November 1906
Ling strode beside Lan Fan as they followed Fu down the wooded path. The apprentice bodyguard was decidedly not looking at him, but he gazed at her sidelong. Four weeks from their disastrous first bout of sparring, and no matter his tactics he couldn't coax any friendliness from Lan Fan. Oh she was respectful as they come he'd give her that. It was always "yes, my lord" and "no, my lord" and "as you say my lord." He was certain he hadn't heard her string more than five words together at a time since. It hadn't taken him long to regret his trick during their match. It was one thing to fight dirty when his life was on the line, it was quite another when making a first impression. He'd gotten off on the wrong foot with her. Quite literally when he thought about it. It wouldn't do for someone he had to spend so much time with to dislike him. Snow flurries began to fall from the sky, settling in their hair. Ling slipped his gloves off then retrieved two oranges from his coat pocket.
"Do you like oranges?" He asked and held one out to her. She glanced at him, then at the fruit nestled in his palm.
"Yes, my lord," she replied, but didn't move to take the orange. Her hand stayed firmly by her side.
"Well, then have one, Lan Fan," Ling insisted, but still she hesitated, "You wouldn't refuse a gift from a prince, would you?"
"...No, my lord. Thank you, Prince Ling."
"Ah! So you do know my name. With all this "my lord" business I was beginning to think you didn't." And there was the blush. If he was being honest with himself he rather enjoyed unsettling his companion. After all, she turned such an interesting shade of pink when flustered. He suppressed a grin as she took the orange with a stiff bow; She was careful to avoid actually touching him he noted. Again, they walked in silence, each of them peeling their snack and eating the sweet segments. Lan Fan ate more slowly than Ling, savoring the treat. When she was finished she cleaned the sticky juice from her fingers with a clump of snow. Ling licked his fingers clean instead, smirking when he caught Lan Fan wrinkling her nose in distaste.
"We're here," Fu announced. He'd brought them to the same lake where he's tested Lan Fan's mettle not yet a year ago. It was not quite a cold as last time, but cold enough all the same. "You will run the circumference of the lake."
"You can't be serious," Ling gawked at him.
"Should you take shortcuts I will know and you will start again. Get moving." The prince looked at Lan Fan for some sign the old man was joking. She looked almost… smug.
She thinks I can't do it, he realized.
"Very well," Ling replied and shot Lan Fan a grin as he pulled his gloves on, "Race you!"
He dashed off without waiting to see if she'd follow, because of course she would.
"You know," he gasped and leaned with one hand against a gigantic tree, "it's not much of a race if you aren't competing."At first he thought he was doing quite well to keep pace with her, until he had to stop to catch his breath and she stopped, too. She was holding back so he wouldn't fall behind. Ling was both impressed and exceedingly annoyed by her skill. How does she make it look so effortless?
"I'm your guard, Master Ling, and the woods are dangerous. It would be unwise to leave you unattended."
"Guard in training," he countered, "I'm sure old man Fu is around here somewhere. Go on ahead. I won't have you let me win. Where's the fun in that?"
Resolute in her duty Lan Fan stayed in place looking out at the iced over lake as Ling recovered his breath. She didn't see the snowball coming and it struck her squarely in the back of the head. Lan Fan yelped as icy slush slipped past her collar and down her back. Spinning around quickly to admonish him she stopped at the look of mischief on the prince's face. He knelt in the snow to fashion another projectile.
"Don't be so serious all the time, Lan Fan!" he said and tossed another snowball. The young bodyguard attempted to dodge, lost her footing, and landed on her bottom in a drift of snow. Ling laughed at her scandalized expression. As he began making a third snowball she scurried to her feet and ducked behind a tree.
"Master Fu will be cross if he catches us neglecting our training," Lan Fan shouted from cover. Peering from behind the tree she saw the prince lob another snowball and narrowly dodged. "My lord!"
"That's right! I am your lord. And I order you to have a little fun, Lady Bodyguard."
Insufferable. He is insufferable! In the vast whiteness around them there was no opportunity to slip from view. Not in her black attire. The prince would not relent with his game. There was no avoiding it. If she didn't give in he'd only continue to badger her. Well, if I must play…
Lan Fan peeked out from her defensive position, marking her target, and threw a snowball; Not at Prince Ling, but at the snow-laden branch above his head. She couldn't help her satisfied smile as snow dumped on the young lord's head. Ling sputtered as it got in his mouth and nose. Blinking flakes out of his eyes he saw her stoop to gather more snow in her gloved hands. Before she could throw it Ling turned tail and ran.
"Catch me if you can!" The prince fled and the bodyguard pursued. He sprinted along the shore of the lake. Over short distances he was quite quick even if he couldn't keep it up for long. Lan Fan followed several meters behind, taking care with her footing. Ahead of them the shore veered left due in a wide inlet. Ling didn't hesitate to venture onto the ice.
"My lord you mustn't!" Lan Fan called after him and halted on the bank. Laughing off her words he kept going, holding his arms out for balance.
"Don't worry so much, Lan Fan. Can't you tell from his qi? Fu isn't close enough to catch us!" He threw her a wily look over his shoulder.
"It isn't safe, your highness!" she fretted. The prince was at the halfway point now and turned toward her.
"The lake is frozen. Are you afraid, lady bodyguard?" Ling teased and stomped his foot to prove it. Beneath him the ice fractured with an audible crack that reached both their ears. Still as stone Ling gazed down at the widening rifts in the ice.
"Don't move!" Lan Fan shouted in a panic, "I...I'll get Master Fu!"
"Wait, don't leave me!" Ling took a step toward her with his other foot and the cracks splintered further. They locked eyes and he disappeared beneath the ice. All around her was silent but for the gentle sloshing of water.
"GRANDFATHER!" She shrieked into the quiet.
What do I do?
Lan Fan moved across the ice as quickly as she dared to the hole. It was an inky chasm. She couldn't see him. Drowning. The prince was drowning and there was nothing she could do about it, because she couldn't see him. She shut her useless eyes and deep within her she felt a tug. Lan Fan didn't need to see him, not if she could sense him. Like snatching at a loose thread she clung to his qi, letting it lead her to another patch of thicker ice. She pounded at it with her small fists then drew a kunai from her coat and stabbed with all her might. It shattered with her effort. When she'd widened the break enough Lan Fan stripped herself of coat, scarf, and gloves. Then she jumped into the depths.
Lan Fan sunk through the dark, freezing water. Below her she saw Ling and she willed herself to swim toward him. Her frame was stiff and sluggish from the shock of frigid water. Sunlight refracted around them from the hole above. The prince was still as death, eyes closed, hair floating around him. Lan Fan grasped him by the hood of his coat and kicked as hard as she could for the surface.
By some miracle she managed to haul them both out of the water. She coughed, dragging ragged breaths, as she pulled Ling to the shore. The entirety of her form shivered. Ling wasn't breathing. She turned him onto his side and slammed her flat palm between his shoulder blades, causing him to cough up two lung fulls of water. While Ling wheezed and continued to cough Lan Fan retrieved her discarded garments. Without a thought to propriety she stripped Ling of most of his wet clothes, leaving his pants and shoes, and bundled him in her dry coat and scarf. Her fingers were clumsy as she slipped the gloves onto Ling's hands.
Minutes that stretched like hours passed before Fu found them huddled together. Lan Fan with her arms wrapped tightly around the prince; Ling with his head on her shoulder, eyes barely open, teeth chattering.
"What happened?" Fu dropped to his knee beside them and cupped the prince's face. The boy's lips were blue, his skin without warmth, but he was alive.
"T-The ice… b-b-broke…" Lan Fan slurred as her teeth clicked together. Her grandfather's face was a mask of worry. Never before had she seen him so frightened. She wished he was angry instead. Anger she knew how to handle. Fu took off his large fur lined coat and wrapped it around the trembling children. With haste he gathered kindling and sparked a fire. Most of the wood he gathered was damp, but he found several pieces dry enough to catch flame. Ling no longer shivered, instead mumbling incoherently, trying to push Fu's coat away.
"We must return home. The young lord needs a healer," Fu said and scooped the little prince into his arms. He watched as Lan Fan struggled to stand, her limbs not cooperating. Keeping one arm around the prince he wrapped his coat tightly around Lan Fan and pulled the hood up to cover her wet hair. "I cannot carry you both. Stay by the fire and do not fall asleep. Do you understand?"
Lan Fan nodded.
"I will return for you. I swear it, granddaughter," Fu promised and kissed her forehead. He didn't look back at Lan Fan as he took off with Ling clutched tightly to his chest.
