A Great Escape

Chapter 7: According to plan

The morning sun streaming through Lanying's bedroom window illuminated every minuscule detail of her unhappy reflection. Not even the thick layer of dust on her mirror was enough to conceal her tight, retracted posture, or the bitterness in her eyes. Today she was to meet the lunatic that her parents had engaged her to…and if they despaired once she ended up being a slave for the rest of her life, then it served them right.

Her mother had insisted that she wear her dress robe, which was normally saved for only special occasions. Lanying thought that it was a drab and tasteless garment. It was shapeless and black, and its purple-and-gold trim clashed with the long burgundy sash she was made to wear around her waist. It was not an outfit that would convince anyone to marry her, but she was already attached now, so she supposed Lord Shen didn't need any more persuading. She was certain that he would be using her for his own diabolical purposes, turning her into his mistress, the item of ultimate pleasure for him. She shuddered to think of it.

Out in the sitting room, her parents were conversing loudly in their native Javanese tongue. Lanying could not speak Javanese; her parents had hired a private tutor for her so that she could speak without so much as an accent, but they didn't know that through listening to their language nearly from the time she was born, she was now able to understand what they were saying, even if she couldn't quite wrap her beak around the precise sounds required to speak the words. And she didn't want them to know that she could understand them, especially not at times like this, when it was a perfect opportunity to eavesdrop.

"You must admit that Lanying is not exactly happy with the arrangement," Jie was saying cautiously.

Yue sniffed. "Lanying would not be happy if we wedded her off to Prince Charming. We are never good enough for that girl."

Lanying bristled. How dare they say something like that? She was the one that could never satisfy her parents, no matter how hard she tried!

"Besides," her mother continued, "this marriage is the only thing to keep her out of the asylum. No other man would want to have her hand. It was very kind of Master Shen to offer."

"Yes, I suppose that's true…"

Lanying's eyes narrowed hatefully. Her parents always treated her as if the fact that she had panic attacks was her fault, as if she could simply stop having them if she tried hard enough. She wished it were that simple. Her attacks weren't an attention-seeking device, nor were they within her control at all. They were terrifying, uncomfortable experiences that she had always had to suffer through on her own, even though sometimes, when she was alone in bed at night and feeling the trembles overtake her limbs and her heart flutter from palpitations…sometimes when she felt the fear sink in and unreality wash over her, all she really wanted was someone to cling to, someone to comfort her and understand how she felt, someone to let her know that she was real and that things would be okay, the way her parents never did. Other people had the chance to marry for love, but someone with her condition could only hope to wind up with someone who wouldn't treat her too harshly.

And now it seemed that even that had been taken away from her.

"I'll admit that Shen seemed concerned for her when we met him," Jie continued, "but what if he and Lanying don't like each other?"

"As if that has anything to do with marriage!" scoffed Yue. "We didn't like each other when we were wed, now did we?"

"No, we didn't…"

"Marriage is nothing but a partnership. You'd think a lifetime watching us might have taught her that."

"But if Shen decides that she's not right for him, he has the power to break off the engagement."

"Yes, which is why she had better shape up and actually act like a lady today. Everything must go according to plan!"

…

Shen spent the morning poring over a large old map of Gongmen City with a calligraphy brush in his hand, inking in crude sketches of his ideas for defense mechanisms. Even though he could paint things that resembled artwork when he felt like it, this was simply a rough diagram for his own convenience, so his additions were mostly rectangles of various sizes with kanji labels hovering over them. He was just becoming heavily engrossed in this process when Xun popped his head into their room and said, "Uh, Shen? Isn't that girl who's your not-fiancée going to be here in a few minutes?"

Shen started. "Oh! Yes, that's right!" He set his brushes aside and scrambled to his feet. Much to his dismay, both his feathers and his robe were now decorated with various ink blotches. Even if he wasn't really going to marry the Xifengs' daughter, the least he could to was not look like a slob for their first meeting. After all, she'd probably heard everything she knew about him through rumors, and he wanted her to know that he was genuinely on her side.

He quickly freshened up to get rid of the black stains on his white feathers and changed into a new robe, bringing the dirty one to the soothsayer. "Nana, do you think you could get these stains out for me?" he asked.

She lifted the garment from his hands and examined the ink blots, before her eyes flickered up to him curiously. "Why, darling, you're wearing your silk robe."

Shen's breath hitched. His nanny knew that he was not a fan of dressing in silk anymore, and that almost all of his clothes were made of cotton or hemp. But yes, he had decided to wear one of his only silk dress robes in preparation for meeting Miss Xifeng. And yes, it had been a conscious decision.

He shook his head to clear it. "Well, I want to make a good impression on the Xifengs' daughter. Is that such a crime?"

"No." The soothsayer was smirking now.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Nana, I already told you, I'm not actually going to marry this girl. She wouldn't want to marry me anyway."

"Oh, if you say so." But she still had that familiar know-it-all look in her eyes, one that Shen could identify in a minute.

"You've been looking into your bowl, haven't you?"

"What makes you say that?"

"I know you. I can tell."

"Oh, don't be such a drama queen, dear…"

"Nana, if you're trying to play matchmaker, I assure you that you shouldn't waste your time. I want to help this girl so that she doesn't end up like me. I'm not interested in marriage."

"Whatever you say."

Suddenly, from out in the hall, he heard a servant announcing, "The Xifengs have arrived!"

"Oh, I had better go…" Shen ran his long feathered fingers tenuously over his crest. All he had to do was act kind, sincere, and gentlemanly, and hopefully soon he'd be able to tell Miss Xifeng what his plan was. And perhaps she might be able to give him some insight into his panic attacks. After all, if she'd been having them for years as her parents had said, she had to know more about them than him…

…

It was a pleasantly crisp autumn day, so they met outside, in a sort of tranquility garden that had been erected until a proper courtyard could be built. Shen recognized the Xifengs immediately, enthusiastically beaming Yue and slightly nervous Jie. Standing behind them was a smaller peahen draped in a long dark robe, her head bowed.

"Master Shen," Yue introduced them eagerly, "this is our daughter Lanying. Lanying, this is Master Shen."

Lanying stepped forward, raising her eyes to meet Shen's only for an instant. He examined her briefly, noticing that she had the same pretty features and bold coloration as her mother, but…something was off. Her vibrant tones seemed to be slightly muted, her feathers just a tiny bit more ruffled and unkempt. Her clothes didn't fit her as well. She looked like someone who had been sleeping restlessly for weeks or months on end, trying to keep up her appearances but unable to keep some of her weariness from showing through. And although she refused to look at him, it didn't seem to be shyness that was holding her back – it was bitterness.

Nevertheless, Shen bowed respectfully to her. "Greetings, Miss Xifeng."

"Greetings," she echoed, her expression never changing.

He cleared his throat, promising himself that he wouldn't be turned off by this chilly reception. "I'm sure that this entire situation has come as a surprise to you."

"Yes," she answered simply, her eyes still cool.

"I assure you that things…aren't as bleak as you may think." He cleared his throat. "Perhaps we could take a walk around the grounds…?"

"No, no," Yue interjected crossly. "It's too chilly for that. Lanying should not be out in the cold like this. We must go inside."

"All right, fine." Shen exhaled roughly; his first opportunity to explain things to his not-fiancée had gone out the window. He could have sworn that he saw Lanying roll her eyes a bit at her parents' treatment of her, as if she were sickly and weak instead of prone to occasional panic attacks. He imagined that she wasn't very happy about them abruptly signing her off into an arranged marriage. Well, hopefully before she left, he could take her aside and clue her in on his plan. Surely Jie and Yue wouldn't object to a newly "engaged" couple going off by themselves for a while…

Except it seemed that they were. Shen indicated several times that he wanted to be alone with Lanying, and her parents constantly refuted him. Whether it was intentional or not he had no idea, but their behavior was certainly making things much more difficult. Not to mention, during the entire visit Lanying kept her fists clenched, her voice cold, and her eyes locked in a glare. She would only speak when spoken to, and even then her responses would only be one or two words in length. Shen wasn't sure if he found the way she was acting justifiable or not. All right, obviously she had familial issues and wasn't thrilled about her current attachment to a former warlord, but she wasn't even trying to make the best out of her situation.

Either way, the meeting seemed to be a failure by both of their standards. Shen did not get to tell Lanying the one crucial piece of information that she really needed to know, and Lanying was not convinced that Shen wasn't going to use her for his own diabolical purposes despite his apparent politeness. Less than an hour after their arrival, Jie and Yue realized that they would soon be due for their meeting with Lady Xuilan; they bid Shen goodbye and left, preparing to rush their daughter home (presumably so that she wouldn't have a random panic attack and embarrass them).

Shen felt frustrated by this entire turn of events and returned to his mapmaking, only to be approached almost immediately by Xun, the soothsayer, and the Gongmen City masters.

"So, how did it go?" asked Xun eagerly.

"Not so well," Shen sighed. "Her parents were constantly hovering over her – I couldn't get her alone to tell her about my plan."

"Well, you had better figure out a way to talk to her soon," said Storming Ox.

"But make sure her parents don't find out," added Croc. "They'll probably come after us if they figure out what you're doing."

"They're definitely downplaying her. I feel bad for her in that respect." Shen pushed his fingers through his crest. "She definitely doesn't like her family very much…and she seems to hate me."

"Oh, she'll warm up to you," the soothsayer assured him. The smirk on her face hadn't wavered for one second.

"We'll see, Nana. We'll see…"