I am so, so sorry about the ridiculously late update. I wrote this god knows how long ago, but my stupid laptop broke. Couldn't fix it, so I got a new one :D But I could not be bothered to write out the chapter again. But luckily, the computer man managed to fix my old laptop and save my files, so here you go!
God I hate my old laptop though. It overheats and has a horrid loud fan. Hate it. Love the new one. (Dell inspiron 1525 if you're interested -nerdy snort-. The only reason I chose it is that you can chose what colour it is XD)
Enjoy the chapter! It was difficult enough getting it to you!
This dark, early morning, before the first birds sung, Sun Ce's death swathed Wu like the foreboding grey clouds in the sky, smothering it.
War was coming. And, as even the mightiest generals and the very leader of Wu would admit, they needed him. They needed his upbeat attitude, and his strength and his leadership.
The shadowy cloud rained over the castle, dampening- no, drenching spirits, and washing away masks of indifference.
--
Sun Shang Xiang let out a silent scream of frustration. That… ugh! Who did he think he was, to come barging into her room like that! It was… an invasion of her privacy. How dare he?
And how dare he kiss her?
She threw the box he had given her across the room and ran a hand through her short brown hair.
A white slip of paper gently floated to the floor.
She picked it up, ready to rip it up.
Sun Shang Xiang-
This is for you. Because even if you're not a 'proper' princess, you're my princess, and you deserve to feel like one.
-Gan Ning
She didn't rip it. She tried, but her hands shook, and her shoulders were wracked with sobs.
Tears splashed on to the paper.
--
Sun Ce shaking, the mirror cracked, slivers of glass around him on the floor. The fearful frost in his warm eyes.
The room was dark and cold. Da Qiao frowned and reached over to her side. Finding only cold, empty space, she leaned further, further.
And then she was falling, falling into the black, icy void.
Her eyes snapped open. She was lying on the floor, sheets tangled around her, her arm and hip bruised.
She got up and walked to the balcony. Bitter wind whipped around her, her tangled dark hair blowing behind her like an ebony crown. Thunder rumbled in the expanse of the black, vacant sky. She shivered.
--
Sun Quan had not slept. He didn't sleep much these days, but this time, he had been awake all night, pacing his chambers.
He felt more alone than he had ever felt in his life. The weight of responsibility on his shoulders was crushing him.
But Atlas would not buckle. His punishment would be endured.
--
The candle had been kept lit all night. Xiao had drifted in and out of sleep, woken by her husband's fretful insomnia. He sat at his desk, planning, endlessly planning. Writing and scribbling, scratching away at the parchment.
After watching him for a while, Xiao's eyes would grow heavy, and she would drift away once more, the dancing candlelight her lullaby.
--
The hiss of arrows; a tiger, laying still, its fur matted with blood. The echoes of harsh laughter; a broken mirror. A man on a castle rampart, writing a poem; a bronze peacock; burning ships, sinking into the dark water, the screams of the dying…
Ying's innocent eyes flew open. Soundlessly, she got up and toddled to her parent's room. She opened the door and found her daddy still awake, writing at his desk. She tugged at his sleeve, once, twice. He looked at her, and picked her up, sitting her on his knee. She hugged him, burying her face in his robes. He kissed the top of her head and kept one arm around her while he wrote.
--
Twinkling music danced in the still air, rocking her to sleep. Her lullaby drifted around her silver cradle, like a sweet breeze, tiny bells chiming.
Qiang laid still, warm tears trickling down her lovely face in streams. Once upon a time, she would have gone to her father for comfort after a nightmare, but now she opened her music box and let the lullaby play, listening intently for his soft voice, singing to her.
But some nights, she couldn't hear it, so she lay alone, listening to the song without words.
--
Lu Xun warmed his hands on the small fire. Sleepy vibrations twinkled from above him, and he yawned. He looked up, mentally walking through the castle, trying to work out which room was above him.
Sun Qiang's.
He smiled to himself, and sat back, content to listen to the lullaby. He gazed into the fire, and as he drifted into sleep, saw the flames dance with the gentle music, becoming phoenixes, swooping and gliding.
They flew over a lake, where two tigers emerged from the dark water, flames rippling on the surface. A beautiful white tiger cub was curled up on the shore, waiting for them. The eldest tiger growled, and the younger one nudged the cub with its nose, motioning it towards where Xun was. It padded towards him, and its father looked at him, the tiger's warm, amber eyes trusting.
'Look after her.'
And so saying, it followed the eldest tiger into the horizon.
--
When the Sun rose, some warmth returned to the castle, but not enough to completely thaw it. Frost still sparkled in the shadows, and rain came down in a fine mist.
After a long, sleepless night, people trickled from their rooms and slowly continued Wu's river, doing their best to avoid the frost that would freeze them to their cores.
All except the elder Qiao, who, as always, lay frozen in her chambers, like Snow White.
--
Gan Ning sighed and rested his chin on his knees.
"What's up?" Ling Tong asked.
"Shang Xiang." Gan Ning admitted, rocking back and forth. "She hasn't said a word to me since the party. Why do I even bother?" he moaned, apparently to himself. "Everything I do offends her. Everything."
Ling Tong frowned. "C'mon, Ning. Not everything."
"Yes, everything. Give me one thing I've done that impressed her."
There was a lengthy pause, during which Tong and Xun were acutely aware of the seconds ticking by.
Gan Ning raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, exactly."
"Apologise to her, then." Xun looked at them blankly. "Isn't that obvious?"
"Gan Ning? Apologise!" Ling Tong guffawed. "When that day comes, I'll eat your hat, Xun."
But then Ning stood up. "You know what? You're right." And he walked off towards the castle.
After a moment, Xun took off his hat and handed it to Ling Tong, grinning. "Bon appetite."
--
"Shang Xiang?" Gan Ning peered apprehensively around the door.
"Oh. It's you," the princess said, turning back to her desk.
"Can I come in?"
"Don't see why not. You've never had a problem with going into women's bedrooms before. And certainly not this one."
Ning sighed and walked in. "Shang Xiang, listen. About the other night-"
"I don't want to hear it."
"I didn't mean to-"
"I said I don't want to hear it."
She went back to writing. It was a notice to the people about recruitment for the army. It didn't need to be written – there was a very similar notice in most of the villages already, but Sun Shang Xiang busied herself with it anyway.
Gan Ning heaved a sigh and rested his forehead against the cold wall.
"I'm sorry."
Sun Shang Xiang stopped. The 'great Gan Ning' never apologised to anyone. She was impressed.
She stood up and walked over to him. He looked up. She half-smiled at him.
"Apology accepted," the princess said graciously. Then, because the Princess Sun Shang Xiang has to keep up her reputation, she added: "Now will you kindly leave me be!"
Gan Ning bowed, in a futile attempt to hide his grin, and edged out of the room. Sun Shang Xiang slammed the door behind him.
"Men!" she muttered.
--
"Men!" Zhou Yu shouted. "Training is going to become increasingly intensive in preparation for the upcoming campaign against Wei. I'll admit it, they are strong, but only in numbers, and we can crush them with skill and strategy. Skill is up to you. Strategy… well, I'll think of something…"
Aware that his last sentence had made morale drop noticeably, Yu tried to recover the rousing speech he had planned.
"Numbers is nothing against our unity! Wei is weak and divided. They don't stand a chance against Wu!"
But in the ensuing roar, Zhou Yu sighed to himself. "I hope…"
--
Lady Wu, like the elder Qiao, had not left her chambers since the death of Sun Ce. Not because she couldn't take the pain; she had experienced enough deaths in her many years to be able to cope. No, the reason she hadn't left is because she, too, was dying.
It wasn't a doctor's diagnosis; she simply knew her time had come. She felt death's gentle arms around her, its cold fingers trailing down her limbs, weakening her bones.
But even so close to death, she retained her strength and self-control. She stood and walked to her balcony, looking out at the Jiang Dong.
"I'll be with you both soon, my love, my son."
--
It was late, and Zhou Yu sat at his desk, tapping his brush rhythmically against the blank parchment, and gazing at the candle.
The brush stopped tapping. It moved to the bottle of ink, back to the parchment, and skated across it, leaving a dark trail.
--
Exactly one week later, a letter arrived in Shu. Zhuge Liang opened it, breaking the crimson seal that told him it was from Wu.
A smile formed on his face as he read the letter. It was a simple letter, blank but for one character drawn in the centre.
火
Fire.
-gaspeth- Yeah, I know, I changed the whole Chi Bi strategy story. So sue me.
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