Chapter Text
Flowing silk and fleeting skirts, perfectly woven white shining gold within the reflection of light, jewels heavy on his skin, worked into garments, sewn into fabrics, crafted into beautiful jewelry now adorning his head and his arms, rings heavy on his fingers, it was as fascinating as it was irksome, it was too much and all at once, a moment anyone else within this country might have celebrated was just a dreadful task to him. Because he had heard the stories, a king so cold, it was a well-known tale, the story of princes within this kingdom and for sure everyone’s eyes had always been on the two in the lead, the crown prince and his half-brother, one born from the King’s loyal and beloved queen who passed away in child bed, the other from his second wife, outstanding beauty and never supposed to take such role, they were apart a few years and their characters couldn’t be more different.
And Zhengting knew. Because he had seen it all too often, or maybe just once, the younger prince, he was like a regular, stepping by the brothel of titled concubines, women and men more beautiful than gods depicted, faces shining and skin glowing, eyes sparkling and hair flowing, they were ethereal beings walking human grounds and no one ever denied them anything - just as much as they didn’t deny those who could afford to be with them. It was something the younger prince knew way too well and maybe for that reason he had never abused it, had never taken advantage of these people that were merely birds trapped in a beautiful cage, a cage so grande it wasn’t seen as such, dancing and jumping, chirping and singing, and anyone would fall for them but this one prince. He made them interested in anything but playing, talked to them about poems and science and literature and they all were hooked to the gentle and soft voice, quizzical looks directed at the guard always dressed in black behind, the little flash shaven into his hair at times making Zhengting smile because it nearly was too cute for someone following a profession that included killing more people than one liked since the second in line surely wasn’t a person not favored to be killed.
He was a fascinating person, the young prince, and any of the concubines within their own little castle would be more than just willing to spend even just a few hours in private with such pleasing persona but in the end he always went home on his own, with his friends still sitting and talking or long since gone with these immorally expensive whores of noble descent, sometimes he’d even offer one to his bodyguard, asking who it was he had taken interest in but to Zhengting who only ever could watch from aside it was all too obvious how that man never looked at anyone but his prince, not in interest or intrigue but merely with soft and gentle eyes as if his only wish was to make sure that such person stayed safe and wasn’t ever harmed. So it came to no surprise when this guard of unknown name never accepted the offer and turned him down with such gentle voice, saying it wasn’t necessary and he’d rather escort him home and maybe it was all that obvious to the prince as well for he never showed a hint of surprise but only smiled gently as if he had known before he turned on his heel and did as his sentry preferred.
But the older prince, the first in line, maybe he was all that more fascinating, showing up ever so seldomly Zhengting could count it on his one hand and it seemed like the entire opposite, a cold face, an icy stare, they didn’t call him a frozen king for no reason, but opening his mouth, it seemed all the more dreadful, because this man knew of his power and all the influence he held when his fingers lingered on an arm a second too long or when he acted helpful, tucking a strand of hair behind flushed ears as if it were merely a gesture of gentle helpfulness, saying gentle words and lines that would have been too much if only it weren’t for his straight face. It had always made the tension grow in intensity because everyone wanted to be the one chosen, wanted to be the one taken into a private room by the man who would become king in but a few year’s time and all of them ended up being turned down, ignored, because he knew how to play and how to make people weak only to then leave them hanging and all on their own because he had no interest in those that were shallow and bought, because those people would be the ones to betray him in exchange for money even if it meant betraying their own country and he knew or maybe he was just too afraid of exactly that to happen.
Zhengting had never been able to find out exactly that, whether his assumptions were right or not, because this man was too unreadable as compared to his younger brother, never predictable so he had still been busy analyzing such thing when serving drinks, placing glasses and cups, bottles of sweet liquor that was unique to this establishment, on the table, the tray tucked against his chest, his movements all that controlled when his thoughts had gone astray, but amidst all the years of analyzing people and being able to read them all that well, predicting actions and choices, never would he have expected a gentle caress of warm digits that suddenly grabbed his chin and yanked it upwards, his big brown eyes met with icy cold black orbs, penetrating and direct, making him hold his breath and his lip part when a stranger thumb so gently caressed his rosy petals and as if a whole lifespan had happened within a single second it seemed to be going on for too long until suddenly decisive words broke the silence not only between them but in all of the room, “I’ll take him. Dress him up and send him to the palace tomorrow. He’ll be mine.”
It was all he had been able to heard, looking as bright red and sparkling gold and black hair disappeared from right in front of his eyes and left the hall, seeming empty without the presence of a future king and all too intimidating with dozens of eyes directed into his direction now, low whispers arousing because what did a simple servant own that no titled concubine would ever be able to, because all of them had been ditched for someone like him who was but a bastard from an aristocratic woman who hadn’t dared throw him away entirely, because he was someone working in such place because it was the best he could ever get, because all of that seemed all too evident with his face known too well and his name recognized too easily when considering he had right now been turned into the most important toy within high-born hands.
It still felt too heavy on his body, the burden of white and cream and beige and gold. Gold, maybe it was the worst, a metal reserved to the royals, the king and his descents, it was too far off what he was used to be to be considered an honor, it was burdening, because from now on his every step was to be watched and it had already been, before the most attention he would have received was when serving drinks, always with his head kept low, only watching people from behind his messy bangs as he stood on the side, always around to get drinks and refreshments and snacks whenever it was asked of him, never one to be noticed, the whores had started to ignore him after telling him to grow out his hair because he was attracting attention, the owner had told him to not go out anymore after he had been sent on errands and came back with bruises one time, making it hard to send him to work and all because some drunkards early in the morning had mistaken him for a woman in their delirious state and dragged him into a dim small street where it ended up in a fight he was dominating due strength but not enough to not have a fist colliding with his face at least once or punches thrown against his ribs and sides and kicks against his legs because he wasn’t weak but neither was he a fighter.
So it felt odd now, seeing the sultry gazes of the maids that weren’t supposed to dress up a waiter of semi-noble birth, smelling the sickeningly sweet scent of water lilies because that was the scent the prince supposedly liked most, feeling the many fabrics of layers that felt suffocating and light at one because it were too many but each of them accumulated was still lighter than his daily wear, because his ears felt heavy and his head weighty with jewels covering up the metal in his ear that was but a reminder of his mistakes, markings of punishment, and golden crowns on his hair that they had brushed back, partly piercing into his skin as if to remind him that every coronet had its own weight, bore its own burden and all he could do was silently carry it from this day on.
Surprise after surprise, he really wasn’t ought to feel startled at this point anymore, or maybe because there were too many surprises in too little time, he wanted to name this the biggest after being chosen by the future king himself, hearing the doors slide open but unable to turn around with hands still busied on his frame, adjusting the last little detail, there was only a gentle voice greeting him, “I came to pick you up, brother.”
No need to turn around, no need to recognize a voice he hadn’t heard in years, no need to look at a face he knew vaguely would look like his even though he hadn’t looked into a mirror since years, out of shame, out of denial, because this life of a servant in the corner was pitiful and trying to dream of other things was but self-torture to someone who knew it wouldn’t ever change. What irony it was, that exactly that had happened, that he was able to turn around now in clothes he hadn’t dared touch even when he had had the chance to and it was all the more painful when looking at the girl that had been born from the same mother but experienced such different fate. Although that too seemed to be proven wrong, none of the exquisite silk he had expected, no flowery weavings in expensive fabric and no crystals and jewels adorning her features, it was the entire opposite, it was an armor and leather, was weapons strapped to toned thighs and a sword down her back, it was what he had been supposed to turn into if his mother hadn’t been down on her knees and begging to get her screaming baby a life in which he wouldn’t need to run into death despite times of peace because the life of a noble servant was still better than the life of a too soon dying soldier.
He was still taking it in, the sight of a sister he had never been allowed to call such, seeing her only on rare occasions when the brothel had celebrated events and all he had received was an inspecting gaze as if the girl would wonder whether this was truly her brother, someone so entirely different to her, but he had just silently taken it because silently bearing with everything that was his life had been all he had been able to do while releasing his anguish in physical pain of stretching limbs too far and blaming the tears in his eyes on the pain that was stretching his legs until they were flat on the ground and the day he had been able to do it, he had looked for something new that was an excuse to have a grimace in pain on those days that were bad.
“I didn’t know you had entered the royal guard…”
It was the first thing he said after a time too long in which he had been guided out of the aristocratic brothel the size of a small palace and to horses, some helpful hands lifting him up and the silent assertion that he wouldn’t need to do anything, it would just follow the black beauty that was his younger sister’s horse. He couldn’t assess how far they had already come as they rode down the forest that was the wall parting the brothel from the city and the city from the palace because in the midst of trees and leaves maybe assassins had it easier to jump around and approach but there was no army that would be able to run down greens like these and no single person that wouldn’t be noticed by the royal guards trained since youth. Which made it all the more startling, seeing his sister dressed in the deep purple of high ranks, the color that was exclusive to the tiers of the female fighters more deadly than the best skilled assassin.
“There is not much you can know in this little cage of yours,” she answered calmly, with hands reaching forward to pat her horse’s neck while ever so controlled guiding it through the paths beneath tree crowns that seemed to tell stories of freedom that a crown of golden flowers and leaves would never be able to tell. “My father sent me there. Said I should serve the country if I can’t serve the family. They found out I…” Now there was a small bitter smile on her beautiful features and for the first time Zhengting felt as if he might actually be close to Chengxiao in an odd and twisted way, in all the craze fate sometimes united people that weren’t supposed to be together by humane decision. “I can’t bear children so I’m useless to him the way you were after he found out what mother had done. And now I am here and assigned to be the guard of the prince’s only concubine. Isn’t it ironic?”
A family trait is what he should call it, the way they both saw the irony in it but privily he noted this as one more of the surprises these days, the fact that his sister, someone who had always been so far away from him, way out of reach, someone he could only look at a handful of times and wonder what it would be like to stand next to her, what if his mother’s husband had accepted him into the family and not been petty enough to kick out a baby just because it was from another man, what if he had been allowed to stay in that house, what if they had been closer, what ifs and what ifs and an eternal chain of them that he now pushed aside because fate had funny ways to work it out by making him the prince’s concubine after seconds of looking at each other and with his sister now closer to him than ever before because having her assigned as his guard was something he would never have imagined even in his most delirious and feverish states. “It is…” And this time it was him to wear a bitter smile, trying to look bright despite knowing he wasn’t able to and his sister must have seen but she also must be that much more gentle than he ever thought because she only gave him a little smile that showed her empathy before telling him to hold on and go with the rhythm as she hied on the horses to shorten the trip to their destination.
In the middle of the horse trotting and making his body jolt up and down until he learned to match the movements well, raise his hips in sync with the strong body beneath him, well knowing that at the end of the day it would leave his legs sore and that maybe it was the next activity he should pick up to cover up his bad days because sore legs were such a welcome excuse to wear a dark face, he came to the realization that this was like a dream and a fairy tale, that this was nothing that happened to a normal person and just for once he wanted to feel special while seeing the palace walls emerge from behind trees, but a little bridge crossing the river that was circling the royal grounds and the closer they came the more he wanted to drown in the thought of that maybe he was special after all, that maybe he was lucky after all these years, that maybe fate wanted to repay him after all these years. It must have been that or a prince that had gone mad in odd preferences and thus seeming just all the more intriguing to Zhengting who still hadn’t figured out this man entirely.
The palace, as he had to see that day, was way more grand than he had ever before expected it to be, past the gates it was still a bit of a ride to get to the areal that apparently was the prince’s living and now his too, fascinating in its own way as it was like a small town surrounded by mountains and woods on one side and forests and the capitol on the other side, truly fascinating in its own way but it was to be expected no other way considering how many noble families lived within these walls, those that were high enough in blood and rank to be close to the royal family like this, or those who had been ordered to live in the capital of the capital to become guards like Chengxiao, to become personal concubines like Zhengting, to become servants and toys for families who only wanted the best of the best, the most beautiful of the beautiful, most expensive of the expensive, most exquisite of the exquisite, and it was just another thing that was so utterly fascinating as he looked around, watched his surroundings, it seemed all too refined as compared to the peasants’ city, all too intimidating now that he was right in the middle of it and knowing he had to live within such area.
So it was all the more calming when they arrived at yet another building, spreading out flat meters and meters ahead, a small wall to declare the border of the housing, a pond with beautiful flowers blooming and the scent of water lilies surrounding him yet again, gentle and sweet, carried by the breeze, seeing the pond and the spring, it was as if the bit of water would be able to part him from all the other people, a way to sanctuarize a place that wasn’t his to be at and a thought he kept to himself as he followed his little sister still, needing help to get off the horse and, just the way he had expected, his legs felt sore, weak for a moment even as he steadied himself on the shoulder of a servant, smiling gently when there was no word of protest and way too soon he parted his hands from a stranger body to follow someone he would say was the secretary of some sort to this house, clothing too fine to be but a servant, yet it was unlike Zhengting to ask so he just wondered in his mind as he followed after the man, explanation after explanation and it was too soon that his head shut down and he just blindly followed, nodding his head at times and catching only the most important words.
Washing room. It was more like a hall as he judged when looking inside, a hot spring in the middle with water steaming up into the open air, no roof to keep the weather out as if it was a thrill on its own, basins at the sides with buckets as if to invite whoever entered to wash themselves quickly too and assumption was that only the prince himself was the one entering the spring, that guards and those servants granted permission just washed themselves off quickly. In a way it was as soothing as it was laughable how even there he could see water lilies blooming, as if the prince himself had an obsession with such flowers.
Kitchen. A place he hadn’t been allowed to enter but the smell alone… It made him willing to eat not because he needed it but just to be able to taste all these things he never had before, more than bland rice and vegetables and some fish or meat if it was an especially good day, more than just a serving big enough to not let him starve but never enough to entirely seem satisfactory until he had turned one of the servants in the brothel into his own little supplier who always snuck out things like apples or persimmons, always something he could quickly and sneakily eat before they were caught but enough to give him more energy before he’d turn any more scrawny.
Garden. And it was a beautiful garden, located more in the center of the whole area, a swing on a tree and beautiful flowers, the little spring that still had its water flowing near the edges of the building, inviting to jump over the little distance, wanting to run close to the nearest small bridge that was the stepping stone to little paths of pebbles and shards to run around as freely as one wanted, with lampignons on branches and grounds, surely illuminating the greens in beautiful sultry red when lighted and creating a mood on their own, the little pavilion whose pillars were overgrown with ivy and looking all too cozy, he wanted to just stare at it if not his little sister had gently placed her hand on his back and ushered him forward to where the secretary had already continued walking, surely more attentive, surely more used to it, surely reprimanding him even in the future to all the rules he had ignored right now as the elder kept talking and talking but it was just a flow of words entering one ear and leaving the other without ever staying stuck to his mind.
“...and this will be your room,” the old man finally ended his tour of showing around when having a servant slide open the door to a room that might be taller than any of the whore’s bedrooms he had seen before, sometimes needing to tidy up with the scent of sex and lust still within the room so he had needed to light candles to eradicate it all, make it look welcome and warm for the next customer to come because a servant with a bruise on his face was not a servant to be shown around. “You’ll see you have a bell around to ring if you need anything from any of the servants. In the morning the teacher will come to you to talk to you about formalities and rules of behavior and mannerism within the palace. You always will need to look presentable for the prince and thus you may not deny the maids when they tell you about your clothing or looks. You must always be within your room at night for the prince to know you are available because this is what you will need to do. Food and drinks will be served to you in the morning and evening, anything else you want to eat, to drink, or to do, you’ll need to forward to one of the servants around. If there is anything else you need my help with, you’ll know where to find me.”
A bow, ending the polite words, leaving Zhengting confused because no, he didn’t know where to find this man but as based on his half-sister’s expression he figured it must have been mentioned at least once, it just was that he had not been paying attention to such words. So all he could do was wait until the man had vanished around a corner before he turned to enter his rooms, eyes big as he looked around, looking in fascination at the biggest part, a small table and seats, for when he awaited visitors, when he needed to talk to people, with all the luxury one could expect, another area merely parted by a curtain, curtains everywhere, made of fabric that looked heavy to the eye but easily moved with the wind when it passed through, leading to a room, boxes and jewels and jewelry on gold, all placed on shelves, all too familiar, because he knew it was clothes, because he knew it would be his future everyday garment, because he wondered just when it all had been bought or whether it had been there since the beginning. Sultry red curtains parted again, a bed, so big, so grande, it must be four times or more the size of what he was used to, bigger than the brothel’s furniture, pillars of dark wood and adorned by rich burgundy to shut out any unwelcome gazes that no one needed for those times he knew the prince would come into his bed at night and leave before the sun had come up, so he quickly left, turning on his heels, leaving behind the exploration of his room that must have taken more time than he thought, too much time, and his escape was blocked when he slid open the door, not paying attention, not hearing Chengxiao’s warning beginning of cautionary words when he crashed into something, someone, as firm as stone and unmoving. Or it was unmoving until he felt an arm around his waist and a hand lifting his chin, making him show off his confused and startled expression to dark orbs that looked at him all too warm and all too cold, with a thumb caressing his lower lip, well knowing he would part it from its upper match by instinct and have roughened skin meet his hot breath, while words of amusement but oh so low greeted him, “If I had known you were that eager to meet me, I would have come around sooner, my beautiful pearl.”