[Fic]: Pawn to Queen
Title: Pawn to Queen
Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender
Characters: Earth King Kuei, Liu (OC), Song
Rating: G/K
Wordcount: 2776
Summary: Song takes in a man who is as innocent as a child. Little does she realise that the world is searching for her companion.
Notes: Written for the atlaland Seven Fanworks Challenge. Liu belongs to beckyh2112 and is used with her permission. Written in present tense.
It is early in the summer when Song finds a man and a strange animal about to flounder into a patch of poison ivy. She rescues them and takes them under her wing; it would be cruel to leave them on their own.
Kuei is a sweet, unusual man. Song can't help but be fascinated by him and his childlike innocence; how has he grown so old and managed to maintain it? Nobody can possibly be that sheltered. She would suspect amnesia, but he knows exactly who he is and where he comes from. Whoever kept him so ignorant, then, has done him no favours.
Shortly after the solar eclipse, they are discovered by Fire Nation soldiers. Kuei is afraid, but Song is sweet and her smile is sweet and her voice is sweet but the tea she makes them is bitter. Soon after, they fall to the ground. The innocent man stares with wide eyes and asks, "What did you do to them?"
Song smiles, and replies, "I merely dosed them with sleepflower. They'll wake eventually, and by then we'll be long gone."
It is then that Kuei tells her a little more about himself, perhaps feeling guilty that she was caught up in his mess. He is a noble from Ba Sing Se, who escaped the Fire Nation and the traitorous elite earthbenders of the city; Song is quick to realise that those same earthbenders will likely come looking for Kuei.
Fortunately, she also has a map; it doesn't take long to find a town situated on a river, whose main industry is fishing. Surely such a town would have need of a doctor. And perhaps they would overlook a bear.
Luck is with them, or perhaps this town has simply been too long without a doctor; the strange pair are made welcome and given a small home. The entire village exists on the water, built on stilts and wood and with nothing that an earthbender can use against them.
Even when the comet passes by, there are no firebenders near to cause them trouble, and Song and Kuei are able to settle into a calm life on the river. She is pleased when he expresses an interest in learning to fish; the more he knows, the less anyone will be able to use him, and the better off he'll be if something happens to her.
And then a visitor comes, dressed in green robes and with his hair pulled back in a braid; he is looking for Kuei. He's an attractive young man, and Song is pleased to make idle talk with him while they wait for Kuei.
She is even more pleased when he falls to the floor unconscious, for she had spotted the rocks around his wrist when he had his first cup of tea. Kuei is able to confirm that the man is one of the traitorous earthbenders, and it is an easy task for Song to talk some of the men into placing their unwelcome visitor in a boat with some water skins, a fishing line, and some hooks, and send him on his way downriver.
After that, Song wants to leave, but Kuei insists they stay. After all, they are on water. And the villagers will have no doctor if she leaves, and he likes it here.
It isn't fair that he can look at her with those guileless green eyes and make her want to keep him happy.
So against her better instincts they stay put, and more time passes.
Then a man appears on Song's door again, with the same braid as the young man she drugged weeks before. He has green eyes and a bronze scarf covering the lower half of his face and tucked into his shirt.
Song has a feeling that fixing this particular problem is going to take more than drugged tea. Especially if he is friends with the last man who came through here; if he is, then not only would he know her face, he knows about her tea.
This man is not crossing her threshold, and he is not taking Kuei.
Her brown eyes narrow, and she crosses her arms. "Go away," she tells the man.
He shakes his head in reply.
Of course it wouldn't be that easy. But that's why she keeps acupuncture needles up her sleeves and in her hair, and why she coats the tips in sleepflower potion. "I'm not letting you have him."
The man proffers a slate, and Song realises that he must wear the scarf to hide an injury to his face or throat. Or even both. Warily she accepts it, glancing briefly to scan the message while still trying to keep an eye on him.
'I have recieved orders from General How and Minister Long Feng to bring Kuei home.'
Song doesn't know who either of those men are, and she isn't sure she believes him. She returns the slate. "How do I know you mean him no harm?"
He erases the words and writes a new message, then gives the slate back to her. 'You may come if you like. But I would do no harm to the boy or his bear.'
She purses her lips. "He told me what happened before. How am I to trust you? How is he to trust you?"
He holds out his hand, and she places the slate back there. He writes: 'I am loyal to Ba Sing Se.'
Song raises her brow at him. "Siding with the royalty of the Fire Nation is a strange sort of loyalty."
'Dead men accomplish nothing,' is the reply, and she pauses in thought. She had certainly put on a nice face to deal with Fire Nation soldiers in order to defeat them. Perhaps the elite earthbenders had done something simliar.
More writing: 'We did as we must, because someone had to.'
She understands that, too. She bites her lip in thought, and then stands aside. "Come in. Have a seat."
The man bows and enters, taking the seat she shows him to. Rather than risk the dance of trust again, she fills a cup with water so he may drink without worrying about drugs, then places it before him.
Carefully, he rearranges his scarf and takes a sip; Song is certain now that it is his face that has sustained damage. Horrific damage, if he keeps it covered and cannot speak. But he is not her patient and she shouldn't ask.
She wants to.
Instead she says, "My name is Song."
On the slate he writes, 'My name is Liu.'
Kuei returns when the shadows lengthen and distort, signalling sundown; before he can react to Liu's presence, the earthbender falls to the floor in a full kowtow.
That, it seems, is not enough.
"Song," says Kuei, and the anger in his voice is so out-of-character and intense that it actually frightens her, "what is he doing here?"
Song opens her mouth, but a scraping sound distracts them both; they look down to see Liu's gloves -- made of rock, Song sees -- melt together to form a slab that just barely touches his fingertips, and then characters appear on the rock as if inked: 'I am the one at fault, your majesty.'
"...majesty?" Song's question goes unanswered; both men seem to have forgotten she is there.
"Get out!" Kuei snaps at Liu.
The characters on the slab melt away and new ones form. 'I will not leave this village without you.'
"You will," Kuei replies, and his voice is like the biting Northern wind.
More characters: 'I am under orders from General How and Minister Long Feng to bring you home.'
"Long Feng has no right to order me anymore!" Kuei yells, and his voice cracks as he does.
Liu still has not lifted his head from the floor, still has not moved from his bow, and the stone flows again. 'Minister Long Feng did not have to look for you. But you are like a son to him.'
"He sold me to the Fire Nation!" There's more than anger now, Song realises -- Kuei is hurt, and confused.
'It was never intended to be a permanent arrangement,' is Liu's answer.
"Then what was it supposed to be!?" Kuei demands.
'A trap,' come the words on the slate. 'Intended to draw out any other infiltraters in our great city.'
"The Avatar died!" yells the younger man.
'The Avatar thought only in the short term,' Liu replies. 'The Dai Li were ready to protect you and Ba Sing Se, but circumstances led to us being unable to do so. We did what we could.'
Kuei's mouth works a few times, but no sound somes out. He wants to yell more, that is clear. Instead, he steps over Liu and turns his gaze to Song. His voice is forcibly cheerful as he asks, "What's for dinner?"
He ignores Liu for the rest of the night, much like a little boy trying to punish a parent. Liu, for his part, remains on the floor in his bow. Which puts him right in the way of almost everything in their small household. Kuei has retreated to his futon and is obviously sulking, so at least she doesn't have to worry about tripping over him. Liu is another case entirely, and at one point while Song is making dinner Kuei tells her that she can just step on Liu for all he cares.
Song does not; she can't help but feel somewhat sorry for the mute man that is still on the ground. That is why she makes enough food for three, and why when Kuei finally falls asleep she kneels beside Liu and touches his shoulder. He looks up at her, and she offers him a small bowl of soup - entirely broth, since she doesn't know what he can and can't eat.
She can see the surprise in his eyes, and smiles. "Kuei's moods can last awhile," she tells him quietly. "Go ahead."
He eats carefully, slips outside for what Song can only assume are hygenic purposes, then returns and gets back into the kowtow. He is still there when she goes to bed, and still there when she wakes shortly after dawn. However, when Kuei leaves the room to fish, he finally gets up. Song winces as she hears the bones in his knees cracking.
"How long are you going to keep this up?" she asks.
'As long as it takes.'
Song sighs. "Could you at least kowtow by the wall when he comes back? If there's an emergency, I need to be able to move around."
The man nods, and Song smiles. "Thank you."
Without further comment, written or otherwise, he rises and slips out of her home.
This continues for a week, with Liu leaving every morning after Kuei and returning every evening before him only to spend the entire night kowtowing. Finally, after a week and a half of this, Kuei finally cracks.
He spends nearly three hours yelling at Liu, who can only listen and write calmly in return, but finally he agrees to come back to Ba Sing Se. The younger man, however, takes care to stress that he is not doing this for Long Feng, but for General How and the city itself.
There is what Kuei likely hopes is a hitch when he declares he will go nowhere without Song, but Liu simply shrugs and writes, 'As you wish.'
That derails Kuei long enough for Song and Liu to get him packed, out of the house, and on an ostrich-horse headed back for the city. There is a momentary problem when Kuei refuses to leave, but Song vanishes briefly and then returns with Bosco, and all is well.
The trip back to Ba Sing Se is exhausting, less because of the distance and more because of Kuei's extended sulking. As they pass by the Serpent's Pass, however, a smug grin appears on Kuei's face and does not leave even when Liu insists Kuei re-enter the city cloaked.
In Full Moon Bay, there is a brief question of Song's admittance, but Liu presents a bit of paper to the woman processing passports.
As she and the cloaked Kuei are swept away, Song wonders just what the paper said to make all the blood drain from the official's face.
On the boat ride to the city, Kuei insists on Song being at his side at all times, and finds every excuse possible to send Liu away for hours at a time, often with Bosco.
It isn't clear what Kuei hopes to accomplish with this, save maybe some last vestige of freedom before they arrive in Ba Sing Se. She does wonder, though, why Liu obeys Kuei without so much a complaint.
Finally, they dock in the city, and Liu ushers them from the boat and to the door, where an elaborate palanquin awaits them.
Kuei strides towards it without hesitation, but for the first time, Song balks.
A gentle hand cups her elbow, and Song glances over to see Liu's eyes smiling at her. The earth beneath her feet trembles ever so slightly, and she looks down to see the words 'It's all right' appear.
As she looks up, Kuei pokes his head out of the palanquin's curtains. "Song?" he asks, his haughty, sulky expression vanishing for the first time in days. "Are you coming?"
She hesitates, but Liu gently presses her forward and Kuei extends a hand to her. The next thing she knows, Kuei has drawn her into the palanquin and settled her at his side. He gestures imperiously to the men by the carry-poles, and settles back as though he's been riding in these all his life.
A peek outside reveals that Bosco has a palanquin of his own.
Deeply unsettled, Song draws her attention back to Kuei as he chatters happily about nothing at all.
They pass through the Agrarian Zone, through the Lower Ring, through the Middle Ring, and through the Upper Ring with no signs of stopping despite the hours of travel. Song is certain the palanquin-bearers have switched several times, but she hasn't noticed any extra bumping or change in flow.
Kuei sleeps beside her, innocent as a child, one arm flung across her waist. She isn't sure what to make of that.
They don't stop at any of the Upper Ring homes, instead moving closer to the centre of the city, where Song can see one final wall.
Her eyes go wide.
Why are they going to the palace?
They pass through the gates and cross the majority of a massive courtyard, stopping at last before a group of men.
As the palanquin is set down, Kuei finally wakes. He gives her a pleased, sleepy smile, and sits up fully.
On spying the men beyond the palanquin, his face hardens.
As though at some signal, all the men outside kowtow, pressing their foreheads to the ground.
"You may rise," Kuei says after a moment, in a tone she's never heard from him before. The men do, and two approach the palanquin, one extending a hand to Song. "Go ahead," Kuei murmurs, and Song lets the man help her out.
Once Kuei is out as well, he steps to her side and take her right hand in his. He glowers at a thin man in long green robes, then turns his attention to a broad man in armour with a soldier's rankings. "General How," he greets the man.
The general bows very low. "Welcome back, your majesty," he says.
Song nearly jerks free of Kuei's hold as she tries to step back.
Kuei is the Earth King?
His hand tightens around hers in response. "Thank you," he says. "This is Miss Song. When matters can be arranged, she will be my wife."
The men look nearly as startled as Song feels at this announcement. Only the thin man is able to keep his feelings hidden.
A man towards the back hesitantly edges, "My King, perhaps you should reconsider. I'm certain that someone more suitable..." His voice trails off as Kuei glares.
"She will be my wife," Kuei repeats, every word dropping like a boulder. "And your queen. That is quite suitable enough."
The thin man inclines his head. "As you wish, your majesty," he says. His jade green eyes are hard as he regards Song. "Lady Song will be made welcome."
Kuei's hand nearly crushes hers as he glances at the thin man. "This way, Song," he tells her. "I'll show you the palace." And he sweeps her away from the men, ignoring all their protests.
Fandom: Avatar: the Last Airbender
Characters: Earth King Kuei, Liu (OC), Song
Rating: G/K
Wordcount: 2776
Summary: Song takes in a man who is as innocent as a child. Little does she realise that the world is searching for her companion.
Notes: Written for the atlaland Seven Fanworks Challenge. Liu belongs to beckyh2112 and is used with her permission. Written in present tense.
It is early in the summer when Song finds a man and a strange animal about to flounder into a patch of poison ivy. She rescues them and takes them under her wing; it would be cruel to leave them on their own.
Kuei is a sweet, unusual man. Song can't help but be fascinated by him and his childlike innocence; how has he grown so old and managed to maintain it? Nobody can possibly be that sheltered. She would suspect amnesia, but he knows exactly who he is and where he comes from. Whoever kept him so ignorant, then, has done him no favours.
Shortly after the solar eclipse, they are discovered by Fire Nation soldiers. Kuei is afraid, but Song is sweet and her smile is sweet and her voice is sweet but the tea she makes them is bitter. Soon after, they fall to the ground. The innocent man stares with wide eyes and asks, "What did you do to them?"
Song smiles, and replies, "I merely dosed them with sleepflower. They'll wake eventually, and by then we'll be long gone."
It is then that Kuei tells her a little more about himself, perhaps feeling guilty that she was caught up in his mess. He is a noble from Ba Sing Se, who escaped the Fire Nation and the traitorous elite earthbenders of the city; Song is quick to realise that those same earthbenders will likely come looking for Kuei.
Fortunately, she also has a map; it doesn't take long to find a town situated on a river, whose main industry is fishing. Surely such a town would have need of a doctor. And perhaps they would overlook a bear.
Luck is with them, or perhaps this town has simply been too long without a doctor; the strange pair are made welcome and given a small home. The entire village exists on the water, built on stilts and wood and with nothing that an earthbender can use against them.
Even when the comet passes by, there are no firebenders near to cause them trouble, and Song and Kuei are able to settle into a calm life on the river. She is pleased when he expresses an interest in learning to fish; the more he knows, the less anyone will be able to use him, and the better off he'll be if something happens to her.
And then a visitor comes, dressed in green robes and with his hair pulled back in a braid; he is looking for Kuei. He's an attractive young man, and Song is pleased to make idle talk with him while they wait for Kuei.
She is even more pleased when he falls to the floor unconscious, for she had spotted the rocks around his wrist when he had his first cup of tea. Kuei is able to confirm that the man is one of the traitorous earthbenders, and it is an easy task for Song to talk some of the men into placing their unwelcome visitor in a boat with some water skins, a fishing line, and some hooks, and send him on his way downriver.
After that, Song wants to leave, but Kuei insists they stay. After all, they are on water. And the villagers will have no doctor if she leaves, and he likes it here.
It isn't fair that he can look at her with those guileless green eyes and make her want to keep him happy.
So against her better instincts they stay put, and more time passes.
Then a man appears on Song's door again, with the same braid as the young man she drugged weeks before. He has green eyes and a bronze scarf covering the lower half of his face and tucked into his shirt.
Song has a feeling that fixing this particular problem is going to take more than drugged tea. Especially if he is friends with the last man who came through here; if he is, then not only would he know her face, he knows about her tea.
This man is not crossing her threshold, and he is not taking Kuei.
Her brown eyes narrow, and she crosses her arms. "Go away," she tells the man.
He shakes his head in reply.
Of course it wouldn't be that easy. But that's why she keeps acupuncture needles up her sleeves and in her hair, and why she coats the tips in sleepflower potion. "I'm not letting you have him."
The man proffers a slate, and Song realises that he must wear the scarf to hide an injury to his face or throat. Or even both. Warily she accepts it, glancing briefly to scan the message while still trying to keep an eye on him.
'I have recieved orders from General How and Minister Long Feng to bring Kuei home.'
Song doesn't know who either of those men are, and she isn't sure she believes him. She returns the slate. "How do I know you mean him no harm?"
He erases the words and writes a new message, then gives the slate back to her. 'You may come if you like. But I would do no harm to the boy or his bear.'
She purses her lips. "He told me what happened before. How am I to trust you? How is he to trust you?"
He holds out his hand, and she places the slate back there. He writes: 'I am loyal to Ba Sing Se.'
Song raises her brow at him. "Siding with the royalty of the Fire Nation is a strange sort of loyalty."
'Dead men accomplish nothing,' is the reply, and she pauses in thought. She had certainly put on a nice face to deal with Fire Nation soldiers in order to defeat them. Perhaps the elite earthbenders had done something simliar.
More writing: 'We did as we must, because someone had to.'
She understands that, too. She bites her lip in thought, and then stands aside. "Come in. Have a seat."
The man bows and enters, taking the seat she shows him to. Rather than risk the dance of trust again, she fills a cup with water so he may drink without worrying about drugs, then places it before him.
Carefully, he rearranges his scarf and takes a sip; Song is certain now that it is his face that has sustained damage. Horrific damage, if he keeps it covered and cannot speak. But he is not her patient and she shouldn't ask.
She wants to.
Instead she says, "My name is Song."
On the slate he writes, 'My name is Liu.'
Kuei returns when the shadows lengthen and distort, signalling sundown; before he can react to Liu's presence, the earthbender falls to the floor in a full kowtow.
That, it seems, is not enough.
"Song," says Kuei, and the anger in his voice is so out-of-character and intense that it actually frightens her, "what is he doing here?"
Song opens her mouth, but a scraping sound distracts them both; they look down to see Liu's gloves -- made of rock, Song sees -- melt together to form a slab that just barely touches his fingertips, and then characters appear on the rock as if inked: 'I am the one at fault, your majesty.'
"...majesty?" Song's question goes unanswered; both men seem to have forgotten she is there.
"Get out!" Kuei snaps at Liu.
The characters on the slab melt away and new ones form. 'I will not leave this village without you.'
"You will," Kuei replies, and his voice is like the biting Northern wind.
More characters: 'I am under orders from General How and Minister Long Feng to bring you home.'
"Long Feng has no right to order me anymore!" Kuei yells, and his voice cracks as he does.
Liu still has not lifted his head from the floor, still has not moved from his bow, and the stone flows again. 'Minister Long Feng did not have to look for you. But you are like a son to him.'
"He sold me to the Fire Nation!" There's more than anger now, Song realises -- Kuei is hurt, and confused.
'It was never intended to be a permanent arrangement,' is Liu's answer.
"Then what was it supposed to be!?" Kuei demands.
'A trap,' come the words on the slate. 'Intended to draw out any other infiltraters in our great city.'
"The Avatar died!" yells the younger man.
'The Avatar thought only in the short term,' Liu replies. 'The Dai Li were ready to protect you and Ba Sing Se, but circumstances led to us being unable to do so. We did what we could.'
Kuei's mouth works a few times, but no sound somes out. He wants to yell more, that is clear. Instead, he steps over Liu and turns his gaze to Song. His voice is forcibly cheerful as he asks, "What's for dinner?"
He ignores Liu for the rest of the night, much like a little boy trying to punish a parent. Liu, for his part, remains on the floor in his bow. Which puts him right in the way of almost everything in their small household. Kuei has retreated to his futon and is obviously sulking, so at least she doesn't have to worry about tripping over him. Liu is another case entirely, and at one point while Song is making dinner Kuei tells her that she can just step on Liu for all he cares.
Song does not; she can't help but feel somewhat sorry for the mute man that is still on the ground. That is why she makes enough food for three, and why when Kuei finally falls asleep she kneels beside Liu and touches his shoulder. He looks up at her, and she offers him a small bowl of soup - entirely broth, since she doesn't know what he can and can't eat.
She can see the surprise in his eyes, and smiles. "Kuei's moods can last awhile," she tells him quietly. "Go ahead."
He eats carefully, slips outside for what Song can only assume are hygenic purposes, then returns and gets back into the kowtow. He is still there when she goes to bed, and still there when she wakes shortly after dawn. However, when Kuei leaves the room to fish, he finally gets up. Song winces as she hears the bones in his knees cracking.
"How long are you going to keep this up?" she asks.
'As long as it takes.'
Song sighs. "Could you at least kowtow by the wall when he comes back? If there's an emergency, I need to be able to move around."
The man nods, and Song smiles. "Thank you."
Without further comment, written or otherwise, he rises and slips out of her home.
This continues for a week, with Liu leaving every morning after Kuei and returning every evening before him only to spend the entire night kowtowing. Finally, after a week and a half of this, Kuei finally cracks.
He spends nearly three hours yelling at Liu, who can only listen and write calmly in return, but finally he agrees to come back to Ba Sing Se. The younger man, however, takes care to stress that he is not doing this for Long Feng, but for General How and the city itself.
There is what Kuei likely hopes is a hitch when he declares he will go nowhere without Song, but Liu simply shrugs and writes, 'As you wish.'
That derails Kuei long enough for Song and Liu to get him packed, out of the house, and on an ostrich-horse headed back for the city. There is a momentary problem when Kuei refuses to leave, but Song vanishes briefly and then returns with Bosco, and all is well.
The trip back to Ba Sing Se is exhausting, less because of the distance and more because of Kuei's extended sulking. As they pass by the Serpent's Pass, however, a smug grin appears on Kuei's face and does not leave even when Liu insists Kuei re-enter the city cloaked.
In Full Moon Bay, there is a brief question of Song's admittance, but Liu presents a bit of paper to the woman processing passports.
As she and the cloaked Kuei are swept away, Song wonders just what the paper said to make all the blood drain from the official's face.
On the boat ride to the city, Kuei insists on Song being at his side at all times, and finds every excuse possible to send Liu away for hours at a time, often with Bosco.
It isn't clear what Kuei hopes to accomplish with this, save maybe some last vestige of freedom before they arrive in Ba Sing Se. She does wonder, though, why Liu obeys Kuei without so much a complaint.
Finally, they dock in the city, and Liu ushers them from the boat and to the door, where an elaborate palanquin awaits them.
Kuei strides towards it without hesitation, but for the first time, Song balks.
A gentle hand cups her elbow, and Song glances over to see Liu's eyes smiling at her. The earth beneath her feet trembles ever so slightly, and she looks down to see the words 'It's all right' appear.
As she looks up, Kuei pokes his head out of the palanquin's curtains. "Song?" he asks, his haughty, sulky expression vanishing for the first time in days. "Are you coming?"
She hesitates, but Liu gently presses her forward and Kuei extends a hand to her. The next thing she knows, Kuei has drawn her into the palanquin and settled her at his side. He gestures imperiously to the men by the carry-poles, and settles back as though he's been riding in these all his life.
A peek outside reveals that Bosco has a palanquin of his own.
Deeply unsettled, Song draws her attention back to Kuei as he chatters happily about nothing at all.
They pass through the Agrarian Zone, through the Lower Ring, through the Middle Ring, and through the Upper Ring with no signs of stopping despite the hours of travel. Song is certain the palanquin-bearers have switched several times, but she hasn't noticed any extra bumping or change in flow.
Kuei sleeps beside her, innocent as a child, one arm flung across her waist. She isn't sure what to make of that.
They don't stop at any of the Upper Ring homes, instead moving closer to the centre of the city, where Song can see one final wall.
Her eyes go wide.
Why are they going to the palace?
They pass through the gates and cross the majority of a massive courtyard, stopping at last before a group of men.
As the palanquin is set down, Kuei finally wakes. He gives her a pleased, sleepy smile, and sits up fully.
On spying the men beyond the palanquin, his face hardens.
As though at some signal, all the men outside kowtow, pressing their foreheads to the ground.
"You may rise," Kuei says after a moment, in a tone she's never heard from him before. The men do, and two approach the palanquin, one extending a hand to Song. "Go ahead," Kuei murmurs, and Song lets the man help her out.
Once Kuei is out as well, he steps to her side and take her right hand in his. He glowers at a thin man in long green robes, then turns his attention to a broad man in armour with a soldier's rankings. "General How," he greets the man.
The general bows very low. "Welcome back, your majesty," he says.
Song nearly jerks free of Kuei's hold as she tries to step back.
Kuei is the Earth King?
His hand tightens around hers in response. "Thank you," he says. "This is Miss Song. When matters can be arranged, she will be my wife."
The men look nearly as startled as Song feels at this announcement. Only the thin man is able to keep his feelings hidden.
A man towards the back hesitantly edges, "My King, perhaps you should reconsider. I'm certain that someone more suitable..." His voice trails off as Kuei glares.
"She will be my wife," Kuei repeats, every word dropping like a boulder. "And your queen. That is quite suitable enough."
The thin man inclines his head. "As you wish, your majesty," he says. His jade green eyes are hard as he regards Song. "Lady Song will be made welcome."
Kuei's hand nearly crushes hers as he glances at the thin man. "This way, Song," he tells her. "I'll show you the palace." And he sweeps her away from the men, ignoring all their protests.