Unrivaled: Long Feng/The Earth King, PG-13/mild R
Since things have been kind of bleak around my LJ of late, here. Have the next KueiFeng fic for 30_kisses
Unrivaled
Author: Chaser (aka iroh_fancier, beta'd by the wonderful weyrdchic
Pairings: Long Feng/Earth King Kuei, Professor Zei/Earth King Kuei (implied . Sort of. … you’ll see)
Prompt: #16. invincible; unrivaled
Summary: Long Feng takes a disliking to the Earth King’s new tutor.
Rating: PG-13/mild R for a little dirty language, and one brief sex scene. This is KueiFeng, after all ;).Oh, and Kuei is 17, which makes him underage in some countries...and apparently real in Australia.
Word Count: 9,150
Prompt Count: 2/30
Professor Zei of Ba Sing Se University was an insufferable bore with all the charm and social grace of a wet pile of parchment, and even less to recommend him. He seemed incapable of talking about anything but ancient civilizations, cute fuzzy animals and the twenty-two different ways the palace food did not agree with his digestion. He was dry as a thigh bone, fiercely pedantic, and prone to saying ‘oopsie’ more than any (apparently) grown man had a right to.
Long Feng was certain that the Earth King was in love with him. And equally certain that if his young lover mentioned how “awesome” his tutor was just one more time, he would kill the annoying pedant by force feeding him no less than fifty of the hallucinogenic Si Wong Desert cactuses he was always whining about, and sucks to his digestion. Every day he regretted not only inviting the damn fool to teach the monarch, but the fact that he had to listen to the blather that passed for their daily sessions.
After all, if Zei wasn’t capable of giving a lecture that could pass for mildly interesting, how could Long Feng trust him not to mention such inconvenient truths as the Fire Nation-instigated world war, or, for that matter, the extinction of the professor’s precious Air Nomads? Even though he had warned Zei in the sternest and clearest terms possible to stick to the (far distant) past and not trouble Kuei with the present (or the last 100 years) … well, if the man was incapable of talking for five minutes without stumbling into a digression, Long Feng certainly didn’t trust him to follow simple orders.
So, he had no choice but to stifle yawn after yawn as Zei droned on and on about what appeared to be his favorite subject: a boring and probably non-existent library run by a giant owl.
“It has six cupolas and three minarets!” Zei enthused, pushing the map of the so-called spirit library onto the Earth King’s lap. “And it’s said to contain more than a million books!”
Kuei, of course, was fascinated. “Wait… what do you mean ‘it’s said to?’ Haven’t people actually visited it and seen for themselves?”
“Well, yes, but that was a very long time ago,” Professor Zei explained. “Right now, nobody really knows where it is. It’s been lost.”
The Earth King tilted his head, puzzled. “How do you lose a library that big?”
“Well, my theory is that the Great Knowledge Spirit moved it … or maybe it’s just been covered up by the sands of the Si Wong Desert.”
“Really? And nobody’s looking for it?”
Zei frowned. “I’d like to, believe me, Majesty. But the deans at the University … well …” he rubbed the back of his head. “They think there are more important things to do with our money. Like political science classes, or engineering. Yes,” he sighed. “They really love their engineers.”
“I’m sure I can’t imagine why,” Long Feng said coldly.
Kuei shot his favorite a disapproving look before turning his attention back to his teacher. “I’m sorry to hear that, Zei. That’s terrible. People don’t show books and knowledge the respect they deserve anymore. If I were one of those deans, I’d hear you out.”
“I - I quite agree, Majesty. And thank you,” a blush spread across the professor’s cheeks. Long Feng wanted to slap him.
“You said something on this map was a minaret? What’s a minaret?” Kuei tilted his head for a better view.
“These towers here,” Zei gently tapped the map. “Nobody knows for sure, but we think that’s where Wan Shi Tong keeps his cookbooks.”
“Wow,” Kuei whispered. Long Feng felt like slamming his forehead against something. “And are these little domes - what did you call them?”
“Cupolas, majesty,” Zei chirped. “Do you see the big one over the door? My research indicates that it contains the world’s largest mosaic -made entirely from tiles formed from used book paper and shaped into the countenance of a giant owl.”
Long Feng snorted.
The teenaged King frowned and pushed his spectacles up his nose. “Long Feng, do you mind? I’m trying to learn.”
“And I wouldn’t mind if you were learning,” Long Feng said as politely as he could. “Professor Zei, I know that staying on topic gives you the vapors, but please do try.”
The professor’s blush was so strong, Long Feng reasoned that refugees in the Lower Ring were probably now feeling the residual embarrassment. “Yes, of course, your Excellency,” he said, bowing to Long Feng. “Forgive me, your majesty. I forgot myself. Your advisor is correct; we should be discussing the history of the Western Air Temple.”
“No, that’s alright, Professor. I’d much rather hear about Wan Shi Tong’s Library.” Kuei glared at his lover-or gave him what Long Feng considered a Kuei-glare, which involved pursing his lips and shaking his head in a very no-nonsense way that made him look both impossibly old and impossibly cute. “Please continue?”
“Ummm …” Zei looked back and forth between the scowling Earth King and his equally displeased advisor. At last, Long Feng sighed and waved his hand dismissively. There were just some matters in which the Earth King would get his way by virtue of being the Earth King, whether or not getting his way was a good thing.
With a self-satisfied smile, Kuei turned back to his abashed teacher. “I’m sorry about that, Professor Zei. Now, is it known if Wan Shi Tong’s library has any books about bears?”
***
Long Feng had hoped that a long afternoon walk in the hanging garden and an evening meal of chili-basted chicken and sticky rice and would put his young lover in a better humor. But when he entered the imperial suites that night, Kuei - who was seated on his favorite divan - looked up, frowned and turned away from his advisor before continuing to read his book. Bend his neck though he would, Long Feng could not quite make out the title.
“What are you reading,” he asked, his tone conversational, as if he had just breezed into the room after a typical day of signing papers and torturing dissidents. Not that Kuei knew anything about the latter, of course. When Kuei didn’t answer, Long Feng crossed the room and gently rested his hands on the King’s thin shoulders. “It looks interesting,” he mused as he rubbed them. That always seemed to get Kuei in the mood.
But instead of shivering and relaxing under his ministrations, the Earth King grunted and pulled away. “None of your business.”
“You’re angry at me,” Long Feng observed.
This had the desired effect. Kuei put by the book (which bore the decidedly uncontroversial title A Brief History of Earth King 35, Long Feng observed with relief) before turning on his lover. “Why do you have to be so mean to Professor Zei?”
“With all due respect, your Majesty, because Professor Zei is a constipated idiot.”
Kuei folded his arms in annoyance. “For your information, he’s incredibly smart and well-traveled. Not constipated at all.”
“Do you even know what that word means?”
“Maybe I would, if you ever taught me anything!”
“I’ve taught you lots of things!” Long Feng protested. And to prove it, he counted them off on his fingers: “Calligraphy. Painting. Tea-brewing.”
“How to - to suck on your - prick!”
Long Feng blinked. “Well, I certainly didn’t teach you to swear. I’d have made sure you had more finesse at it.”
Kuei rolled his eyes, an act which made him look more like a typical teenager than a dignified Earth King. “Right. You just taught me the sex part. Which is so much better. For you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Long Feng snorted. “You love our intimacies as much as I do. Or do you mean to tell me were feigning all of that moaning last night?”
Kuei’s cheeks colored. “I don’t know anything about the world or its people other than what Professor Zei has taught me. Do you think that’s good for an Earth King?”
“I think it is no different from any Earth King who has ever lived.” Long Feng returned his hands to Kuei’s shoulders and moved his palms in wide, gentle circles as he continued to speak. “You are simply too busy to concern yourself with the world and its petty problems.”
“I attend feasts, watch operas and hold parties for boring old lords. Occasionally, I stamp a few pieces of legislation or tell my advisers that I want to build a new park,” Kuei said bitterly, though he made no attempt to pull away this time.
“You inspire your people, and you give them hope. That’s a pretty big job for anyone, even an Earth King.”
Kuei shook his head. “But it’s not enough. How can I help my people if I don’t know anything about them? When I haven’t learned who they are or what they need.” He stepped away from Long Feng’s hands and turned to face him. “I’m sick of spending all my time in the palace. I want to get out and see the world. I want,” and for some reason, time seemed to slow down for Long Feng as his lover said the next words:
“I want to go to the university.”
***
He would not pace. No matter what happened, Long Feng told himself he wouldn’t pace. So Kuei said he wanted to go to the University of Ba Sing Se. A lot of young men his age wanted to learn new things. Only, a lot of young men his age weren’t the Earth King. And Long Feng’s job-and possibly his continued freedom-was not dependant upon whether or not they attended dull lectures on equally dull civilizations that probably fell to pieces because of their dullness, or developed schoolboy pashes on the dull professors who delivered those lectures.
Long Feng kicked over a stool. He would not pace. Dammit, he would not.
On his fifth trip around his office, Long Feng summoned his Dai Li. They arrived like shadows before he could complete his sixth. By the time they had assembled, he had formulated a plan.
His back to the green phosphorescent flames in room’s hearth, Long Feng folded his arms behind his back and turned to face the thirty agents he had called to his chambers.
Of course, most university-bound young men didn’t have guardians with a league of highly-trained peace keepers at their disposal, either.
“Gentlemen,” Long Feng said smoothly. “I have summoned you here today because we are facing an unusual situation. The Earth King would like to attend the university.”
To a man, the Dai Li were silent, save for one. Somewhere in the back row, an idiot was snickering. Long Feng well knew his type; the Earth King’s court was full of them. Indeed, he expected that all organizations were plagued by at least one.
“The Earth King is troubled because he doesn’t know what the word ‘constipated’ means.” The Dai Li who Long Feng now regretted ever letting into his service snorted and his muffled snickers got louder. Without blinking Long Feng raised his arm. Seconds later the laughter degraded into cries of pain as the agent’s stone gauntlets detached themselves from his hands and began slapping him across the face.
“Does anyone else find this matter amusing?” Long Feng asked after letting the lesson sink in for a moment. The Dai Li-at least the good ones-never said much, but their commander could hear the click of each man’s vertebrae as he straightened.
“The Earth King is young, and like all young people he is curious, even though his curiosity inconveniences his position and ours. Still, youth is an inconvenience that must be managed even when it befalls an Earth King. Since Fifty-Two wants to see the world so badly, we will bring it to him. Tonight I will dispatch you in groups of two to the city’s gates. You will travel where you will, and return in seven days with the most interesting things you can find. They need not be rare or costly. In fact, the Earth King will likely prefer them if they are commonplace-or if they are animals.” The gods knew why, but Kuei seemed to adore them, the uglier, stupider and slobbery-er, the better. “Indeed, I think a menagerie would do much to take his mind off leaving the palace for the university. Are there any questions?”
Of course, the moron in the back row raised his hand. Long Feng answered by making the man’s gloves cuff him a few more times before he returned them to his hands. “Well, in that case, you are dismissed.”
After the Dai Li had filed out of Long Feng’s office and when he was sure that their master could not overhear them, the offending officer tapped his nearest comrade on the shoulder.
“Is it just me, or do you think Long Feng’s obsession with this little brat is getting out of hand?” he asked, rubbing one red and slightly swollen cheek and wincing.
***
Although Long Feng typically had the time-and the tenacity-to observe the Earth King and his tutor during their daily lessons, his several duties prevented him from chaperoning his young lover at all times. Typically, Long Feng had not seen this as a problem, until Kuei began insisting on spending more and more time alone with the scholar. Long Feng also caught him surreptitiously gandering at the pedant from over the tops of books and from behind the palace’s many arcades as the pedant bustled past, his arms laden with various tomes and parchments that the Grand Secretariat had approved.
At first, Long Feng had attempted to dissolve the schoolboy crush by becoming more amorous. Only, Kuei seemed completely disinterested. If he nuzzled his lover’s neck while brushing his hair, Kuei elbowed him away, angrily insisting that now wasn’t the time. If he casually tried to embrace him, Kuei slapped his hands away with equal vehemence.
Long Feng was a patient man. If nothing else, 13 years of controlling Ba Sing Se had taught him the art of waiting for gratification. But his patience snapped like a birch twig on the first night Kuei locked him out of the royal suites.
“Maybe when you let me go to the university, I’ll consider letting you back in,” the young monarch said with a shrug before slamming the door.
After that, Long Feng ordered two of his agents to follow the Earth King at all times-and particularly when he was in the presence of the dusty academic. Although he was usually content with a general report, he now demanded that the officers record the King’s encounters with his teacher down to the most minute detail-each look that passed between them, each gesture, no matter how small and inconsequential it appeared. When the Dai Li submitted scrolls filled with more of Kuei’s gandering and the young King’s hand furtively brushing his mentor’s, Long Feng demolished no less than three vases before he drank a cup of sweet rice wine. When he read that the two spoke of nothing besides the giant owl’s gods-damned library, he drank another. A week later, when he had steeled himself to report after report of shameless flirtations, he summoned the pedant to join him for breakfast. As he suspected, the man arrived in his stained cotton robes that had been buttoned as if by a sleepwalker. Long Feng didn’t even try to hide his disgust as he gestured to the cushion across from him. Zei sat down looking somewhat uncomfortable. Well, Long Feng thought as he sipped his jasmine tea, good.
“Professor Zei,” Long Feng elegantly replaced his cup on the end table. “I am not a man who enjoys evasions and secrecy, so I will come right to the point. The Earth King wants to attend the university.”
“Er … well, yes. He did mention that a few times,” Zei admitted, with his typical dopey expression - half smile, half bewilderment.
“Indeed. And I expect that you told him that such a thing is impossible?”
To the Grand Secretariat’s delight, the professor shifted uneasily in his seat. “Well …” he started, looking to the left as if expecting to find a suitable response hiding beneath the windowsill. “I know that it isn’t usual, or proper, or maybe even a good idea. The Earth King shouldn’t leave the palace. But, well … he is the Earth King, right? I guess he can do anything he wants, really.”
Long Feng loved it when his opponents not only walked into his traps, but insisted upon springing them personally. “Zei, I will be candid with you: Your relationship with the Earth King is inappropriate.”
The pedant blinked and tilted his head in apparent confusion. “I’m not sure I understand, Your Excellency. I’ve stayed away from any mention of the Air Nomads’ fate and, er, the topic of the-recent unpleasantness overseas.” Licking his lips he reached for a piece of steamed bread.
Long Feng delicately slapped his hand away from the dish. “Yes. Thank you so very much for pointing that out. I’m not referring to your lectures, Zei-or whatever foolery about unusually sized birds you think passes for a lecture. I mean your behavior.”
“My … behavior.” Zei rubbed the back of his hand and stared blankly at Grand Secretariat, who struggled with the urge to slowly crush his skull beneath a large boulder. He settled instead for delicately folding his hands on top of his knee.
Long Feng kept his tone conversational, though far too soft and measured to be polite. “You may think that I am not present when you are alone with him, but I am closer than you imagine. I see you. I see what you do. Every touch, every lingering, hungry look when you think no one will be the wiser. The Earth King is a young man of noble birth who will one day marry a young woman of noble birth. As his advisor and his guardian, I would hate for anything-or anyone-to interfere with that eventuality. And I would not hesitate to make the life of anyone who did interfere exceedingly difficult.”
Zei’s gulp was audible.
“Since you seem incapable of comprehending anything that does not involve unusually large owl spirits, I will make this exceedingly simple.” Long Feng leaned forward, his lips curling into a tight smile. “You will not touch the Earth King’s hand. You will not touch the Earth King’s neck. You will not touch the Earth King at all. And you will certainly not whisper to him or even stare at him over your notebook. You are His Majesty’s tutor, and hundreds of other professors would be eager to fulfill your duties, should you become incapable of performing them. And if you so much as step an inch too close to the Earth King, I will see to it that you cannot.”
Throughout the Grand Secretariat’s speech, Zei had stared at him with an expression that reminded Long Feng of a particularly stupid koi. When he sat back, indicating that he was finished, the professor rubbed at his throat anxiously. “Um … OK, your Excellency. I won’t do any of that,” he said, blinking in a decidedly non-threatened manner. “…Can I go now?”
Long Feng waved his fingers dismissively, and as the professor stood and doddered away after making an awkward bow, leaving the cultural minister alone to steam with his bread.
It appeared that the imbecile knew how to feign ignorance. Long Feng seriously considered summoning the Dai Li and sending the pedant on a one-way trip to Lake Laogai. However, he dismissed the thought a few minutes later when one of his agents arrived with a message.
It appeared that the first pairs had just returned from their mission, and laden with a cartload of gifts for the young monarch-and not a moment too soon, Long Feng mused as he nodded to the officer.
“Tell them to bring the items to the antechamber. I will join them shortly.” As the officer turned to go, Long Feng gave into temptation.
“Oh, and … if you see Professor Zei along the way, see that he gets a tour of the inside of the nearest broom closet.”
***
The Earth King’s fidgeting had ceased being charming five minutes ago.
“Where is Professor Zei?” he asked as he tapped his nails against the arm of his throne. “I want him to see your gifts too, Long Feng.”
“Majesty please,” Long Feng gently admonished as slid a hand beneath Kuei’s restless fingers. “You will destroy your manicure. As for the professor, he said that he was a little … tied up at the moment. He sends his regrets.”
“He’s probably just annoyed that you dragged me out of my morning lessons for this,” the Earth King muttered, jerking his hand out of Long Feng’s grip. “What exactly are you giving me anyway, Long Feng? You’ve been so secretive about it.”
“And with good reason, majesty. I’ve brought you the world-or rather, curiosities from its four nations,” the Grand Secretariat gestured dramatically at the small cart resting below the stairs leading up to the throne.
Kuei slid up from his slouch at the mention of ‘curiosities.’ “OK, now I’m curious,” he admitted.
“I should hope so, seeing as they’re curiosities. Let’s get started,” Long Feng removed the green cloth from the top of the cart and reached inside, withdrawing the first item.
The young Earth King blinked rapidly and pushed his spectacles up his nose. “Is that a flower pot?”
“But not just any flower pot. This one comes from Gaoling, a city in the south of your majesty’s vast kingdom.” Long Feng smiled bravely.
Kuei leaned his chin against his palm, his expression nonplussed. “Funny. It looks exactly like the flower pots in the palace.”
The Grand Secretariat tried not to laugh uncomfortably. “Well, if your Majesty will notice, the design on this pot-”
“Is boring. Because I’ve seen it before.” Kuei folded his arms disapprovingly.
“Of course. Forget the pot.” Long Feng tossed it back into the cart and searched for another item. In the next ten minutes he withdrew parasols, silk robes, jars of fried dough, plates, cups, a variety of musical instruments and tangles of what appeared to be brightly-colored string.
With each reveal, Kuei’s expression soured. “Like I said earlier, Long Feng, this is boring. Why are you wasting my time?”
The Grand Secretariat sucked in a long breath and chose his words carefully. “I - wouldn’t call learning about the world a waste of time, Majesty.”
“Learning about the world, or learning about a bunch of stuff - including garbage - that I could have seen in the palace,” the Earth King said tartly as he stood from his throne. “I’m going to my lesson now. If you really want to collect trash, they should be throwing out the leavings from breakfast now.”
It was all Long Feng could do to bow politely as the Earth King exited with his retinue. And when the throne room was empty save all but him, the two Dai Li and the echoes of the monarch’s retreat, he turned to face the agents.
“I told you to bring the Earth King items of interest. I don’t recall giving you leave to sort through the gutters of Ba Sing Se.”
One officer bowed deeply. “With all due respect, sir, we went to Gaoling to -”
“The point being, you didn’t search hard enough.”
“Sir, you had told us to bring back common items.”
“Which do not include silk robes, golden platters and an assortment of garbage,” Long Feng said, plucking up one of the tangles of string and shaking it distastefully. “Apparently, my order to return with such curiosities as stones, animals and flower pots filled with actual flowers was too difficult for you to remember.” Long Feng waved them away and turned to leave. “Dispose of this, and then report to my office. You will file paperwork for the remainder of the month.”
The Dai Li agents bowed in respect as their leader stormed from the room, his delicately groomed eyebrows knotted in rage that he was having increasing difficulty in suppressing. When they were alone, the first agent turned to the second.
“Chang’s an idiot, but he was right. Definitely obsessed.”
The weather shifted slowly into summer heat, and the Earth King’s lessons on dead cultures and fantastical libraries continued, as did his demands to attend the university. And as the Earth King glared and pouted and continued to shut Long Feng from his suites, the Dai Li dragged cart after cart of miscellany through the palatial halls. At times, the Earth King seemed genuinely impressed with some of their efforts: a striped lily that differed from those in his hanging gardens, or a stone that, when bisected, revealed a hollow of phosphorescent crystals. But like most teenagers, he soon grew bored of these toys, even as he grew increasingly fond of his tutor - despite Zei’s attempts to discourage any such non-academic interest. The Dai Li’s reports now said that the scholar pulled away as if stung by a spiderfly whenever the young man sat too close or “accidentally” grazed his knuckles with his fingertips.
It was small comfort, but these days, Long Feng found he had to take comfort where he could now that it seemed the Earth King appeared to be falling out of love with him.
Of course, the Grand Secretariat did not like thinking of the situation in terms of love, or the falling in or out thereof. It felt entirely too emotional, too romantic, not to mention completely unpredictable. He hated unpredictability. Indeed, his dislike for the uncontrollable had led him, in part, to seduce the boy on his 17th birthday. The closer he could be to the Earth King, after all, Long Feng reasoned, the more control he would have over the Earth King, for who had more authority over another’s every move than a lover-particularly a lover who possessed the authority of age, experience and prestige? Besides, it was hardly a chore to bed an attractive young man; and from the curve of his insteps to his soft, black hair, Kuei was an attractive young man, indeed. A work of art. Just thinking of his long fingers, the press of his eager, and still inexperienced lips -
Long Feng hated accidents. And yet, one such accident had happened. In the past six months he had invariably, inexplicably fallen out of lust with the young monarch and into something far more damaging. Worse, he only realized the situation when it was long out of his control.
Somewhere on the way the silly creature had fallen in love with him, and Long Feng had fallen in love right back, and to his considerable detriment. The realization struck the Grand Secretariat with the force of a stone gauntlet as he read over the day’s report, grinding his teeth at the mention of Kuei’s shameless flirtation. And with the realization, a course of action presented itself - one that Long Feng reasoned he should have taken the day Professor Zei arrived.
He would dispose of the pedant the same way he had anyone else who threatened his power. Long Feng was debating the merits of drowning and strangulation when the door to his office opened.
Long Feng swiveled around abruptly, his arm raised to earthbend the trespasser from his sight. “How dare you enter unannounced?”
The Dai Li officer bowed. “Sorry, sir. But I just thought you should see this.”
“What you thought does not matter, officer. You are severely lacking in deference, respect and basic manners,” Long Feng pushed his hands into his sleeves gracefully. Now, what is so important that it requires your barging into my domain?”
“My apologies, sir. But your orders said we were to notify you as soon as we had located another wagon of gifts for the Earth King.”
“Trinkets.” Long Feng scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “I thought I told you that I wanted no more of your inappropriate findings. Each time I have asked, you have disappointed me terribly.”
“With all due respect, sir, this one won’t. Disappoint.”
“Well, what is it, then? A spectacularly chipped tea cup from the lower ring? Another turtledove for his Majesty’s already burgeoning flock?”
“Better, sir.”
“Don’t tell me. You’ve brought him a plate of fried dough from the mysterious village of Chin! Or another pair of embroidered slippers to match the five hundred he already owns!”
The Dai Li flinched. The other officers weren’t exaggerating when they whispered that Long Feng needed to get laid. “Actually … can we bring it in, sir?”
“Oh, why not,” Long Feng grumbled, turning his back on the officer in disgust. “It’s not as though I’m actually doing anything.”
The Grand Secretariat stared into the phosphorescence of his hearth as three Dai Li dragged in what sounded to him like a very large crate. At first, Long Feng thought it was probably just another common animal like a boarcupine or another smelly gorillagoat - though one wearing a ridiculous little hat to advertise it as ‘special.’ But the little grunts and roars coming from behind the slats eventually aroused his curiosity.
“What is it?” Long Feng bent low to peer through a knothole.
“Um … the thing is, sir, we’re not exactly sure. The closest we can guess is that it’s half of an animal … only that’s impossible.”
“Half of an animal?” Long Feng rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Though doubtlessly rude, you were right about one thing, officer. My interest is piqued.” Standing, Long Feng pushed his hands back into his sleeves. “Open the crate.”
“But sir, we’re not really sure if-”
“Yes, thank you. I will be the judge of whether or not it is a safe and suitable gift for the Earth King. And how do you expect me to do that when I cannot see through the wood?”
“Sorry, sir.” The Dai Li bowed apologetically. He and his compatriots then made short work of the crate’s lid. When they had removed it, Long Feng approached the box slowly; hands outstretched to fend off any attack, he peered down.
The three Dai Li stood silently as their leader’s expression changed from the look of perpetual annoyance he had lately worn to one of shock, then amusement, and finally a knife-sharp grin. They had seen that look before; it was one of triumph.
“Gentlemen, my congratulations. It seems you are slightly less useless than I had thought,” Long Feng ran a fingernail over the crate’s edge, smiling. “This gift is more than suitable, it is perfect. Yes. Perfect in every way.”
A low sound, almost like a growl, came from the darkness inside the box.
***
“What do you want, Long Feng?”
The Earth King was tired, bleary-eyed and cranky, but so far he wasn’t objecting as Long Feng led him through the palace’s silent corridors. The Grand Secretariat hated dragging the poor boy out of his bed at midnight, but at this point he didn’t particularly relish the prospect of begging him to leave one of his rival’s so-called lectures, either.
Besides, Kuei was lovely when groggy and in need of a hand to guide him. The smell of the lotus and earth perfume combed nightly into his dark, unbraided hair was intoxicating. It took all of Long Feng’s resolve to keep his fingers away.
“Why, I want nothing but your happiness, majesty.”
“And that’s why you woke me up at-” the Earth King yawned. “What time is it, anyway?”
“Majesty, I know this is unusual, but please trust me. I have a gift for you?”
Kuei groaned. “Another one?”
“I admit my past efforts to charm you have been somewhat lacking.”
The Earth King gave him a withering look.
“But this one is much better. I promise.”
“It had better be.” But Kuei offered no resistance as his advisor steered him through an archway and into one of the palace’s many outdoor gardens-this one commonly known as the night garden because of its delectable nocturnal blooms. The smell of epiphyllum and night-blooming jasmine perfumed the gentle breeze, which stirred Kuei’s dressing gown around his slippers and blew a strand of his hair across Long Feng’s chin. The stars seemed to go on forever; indeed, the Grand Secretariat could easily understand why the first Earth King had called himself Master of the Stars and Moon.
The night garden’s center typically boasted an ornate marble fountain where water arced gracefully as an earthdancer’s ribbons, made white from the stone’s touch. Earlier that afternoon, Long Feng had leveled the structure. In its place now stood a marble dais upon which he had ordered the Dai Li to place the golden cage that now held Kuei’s present. At the sound of their footsteps, the creature inside growled softly and flopped onto its side to look at them.
“What is it? What-” Kuei’s voice, petulant until only minutes ago, now quavered, low and excited. Hands in his sleeves, Long Feng watched at a distance as the young monarch crept forward to examine the small bundle of dark fur and shiny eyes.
The night garden was illuminated with a single phosphorescent crystal-a rare type, found only in the ravines near Lake Laogai. Unlike its celadon cousins, it gave off a soft, silvery light reminiscent of the moon’s glow. Long Feng had seen fit to position the crystal just above the cage to give the Earth King the best view possible of the strange animal behind the gilded bars.
The creature was small and covered in fur as dark as the Earth King’s long hair. It had padded paws, rounded haunches and sharp little teeth that it now gnashed as it grawwled plaintively for food. However, the Dai Li had been correct when he called it half an animal, though not in the way Long Feng had feared.
“He’s beautiful,” the Earth King murmured, squatting to better observe the animal’s rising and falling breath. “But, what is it?”
That innocent, questioning look made Long Feng’s palms sweat. Still, he did not permit his voice to tremble as he replied. “According to the scholarship I could find, it is called a bear.”
“Alligatorbear?”
“No, majesty.”
“Leopardbear?”
Long Feng shook his head.
“Giraffebear!”
“Well, now you’re just being silly,” Long Feng smiled indulgently. “No, your majesty. He is just a bear. A very rare creature, native only, it would seem, to the mountains near Omashu, a city in the south of your majesty’s-”
“Yes, I know where Omashu is!” Kuei said impatiently. “Uncle Bumi lives there.”
Long Feng coughed. “I would hardly call him your uncle, majesty. He is more like a distant cousin. A very distant cousin.”
“He told me to call him Uncle Bumi.” Kuei shrugged and bent down again to look at the bear, who yawned and peered at his new master with sleepy black eyes. “Aww, he’s so cute. I want to play with him!”
“Well, I hardly think that-” But the Earth King was already down on hands and knees, his long fingers lifting the ornate latch on the beast’s cage.
“Come on, little guy. Don’t be afraid!”
The cub started and stumbled backwards as Kuei opened the cage door. But the boy had a way with animals, as Long Feng well knew. Indeed, he had seen Kuei charm sparrowkeets, wolfbats and turtleseals as if they were nothing but simple household pets. They were attracted, the Grand Secretariat reasoned, to the boy’s gentle and patient nature: rather than grab the animals or beat them into obedience, the Earth King would always sit close by and wait-placidly, but at attention-for the animal to come to him. Even the fiercest eventually bent their heads or showed their bellies.
Or ran bellowing full-tilt into the boy’s arms with open paws. Before the excited cub could nip or swipe at the Earth King, Long Feng raised his index finger and flicked a pebble into its nose.
“Why did you do that?” Kuei cried as the cub reeled and whimpered, raising a paw to rub at the pain.
“He was over-excited, and liable to injure you in his excitement. He must realize his own strength.”
“Don’t be silly, Long Feng. He’d never hurt me. Would you? Would youuuuu?” The bear whined happily as Kuei held out his arms again. Soon enough, the Earth King was laughing and hugging the bear tightly as it licked his face.
In the shadows beyond the single shining crystal, Long Feng folded his arms across his chest and smirked. Zei’s days as favorite were definitely numbered.
He gasped and tumbled backwards into the lily pond as the Earth King pounced on him. As Long Feng sputtered and rose from the black depths, his braid and robes dripping, he realized Kuei was laughing at him.
“Your majesty, what - what is the meaning of this?”
“Sorry, I’m-haha!-sorry, Long Feng!” The Earth King giggled, wiping at his nose with a dripping sleeve. “I-heheee-I was t-trying to hug you, and I guess I didn’t realize my own strength!” Shutting his eyes, Kuei howled with laughter and smoothed two locks of wet black hair from his face. At the pond’s edge, the bear cub whined and sniffed at the water before lowering his head to drink.
“Majesty, this is most undignified!” Long Feng stammered, a hot feeling spreading through his cheeks. Kuei just kept laughing, making no attempt to extricate himself from the pond; his pale green robes fluttered around him like the corolla of some great moonflower, opening and swirling on the currents of Long Feng’s struggles. And slowly, the Grand Secretariat realized.
“You were trying to hug me?”
Retrieving his spectacles from a nearby lily pad, the boy nodded.
“But-” Long Feng swallowed. “Majesty, do not think me ungrateful, but I had thought you were angry at me.”
“I still am,” Kuei insisted, though with less vehemence than Long Feng had lately become used to. “You’re still controlling and rude. And giving me a bear-even if he is the most adorable little bear in the wooorld, yes-”here he patted the cub on the head. “Yes, who’s a cute little Bosco? Even that doesn’t change anything.”
“Then … why …?”
“Because you gave me a bear,” Kuei said simply. “And you brought me all the way out here at night to do it. Not in front of the Dai Li, or the court, or Professor Zei. But just for me. You’re jealous of him, aren’t you?”
The heat on Long Feng’s cheeks intensified. “Absolutely not,” he said, crossing his arms and turning his head away. “I just think he’s an idiot, that’s all.”
“You are jealous,” the Earth King insisted. The swishing of water and soaked silk told Long Feng he was drawing closer-close enough, in fact, for Long Feng to feel his breath against his hot neck.
“Come on, Long Feng. Tell me.”
“I-am concerned with the interest he has shown in you, majesty. Yes,” Long Feng admitted after several attempts. “And-in the interest you have shown him.”
“I knew it,” Kuei chuckled. “Long Feng, I’m not in love with Professor Zei. He’s really smart, and I like his stories, but he’s nothing like you. And it just annoyed me that you wouldn’t see that.”
“Then, you mean to tell me, that all of these weeks-”
“I was just waiting for you to admit it. Long Feng, really. Did you think anyone else would ever be my favorite?”
“But-your staring, the way he-”
“Well, he does have a nice smile,” Kuei admitted. “But if you saw any of that, it was all in your head.”
Long Feng slumped against the pond’s marble side. In the beds of pale flowers beyond, the cicadas were chirping hotly; somewhere, the bear was rummaging for food. He did not speak for several minutes.
The Earth King smiled thinly and lightly caressed his lover’s temples. “I meant it when I said I wanted to go to the university, though. I want to be a good king to my people, and I want to learn everything about the four nations that I can.”
Three nations, Long Feng thought. But he had no time to dwell on the irony, or his guilt. Kuei’s hand was moving lower, down his shoulder and his side.
“But I understand,” the Earth King continued. “You’re worried about me getting hurt if I leave-and about me falling in love with someone else.”
Long Feng could not think fast enough to stop his eyebrows from rising involuntarily. So that had been the problem all along? The boy thought this was merely a question of territorialism? “The thought had crossed my mind, majesty,” he said, bowing his head in shame.
“I thought so. And the fact you wouldn’t trust me-” Kuei shook his head. “That really hurt, Long Feng.”
“My apologies, majesty. You are right. I should have been more honest.”
When he raised his head, the friendly smile he had missed had returned to the youth’s face.
“Well, alright,” the Earth King said. “Only don’t let it happen again.” And chuckling, he pressed his thumb into his favorite’s nose. “There. That’s for not knowing your own strength.”
Long Feng laughed, feeling truly relieved and happy for the first time since the gangly pedant had darkened the palace’s halls with his shuffling. “Now, majesty, as pleasant as is this conversation and company, might we not retire to some more dignified location?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Not yet?” Long Feng asked as the Earth King stepped away from him and lowered his long hands beneath the water.
“Poor Long Feng,” Kuei whispered. “You’ve been so cranky and upset these past few weeks. Your Dai Li look at you like you’re going to beat them every time you walk into a room.”
“You certainly don’t miss much, majesty,” Long Feng couldn’t help but chuckle.
“But I think you’re missing someone-or something.”
“Someone yes, but something?”
“Look again.” And with an elegant move of his fingers, Kuei slid the robe from his chest. His tanned flesh glistened with water drops in the moonlight.
Long Feng swallowed again. “Oh. Well. Yes. But-your Majesty, here?”
“Not dignified enough for you?” Kuei gracefully stepped from his robe; as the water parted before him, Long Feng caught tantalizing glimpses of other parts-Kuei’s hips, his firm belly, the tangle of dark hair beneath.
“I-I think dignity is well beyond my concern now,” Long Feng admitted as the youth eased himself onto his lap. “But…if we are discovered…” His hands were already snaking down Kuei’s back, feeling the softness of young skin, the little gooseprickles.
“Don’t you think the risk of getting caught is half the challenge?”
Long Feng opened his mouth to agree, but found instead that it had closed upon the Earth King’s. The youth moaned and moved against him slowly, his fingers tangling in the top of his lover’s braid; it seemed to Long Feng that he, too, had been lonely. The Grand Secretariat broke the kiss just long enough to move his lips to the youth’s long neck-and to the locus that, when caressed, never failed to excite his lover.
Kuei did not disappoint. As Long Feng kissed, he arched his chest forward and his head back, his long, wet hair spreading out behind him like a fan.
“Long Feng,” he whimpered.
They made love twice that night, the lilies drifting in and out of their congress. They were awkward the first time-gangly and starved limbs grabbing for each other, scratching, leaving contusions, the sight of which would make the King’s personal servants blush for days. When Kuei moaned and cried out, Long Feng silenced him with a kiss, even as he designed his caresses and thrusts to make the boy wail even louder. The second time was calmer; having reacquainted then sated themselves, the two could now enjoy the familiarity of bodies-the softness of hair, the friction of skin against skin that felt just as elemental and basic as water, as breathing.
When they eventually pulled themselves from the pond and retired to the King’s suites, Kuei fell asleep first, tired from his exertions and content to lie in Long Feng’s arms, his face turned into the crook of his neck as if seeking more kisses there. Long Feng, however, could not drift off so readily. The scent of Kuei’s hair, the darkness of the room, the faint curl of incense from the shrine-his loins may have been satiated, but his senses were still starving. And his mind was still tinkering.
He was in love with the young man. Likely, he would always be. And just as likely, this love would be his undoing. But tonight, the moon was high in the cherry trees and Kuei’s body was warm, and his heavy breaths were a step away from snores. Beneath the silk sheets, his legs firmly entwined with Kuei’s, Long Feng decided that, for tonight, it did not matter.
He didn’t even mind the bear cub dozing just as deeply on top of his hip.
***
This time when Long Feng summoned Professor Zei before him, he allowed the pedant to take as much steamed bread as he wanted. He even poured him tea upon request, all the while smiling pleasantly. He waited until the professor was done with his repast before speaking.
“Professor Zei. I am sorry, but the Earth King has instructed me to tell you that he no longer needs or desires your services.” Expressionlessly, Long Feng poured another cup of leechi tea and passed it to him.
Zei looked as if he’d been burned. “But, your Excellency I don’t understand. “I did everything you asked. I never let the Earth King get too close, and I never, ever flirted with him!”
Long Feng remained expressionless as he watched the professor’s little stammering tirade. “I never said he was dismissing you because of any impropriety. Please try to control yourself. Merely that he is no longer interested in your services.”
“I just don’t understand,” Zei said, staring down at his hands. “Long Feng. Your Excellency. Can I at least speak to the Earth King about this?”
Long Feng did nothing to suppress his laughter. “Do you actually think the Earth King has the time to satisfy the whims of his every unhappy subject with an explanation?”
“He had enough time to take lessons from me for six weeks!”
“Need I remind you to whom you are speaking? Kindly keep your voice down.”
Zei’s face was so angry, and his fists shaking so hard at his sides that Long Feng briefly wondered if the mealy professor would strike him-and thus allow him the pleasure of sending the man away and breaking his nose. However, the fit soon passed, leaving the academic to stare bleakly into his teacup once again.
“But he seemed to really enjoy our lessons,” Zei said pitifully. Abruptly, his eyes widened. “You put him up to this, didn’t you?”
Long Feng snorted. “I know you are upset, professor, but there is no need to resort to ugly insinuation. The Earth King is not dismissing you out of any dissatisfaction with your teaching ability. Quite the contrary; he thinks it is you who are unhappy with him.”
“Unhappy with-?” Zei shook his head. “Fifty-two is the brightest, most curious student I have ever taught, Excellency. I could never be unhappy with him.”
“Still, he does think that you speak overmuch of Wan Shi Tong’s library.”
“But he likes that! He’s always asking me questions about it!”
Long Feng placidly held up his hand, signaling the man to stop chattering. “And he quite understandably shares your enthusiasm. That is why he is commissioning you to discover the Library and bring him back a full report on its collection.”
Zei’s eyes widened in apparent surprise. His lips kept trying to form words, but no sound would come out. “E-excuse me?” he said at last.
The Grand Secretariat smiled wanly as he placed a large silk sack of gold coins upon the tea table. “He wishes you to discover Wan Shi Tong’s Library and to bring him back a full report on its collection,” he repeated. “To this effect, he has awarded you an unlimited salary, for howsoever long your search takes. When your funding runs low, you need merely write him to that effect, and he will replenish your funds promptly.”
Zei practically drooled as he opened the sack’s embroidered neck.
Long Feng folded his arms into his sleeves. “There. Are you satisfied now, professor?”
“Completely!” Zei cried. “Why-this makes all the difference! When may I leave on this search?”
“The sooner, the better.” Long Feng shrugged.
Laughing, Zei grabbed up the sack without even bothering to finish his breakfast. “Then I’ll go at once! Ooh-but, Excellency! May I say goodbye to the Earth King first? Or at least thank him for his generosity?”
“As I said, professor, the Earth King is a very busy man. And though I would have it otherwise, he is exceedingly fond of you. Were you to ‘pop in’ before leaving, I imagine he would be distressed to see you go.”
“Yes, I quite understand. That’s probably why he sent you to tell me the happy news.”
“Indeed.” Sometimes, tricking supposedly intelligent people was the hardest part of Long Feng’s job. Sometimes, however, they made doing so all too easy for him.
“Then I’ll pack my things and leave this morning.” Zei stopped in the doorway to bow. “Thank you, your Excellency. And please, thank His Majesty for me too. This is really very generous of him.”
“Oh, I’ll be sure to.” And as Zei departed, Long Feng found it in him to wave politely.
It wasn’t as though he truly wished the archaeologist any ill, Long Feng reasoned as he sipped his tea. It was all very well that Kuei did not truly love Zei, and that Zei’s feelings were mutual-at least as far as he could tell. No. In the end an emotion far more insidious than love was at play: respect.
Zei wanted to give Kuei the world, and the world was the one thing the most powerful young man on the continent could not be allowed to have.
In the future, Long Feng decided he would have to be more careful when picking a tutor for his beloved. Infinitely more careful.
***
“Gone to find the Library of Wan Shi Tong?”
“That’s what he told me.”
The Earth King frowned. “But we were supposed to study the Western Air Temple today! How could he forget?”
“Apparently he received the letter from the University this morning. It would seem that the deans of the school no longer think engineering is so important that a few coins can’t be spared to discover a lost library.”
“He didn’t even say goodbye …”
“No, he didn’t. Though in his defense, Majesty, Zei probably meant no impoliteness; most likely, his excitement simply … got the better of him.”
“I guess so,” the Earth King sighed. “I don’t blame him, Long Feng. If I had the chance to leave the palace to go looking for such a great treasure I … I suppose I would have forgotten to say goodbye to me, too.” As if sensing his master’s distress, Bosco lumbered to his side, plopped down and licked at the back of Kuei’s hand. The Earth King scratched his head absently.
Long Feng waited a moment before speaking. “You may not blame him, but you’re unhappy with the arrangement, aren’t you?”
“Yes! I listened to all those - those stupid stories about that stupid place. And it probably doesn’t even exist, but I liked it just as much as he does! He could have at least told me…” Kuei removed his spectacles and rubbed his thumbs into his eyes. “I am not going to cry over stupid Professor Zei and the stupid University of Ba Sing Se.”
“I think that is wise, majesty,” Long Feng sat next to his lover and gently looped an arm around his waist. “I mean … if I may speak freely?”
The Earth King sniffled and rubbed his nose across the sleeve of his dark green, casual robe. “Of course. Go on.”
“Well, it seems to me that if they can brush off a good student like you so carelessly, they aren’t worth knowing.”
“Yeah,” Kuei’s lips twitched in an attempt at a smile. “If they treat the Earth King like this, what do they do to their students?”
“Exactly my thoughts, Majesty.”
“Long Feng? Do you really think I was a good student?”
The Earth King looked so small, so uncertain that Long Feng could not help but kiss him. “I have never met a more curious and deserving mind.”
Kuei shoved him playfully. “You’re just saying that because I sleep with you.”
“I don’t lie,” Long Feng insisted. “If I did, I wouldn’t offer you the services of a new tutor to cheer you up.”
“I’m listening. But it better not be someone else from that stupid university.”
Long Feng rose and bowed deeply before his lover. “Fifty-two, may I humbly present the services of Long Feng, Cultural Minister and Grand Secretariat to Ba Sing Se?”
“You?!”
“Don’t laugh, Majesty! It takes a lot of education to do my job.”
“Well, I know that, but what do you know about anything else?”
Long Feng placed his hand over his heart, gasping loudly. “Why, majesty! You shame me! I will have you know that I once visited the Eastern Air Temple!”
“Western.”
“That too. And many other interesting places.”
“Now you’re just trying to cheer me up.”
“You seem to think I am teasing you? Very well. I propose the following: one free lesson on a subject of your choice. If I meet your undoubtedly high standards, then I get to stay on as your tutor.”
“And if you fail?” Kuei was grinning now.
Long Feng leaned down, close enough to Kuei’s face to kiss him again. “You may punish your lying advisor by tickling him all over with your beautiful, clever fingers.”
“He really hates that.”
Long Feng grinned as well. “You know all too well that he does.”
“Very well. I’ll take that bet,” Kuei said, right before he kissed him.
Afterward notes: Thanks to weyrdchic for pretty much writing the scene with Bosco. :)
Unrivaled
Author: Chaser (aka iroh_fancier, beta'd by the wonderful weyrdchic
Pairings: Long Feng/Earth King Kuei, Professor Zei/Earth King Kuei (implied . Sort of. … you’ll see)
Prompt: #16. invincible; unrivaled
Summary: Long Feng takes a disliking to the Earth King’s new tutor.
Rating: PG-13/mild R for a little dirty language, and one brief sex scene. This is KueiFeng, after all ;).Oh, and Kuei is 17, which makes him underage in some countries...and apparently real in Australia.
Word Count: 9,150
Prompt Count: 2/30
Professor Zei of Ba Sing Se University was an insufferable bore with all the charm and social grace of a wet pile of parchment, and even less to recommend him. He seemed incapable of talking about anything but ancient civilizations, cute fuzzy animals and the twenty-two different ways the palace food did not agree with his digestion. He was dry as a thigh bone, fiercely pedantic, and prone to saying ‘oopsie’ more than any (apparently) grown man had a right to.
Long Feng was certain that the Earth King was in love with him. And equally certain that if his young lover mentioned how “awesome” his tutor was just one more time, he would kill the annoying pedant by force feeding him no less than fifty of the hallucinogenic Si Wong Desert cactuses he was always whining about, and sucks to his digestion. Every day he regretted not only inviting the damn fool to teach the monarch, but the fact that he had to listen to the blather that passed for their daily sessions.
After all, if Zei wasn’t capable of giving a lecture that could pass for mildly interesting, how could Long Feng trust him not to mention such inconvenient truths as the Fire Nation-instigated world war, or, for that matter, the extinction of the professor’s precious Air Nomads? Even though he had warned Zei in the sternest and clearest terms possible to stick to the (far distant) past and not trouble Kuei with the present (or the last 100 years) … well, if the man was incapable of talking for five minutes without stumbling into a digression, Long Feng certainly didn’t trust him to follow simple orders.
So, he had no choice but to stifle yawn after yawn as Zei droned on and on about what appeared to be his favorite subject: a boring and probably non-existent library run by a giant owl.
“It has six cupolas and three minarets!” Zei enthused, pushing the map of the so-called spirit library onto the Earth King’s lap. “And it’s said to contain more than a million books!”
Kuei, of course, was fascinated. “Wait… what do you mean ‘it’s said to?’ Haven’t people actually visited it and seen for themselves?”
“Well, yes, but that was a very long time ago,” Professor Zei explained. “Right now, nobody really knows where it is. It’s been lost.”
The Earth King tilted his head, puzzled. “How do you lose a library that big?”
“Well, my theory is that the Great Knowledge Spirit moved it … or maybe it’s just been covered up by the sands of the Si Wong Desert.”
“Really? And nobody’s looking for it?”
Zei frowned. “I’d like to, believe me, Majesty. But the deans at the University … well …” he rubbed the back of his head. “They think there are more important things to do with our money. Like political science classes, or engineering. Yes,” he sighed. “They really love their engineers.”
“I’m sure I can’t imagine why,” Long Feng said coldly.
Kuei shot his favorite a disapproving look before turning his attention back to his teacher. “I’m sorry to hear that, Zei. That’s terrible. People don’t show books and knowledge the respect they deserve anymore. If I were one of those deans, I’d hear you out.”
“I - I quite agree, Majesty. And thank you,” a blush spread across the professor’s cheeks. Long Feng wanted to slap him.
“You said something on this map was a minaret? What’s a minaret?” Kuei tilted his head for a better view.
“These towers here,” Zei gently tapped the map. “Nobody knows for sure, but we think that’s where Wan Shi Tong keeps his cookbooks.”
“Wow,” Kuei whispered. Long Feng felt like slamming his forehead against something. “And are these little domes - what did you call them?”
“Cupolas, majesty,” Zei chirped. “Do you see the big one over the door? My research indicates that it contains the world’s largest mosaic -made entirely from tiles formed from used book paper and shaped into the countenance of a giant owl.”
Long Feng snorted.
The teenaged King frowned and pushed his spectacles up his nose. “Long Feng, do you mind? I’m trying to learn.”
“And I wouldn’t mind if you were learning,” Long Feng said as politely as he could. “Professor Zei, I know that staying on topic gives you the vapors, but please do try.”
The professor’s blush was so strong, Long Feng reasoned that refugees in the Lower Ring were probably now feeling the residual embarrassment. “Yes, of course, your Excellency,” he said, bowing to Long Feng. “Forgive me, your majesty. I forgot myself. Your advisor is correct; we should be discussing the history of the Western Air Temple.”
“No, that’s alright, Professor. I’d much rather hear about Wan Shi Tong’s Library.” Kuei glared at his lover-or gave him what Long Feng considered a Kuei-glare, which involved pursing his lips and shaking his head in a very no-nonsense way that made him look both impossibly old and impossibly cute. “Please continue?”
“Ummm …” Zei looked back and forth between the scowling Earth King and his equally displeased advisor. At last, Long Feng sighed and waved his hand dismissively. There were just some matters in which the Earth King would get his way by virtue of being the Earth King, whether or not getting his way was a good thing.
With a self-satisfied smile, Kuei turned back to his abashed teacher. “I’m sorry about that, Professor Zei. Now, is it known if Wan Shi Tong’s library has any books about bears?”
***
Long Feng had hoped that a long afternoon walk in the hanging garden and an evening meal of chili-basted chicken and sticky rice and would put his young lover in a better humor. But when he entered the imperial suites that night, Kuei - who was seated on his favorite divan - looked up, frowned and turned away from his advisor before continuing to read his book. Bend his neck though he would, Long Feng could not quite make out the title.
“What are you reading,” he asked, his tone conversational, as if he had just breezed into the room after a typical day of signing papers and torturing dissidents. Not that Kuei knew anything about the latter, of course. When Kuei didn’t answer, Long Feng crossed the room and gently rested his hands on the King’s thin shoulders. “It looks interesting,” he mused as he rubbed them. That always seemed to get Kuei in the mood.
But instead of shivering and relaxing under his ministrations, the Earth King grunted and pulled away. “None of your business.”
“You’re angry at me,” Long Feng observed.
This had the desired effect. Kuei put by the book (which bore the decidedly uncontroversial title A Brief History of Earth King 35, Long Feng observed with relief) before turning on his lover. “Why do you have to be so mean to Professor Zei?”
“With all due respect, your Majesty, because Professor Zei is a constipated idiot.”
Kuei folded his arms in annoyance. “For your information, he’s incredibly smart and well-traveled. Not constipated at all.”
“Do you even know what that word means?”
“Maybe I would, if you ever taught me anything!”
“I’ve taught you lots of things!” Long Feng protested. And to prove it, he counted them off on his fingers: “Calligraphy. Painting. Tea-brewing.”
“How to - to suck on your - prick!”
Long Feng blinked. “Well, I certainly didn’t teach you to swear. I’d have made sure you had more finesse at it.”
Kuei rolled his eyes, an act which made him look more like a typical teenager than a dignified Earth King. “Right. You just taught me the sex part. Which is so much better. For you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Long Feng snorted. “You love our intimacies as much as I do. Or do you mean to tell me were feigning all of that moaning last night?”
Kuei’s cheeks colored. “I don’t know anything about the world or its people other than what Professor Zei has taught me. Do you think that’s good for an Earth King?”
“I think it is no different from any Earth King who has ever lived.” Long Feng returned his hands to Kuei’s shoulders and moved his palms in wide, gentle circles as he continued to speak. “You are simply too busy to concern yourself with the world and its petty problems.”
“I attend feasts, watch operas and hold parties for boring old lords. Occasionally, I stamp a few pieces of legislation or tell my advisers that I want to build a new park,” Kuei said bitterly, though he made no attempt to pull away this time.
“You inspire your people, and you give them hope. That’s a pretty big job for anyone, even an Earth King.”
Kuei shook his head. “But it’s not enough. How can I help my people if I don’t know anything about them? When I haven’t learned who they are or what they need.” He stepped away from Long Feng’s hands and turned to face him. “I’m sick of spending all my time in the palace. I want to get out and see the world. I want,” and for some reason, time seemed to slow down for Long Feng as his lover said the next words:
“I want to go to the university.”
***
He would not pace. No matter what happened, Long Feng told himself he wouldn’t pace. So Kuei said he wanted to go to the University of Ba Sing Se. A lot of young men his age wanted to learn new things. Only, a lot of young men his age weren’t the Earth King. And Long Feng’s job-and possibly his continued freedom-was not dependant upon whether or not they attended dull lectures on equally dull civilizations that probably fell to pieces because of their dullness, or developed schoolboy pashes on the dull professors who delivered those lectures.
Long Feng kicked over a stool. He would not pace. Dammit, he would not.
On his fifth trip around his office, Long Feng summoned his Dai Li. They arrived like shadows before he could complete his sixth. By the time they had assembled, he had formulated a plan.
His back to the green phosphorescent flames in room’s hearth, Long Feng folded his arms behind his back and turned to face the thirty agents he had called to his chambers.
Of course, most university-bound young men didn’t have guardians with a league of highly-trained peace keepers at their disposal, either.
“Gentlemen,” Long Feng said smoothly. “I have summoned you here today because we are facing an unusual situation. The Earth King would like to attend the university.”
To a man, the Dai Li were silent, save for one. Somewhere in the back row, an idiot was snickering. Long Feng well knew his type; the Earth King’s court was full of them. Indeed, he expected that all organizations were plagued by at least one.
“The Earth King is troubled because he doesn’t know what the word ‘constipated’ means.” The Dai Li who Long Feng now regretted ever letting into his service snorted and his muffled snickers got louder. Without blinking Long Feng raised his arm. Seconds later the laughter degraded into cries of pain as the agent’s stone gauntlets detached themselves from his hands and began slapping him across the face.
“Does anyone else find this matter amusing?” Long Feng asked after letting the lesson sink in for a moment. The Dai Li-at least the good ones-never said much, but their commander could hear the click of each man’s vertebrae as he straightened.
“The Earth King is young, and like all young people he is curious, even though his curiosity inconveniences his position and ours. Still, youth is an inconvenience that must be managed even when it befalls an Earth King. Since Fifty-Two wants to see the world so badly, we will bring it to him. Tonight I will dispatch you in groups of two to the city’s gates. You will travel where you will, and return in seven days with the most interesting things you can find. They need not be rare or costly. In fact, the Earth King will likely prefer them if they are commonplace-or if they are animals.” The gods knew why, but Kuei seemed to adore them, the uglier, stupider and slobbery-er, the better. “Indeed, I think a menagerie would do much to take his mind off leaving the palace for the university. Are there any questions?”
Of course, the moron in the back row raised his hand. Long Feng answered by making the man’s gloves cuff him a few more times before he returned them to his hands. “Well, in that case, you are dismissed.”
After the Dai Li had filed out of Long Feng’s office and when he was sure that their master could not overhear them, the offending officer tapped his nearest comrade on the shoulder.
“Is it just me, or do you think Long Feng’s obsession with this little brat is getting out of hand?” he asked, rubbing one red and slightly swollen cheek and wincing.
***
Although Long Feng typically had the time-and the tenacity-to observe the Earth King and his tutor during their daily lessons, his several duties prevented him from chaperoning his young lover at all times. Typically, Long Feng had not seen this as a problem, until Kuei began insisting on spending more and more time alone with the scholar. Long Feng also caught him surreptitiously gandering at the pedant from over the tops of books and from behind the palace’s many arcades as the pedant bustled past, his arms laden with various tomes and parchments that the Grand Secretariat had approved.
At first, Long Feng had attempted to dissolve the schoolboy crush by becoming more amorous. Only, Kuei seemed completely disinterested. If he nuzzled his lover’s neck while brushing his hair, Kuei elbowed him away, angrily insisting that now wasn’t the time. If he casually tried to embrace him, Kuei slapped his hands away with equal vehemence.
Long Feng was a patient man. If nothing else, 13 years of controlling Ba Sing Se had taught him the art of waiting for gratification. But his patience snapped like a birch twig on the first night Kuei locked him out of the royal suites.
“Maybe when you let me go to the university, I’ll consider letting you back in,” the young monarch said with a shrug before slamming the door.
After that, Long Feng ordered two of his agents to follow the Earth King at all times-and particularly when he was in the presence of the dusty academic. Although he was usually content with a general report, he now demanded that the officers record the King’s encounters with his teacher down to the most minute detail-each look that passed between them, each gesture, no matter how small and inconsequential it appeared. When the Dai Li submitted scrolls filled with more of Kuei’s gandering and the young King’s hand furtively brushing his mentor’s, Long Feng demolished no less than three vases before he drank a cup of sweet rice wine. When he read that the two spoke of nothing besides the giant owl’s gods-damned library, he drank another. A week later, when he had steeled himself to report after report of shameless flirtations, he summoned the pedant to join him for breakfast. As he suspected, the man arrived in his stained cotton robes that had been buttoned as if by a sleepwalker. Long Feng didn’t even try to hide his disgust as he gestured to the cushion across from him. Zei sat down looking somewhat uncomfortable. Well, Long Feng thought as he sipped his jasmine tea, good.
“Professor Zei,” Long Feng elegantly replaced his cup on the end table. “I am not a man who enjoys evasions and secrecy, so I will come right to the point. The Earth King wants to attend the university.”
“Er … well, yes. He did mention that a few times,” Zei admitted, with his typical dopey expression - half smile, half bewilderment.
“Indeed. And I expect that you told him that such a thing is impossible?”
To the Grand Secretariat’s delight, the professor shifted uneasily in his seat. “Well …” he started, looking to the left as if expecting to find a suitable response hiding beneath the windowsill. “I know that it isn’t usual, or proper, or maybe even a good idea. The Earth King shouldn’t leave the palace. But, well … he is the Earth King, right? I guess he can do anything he wants, really.”
Long Feng loved it when his opponents not only walked into his traps, but insisted upon springing them personally. “Zei, I will be candid with you: Your relationship with the Earth King is inappropriate.”
The pedant blinked and tilted his head in apparent confusion. “I’m not sure I understand, Your Excellency. I’ve stayed away from any mention of the Air Nomads’ fate and, er, the topic of the-recent unpleasantness overseas.” Licking his lips he reached for a piece of steamed bread.
Long Feng delicately slapped his hand away from the dish. “Yes. Thank you so very much for pointing that out. I’m not referring to your lectures, Zei-or whatever foolery about unusually sized birds you think passes for a lecture. I mean your behavior.”
“My … behavior.” Zei rubbed the back of his hand and stared blankly at Grand Secretariat, who struggled with the urge to slowly crush his skull beneath a large boulder. He settled instead for delicately folding his hands on top of his knee.
Long Feng kept his tone conversational, though far too soft and measured to be polite. “You may think that I am not present when you are alone with him, but I am closer than you imagine. I see you. I see what you do. Every touch, every lingering, hungry look when you think no one will be the wiser. The Earth King is a young man of noble birth who will one day marry a young woman of noble birth. As his advisor and his guardian, I would hate for anything-or anyone-to interfere with that eventuality. And I would not hesitate to make the life of anyone who did interfere exceedingly difficult.”
Zei’s gulp was audible.
“Since you seem incapable of comprehending anything that does not involve unusually large owl spirits, I will make this exceedingly simple.” Long Feng leaned forward, his lips curling into a tight smile. “You will not touch the Earth King’s hand. You will not touch the Earth King’s neck. You will not touch the Earth King at all. And you will certainly not whisper to him or even stare at him over your notebook. You are His Majesty’s tutor, and hundreds of other professors would be eager to fulfill your duties, should you become incapable of performing them. And if you so much as step an inch too close to the Earth King, I will see to it that you cannot.”
Throughout the Grand Secretariat’s speech, Zei had stared at him with an expression that reminded Long Feng of a particularly stupid koi. When he sat back, indicating that he was finished, the professor rubbed at his throat anxiously. “Um … OK, your Excellency. I won’t do any of that,” he said, blinking in a decidedly non-threatened manner. “…Can I go now?”
Long Feng waved his fingers dismissively, and as the professor stood and doddered away after making an awkward bow, leaving the cultural minister alone to steam with his bread.
It appeared that the imbecile knew how to feign ignorance. Long Feng seriously considered summoning the Dai Li and sending the pedant on a one-way trip to Lake Laogai. However, he dismissed the thought a few minutes later when one of his agents arrived with a message.
It appeared that the first pairs had just returned from their mission, and laden with a cartload of gifts for the young monarch-and not a moment too soon, Long Feng mused as he nodded to the officer.
“Tell them to bring the items to the antechamber. I will join them shortly.” As the officer turned to go, Long Feng gave into temptation.
“Oh, and … if you see Professor Zei along the way, see that he gets a tour of the inside of the nearest broom closet.”
***
The Earth King’s fidgeting had ceased being charming five minutes ago.
“Where is Professor Zei?” he asked as he tapped his nails against the arm of his throne. “I want him to see your gifts too, Long Feng.”
“Majesty please,” Long Feng gently admonished as slid a hand beneath Kuei’s restless fingers. “You will destroy your manicure. As for the professor, he said that he was a little … tied up at the moment. He sends his regrets.”
“He’s probably just annoyed that you dragged me out of my morning lessons for this,” the Earth King muttered, jerking his hand out of Long Feng’s grip. “What exactly are you giving me anyway, Long Feng? You’ve been so secretive about it.”
“And with good reason, majesty. I’ve brought you the world-or rather, curiosities from its four nations,” the Grand Secretariat gestured dramatically at the small cart resting below the stairs leading up to the throne.
Kuei slid up from his slouch at the mention of ‘curiosities.’ “OK, now I’m curious,” he admitted.
“I should hope so, seeing as they’re curiosities. Let’s get started,” Long Feng removed the green cloth from the top of the cart and reached inside, withdrawing the first item.
The young Earth King blinked rapidly and pushed his spectacles up his nose. “Is that a flower pot?”
“But not just any flower pot. This one comes from Gaoling, a city in the south of your majesty’s vast kingdom.” Long Feng smiled bravely.
Kuei leaned his chin against his palm, his expression nonplussed. “Funny. It looks exactly like the flower pots in the palace.”
The Grand Secretariat tried not to laugh uncomfortably. “Well, if your Majesty will notice, the design on this pot-”
“Is boring. Because I’ve seen it before.” Kuei folded his arms disapprovingly.
“Of course. Forget the pot.” Long Feng tossed it back into the cart and searched for another item. In the next ten minutes he withdrew parasols, silk robes, jars of fried dough, plates, cups, a variety of musical instruments and tangles of what appeared to be brightly-colored string.
With each reveal, Kuei’s expression soured. “Like I said earlier, Long Feng, this is boring. Why are you wasting my time?”
The Grand Secretariat sucked in a long breath and chose his words carefully. “I - wouldn’t call learning about the world a waste of time, Majesty.”
“Learning about the world, or learning about a bunch of stuff - including garbage - that I could have seen in the palace,” the Earth King said tartly as he stood from his throne. “I’m going to my lesson now. If you really want to collect trash, they should be throwing out the leavings from breakfast now.”
It was all Long Feng could do to bow politely as the Earth King exited with his retinue. And when the throne room was empty save all but him, the two Dai Li and the echoes of the monarch’s retreat, he turned to face the agents.
“I told you to bring the Earth King items of interest. I don’t recall giving you leave to sort through the gutters of Ba Sing Se.”
One officer bowed deeply. “With all due respect, sir, we went to Gaoling to -”
“The point being, you didn’t search hard enough.”
“Sir, you had told us to bring back common items.”
“Which do not include silk robes, golden platters and an assortment of garbage,” Long Feng said, plucking up one of the tangles of string and shaking it distastefully. “Apparently, my order to return with such curiosities as stones, animals and flower pots filled with actual flowers was too difficult for you to remember.” Long Feng waved them away and turned to leave. “Dispose of this, and then report to my office. You will file paperwork for the remainder of the month.”
The Dai Li agents bowed in respect as their leader stormed from the room, his delicately groomed eyebrows knotted in rage that he was having increasing difficulty in suppressing. When they were alone, the first agent turned to the second.
“Chang’s an idiot, but he was right. Definitely obsessed.”
The weather shifted slowly into summer heat, and the Earth King’s lessons on dead cultures and fantastical libraries continued, as did his demands to attend the university. And as the Earth King glared and pouted and continued to shut Long Feng from his suites, the Dai Li dragged cart after cart of miscellany through the palatial halls. At times, the Earth King seemed genuinely impressed with some of their efforts: a striped lily that differed from those in his hanging gardens, or a stone that, when bisected, revealed a hollow of phosphorescent crystals. But like most teenagers, he soon grew bored of these toys, even as he grew increasingly fond of his tutor - despite Zei’s attempts to discourage any such non-academic interest. The Dai Li’s reports now said that the scholar pulled away as if stung by a spiderfly whenever the young man sat too close or “accidentally” grazed his knuckles with his fingertips.
It was small comfort, but these days, Long Feng found he had to take comfort where he could now that it seemed the Earth King appeared to be falling out of love with him.
Of course, the Grand Secretariat did not like thinking of the situation in terms of love, or the falling in or out thereof. It felt entirely too emotional, too romantic, not to mention completely unpredictable. He hated unpredictability. Indeed, his dislike for the uncontrollable had led him, in part, to seduce the boy on his 17th birthday. The closer he could be to the Earth King, after all, Long Feng reasoned, the more control he would have over the Earth King, for who had more authority over another’s every move than a lover-particularly a lover who possessed the authority of age, experience and prestige? Besides, it was hardly a chore to bed an attractive young man; and from the curve of his insteps to his soft, black hair, Kuei was an attractive young man, indeed. A work of art. Just thinking of his long fingers, the press of his eager, and still inexperienced lips -
Long Feng hated accidents. And yet, one such accident had happened. In the past six months he had invariably, inexplicably fallen out of lust with the young monarch and into something far more damaging. Worse, he only realized the situation when it was long out of his control.
Somewhere on the way the silly creature had fallen in love with him, and Long Feng had fallen in love right back, and to his considerable detriment. The realization struck the Grand Secretariat with the force of a stone gauntlet as he read over the day’s report, grinding his teeth at the mention of Kuei’s shameless flirtation. And with the realization, a course of action presented itself - one that Long Feng reasoned he should have taken the day Professor Zei arrived.
He would dispose of the pedant the same way he had anyone else who threatened his power. Long Feng was debating the merits of drowning and strangulation when the door to his office opened.
Long Feng swiveled around abruptly, his arm raised to earthbend the trespasser from his sight. “How dare you enter unannounced?”
The Dai Li officer bowed. “Sorry, sir. But I just thought you should see this.”
“What you thought does not matter, officer. You are severely lacking in deference, respect and basic manners,” Long Feng pushed his hands into his sleeves gracefully. Now, what is so important that it requires your barging into my domain?”
“My apologies, sir. But your orders said we were to notify you as soon as we had located another wagon of gifts for the Earth King.”
“Trinkets.” Long Feng scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “I thought I told you that I wanted no more of your inappropriate findings. Each time I have asked, you have disappointed me terribly.”
“With all due respect, sir, this one won’t. Disappoint.”
“Well, what is it, then? A spectacularly chipped tea cup from the lower ring? Another turtledove for his Majesty’s already burgeoning flock?”
“Better, sir.”
“Don’t tell me. You’ve brought him a plate of fried dough from the mysterious village of Chin! Or another pair of embroidered slippers to match the five hundred he already owns!”
The Dai Li flinched. The other officers weren’t exaggerating when they whispered that Long Feng needed to get laid. “Actually … can we bring it in, sir?”
“Oh, why not,” Long Feng grumbled, turning his back on the officer in disgust. “It’s not as though I’m actually doing anything.”
The Grand Secretariat stared into the phosphorescence of his hearth as three Dai Li dragged in what sounded to him like a very large crate. At first, Long Feng thought it was probably just another common animal like a boarcupine or another smelly gorillagoat - though one wearing a ridiculous little hat to advertise it as ‘special.’ But the little grunts and roars coming from behind the slats eventually aroused his curiosity.
“What is it?” Long Feng bent low to peer through a knothole.
“Um … the thing is, sir, we’re not exactly sure. The closest we can guess is that it’s half of an animal … only that’s impossible.”
“Half of an animal?” Long Feng rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Though doubtlessly rude, you were right about one thing, officer. My interest is piqued.” Standing, Long Feng pushed his hands back into his sleeves. “Open the crate.”
“But sir, we’re not really sure if-”
“Yes, thank you. I will be the judge of whether or not it is a safe and suitable gift for the Earth King. And how do you expect me to do that when I cannot see through the wood?”
“Sorry, sir.” The Dai Li bowed apologetically. He and his compatriots then made short work of the crate’s lid. When they had removed it, Long Feng approached the box slowly; hands outstretched to fend off any attack, he peered down.
The three Dai Li stood silently as their leader’s expression changed from the look of perpetual annoyance he had lately worn to one of shock, then amusement, and finally a knife-sharp grin. They had seen that look before; it was one of triumph.
“Gentlemen, my congratulations. It seems you are slightly less useless than I had thought,” Long Feng ran a fingernail over the crate’s edge, smiling. “This gift is more than suitable, it is perfect. Yes. Perfect in every way.”
A low sound, almost like a growl, came from the darkness inside the box.
***
“What do you want, Long Feng?”
The Earth King was tired, bleary-eyed and cranky, but so far he wasn’t objecting as Long Feng led him through the palace’s silent corridors. The Grand Secretariat hated dragging the poor boy out of his bed at midnight, but at this point he didn’t particularly relish the prospect of begging him to leave one of his rival’s so-called lectures, either.
Besides, Kuei was lovely when groggy and in need of a hand to guide him. The smell of the lotus and earth perfume combed nightly into his dark, unbraided hair was intoxicating. It took all of Long Feng’s resolve to keep his fingers away.
“Why, I want nothing but your happiness, majesty.”
“And that’s why you woke me up at-” the Earth King yawned. “What time is it, anyway?”
“Majesty, I know this is unusual, but please trust me. I have a gift for you?”
Kuei groaned. “Another one?”
“I admit my past efforts to charm you have been somewhat lacking.”
The Earth King gave him a withering look.
“But this one is much better. I promise.”
“It had better be.” But Kuei offered no resistance as his advisor steered him through an archway and into one of the palace’s many outdoor gardens-this one commonly known as the night garden because of its delectable nocturnal blooms. The smell of epiphyllum and night-blooming jasmine perfumed the gentle breeze, which stirred Kuei’s dressing gown around his slippers and blew a strand of his hair across Long Feng’s chin. The stars seemed to go on forever; indeed, the Grand Secretariat could easily understand why the first Earth King had called himself Master of the Stars and Moon.
The night garden’s center typically boasted an ornate marble fountain where water arced gracefully as an earthdancer’s ribbons, made white from the stone’s touch. Earlier that afternoon, Long Feng had leveled the structure. In its place now stood a marble dais upon which he had ordered the Dai Li to place the golden cage that now held Kuei’s present. At the sound of their footsteps, the creature inside growled softly and flopped onto its side to look at them.
“What is it? What-” Kuei’s voice, petulant until only minutes ago, now quavered, low and excited. Hands in his sleeves, Long Feng watched at a distance as the young monarch crept forward to examine the small bundle of dark fur and shiny eyes.
The night garden was illuminated with a single phosphorescent crystal-a rare type, found only in the ravines near Lake Laogai. Unlike its celadon cousins, it gave off a soft, silvery light reminiscent of the moon’s glow. Long Feng had seen fit to position the crystal just above the cage to give the Earth King the best view possible of the strange animal behind the gilded bars.
The creature was small and covered in fur as dark as the Earth King’s long hair. It had padded paws, rounded haunches and sharp little teeth that it now gnashed as it grawwled plaintively for food. However, the Dai Li had been correct when he called it half an animal, though not in the way Long Feng had feared.
“He’s beautiful,” the Earth King murmured, squatting to better observe the animal’s rising and falling breath. “But, what is it?”
That innocent, questioning look made Long Feng’s palms sweat. Still, he did not permit his voice to tremble as he replied. “According to the scholarship I could find, it is called a bear.”
“Alligatorbear?”
“No, majesty.”
“Leopardbear?”
Long Feng shook his head.
“Giraffebear!”
“Well, now you’re just being silly,” Long Feng smiled indulgently. “No, your majesty. He is just a bear. A very rare creature, native only, it would seem, to the mountains near Omashu, a city in the south of your majesty’s-”
“Yes, I know where Omashu is!” Kuei said impatiently. “Uncle Bumi lives there.”
Long Feng coughed. “I would hardly call him your uncle, majesty. He is more like a distant cousin. A very distant cousin.”
“He told me to call him Uncle Bumi.” Kuei shrugged and bent down again to look at the bear, who yawned and peered at his new master with sleepy black eyes. “Aww, he’s so cute. I want to play with him!”
“Well, I hardly think that-” But the Earth King was already down on hands and knees, his long fingers lifting the ornate latch on the beast’s cage.
“Come on, little guy. Don’t be afraid!”
The cub started and stumbled backwards as Kuei opened the cage door. But the boy had a way with animals, as Long Feng well knew. Indeed, he had seen Kuei charm sparrowkeets, wolfbats and turtleseals as if they were nothing but simple household pets. They were attracted, the Grand Secretariat reasoned, to the boy’s gentle and patient nature: rather than grab the animals or beat them into obedience, the Earth King would always sit close by and wait-placidly, but at attention-for the animal to come to him. Even the fiercest eventually bent their heads or showed their bellies.
Or ran bellowing full-tilt into the boy’s arms with open paws. Before the excited cub could nip or swipe at the Earth King, Long Feng raised his index finger and flicked a pebble into its nose.
“Why did you do that?” Kuei cried as the cub reeled and whimpered, raising a paw to rub at the pain.
“He was over-excited, and liable to injure you in his excitement. He must realize his own strength.”
“Don’t be silly, Long Feng. He’d never hurt me. Would you? Would youuuuu?” The bear whined happily as Kuei held out his arms again. Soon enough, the Earth King was laughing and hugging the bear tightly as it licked his face.
In the shadows beyond the single shining crystal, Long Feng folded his arms across his chest and smirked. Zei’s days as favorite were definitely numbered.
He gasped and tumbled backwards into the lily pond as the Earth King pounced on him. As Long Feng sputtered and rose from the black depths, his braid and robes dripping, he realized Kuei was laughing at him.
“Your majesty, what - what is the meaning of this?”
“Sorry, I’m-haha!-sorry, Long Feng!” The Earth King giggled, wiping at his nose with a dripping sleeve. “I-heheee-I was t-trying to hug you, and I guess I didn’t realize my own strength!” Shutting his eyes, Kuei howled with laughter and smoothed two locks of wet black hair from his face. At the pond’s edge, the bear cub whined and sniffed at the water before lowering his head to drink.
“Majesty, this is most undignified!” Long Feng stammered, a hot feeling spreading through his cheeks. Kuei just kept laughing, making no attempt to extricate himself from the pond; his pale green robes fluttered around him like the corolla of some great moonflower, opening and swirling on the currents of Long Feng’s struggles. And slowly, the Grand Secretariat realized.
“You were trying to hug me?”
Retrieving his spectacles from a nearby lily pad, the boy nodded.
“But-” Long Feng swallowed. “Majesty, do not think me ungrateful, but I had thought you were angry at me.”
“I still am,” Kuei insisted, though with less vehemence than Long Feng had lately become used to. “You’re still controlling and rude. And giving me a bear-even if he is the most adorable little bear in the wooorld, yes-”here he patted the cub on the head. “Yes, who’s a cute little Bosco? Even that doesn’t change anything.”
“Then … why …?”
“Because you gave me a bear,” Kuei said simply. “And you brought me all the way out here at night to do it. Not in front of the Dai Li, or the court, or Professor Zei. But just for me. You’re jealous of him, aren’t you?”
The heat on Long Feng’s cheeks intensified. “Absolutely not,” he said, crossing his arms and turning his head away. “I just think he’s an idiot, that’s all.”
“You are jealous,” the Earth King insisted. The swishing of water and soaked silk told Long Feng he was drawing closer-close enough, in fact, for Long Feng to feel his breath against his hot neck.
“Come on, Long Feng. Tell me.”
“I-am concerned with the interest he has shown in you, majesty. Yes,” Long Feng admitted after several attempts. “And-in the interest you have shown him.”
“I knew it,” Kuei chuckled. “Long Feng, I’m not in love with Professor Zei. He’s really smart, and I like his stories, but he’s nothing like you. And it just annoyed me that you wouldn’t see that.”
“Then, you mean to tell me, that all of these weeks-”
“I was just waiting for you to admit it. Long Feng, really. Did you think anyone else would ever be my favorite?”
“But-your staring, the way he-”
“Well, he does have a nice smile,” Kuei admitted. “But if you saw any of that, it was all in your head.”
Long Feng slumped against the pond’s marble side. In the beds of pale flowers beyond, the cicadas were chirping hotly; somewhere, the bear was rummaging for food. He did not speak for several minutes.
The Earth King smiled thinly and lightly caressed his lover’s temples. “I meant it when I said I wanted to go to the university, though. I want to be a good king to my people, and I want to learn everything about the four nations that I can.”
Three nations, Long Feng thought. But he had no time to dwell on the irony, or his guilt. Kuei’s hand was moving lower, down his shoulder and his side.
“But I understand,” the Earth King continued. “You’re worried about me getting hurt if I leave-and about me falling in love with someone else.”
Long Feng could not think fast enough to stop his eyebrows from rising involuntarily. So that had been the problem all along? The boy thought this was merely a question of territorialism? “The thought had crossed my mind, majesty,” he said, bowing his head in shame.
“I thought so. And the fact you wouldn’t trust me-” Kuei shook his head. “That really hurt, Long Feng.”
“My apologies, majesty. You are right. I should have been more honest.”
When he raised his head, the friendly smile he had missed had returned to the youth’s face.
“Well, alright,” the Earth King said. “Only don’t let it happen again.” And chuckling, he pressed his thumb into his favorite’s nose. “There. That’s for not knowing your own strength.”
Long Feng laughed, feeling truly relieved and happy for the first time since the gangly pedant had darkened the palace’s halls with his shuffling. “Now, majesty, as pleasant as is this conversation and company, might we not retire to some more dignified location?”
“No. Not yet.”
“Not yet?” Long Feng asked as the Earth King stepped away from him and lowered his long hands beneath the water.
“Poor Long Feng,” Kuei whispered. “You’ve been so cranky and upset these past few weeks. Your Dai Li look at you like you’re going to beat them every time you walk into a room.”
“You certainly don’t miss much, majesty,” Long Feng couldn’t help but chuckle.
“But I think you’re missing someone-or something.”
“Someone yes, but something?”
“Look again.” And with an elegant move of his fingers, Kuei slid the robe from his chest. His tanned flesh glistened with water drops in the moonlight.
Long Feng swallowed again. “Oh. Well. Yes. But-your Majesty, here?”
“Not dignified enough for you?” Kuei gracefully stepped from his robe; as the water parted before him, Long Feng caught tantalizing glimpses of other parts-Kuei’s hips, his firm belly, the tangle of dark hair beneath.
“I-I think dignity is well beyond my concern now,” Long Feng admitted as the youth eased himself onto his lap. “But…if we are discovered…” His hands were already snaking down Kuei’s back, feeling the softness of young skin, the little gooseprickles.
“Don’t you think the risk of getting caught is half the challenge?”
Long Feng opened his mouth to agree, but found instead that it had closed upon the Earth King’s. The youth moaned and moved against him slowly, his fingers tangling in the top of his lover’s braid; it seemed to Long Feng that he, too, had been lonely. The Grand Secretariat broke the kiss just long enough to move his lips to the youth’s long neck-and to the locus that, when caressed, never failed to excite his lover.
Kuei did not disappoint. As Long Feng kissed, he arched his chest forward and his head back, his long, wet hair spreading out behind him like a fan.
“Long Feng,” he whimpered.
They made love twice that night, the lilies drifting in and out of their congress. They were awkward the first time-gangly and starved limbs grabbing for each other, scratching, leaving contusions, the sight of which would make the King’s personal servants blush for days. When Kuei moaned and cried out, Long Feng silenced him with a kiss, even as he designed his caresses and thrusts to make the boy wail even louder. The second time was calmer; having reacquainted then sated themselves, the two could now enjoy the familiarity of bodies-the softness of hair, the friction of skin against skin that felt just as elemental and basic as water, as breathing.
When they eventually pulled themselves from the pond and retired to the King’s suites, Kuei fell asleep first, tired from his exertions and content to lie in Long Feng’s arms, his face turned into the crook of his neck as if seeking more kisses there. Long Feng, however, could not drift off so readily. The scent of Kuei’s hair, the darkness of the room, the faint curl of incense from the shrine-his loins may have been satiated, but his senses were still starving. And his mind was still tinkering.
He was in love with the young man. Likely, he would always be. And just as likely, this love would be his undoing. But tonight, the moon was high in the cherry trees and Kuei’s body was warm, and his heavy breaths were a step away from snores. Beneath the silk sheets, his legs firmly entwined with Kuei’s, Long Feng decided that, for tonight, it did not matter.
He didn’t even mind the bear cub dozing just as deeply on top of his hip.
***
This time when Long Feng summoned Professor Zei before him, he allowed the pedant to take as much steamed bread as he wanted. He even poured him tea upon request, all the while smiling pleasantly. He waited until the professor was done with his repast before speaking.
“Professor Zei. I am sorry, but the Earth King has instructed me to tell you that he no longer needs or desires your services.” Expressionlessly, Long Feng poured another cup of leechi tea and passed it to him.
Zei looked as if he’d been burned. “But, your Excellency I don’t understand. “I did everything you asked. I never let the Earth King get too close, and I never, ever flirted with him!”
Long Feng remained expressionless as he watched the professor’s little stammering tirade. “I never said he was dismissing you because of any impropriety. Please try to control yourself. Merely that he is no longer interested in your services.”
“I just don’t understand,” Zei said, staring down at his hands. “Long Feng. Your Excellency. Can I at least speak to the Earth King about this?”
Long Feng did nothing to suppress his laughter. “Do you actually think the Earth King has the time to satisfy the whims of his every unhappy subject with an explanation?”
“He had enough time to take lessons from me for six weeks!”
“Need I remind you to whom you are speaking? Kindly keep your voice down.”
Zei’s face was so angry, and his fists shaking so hard at his sides that Long Feng briefly wondered if the mealy professor would strike him-and thus allow him the pleasure of sending the man away and breaking his nose. However, the fit soon passed, leaving the academic to stare bleakly into his teacup once again.
“But he seemed to really enjoy our lessons,” Zei said pitifully. Abruptly, his eyes widened. “You put him up to this, didn’t you?”
Long Feng snorted. “I know you are upset, professor, but there is no need to resort to ugly insinuation. The Earth King is not dismissing you out of any dissatisfaction with your teaching ability. Quite the contrary; he thinks it is you who are unhappy with him.”
“Unhappy with-?” Zei shook his head. “Fifty-two is the brightest, most curious student I have ever taught, Excellency. I could never be unhappy with him.”
“Still, he does think that you speak overmuch of Wan Shi Tong’s library.”
“But he likes that! He’s always asking me questions about it!”
Long Feng placidly held up his hand, signaling the man to stop chattering. “And he quite understandably shares your enthusiasm. That is why he is commissioning you to discover the Library and bring him back a full report on its collection.”
Zei’s eyes widened in apparent surprise. His lips kept trying to form words, but no sound would come out. “E-excuse me?” he said at last.
The Grand Secretariat smiled wanly as he placed a large silk sack of gold coins upon the tea table. “He wishes you to discover Wan Shi Tong’s Library and to bring him back a full report on its collection,” he repeated. “To this effect, he has awarded you an unlimited salary, for howsoever long your search takes. When your funding runs low, you need merely write him to that effect, and he will replenish your funds promptly.”
Zei practically drooled as he opened the sack’s embroidered neck.
Long Feng folded his arms into his sleeves. “There. Are you satisfied now, professor?”
“Completely!” Zei cried. “Why-this makes all the difference! When may I leave on this search?”
“The sooner, the better.” Long Feng shrugged.
Laughing, Zei grabbed up the sack without even bothering to finish his breakfast. “Then I’ll go at once! Ooh-but, Excellency! May I say goodbye to the Earth King first? Or at least thank him for his generosity?”
“As I said, professor, the Earth King is a very busy man. And though I would have it otherwise, he is exceedingly fond of you. Were you to ‘pop in’ before leaving, I imagine he would be distressed to see you go.”
“Yes, I quite understand. That’s probably why he sent you to tell me the happy news.”
“Indeed.” Sometimes, tricking supposedly intelligent people was the hardest part of Long Feng’s job. Sometimes, however, they made doing so all too easy for him.
“Then I’ll pack my things and leave this morning.” Zei stopped in the doorway to bow. “Thank you, your Excellency. And please, thank His Majesty for me too. This is really very generous of him.”
“Oh, I’ll be sure to.” And as Zei departed, Long Feng found it in him to wave politely.
It wasn’t as though he truly wished the archaeologist any ill, Long Feng reasoned as he sipped his tea. It was all very well that Kuei did not truly love Zei, and that Zei’s feelings were mutual-at least as far as he could tell. No. In the end an emotion far more insidious than love was at play: respect.
Zei wanted to give Kuei the world, and the world was the one thing the most powerful young man on the continent could not be allowed to have.
In the future, Long Feng decided he would have to be more careful when picking a tutor for his beloved. Infinitely more careful.
***
“Gone to find the Library of Wan Shi Tong?”
“That’s what he told me.”
The Earth King frowned. “But we were supposed to study the Western Air Temple today! How could he forget?”
“Apparently he received the letter from the University this morning. It would seem that the deans of the school no longer think engineering is so important that a few coins can’t be spared to discover a lost library.”
“He didn’t even say goodbye …”
“No, he didn’t. Though in his defense, Majesty, Zei probably meant no impoliteness; most likely, his excitement simply … got the better of him.”
“I guess so,” the Earth King sighed. “I don’t blame him, Long Feng. If I had the chance to leave the palace to go looking for such a great treasure I … I suppose I would have forgotten to say goodbye to me, too.” As if sensing his master’s distress, Bosco lumbered to his side, plopped down and licked at the back of Kuei’s hand. The Earth King scratched his head absently.
Long Feng waited a moment before speaking. “You may not blame him, but you’re unhappy with the arrangement, aren’t you?”
“Yes! I listened to all those - those stupid stories about that stupid place. And it probably doesn’t even exist, but I liked it just as much as he does! He could have at least told me…” Kuei removed his spectacles and rubbed his thumbs into his eyes. “I am not going to cry over stupid Professor Zei and the stupid University of Ba Sing Se.”
“I think that is wise, majesty,” Long Feng sat next to his lover and gently looped an arm around his waist. “I mean … if I may speak freely?”
The Earth King sniffled and rubbed his nose across the sleeve of his dark green, casual robe. “Of course. Go on.”
“Well, it seems to me that if they can brush off a good student like you so carelessly, they aren’t worth knowing.”
“Yeah,” Kuei’s lips twitched in an attempt at a smile. “If they treat the Earth King like this, what do they do to their students?”
“Exactly my thoughts, Majesty.”
“Long Feng? Do you really think I was a good student?”
The Earth King looked so small, so uncertain that Long Feng could not help but kiss him. “I have never met a more curious and deserving mind.”
Kuei shoved him playfully. “You’re just saying that because I sleep with you.”
“I don’t lie,” Long Feng insisted. “If I did, I wouldn’t offer you the services of a new tutor to cheer you up.”
“I’m listening. But it better not be someone else from that stupid university.”
Long Feng rose and bowed deeply before his lover. “Fifty-two, may I humbly present the services of Long Feng, Cultural Minister and Grand Secretariat to Ba Sing Se?”
“You?!”
“Don’t laugh, Majesty! It takes a lot of education to do my job.”
“Well, I know that, but what do you know about anything else?”
Long Feng placed his hand over his heart, gasping loudly. “Why, majesty! You shame me! I will have you know that I once visited the Eastern Air Temple!”
“Western.”
“That too. And many other interesting places.”
“Now you’re just trying to cheer me up.”
“You seem to think I am teasing you? Very well. I propose the following: one free lesson on a subject of your choice. If I meet your undoubtedly high standards, then I get to stay on as your tutor.”
“And if you fail?” Kuei was grinning now.
Long Feng leaned down, close enough to Kuei’s face to kiss him again. “You may punish your lying advisor by tickling him all over with your beautiful, clever fingers.”
“He really hates that.”
Long Feng grinned as well. “You know all too well that he does.”
“Very well. I’ll take that bet,” Kuei said, right before he kissed him.
Afterward notes: Thanks to weyrdchic for pretty much writing the scene with Bosco. :)