before too much longer Ling reluctantly interrupted to invite Naoko to join him in the office so they could put their pact to paper and make it official. The jovial mood left the room momentarily as the men stood and excused themselves, before the women returned to their conversation, all pretending they weren't concerned about the peace talks.

With Ling and Naoko out of the room, Nayida joined the conversation, adding her own advice on childcare. Lan Fan and Mei then told the women stories about their time abroad, both being sure to make it sound like Ling and Lan Fan had had a long romance without the pressures of the kingdom.

Mei also was quick to point out that she had mostly traveled separately from her brother, though they had back dated their own treaty several months. It was still important to be sure everyone knew they hadn't set out to work together, or it could be used against Ling's claim. Truthfully, they hadn't worked together so it wasn't a lie either.

Wednesday

Lan Fan, Jia, and Erity had agreed to walk through the gardens together, so with the babies safely left to their Nurses the woman had disappeared shortly after breakfast. Ling and Naoko were glad to see their wives getting along so well. They both hoped it was a good sign for their clans in general. Both clans were to be informed today of the peace treaty. The Chang clan was to be informed as well, but Mei would be taking care of that.

Jia and Erity had been friends for years before either of them had become Naoko's wife. They had also both been engaged to him for a long time. Their families had arranged the whole thing, though luckily they all found they got along well.

When Lan Fan admitted Ling had been her only real friend growing up, though it was also her job to watch over him, both of the other woman agreed. Jia had pointed out that Naoko had been her best friend as long as she could remember. In fact, she had been bothered at first when her mother told her they were engaged because he had always been her friend. Of course she had been young at the time, only twelve.

Erity had not been as close to Naoko, but had grown up with him as well. They all agreed it was far better instead of being wed to someone you barely knew. Each of them were well aware that their own parents tended to meet just before their weddings.

Jia admitted that she had been nervous traveling to the imperial city. Though polygamy had been the norm at one time in Xing, the practice had largely died out in the last century. In fact, outside of the Emperor, there were only two clans that actively practiced polygamy. Likewise only five of the clans still participated in arranged marriages outside of the royal family.

Lan Fan had grown up in a royal household, as a servant, but still in a royal household, therefore it was not a subject that seemed strange to her. In fact she was still surprised and not totally convinced that Ling meant it when he said she was going to be his only bride. She didn't inform the other women of this, Ling had insisted they not announce that information to anyone before he was the leader of their country. Probably not for a few months after. She understood his reasoning and agreed that he was upsetting enough traditions just with the treaties.

She was quick to assure Jia (and Erity) that she didn't look down on them for their marriage however, she liked these women and didn't want there to be any hard feelings. She was also quick to change the subject by showing off her automail.

Automail was almost completely unheard of in Xing, so both women were fascinated with her arm. She had used this a lot since returning home to deflect conversations. Ling and Lan Fan had talked about it and agreed that automail was one of the things Ling was going to ask for in the Amestrian treaty. Jia asked how much of her arm was metal and Lan Fan admitted the entire thing up to the shoulder.

"Does it make childcare more difficult? Is it harder to hold the baby?" Jia asked.

"No I can hold him just fine. However, I was unable to nurse him due to the medications I am forced to take." Lan Fan said, thankful for this cover story. It was what they had used to explain why the boy had needed a wet-nurse when they arrived at the palace, and why he had been drinking bottles before that.

"Oh my, that must be terrible for you." Erity said with sympathy.

"I accepted it. He is strong and healthy. A wonderful child." Lan Fan replied. "Ling's friend fortunately was around to show me how to properly prepare his bottles when he was born. "

"Well that's good." Jia said, though sounded confused.

"Ling became friends with an alchemist during our travels. He has a son, who is now just over a year old. Tragically, the child's mother died when he was very small, so he was forced to feed the baby bottles." Lan Fan explained.

The other two nodded in understanding and sympathy. Lan Fan then decided it would be best to return inside to their children. It was nearly time for Huan's nap, and she liked settling him though the nurse was more than capable. She agreed with Ling that she enjoyed taking care of the boys herself whenever possible.

Friday

The Wang family prepared to leave the palace, though they would be remaining in the city, this close to the coronation. They had one final breakfast with the Yaos. Everyone agreed that they wanted to stay in touch, and not just for the sake of the treaty.

Ling was relieved. He had enjoyed his brother's company, as had Mei, and it was good to know that Naoko had enjoyed the visit as well. It renewed Ling's hope that these talks would go well, and the treaties could last.

He only had one more meeting set for next week, before the foreigners started arriving and he had to switch focus to them. After that though, he hoped to arrange more meetings with his siblings. Not that he wasn't looking forward to the meetings with the others. He was especially excited to see Edward again. It had been too long, he decided, as he watched the wangs depart before returning to his office area to secure the treaties and complete the daily paperwork before going in search of his family.