Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

*~*~*

Founded by a rogue adventurer who had finally grown bored of fighting monsters and rescuing maidens, Yunmeng Jiang was a modest and well-respected kingdom. Full of rivers and lakes, its people were mostly known for their boating skills, their archery, and their penchant for disappearing for a few years only to come back home laden with treasure and unexplained magical abilities.

The royal family of Yunmeng Jiang had three children, a princess and two princes. The older prince, Wei Wuxian, had just turned eighteen, and as far as princes went, he was a pretty good one. He excelled at swordplay and monster slaying. He could dance, paint, and make maidens swoon with just a wink. His magical skills were renowned, and he was constantly inventing new spells.

Normally, the king and queen would have been very proud to have such a talented prince to their name. After all, like the people they ruled, the Jiang Clan was known for producing princes who performed impossible feats and heroic deeds. In fact, in Yunmeng, it was well agreed upon that a prince of Yunmeng couldn’t possibly ascend to the throne until he had rescued at least one princess (preferably the one he would later marry), killed a calamitous beast, or lifted at least one nationwide curse. Most impressively, Wei Wuxian had already defeated the infamous Tortoise of Slaughter.

The problem for the king and queen of Yunmeng Jiang, however, was that Wei Wuxian was technically adopted, and thus, he would never ascend to the throne while there was a trueborn heir. That honor was reserved for the younger Jiang Cheng, who everyone also agreed was just not as talented as his adopted brother.

Keeping an older and more talented brother around your favored heir was a recipe for disaster. At least two thirds of the Right Honorable Wicked Stepmothers’ Society and its various familial offshoots had backstories just like that. Even though Wei Wuxian loved his younger brother and spent most of his time carelessly goofing off, the King and Queen knew it was their responsibility to make sure all of their children were safe, even from each other. One simply couldn’t predict when a fairy godmother or an ill-timed prophecy might come into effect. Better just not to risk it.

Thus, her majesty, Madam Yu, had an inspired idea. If they married Wei Wuxian into another far away kingdom, not only could they strengthen their potential relations, but they could also make sure that Wei Wuxian would no longer be in a position to possibly betray his younger brother, whether by ambition, enchantment, or any other mundane or magical method.

His majesty, Jiang Fengmian, did not like the idea of sending his beloved ward away, but he also thought that Wei Wuxian’s future would be a lot more secure the moment the prince married. For all that he was such a talented prince, Wei Wuxian was also an unabashed trouble-maker, and Jiang Fengmian knew that trouble-makers always ended up eventually angering the wrong person and then getting themselves turned into frogs or cursed to forevermore speak only in rhyming couplets. Being married and having the responsibility of running a household of his own would help temper Wei Wuxian.

Thus, Jiang Fengmian began tentative negotiations with Lanling Jin, itself a powerful and well-respected kingdom. The negotiations only took a few weeks before the two kingdoms agreed on a match between Wei Wuxian and a prince of the Jin Clan, Jin Zixun. Jiang Fengmian could not have been more pleased with the outcome. By arranging such an advantageous match, he felt like he had secured both Wei Wuxian’s and his own son’s futures at the same time.

Wei Wuxian had not been asked his opinion at any point during this process. If they had, he would have told the king and queen that Jin Zixun was a pompous idiot with a stick so far up his rear, it had come back out his arrogant nose.

Upon hearing his fate, Wei Wuxian first complained bitterly to his brother, “I’d be better off married to an actual pig, Jiang Cheng. An actual pig!”

When Jiang Cheng just growled at him, Wei Wuxian went instead to their sister, Jiang Yanli, and begged, “Can't you do something? Talk to Madam Yu?” She promised to try, but they both knew the likelihood of success.

That night at dinner, Madam Yu told him, “You will marry into the Lanling Jin Clan, Wei Wuxian, as is proper for a prince of your station. I will not hear another word.”

Meanwhile, Jiang Fengmian asked him kindly, “We won't force you to marry someone you hate, A-Ying. But you must marry. Is there someone you find more palatable?”

Wei Wuxian wanted to scream.

*~*~*

Later, the three royal siblings sat on the docks of Lotus Pier together, enjoying the night atmosphere, shelling lotus seeds, and drinking wine.

Jiang Yanli patted Wei Wuxian’s arm softly and said, “If only you were a princess. Then you could demand your suitor complete a quest or you could be kidnapped by a dragon.”

Jiang Cheng snorted. “Can you imagine Wei Wuxian kidnapped by a dragon?”

Glumly, Wei Wuxian replied, “Can you imagine Jin Zixun actually fighting off a dragon for my hand? He’d probably soil his pants.”

As they all three swallowed down a cup of liquor in sibling solidarity, Wei Wuxian suddenly froze. Both Jiang Yanli and Jiang Cheng exchanged a wary glance, one that Wei Wuxian was too preoccupied to notice.

“That’s it,” he breathed as he slammed his cup down. With growing excitement, he said, “I need to get kidnapped by a dragon. Everyone says being carried off by a dragon and then rescued is an auspicious start to a marriage, so Madam Yu won't have anything to complain about. And my last name isn’t Wei if Jin Zixun has ever actually defeated a monster without twelve servants to hold his hand. He’s way to cowardly to go fight a dragon by himself. It’s perfect.”

Jiang Cheng shot Wei Wuxian his most incredulous look. He spoke like he was talking to someone particularly dimwitted, “Dragons only kidnap princesses. Virgin princesses. Last I checked, you were neither.” He turned to his sister for support, only to see her wearing a thoughtful expression, clearly contemplating the possibility.

Wei Wuxian dismissed his brother’s concerns, “Those are technicalities. Besides, I’m not going to give it a choice.”

“Not going to give it a choice?!”

Before Jiang Cheng could work himself up more, Jiang Yanli said, “What if Jin Zixun does rescue you from a dragon? Or some other hero or prince does? What then?”

“I’ll make sure he can't,” Wei Wuxian replied with confidence. “I’ll make sure to find the crankiest, most violent dragon in the world to kidnap me.”

He beamed at his two siblings, shoulders suddenly light with the possibility that everything would be okay after all. He didn’t even think Jiang Fengmian would be too mad at him. After all, running away from home was practically a Yunmeng pastime. As for Madam Yu—well, nothing was going to make her happy anyway, so might as well not try.

“Let me get this straight,” said Jiang Cheng, who was visibly working up to a headache if the throbbing vein in his temple was anything to go by, “You’re going to find a dragon and bully it into making you its princess, all so that you won't have to marry Jin Zixun?”

“It’s foolproof,” Wei Wuxian confirmed.

*~*~*

Wei Wuxian snuck out from the palace under the cover of darkness, swimming though a loose grate in the waterway. He didn’t take any money or fancy clothing. He figured that wouldn’t be fair since most princesses didn't expect to get kidnapped, and thus, probably didn’t arrive at their dragon’s cave with lots of personal items. Instead, he dressed in a nondescript traveling robe, filled his qiankun pouch with only the most essential items, and belted Suibian to his waist.

However, after walking for a few hours in the direction of ‘not home,’ he came upon the first flaw in his masterplan.

He had no idea of where to find any dragons.

Since adventurers were always looking to add Slayer of Dragons to their repertoire, dragons didn’t tend to congregate around very populated areas. Yunmeng hadn't seen one in centuries. But even with this first hitch in the plan, Wei Wuxian remained undeterred. He figured that since dragons could obviously fly, this suggested that they would live in high places, such as the mountains. Thus, with nothing better to go on, he turned away from the river and headed in the direction of Gusu.

Not wearing anything that marked him as royalty was surprisingly freeing. People didn’t stop to stare or point like they usually did. It had been such a long time since Wei Wuxian had simply been allowed to just be, that he decided to follow his route leisurely, letting things come as they may. He constantly stopped to chat with fellow travelers, shared his rations without a care, and slept beneath whatever tree he’d find himself under when his feet could no longer carry him at night.

On the third day of traveling, he saved a village from a rampaging stone goddess, and in thanks they gifted him a donkey. At first, he thought that this was far too generous of a gift, but then he discovered just how ornery this particular donkey was, and he realized he had probably been tricked. He dubbed the donkey, Lil’ Apple, on account of giving it apples being the only thing that would make the donkey move.

Finally, on the fifth day of traveling, Wei Wuxian and Lil’ Apple hit the base of the Gusu Mountain range. The mountains of Gusu were the sort of place where unwary travelers disappeared, landmarks haphazardly moved around, and the best path forward was never the straightest or easiest looking one.

Having only really been around Yunmeng’s many valleys and lakes, Wei Wuxian found himself rather impressed and secretly intimidated by the size of the landscape before him. The path zig-zagged up, up, and up, disappearing into the clouds. He couldn’t even see the top of the mountain peaks. There was a heaviness to the air and a glistening sheen on the verdant plant life that spoke to a saturation of magical energy.

He almost left the donkey at the bottom of the mountain, but then he thought he’d probably never forgive himself if some horrible monster ate it. Thus, with a sigh, he set about tugging a reluctant Lil’ Apple up the winding path of the Gusu Mountains.

*~*~*

Later that afternoon, Wei Wuxian was sitting on a rock and eating his lunch as he let Lil’ Apple take a grazing break, when he heard the noise of thudding arrows coming from the surrounding woods.

Intrigued, he leapt up, intending to investigate. He entered the woods, crouched down in the underbrush and slowly crept forward, figuring he should be somewhat wary since there weren’t any villages nearby. As he moved further away from the path, the underbrush grew thicker, and Wei Wuxian almost gave up, thinking he probably shouldn’t leave the donkey alone after taking all that trouble to drag it up the mountain. But then the foliage cleared a bit, and he finally saw a flash of movement.

As he hid in the bushes, Wei Wuxian saw that the noise he had heard was coming from man practicing archery alone in a forest clearing. There was something oddly stiff about the man’s movements as he pulled the string taut. His hair was long and disheveled, and his clothes were practically rags. His bow, however, gleamed with oil, his arrows hitting the center of his target time after time.

Wei Wuxian was just trying to decide how best to approach this stranger when the man froze, then whirled around. In a stuttering, fearful voice, the man shouted, “Who’s there?” Despite having a perfectly serviceable weapon, he forgot to hold it at the ready. That more than anything, decided Wei Wuxian.

Wei Wuxian stood up from his crouch and waved at the other man. The other man practically screeched, stumbling several steps back. Wei Wuxian couldn’t help but laugh at that.

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you. I just heard you practicing and wanted to come watch.”

Rather than looking relieved, the other man seemed even more upset. “Who-who are you?” he demanded.

Wei Wuxian stopped his movement and tried to seem as unthreatening as possible. He waved his open arms, showing he was unarmed. Suibian happened to still be strapped to the donkey. “My name is Wei Ying, courtesy Wei Wuxian. I mean you no harm. I really was just admiring your bow technique. You’re very good.”

The other man shot the prince a suspicious look. Finally, he reluctantly offered, “Wen Ning, courtesy Wen Qionglin.”

Wei Wuxian took this as permission to approach, “Nice to meet you, Wen Qionglin.”

Wen Ning seemed rather confused about what to do with company, so Wei Wuxian courteously asked him, “May I watch you some more? I’m very impressed with your arm strength.”

Wen Ning gave him a wary nod, and Wei Wuxian beamed.

Soon, Wei Wuxian was clapping his hands when Wen Ning did a particularly impressive shot, goading him into more and more ridiculous challenges and laughing with the same humor whether he failed or succeeded. The errant prince had quickly realized that there was something less than human about Wen Ning, but he also just as quickly realized that whatever Wen Ning was, he was essentially harmless.

Thus, after they grew tired of archery, Wei Wuxian invited Wen Ning to finish his abandoned lunch with him. When Wen Ning refused, mumbling something about dietary restrictions, Wei Wuxian demanded that he at least sit down and drink as Wei Wuxian still had a jar of fruit wine from the last village he had traveled through.

As they drank, they chatted away like old friends. Well, Wei Wuxian chatted. Wen Ning tended to mumble shy, one-word answers.

“You live around here, don’t you?” Wei Wuxian asked after they had long since finished the fruit wine.

Wen Ning nodded.

“So you know if there are any dragons around?”

Wen Ning went from looking shy to looking wary again in an instant. “Wh-why do you want to know about dragons?”

Wei Wuxian figured most people asking something like that were of the dragon-murdering variety, so he quickly explained his masterplan.

Wen Ning stared at him unblinkingly. “You want to—become a dragon’s princess?”

“Exactly!” exclaimed Wei Wuxian, glad that Wen Ning had caught on so quickly, “So, do you know if there are any around here? They’ve been rather more difficult to find than I initially expected, not that I’d ever tell Jiang Cheng that.”

“They act-actually live in the Cloud Recesses at the top of this m-mountain.” said Wen Ning, his stuttering growing worse with his nerves.

Wei Wuxian beamed and clapped the other man on the back. Wen Ning’s skin was oddly stiff and ungiving. Wei Wuxian ignored this to instead say, “Really?! That’s great.”

He made to stand up, too excited to stay there knowing his goal was so close, but Wen Ning stopped him. “Wait, Master Wei.”

“You can call me Wei Ying if you want. After all, we’re friends now,” replied Wei Wuxian as he began to shovel various assortments back into his qiankun pouch.

Wen Ning gulped before replying, “Ah-ahh, I couldn’t do that, Master Wei. But I w-wanted to warn you. The mountain is protected. You can't just walk up there.”

“Hmn,” said Wei Wuxian, pausing in his packing. “I don’t suppose you know what sort of protections?”

Wen Ning looked a bit guilty, but he confessed, “I know there’s a maze array. It’s designed to trick you into leaving the path. So whatever you see or hear, don’t leave the path. If you follow that rule, you should r-reach the top.”

Everyone knew that when you were on a quest, it was best practice to heed the advice of helpful strangers to the letter. Wei Wuxian wasn’t sure if this technically counted as a quest or if Wen Ning counted as a helpful stranger, but he was grateful nonetheless. He nodded at Wen Ning and then bowed. “I thank you for your advice, Wen Ning, and I will do my best to heed it.”

With that out of the way, he straightened up, adding far more teasingly, “I’ll definitely come visit you again if this all goes well and I don’t get eaten.”

“R-r-right.”

*~*~*

His masterplan must have been enough of a quest for the rule about following advice to count, because after a few minutes of walking up the mountain, the forest on either side of the path grew shrouded in fog so dense that it had to be magical, and he was extremely grateful to have been forewarned. He could barely make out Lil’ Apple next to him.

However, even with Wen Ning’s advice and how careful he was being, he still almost fell prey to the mist when he suddenly heard a child crying out for help and instinctually turned towards the noise. If it hadn't been for Lil’ Apple’s stubborn refusal to move, he would have run straight into the fog and probably been eaten. He definitely saw something hairy and jagged there for a moment.

After he had gotten ahold of himself, he rubbed Lil’ Apple between the ears. “Who would have guessed that your bad temper would come in handy like that?”

Lil’ Apple proceeded to try to bite him, and he had to snatch his hand away. After that, it was a lot easier to ignore the various shapes and sounds all around him.

Finally, what felt like hours or even days later, the mist cleared away like it had never been there to begin with. The forest had thinned out without him noticing, and now the landscape was dotted with mossy rocks and tall pine trees. Most of the pine trees, he noticed, were missing huge chunks of bark, like something very large and very tough had rubbed against them.

They walked up the steep ridge for a while until they eventually came to what had to be the largest cave entrance in the entire world. It stretched and stretched. For a second, all Wei Wuxian could do was stare at it while the donkey chewed on his sleeve.

“I don’t know about you, Lil’ Apple, but that sure looks like a dragon cave to me.”

Wei Wuxian was just trying to decide what the best protocol was for announcing yourself at a dragon cave (did he knock?) when a roar nearly blew him off his feet, solving that problem for him. Lil’ Apple squealed and tried to peel them both off the mountain side as a twenty-five-foot monstrosity of a creature landed above the cave entrance.

Wei Wuxian had imagined many different ways how his first meeting with a dragon would go, all the things he’d say to convince it to loosen the whole virgin princess rule and save him from his impending nuptials.

What he hadn't imagined was him desperately holding onto to Lil’ Apple’s rein, his feet dug in the ground and fighting for the donkey’s head as it twisted and turned and pulled him in an undignified circle. It didn’t take long for him to lose his grip on the rope. Once free, the donkey bellowed and galloped back down the mountain path, leaving the unfortunate man crumpled in the dirt behind it.

Wei Wuxian let out a forlorn sigh as he watched the animal disappear with most of his things still strapped to its back. Once it was no longer in sight, he turned his attention back to the twenty-five-foot dragon.

The dragon had landed on top of the cave entrance, its body tightly coiled where it was perched. A shower of rocks clattered to the ground where its wickedly long claws dug into the rock. The dragon’s body was long and finely scaled, the power in its muscles evident in its lashing tail. Its scales were not just one color, but a glistening mesh of white, silver, and pale blue that blended together seamlessly. Its head was frilled, its face finely featured. Its eyes were a glittering gold that caught the light in a strange, mesmerizing way. In short, the dragon was perhaps the most incredible creature Wei Wuxian had ever laid eyes upon.

It was a bit hard to tell, what with it being a dragon and all, but Wei Wuxian got the feeling that it was staring him down and was not at all impressed with the sight. He was, after all, laying down in the dirt after having been run over by his own donkey. He quickly clambered to his feet.

Since they hadn't been seen in Yunmeng in a few centuries, We Wuxian wasn’t completely up to date on his dragonology, but even he knew the most basic things. Dragons were sticklers for politeness, courtesy, and rules. They were intelligent, far more so than humans, and they hoarded treasure. The worst thing you could to do to a dragon beside being rude was to steal from one.

Fighting his apprehension, Wei Wuxian called out with a booming, confident voice in case the dragon had trouble hearing him from all the way at the top of the cave entrance. “Greetings, Master Dragon.”

He thought about it for a moment, then hastily added, “Or Madam Dragon. I suppose you could be a Madam too.” He bowed and then gave the dragon his most charming smile. “Anyway, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Wei Ying. Courtesy Wei Wuxian.”

The dragon’s tail lashed slowly back and forth. Its deep golden eyes didn't so much as blink.

Wei Wuxian knew he had to be polite, that he had to wait on some sort of response, but the need to move, to speak, to do anything nearly killed him in the meantime.

Finally, the dragon opened its mouth to reveal a row of jagged teeth, and Wei Wuxian thought he had truly miscalculated. But it only commanded in a refined voice, “Leave.”

Wei Wuxian had expected a lot of things. To be attacked perhaps, or to be laughed at as soon as he laid out his proposal. For some reason, it hadn't occurred to him that he would be dismissed without even being given a chance. “Now, wait a minute—,” he began, but then he heard terrified braying.

He couldn’t help but turn around, even as he heard the dragon let out a low, displeased rumble. He couldn't see any sign of Lil’ Apple down the ridge, but he heard the donkey make an even louder scream, the kind of scream a dying animal makes, and then he was racing back down the ridge without a second thought for the dragon or how he had definitely just ruined his chances by rudely turning his back in the middle of a conversation.

“Fuck,” he swore, stumbling through loose gravel and barely keeping his feet. Then he swore again as the donkey and its attacker came into view.

Lil’ Apple was backed against up against an outcropping of rocks. A man dressed in dark red robes was advancing on the donkey with some sort of staff. The staff sparked with heat. Suibian was still strapped to Lil’ Apple’s back, but with a surge of magical energy, Wei Wuxian called his sword into action, sending the weapon careening into the staff just as the stranger brought it down against the ground.

Suibian’s sword-glare brightened, absorbing the worst of the attack. Lil’ Apple still screeched in outrage. The donkey had clearly had enough being surrounded by terrifying monsters. It lowered its head and rammed forward like a charging bull, barreling past the strange man and the chaotic magical clash. Apparently, Wei Wuxian was preferable to its short-lived freedom, because the donkey didn’t stop until it reached him, loudly braying the entire way.

Wei Wuxian gave Lil’ Apple a firm rub on the ears before calling his sword back to himself and advancing on the stranger who had so rudely attacked his innocent donkey. He was about to demand some answers, but the staff wielder beat him to it.

“You dare to directly attack my wizard’s staff?! Who the hell do you think you’re dealing with?”

Wei Wuxian blinked at the other man. The staff wielder had an average face and height. He wore fine red robes, embroidered with a stylized sun pattern. His brows were knit together in a rather nasty grimace, and his hair had a greasy, unwashed sheen. Wei Wuxian couldn’t remember ever having seen him before.

“Should I know you?” Wei Wuxian asked curiously.

The man spluttered. His face purpled to such a degree that Wei Wuxian worried his neck might explode from the pressure. “I am the great wizard, Wen Chao, second son of the Chief Wizard of the Society of Wizards, Wen Ruohan. I am above you in every conceivable sense of the word, and I will personally punish you for the blatant disrespect you’ve just shown to your betters.”

Though he didn’t really know anything about wizards, Wei Wuxian was quickly realizing that he was not dealing with the most clever of men. Everyone knew that you should never assume mysterious strangers you met in magical places like the Gusu Mountains were exactly what they looked like.

Making a show of sheathing his sword back in his belt, Wei Wuxian asked conversationally, “How do you know?”

Wen Chao had been raising his staff again, apparently about to attack, but he stopped at the question. “What?”

“How do you know that you’re my better?”

“You dare—,” Wen Chao began, but Wei Wuxian spoke over him.

“I mean, you never bothered to ask me my name. For all you know, I could be a powerful enchanter.” Wei Wuxian shot him a toothy grin. “Not only did you needlessly attack my poor donkey, but you’ve gone and insulted me by not knowing my name, and you even dare threaten me. I think you should apologize before it’s too late.”

“What?!” Wen Chao looked like he wanted to keep drawing power into his staff, but he hesitated, clearly afraid to take a chance in case he’d misjudged the situation.

Wei Wuxian theatrically stretched his arms as he leaned back against the edge of a small rock outcropping next to him. He smirked, “I know it must be hard for you, but think about it logically. You come up here to a mystical dragon’s mountain uninvited, and you meet an unassuming traveler. Someone who felt safe enough from those same dragons to bring a donkey of all things, with no worries about it being eaten. This same traveler dared to attack you with no fear of retaliation. Do you honestly still think you’re dealing with an ordinary traveler?”

“You-You—,” Wen Chao spluttered, then said, “My father will hear about this.”

“Good. You can tell him that Wei Wuxian, Supremely Powerful Patriarch of All Things Evil, sends his regards.” Wei Wuxian saw Wen Chao’s eyes widen, and had to stifle the laughter then threatened to overwhelm him.

Wen Chao let out several more impotent, angry noises before he suddenly disappeared as if he’d never been there. Wei Wuxian watched the spot where the wizard had been for several moments before letting out a snorting chuckle, “What an idiot.”

He kept laughing to himself until he went to examine the donkey and saw that it had singed hair on its chest and a small but painful looking burn. “I should have skewered him,” he swore darkly, as he tried to soothe the trembling donkey.

At least he’d thought to pack a burn salve, considering his ultimate goal. He meticulously applied the salve to Lil’ Apple’s injury and then fed it the last of his sugar cake as a reward for standing still.

With a sigh, he looked back up the ridge. The steep angle and rock outcroppings made it difficult, but he thought he could see a glint of reflected light from the dragon’s scales. Would the dragon really still be there waiting for him? Did it even matter?

Then again, it was either go try to talk to the dragon again or climb back down the mountain. Wei Wuxian preferred the dragon.

Careful of the burn, he led the upset donkey back up the ridge, admonishing it as they walked, “This time, try not to embarrass me, okay?”

Lil’ Apple just snapped at him.

*~*~*

When they got back to the dragon cave, Wei Wuxian saw that the dragon he had spoken with had remained right where he’d left it, but it was no longer alone. Another dragon now perched on the roof of the cave as well. The second dragon looked eerily similar to the first as if they were related. The only obvious difference was that the second dragon had warmer eyes, more brown than gold, and it was perhaps slightly larger, though not by much.

“What’s this, Wangji?” the second dragon asked as it peered down at Wei Wuxian. There was a clear note of interest in its voice.

Wei Wuxian quickly realized that this was his second chance at an introduction. He refused to waste it, not when this second dragon seemed so much friendlier than the first. Bowing his head, he said, “This humble one is called Wei Ying, courtesy name Wei Wuxian, of the Yunmeng Jiang Kingdom. Apologies for the earlier interruption. It was certainly not my intention. I have come to request a position as a dragon’s princess.”

Once again, Wei Wuxian was forced to stay still, half-bowed waiting for a response.

Eventually the first dragon hissed, “Ridiculous.”

Wei Wuxian grit his teeth.

“Wangji,” the second dragon admonished, but there was a teasing lilt to its voice. Definitely related, thought Wei Wuxian. The dragon immediately confirmed this when it added, “Young Master Wei, I am Lan Huan, courtesy Lan Xichen, and this is my younger brother, Lan Zhan, courtesy Lan Wangji.”

Wei Wuxian bowed again. When he looked back up it was to see both of the dragons’ heads lowered, their eyes meeting his. Their gazes made Wei Wuxian feel like he was being laid out and exposed, especially the one called Lan Wangji, with his glimmering, golden eyes.

Wei Wuxian wasn’t sure if it was rude to stare back, but he couldn’t help it. His attention caught on the golden-eyed dragon, taking in every minute detail of the dragon’s face, the fine whorls of scales, the hint of soot against his nostrils. The more the prince saw, the more he was transfixed by the strange, ethereal beauty of the creature before him.

Lan Wangji suddenly hissed and jerked back, his tail once more lashing back and forth.

“You smell of wizard,” Lan Xichen said, ignoring his brother. For the first time, his voice was less than perfectly pleasant.

Wei Wuxian wasn’t sure why the two dragons found wizards automatically so distasteful, unless perhaps all wizards behaved like the one he had met. He shrugged. “There was one down the ridge there. He apparently had a disagreement with my donkey.”

Lan Xichen cocked his massive, frilled head. “Unfortunate then, that you both happened to arrive on our doorstep at the exact same time.”

Wei Wuxian pretended like he hadn't understood the dragon’s implication. It wasn’t his fault that he had terrible luck. Besides, this felt more like a test of how he would respond to such questioning rather than a real accusation. Lan Wangji must have heard the donkey’s braying as clearly as Wei Wuxian had. If Wei Wuxian and Wen Chao had been together, why would the latter have attacked Wei Wuxian’s donkey? He circuitously reminded the dragon of this, saying, “It is unfortunate. Especially for poor Lil’ Apple. The donkey didn’t do anything wrong, and now it has a terrible burn.” To bring the point home, he mournfully rubbed Lil’ Apple’s ear again. Thankfully, the donkey seemed too focused on eyeing the dragons to try to bite him.

Rather than letting his brother ask another question, Lan Wangji suddenly interrupted, “Why?”

Wei Wuxian stopped petting the donkey and frowned in confusion. “Why did that wizard attack my donkey? I have no idea. You’d have to ask him. He didn't seem like the cleverest one in the basket, though.”

Lan Wangji made a little grumbling noise that rolled through his throat, so faint that Wei Wuxian barely caught it. “No. Why do you want to be a dragon’s—princess? They do not normally volunteer. It is not proper.” His voice had a clear, melodious tone that belied his size and standoffish words.

Wei Wuxian noted that, despite saying it wasn’t proper, the dragon hadn't made mention of the fact that he was neither an actual princess nor a virgin. How they would even be able to tell the virgin part, he had no idea, but he figured they must have a way. Either way, the dragon seemed far more concerned with the properness of volunteering, which was something Wei Wuxian thought he could work with. He still had a chance.

With this in mind, Wei Wuxian considered how best to respond to the dragon. The longer he spoke with Lan Wangji, the more he got the inkling that a lot of the dragon’s aloofness was a mask. There was so much going on in the dragon’s micromovements like the ripple of his muscles and the slight widening of his eyes, that all spoke to the hidden depths behind the dragon’s surly demeanor. It was captivating to watch. Wei Wuxian had a sudden powerful and mischievous desire to push this creature’s buttons, to find out just what sorts of expressions he could get the dragon to make. Lan Xichen might be friendly, but Lan Wangji was interesting.

Wei Wuxian shot Lan Wangji a sly grin. “I don’t want to be a dragon’s princess. I want to be your princess.”

Wei Wuxian thought he might have heard snorting laughter coming from Lan Xichen, but it was drowned under a sharp, “Shameless.”

Now he was really getting into his stride. Wei Wuxian pretended not to understand, saying, “Unless you already have a princess. You’re the most beautiful and magnificent dragon I’ve ever seen, so I can only imagine how girls would be all over themselves to be captured by you.” He shook his head sadly, “No, no, you’re right, this one is ashamed to have ever thought one as glorious as you might have a captive princess position open. But alas, how could I not dream upon seeing your beauty?”

A flash of dangerously hot air blew through Lan Wangji’s nostrils. “Answer the question.”

Wei Wuxian had already forgotten the question. He was too busy admiring the powerful way the dragon’s neck was curling. He had to think for a moment, and then he snapped, “Oh, you mean why I want to be a captive princess for a dragon?”

“Mnm.”

Wei Wuxian shrugged. “Well, you can't get married if you’re being held captive by a dragon, can you?” He didn’t wait for a reply, adding, “Besides, you should want me to be your princess just as much as I want to you to be my dragon. Most princesses I know, except for Jiang Yanli of course, are a bit useless.” Wei Wuxian pointed to himself, “Me, I can fight—sword, hand to hand, or bow, and I’ve invented about twenty different new spells. I’m an excellent dizi player, I know all the gambling games you could ever want, and I can out drink anyone. I’m clearly excellent company. Plus, you were so quick to show up when I arrived. That tells me that you often meet challengers and intruders, right?”

Lan Wangji did not so much as twitch. In an attempt to remain positive, Wei Wuxian decided to take this as a confirmation. Besides, Lan Xichen still had a mirthful glint in his eyes, so Wei Wuxian figured he was probably okay. He continued brightly, “With me around, not only can I help manage your intruders and so on when you don’t feel like dealing with them, but I can also help keep you in shape. How often do you get to fight casually against humans? Not often, I would say. I’m the perfect practice. So, you see, I’m much better than a normal princess.”

Lan Wangji kept holding that unblinking stare while his brother rested patiently beside him. Finally, he said, “Drinking is forbidden.”

“Oh,” replied Wei Wuxian rather dumbly. He quickly tried to recover, “Well, you know—.”

“Gambling is also forbidden.”

Wei Wuxian’s coy words died on his lips. “Right.”

The dragon kept staring at him.

Just as Wei Wuxian was about to start listing some more of his own attributes, ones that hopefully weren’t forbidden, Lan Wangji suddenly added, “Your sword has a spirit.”

Wei Wuxian wasn’t sure how the dragon could tell with his sword still sheathed. “Um, yes. It’s called Suibian.”

The dragon’s nostrils flared again. “Your sword spirit does not have a name?”

“What? Oh, no. Its name is Suibian.”

Lan Wangji gave him another long look, then said curtly, “Wait here. I will return.” With that, he launched himself off of the cave roof, lithely landing in front of Wei Wuxian before disappearing into the cave. Lil’ Apple squealed nervously again, but Wei Wuxian managed to hold the donkey steady this time. Wei Wuxian wondered what the dragon could possibly be retrieving. Something to help test if Wei Wuxian was actually a virgin? What else could the dragon possibly need to decide if Wei Wuxian was worthy or not?

As they were waiting, Lan Xichen laid down more securely, folding his forelegs in front of himself and resting his head on his claws. He blinked lazily at Wei Wuxian and said, “I haven’t seen Wangji this excited in ages.”

Wei Wuxian had to fight every instinct he had not to make a snide comment. He might have described the younger dragon as annoyed or frustrated—deliciously so, but certainly not excited.

When Lan Wangji returned, it was with something metallic held in his front right claw. The dragon stopped right in front of Wei Wuxian, and the prince was forced to reckon with just how much bigger this creature was than him. Lan Wangji towered over him. He’d seen swords that were shorter than the dragon’s claws.

“Take it,” Lan Wangji said, and Wei Wuxian was suddenly holding a plain, serviceable sword that happened to be nearly identical in length and style to his Suibian.

“Um, thank you?”

Lan Wangji commanded, “Tie up the animal out of the way. You will fight with a mundane sword, and I will keep my claws sheathed.”

With a wave of relief, Wei Wuxian finally understood, and his grin brightened like the morning sun. Lan Wangji wanted to spar with him. Of course, the dragon wanted to test Wei Wuxian’s claims. He wouldn’t just trust that Wei Wuxian was as good as he said he was.

Lil’ Apple didn’t have to be coaxed to move for once, too eager to away from the building-sized predators. Wei Wuxian really hadn't thought this through, bringing a donkey with him to hunt for dragons. He vowed to himself that as soon he could, he would make it up to the poor, brave creature. He would make the donkey fat with all the apples it could ever want.

He murmured in Lil’ Apple’s ear after he tied it securely, “You are a very good donkey, and I am an idiot.” The donkey brayed at him, clearly in agreement.

“Spells?” Wei Wuxian asked as he lined himself up a few paces away from the dragon. Lan Wangji stood with his teeth bared, his legs braced for sudden movement. Every line of his body spoke to tightly contained power and violence. Wei Wuxian shivered at the sight. This was going to be fun.

“As long as they are appropriate for sparring,” said Lan Wangji, and Wei Wuxian nodded in return. They bowed to each other, straightened up, and then moved at the same time.

Besides his obvious human fragility, Wei Wuxian was also at a disadvantage from missing Suibian. His magical sword could work almost as a partner, moving where he couldn’t and helping him get up in the air. Without it, he was down to far less elegant tactics. He could not match Lan Wangji for mobility or sheer strength, so instead he would have to rely on cunning and magic. Wei Wuxian was a master of paper talisman spells, and he showed this by immediately throwing out two talismans, both intended to immobilize an opponent.

As he rose up in the air, Lan Wangji sliced the first one in half, but the second talisman managed to hit his shoulder. The spell flared with bright red light, and the dragon forcefully dropped back down, crashing shoulder first into the ground.

Wei Wuxian attempted to press his advantage, but as he tried to stab his sword into the meat of Lan Wangji’s exposed shoulder joint, the dragon swirled around, already free from the spell. Lan Wangji snapped his teeth, coming perilously close to Wei Wuxian’s sleeve, and the prince was forced to retreat.

They carried on like this for several minutes. It was obvious that Lan Wangji was not using his full strength, but it was just as obvious that the dragon had not often fought someone as clever or devious as Wei Wuxian. The prince made full use of his arsenal of talismans, a majority of them invented by him himself. He was well aware that this was as much an audition as a friendly spar, and he wanted to impress.

He dodged a lunging bite with a complicated backflip. Back and forth they went, strikes vicious and unrelenting. At one point, Wei Wuxian actually climbed up on Lan Wangji’s back after luring the dragon closer and closer with barely dodged attacks. The dragon roared in outrage as Wei Wuxian cackled madly. When he was inevitably thrown off, Wei Wuxian cushioned his fall with a burst of magical energy and landed cat-like on his feet, already turned to the next attack.

Eventually the dragon simply overpowered Wei Wuxian and tumbled the prince to the ground. The dragon ignored Wei Wuxian’s retaliatory sword swipe, letting the weapon scrape against his hide, unable to breach his glistening scales.

Wei Wuxian’s head knocked against the ground, and for a second, he saw stars. Something firm and warm pressed against his throat, just hard enough to be a threat but not enough to stem his breathing. When his vision finally cleared, it was to the sight of Lan Wangji standing over him, one claw pressed like a bar against his throat.

“Yield,” said the dragon with an exhale of smoke.

Unashamed, Wei Wuxian replied, “I yield. You are truly peerless.”

Wei Wuxian had never before done anything as exhilarating as fighting Lan Wangji. His muscles ached in the most delicious way from where he had been forced to abuse them to keep up. He didn’t immediately rise after the dragon backed off, and as he lay there, staring at the puffy clouds above him, he asked, “Have I passed?”

When Lan Wangji did not reply, Wei Wuxian fought his exhaustion to sit up, suddenly worried that just because he had found their fight thrilling and instructive, didn’t mean Lan Wangji thought the same. He met the dragon’s fathomless eyes. One second, then two, then Lan Wangji said, “You will stay.”

Every bit of remaining tension released from Wei Wuxian’s shoulders at once. He collapsed back down and shielded his eyes with his arm. “Lan-er-gege is so cruel to tease me like that,” he groaned theatrically.

He was about to keep shamelessly laying splayed out on the ground when he had a sudden thought that drove him to roll to his feet, his balance only slightly unsteady. “And Lil’ Apple?” he exclaimed in distress.

He thought he saw a minute twitch in Lan Wangji’s eyebrow. The dragon said, “Your donkey will stay as well. We will find a safe place for it.”

Wei Wuxian had almost forgotten about the second dragon still resting on top of the cave entrance. Lan Xichen drew the prince’s attention back to himself by calling down, “I believe I shall inform the servants to ready a space in the Jingshi. Welcome to the Cloud Recesses, Young Master Wei.”

Wei Wuxian bowed as he watched Lan Xichen disappear into the cave, then turned his attention back to Lan Wangji. Looking at the dragon, there was no way to tell that Lan Wangji had just been in a rough and tumble fight. No scratch from Wei Wuxian’s sword marred his scales. Even though he had been slammed to the ground by the prince’s talisman’s several times, no dirt or dust marked his hide. The dragon was flawless.

The same could not be said for Wei Wuxian. His outer robe was torn nearly to shreds and he was caked in dirt, both from the fight and his long journey. He fought the urge to try to smooth his robes down under Lan Wangji’s evaluating stare. Instead, he went to get the donkey. It took a few minutes of coaxing, but he was finally able to get Lil’ Apple to follow him towards the cave.

He was about to walk inside, when Lan Wangji stopped him. The dragon held out a clawed forearm, then said, “Wait.”

Wei Wuxian obediently stopped, but his nerves got the better of him. “You said I could stay, Lan Wangji,” he accused, “Don’t tell me you’ve changed your mind. To go back on your word now would be truly discourteous.”

The dragon’s mouth and eyebrows curled into a distinct glare, and Wei Wuxian decided it was probably best to stop talking before discourtesy turned into appetite.

“I have not changed my mind,” the dragon said. “It is you who must truly understand your desires. Once you walk inside, you will not enter the Cloud Recesses as a guest, but as a captive. You will not be allowed to leave if you do not find it to your liking. You will belong to me as my— princess.”

Wei Wuxian, his heart beating from some mix of excitement and something harder to name, held the dragon’s gaze as he firmly and purposely stepped over the cave threshold. He had already long since made his decision. “As long as you don’t eat my donkey,” he said.

*~*~*

Chapter Text

*~*~*

Once inside the dragon cave, Wei Wuxian used a talisman to conjure up a ball of light, letting it float above his shoulder as he followed Lan Wangji through a maze of smooth, round tunnels.

“So, does all of this belong to you and your brother?” he asked.

Lan Wangji did not deign to respond. Since the dragon was ahead of him, Wei Wuxian couldn’t read his expression, but Lan Wangji had been oddly grumpy ever since Wei Wuxian had called his bluff about being a captive princess. He was not a fan of this unresponsive version of the dragon, and he idly wondered if he had thought this through well enough. Wei Wuxian did not do well with silence. “Are there more dragons living in the Cloud Recesses?” he asked, “How would that even work? Do you have a government?”

He really wanted to know what sort of company he might expect to have other than Lan Wangji himself. Did dragons get lots of visitors besides people who wanted to kill them? Did they have families? Lan Wangji obviously had a brother who lived close enough to have come to see the commotion earlier, but that didn’t give Wei Wuxian a lot of hope. Though Lan Xichen had been nice enough, his bland politeness was almost more boring than Lan Wangji’s stubborn indifference.

“What kind of human food do you have? Wei Wuxian suddenly asked. When Lan Wangji still refused to answer, he added, “Hey, do you think I could get apples here? I promised Lil’ Apple that I would feed it lots of apples.”

Lan Wangji remained silent, stoutly walking ahead of Wei Wuxian as if he had grown deaf.

“How many princesses have you had before me?” Wei Wuxian asked, wondering if the dragon treated his female princesses this way as well. “Wait, how old are you even?”

Still nothing.

“Can I call you Lan Zhan?

The dragon finally stopped, his frills raised in outrage as he shot a look over his shoulder at Wei Wuxian. The prince couldn’t help his grin. Cold and Aloof as he presented himself, Lan Wangji was secretly even easier to rile up than Jiang Cheng. “Don't worry,” Wei Wuxian added gleefully, “You can call me Wei Ying. It’s silly for such close friends to be so formal.”

The dragon’s head snapped back around as he stalked away, his steps distinctly heavier. Wei Wuxian silently laughed to himself as he followed. Knowing how easy it was to capture the dragon’s attention calmed his nerves about this whole captive princess thing.

Eventually they emerged, not into some kind of dragon home, but rather an open field surrounded by sheer rock formations. It looked almost like a giant had punched a hole into the cave system. In the center, where presumably there was the most access to light, a small garden grew, surrounded by a neat fence. Wei Wuxian could make out a row of turnips and what looked like a few varieties of cabbage.

He shot an incredulous look at Lan Wangji. “Wait a minute, you have a vegetable garden? An actual vegetable garden?” Somehow growing turnips did not jive with Wei Wuxian’s preconception of how dragons lived.

“The Cloud Recesses has several human servants as well as other princesses,” explained Lan Wangji. “Our humans grow their own food to reduce how much we must trade for. This field belongs to them.” The dragon’s use of ‘we’ suggested to Wei Wuxian that he had been right to wonder if there were more dragons on this mountain and if they had some sort of community. “Will this be sufficient for your animal?”

Wei Wuxian leveled a considering gaze over the field. The grass was pretty scraggly, clearly struggling against the shadows caused by the high cave walls. But the field was large, at least an acre and half, if not two. Plenty of room for a donkey. Finally, he replied, “I’ll have to build Lil’ Apple some kind of enclosure. And we’ll need hay. Lil’ Apple is too snobby for this grass, trust me.”

With that settled, Wei Wuxian tied the donkey to a post at the edge of the garden, and then followed the dragon back towards the tunnel. As they left, Lil’ Apple brayed mournfully at their retreating backs. Wei Wuxian knew it had to be done, but he still felt terrible about leaving the donkey alone. “You’re sure nobody will bother him?” he asked Lan Wangji.

“I am sure.”

Wei Wuxian was good with directions, but even he struggled to keep up with the winding turns and convoluted tunnels. He figured he might have to make some sort of map, since if nothing else, he needed to be able to get back to Lil’ Apple. He just hoped that the dragon caves weren’t the sort of magic caves that frequently moved around on their own.

As they finally came to a large, round door at the end of a long passageway, Wei Wuxian felt a tingling prickle crawl down his spine. At the same time, he noticed something glinting on the cave walls. Focusing his gaze through the dim light, he realized that the cave walls in front of the door were covered from floor to ceiling in markings, pulsing gently with magical energy. When he realized just what he was looking at, he stopped dead, then lunged toward the nearest wall. He heard a huff of annoyance from the dragon, but he ignored it.

The markings on the cave wall were spells; endless, endless spells. Wei Wuxian almost couldn’t believe the intricacy of what he was looking at. He drew a second light talisman, then raised it high. Some of the lines and characters of the crisscrossing arrays were familiar to him, things like secrecy, beguilement, and protection, but others were a complete mystery.

“Wei Wuxian.”

One of the closest arrays looked a bit like an old-school space stretching enchantment, like the kind they used on qiankun bags, but it was bisected by a long line that for the life of him Wei Wuxian couldn’t figure out the purpose of.

“Wei Wuxian—Wei Ying!”

At the sound of his birth name Wei Wuxian abruptly remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He whirled back around to face Lan Wangji, rubbing the back of his neck guiltily. The dragon’s golden eyes glowed in the darkness, fierce and attentive.

“Those are the wards that protect my home.”

Wei Wuxian had seen ward arrays before, even fairly complicated ones, but nothing like this. “They’re incredible. You truly are talented in many different arts,” he replied, hoping his praise would make up for his continuing failure at politeness. He longed to turn back to the wall, but he got the sense that Lan Wangji wouldn’t be pleased at being ignored again. With a heavy sigh and a promise to himself that he would come back here, Wei Wuxian followed Lan Wangji, who led him through the door and into the Jingshi.

*~*~*

Having no idea of what a dragon’s cave might look like, Wei Wuxian found the Jingshi to be surprisingly spacious and comfortable.

The Jingshi’s main area was comprised of two large center rooms. The first was clearly intended to host guests, furnished with a center table and comfortable floor mats. The other large room seemed to be Lan Wangji’s personal bedroom. Wei Wuxian caught a glimpse of a fluffy nest of cushions through the doorway.

Two hallways split off from those center rooms, one to the left and one to the right. Lan Wangji explained with a warning look that the left hallway led to his personal library. The hallway to the right, meanwhile, led to the human quarters where Wei Wuxian would be living. The human quarters were equipped with both a kitchen and a bedroom.

He had expected the human bedroom to have a distinctly feminine air about it, considering who was presumably supposed to live there, but he found himself pleasantly surprised. Magical torches kept the space warmly lit, and pale blue and white tapestries hung on the walls, reducing the sense of claustrophobia from the windowless room. There was even a small magic-mirror on the dressing table that seemed to show the mountain outside. The bed looked comfortable enough, and someone had painted an intricate set of rolling clouds with smooth brushstrokes on the paper screen. There was a faint scent of smoke and sandalwood in the air that Wei Wuxian was beginning to associate with Lan Wangji.

It didn’t take long to settle his meager belongings. When he returned to the main room, he found Lan Wangji wrapped in quiet conversation with Lan Xichen, though they broke off before he could hear anything they were saying. Wei Wuxian bowed in greeting.

Lan Xichen graciously dipped his head. “Young Master Wei,” he said, “I hope you’ve found the accommodations to be adequately comfortable.”

“I have Lan Zhan all to myself. What more could I want?” Wei Wuxian breezily replied. He realized his mistaken address after seeing Lan Xichen’s face freeze. He could have smacked himself, but decided to play it off as if he hadn't said anything wrong. Afterall, Lan Wangji hadn't actually told him that he couldn’t use the dragon’s birth name.

Lan Wangji’s tail lashed once, but surprisingly enough, he didn’t admonish Wei Wuxian.

Seeing that Lan Wangji wasn’t going to correct his princess, Lan Xichen eventually recovered enough to say, “I’m glad to hear it. If you would be so kind, I would like you to tell me more of the wizard you met today. Did he reveal his intentions to you?”

“You mean after he tried to murder my donkey?” Wei Wuxian retorted before he could stop himself. He truly was struggling with this whole obsequious politeness thing. “Sorry, ah, no. He said he was the great wizard Wen Chao, and he was going to kill me for my impudence or some such nonsense. We had a little chat, and then he ran away.”

“Wen Chao?” the dragon repeated, “You’re sure?”

“That’s what he told me.”

The dragon made a thoughtful noise. “Was this—chat you had about anything in particular?”

Wei Wuxian shrugged. “Just that it was a bit stupid of him to go around trying to kill random people he had just met. He didn’t seem to appreciate my advice very much.”

“And he never said why he was so close to the Cloud Recesses?” Lan Xichen pressed, “You briefly spoke to him, and then he left? That’s everything?”

“Should I have done something different?” asked Wei Wuxian, starting to get a little nervous at the continued questioning despite himself. “I suppose I could have attacked him, but if I attacked everyone who’s ever threatened to kill me for insolence, Yunmeng Jiang and her neighbors would be missing half their royal courts, trust me.”

Lan Xichen’s lips curled over his fangs in such a brief smile that Wei Wuxian barely caught it. “You did nothing wrong. Thank you for indulging me.”

With that, he and Lan Wangji exchanged another glance. “Think on what I’ve said, Wangji.”

Lan Wangji nodded. “Mn.”

Wei Wuxian had the uneasy feeling that he was missing something important, but he wasn’t stupid enough to demand answers, at least for right now.

The older dragon turned to leave, but he stopped at the last moment in front of the door. “Oh, I almost forgot. Young Master Wei?”

Wei Wuxian stood straighter. “Yes?”

“I plan to send a letter to your family in the morning to explain the situation and to let them know you are safe. Is there anything in particular you would like me to convey?”

Wei Wuxian honestly hadn't expected the dragons to be willing to negotiate his captivity with his family directly. Human politics seemed too base for them somehow. How did dragons even send letters in the first place? It was hard to imagine those giant claws holding a brush. But either way, if the dragon was willing, then his sister and brother at the very least deserved to have their worry put to rest.

“Can you send a letter to my brother, Jiang Cheng?”

“If you wish.”

Wei Wuxian nodded, considering his words. “Would you please explain to Jiang Cheng how easily Lan Zhan beat me in our duel? Tell him he really shouldn’t worry, because with how amazing and formidable Lan Zhan is, there’s no way anyone will ever be able to rescue me. I think that should put his mind at ease.”

Halfway through Wei Wuxian’s request, Lan Wangji began glaring again, his eyebrows scrunched in the most adorable furrow. If his head had been closer to the ground, Wei Wuxian would have flicked him. Lan Xichen, meanwhile, made an odd choking noise. “Ah—I will endeavor to let your brother know you are sufficiently secure in your captivity.”

“Thank you, Master Lan,” said the prince, glad that at least one of the dragons was agreeable.

After Lan Xichen left, Lan Wangji let out a huff of smoky air and said to Wei Wuxian, “It was not easy.”

Wei Wuxian, who was still thinking about how his family would react to his new circumstances, blinked in confusion. “What?”

The dragon’s great, golden eyes held the prince’s gaze as he clarified, “The duel. You were not easy to defeat.”

Wei Wuxian felt a strange wave of heat crawl up his neck. He laughed uneasily. “So flattering, Lan Zhan. You really are a gentleman to your princess.”

Lan Wangji shot him one more lingering look, before abruptly disappearing into his personal chambers. When the dragon didn’t return, Wei Wuxian shrugged to himself. He quickly turned to finding his own entertainment, starting with exploring the rest of the Jingshi.

To his delight, he found signs of casual magic everywhere he looked. The wardrobe in his room had a line of enchantments crawling up the side, and when he opened it, he was surprised to find several sets of black robes in his exact size. When he closed and opened it again, the robes had switched to sleepwear. Wei Wuxian amused himself with opening and closing the door for a while until the wood groaned in protest and snapped itself shut with a rather affronted noise.

There was a small potion rack on the dressing table next to the magic mirror. Although Wei Wuxian longed to know what the tiny vials held, they hadn't been labeled, and even Wei Wuxian wasn’t reckless enough to ingest random potions just to satiate his curiosity. Next to the potion rack lay an ivory comb that began to sing a rather shrill lullaby when he picked it up. He even discovered a glowing silver ring among the dust bunnies under the bed. It seemed to possess a simple glow-in-the-dark charm, but Wei Wuxian figured he’d better double check with Lan Wangji before actually trying it on.

He next went into the kitchen, where he discovered a bowl of plain congee waiting for him on the table. It wasn’t exactly an appetizing sight, but he hadn't eaten since he’d met Wen Ning, so he scarfed down the bland meal as best he could. Upon further investigation, he found that the kitchen was decently stocked with dishware and pans, but no stored food or spices to use them on, though he did eventually discover a Pot-of-Plenty stacked neatly under the sink. When he opened the lid, he realized it was full of never-ending, plain congee, just like the meal that had been left out earlier. The sight sank his stomach. He had no idea how Lan Wangji had handled feeding his previous princesses, but he hoped to all the gods in heaven that the dragon didn’t expect him to live off of only congee.

Even more disturbing, he hadn’t found any sign of liquor, but he reassured himself that Lan Wangji had said that there were other humans in the Cloud Recesses. Where there were humans, there was bound to be alcohol. He just had to find a way to acquire it.

Another thing that seemed to be missing was a bathtub. Wei Wuxian was filthy, and his clothes doubly so, but the only water access he’d found was from the sink in the kitchen, which was set up with some sort of spigot charm and a copper drain. He thought briefly about asking Lan Wangji about possible bathing options, but by then it was already late into the night if the magic mirror was to be believed, and Lan Wangji seemed like the type who hated having his rest disturbed. With a sigh, Wei Wuxian did the best he could with the sink water and a dish towel, then went to get a new robe from the magic wardrobe in his room.

However, when he tried the knob, the wardrobe refused to open, apparently still sulking from earlier.

Unwilling to be stymied by a cranky wardrobe, Wei Wuxian yanked harder, using all of his weight to pull on the knob. But no matter how hard he tugged or jimmied, the door remained firmly locked. Realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere, he stopped for a moment to consider this new and rather strange problem. It probably wasn’t a good idea to keep trying to force the wardrobe back open, not if he wanted to remain clothed while living with Lan Wangji. Thus, he clasped his hands in front of himself with a short bow. “Oh Great and Bountiful Master Wardrobe, this one humbly begs your forgiveness for my earlier discourtesy.”

The wood made a snappish groaning sound, not budging an inch. Wei Wuxian snorted, thinking that the wardrobe was rather unnecessarily angry with him. How could he have known that a magic wardrobe would be so sensitive?

He tried even harder. “Great Master Wardrobe, I truly meant no offense earlier; I was just so impressed with your enchantment that I couldn’t help myself. Your creator must be very proud of you. The skill and grace with which you create clothing is a sight to behold.” As his praise continued, the planks of wood rustled suspiciously at first, but then expanded, rather like someone puffing out their chest. Buoyed by the sight, Wei Wuxian kept on enumerating just what had impressed him about the wardrobe for a few minutes. Then, when he felt like he had the enchanted wardrobe hanging off of his every word, he made his move.

“Such skill! But then again—.” He trailed off, his words falling away. There was a rather precarious creaking noise as the wardrobe leaned forward. But ever the master, Wei Wuxian let his words hang a moment longer, seeming for all the world as if he had forgotten he was even speaking to the wardrobe.

Finally, he put his hand on his chin and spoke as if he didn’t particularly care either way. “It’s too bad that all who see me in this sad state will mock your skills. Everyone will think that you’re only capable of producing filthy rags not fit to be worn by the worst scum of the earth. Since you’re unwilling to properly clothe me, even rightfully so, I’ll be the only person in the world who knows that you’re not a worthless chunk of glued together wood.” He shook his head sadly, “It’s too bad really.”

There was a sudden, violent banging noise. The wardrobe door shot open, flung a robe at Wei Wuxian’s face, and then snapped shut again.

Wei Wuxian grinned wickedly through his faceful of cloth. “You are truly a generous wardrobe.”

After he changed, he bounced on the bed a few times, testing its softness before laying down. Staring up at the dark cave ceiling, he couldn’t help obsessively going over the day’s success in his mind. He had really done it! He had actually convinced a dragon to capture him as a princess and escaped his marriage with Jin Zixun.

Though he had always enjoyed being a prince, living as a captive princess with Lan Wangji was sure to have its own perks. Hell, even just remembering that ward wall had him salivating. And there was an idea. Though princes were supposed to be all about weapons and courtly manners, Wei Wuxian had always had a near unhealthy fascination with magical theory, something that had never been considered proper for someone of his station. Now was his chance to explore that interest. Maybe he could even persuade Lan Wangji to teach him some dragon magic. He’d have to convince Lan Wangji that he was worthy of learning, but that shouldn’t be too hard to manage.

In the middle of weaving his plan to convince Lan Wangji to share his dragon secrets, Wei Wuxian finally fell asleep.

*~*~*

The next morning, Lan Wangji woke Wei Wuxian at the first hint of dawn, much to the prince’s horror. The dragon couldn’t fit more than his head through Wei Wuxian’s bedroom door, but after his dignified calling failed, he blasted the prince with a lungful of sulfuric air. Wei Wuxian came to with a shout and promptly fell off his bed.

After a breakfast of more plain congee that Wei Wuxian was still too sleepy to complain about, Lan Wangji gave him a spelled jade token. It was actually a clever little enchantment, growing hot and pointing him in the direction of wherever he needed to go inside of the Cloud Recesses as long as he held a clear mental picture of what he wanted. With the jade token in hand, he could visit Lil’ Apple without fear of getting lost.

That first day passed in a whir. Lan Wangji showed him the location of two hot springs close to his cave, one for bathing and the other for relaxing. They next visited an ancient looking dragon whose job seemed to be to interact with the human world on behalf of the Cloud Recesses. There, they ordered what they would need to build a more permanent enclosure for Lil’ Apple, as well as a few basic household items for Wei Wuxian. When he asked about acquiring alcohol, the supply-master blanched, then shot a hesitant look at Lan Wangji, who said, “Alcohol is forbidden.”

Wei Wuxian nearly fell into despair at that grim news, having completely forgotten that he’d already been told this once. But he quickly recovered his spirits and decided that this was just a new challenge. Afterall, what the dragon didn’t know about wouldn’t hurt him.

They checked in on Lil’ Apple, and then Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian went to a rocky clearing outside the cave system where Lan Wangji watched the prince move through several of his sword forms. Wei Wuxian didn’t have a weapon with him, so they couldn’t effectively spar, but once he finished his forms, he teased and flitted around Lan Wangji until he’d gotten the dragon to snap at him. They quickly made a game of it, a sort of tag that involved a lot of teeth and silly acrobatics. Lan Wangji showed off a surprisingly playful side, chasing Wei Wuxian in circles like an overlarge cat.

When they finally stopped, it was like a spell had been broken. The dragon drew himself up, shooting an almost offended look at the prince, as if he couldn’t believe he had been made to do something so undignified. Wei Wuxian just laughed.

*~*~*

Later that night, over a plain vegetarian dinner in the main room, Wei Wuxian asked, “What exactly do princesses do for dragons most of the time anyway?”

Before coming here, he’d figured that princesses were treated a bit like courtesans, expected to entertain the dragons with their refined skills. But so far, everything entertaining that Wei Wuxian knew how to do had been shot down as “forbidden.” He needed to figure out what Lan Wangji wanted in a princess besides someone to spar with, and he needed to figure it out quickly if he hoped to secure his position and get Lan Wangji to teach him dragon magic.

Lan Wangji looked up from his bowl and said firmly, “Speaking during meals is forbidden.”

Wei Wuxian just barely managed to avoid rolling his eyes. He drummed his fingers impatiently against his thighs as he waited for what felt like hours for the dragon to finish his meal. Finally, Lan Wangji looked up again and said, “Princesses are normally expected to cook and clean for their dragon.”

“But that sounds like you use them as servants,” said Wei Wuxian. Lan Wangji just stared at him in response, which Wei Wuxian took as confirmation, even though that couldn’t possibly be right. Why would it matter then if they were virgins or not? Deciding it was better not to question the virgin part just yet, he instead asked, “If that’s the case, then why don’t you just hire actual maids or servants? Princesses don’t seem like the best suited for that sort of task.”

“It is tradition,” replied Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian waited for Lan Wangji to add something else, but when the dragon remained silent, he exclaimed in disbelief, “That’s it? It’s tradition, and so you only take the sorts of people least suited for manual labor?”

The dragon narrowed his eyes. “Are you unsuited for manual labor?”

“Of course not,” Wei Wuxian immediately boasted. “That’s why you picked me. I’m just wondering if I can't do something more for you than clean your cave and occasionally spar.”

Lan Wangji took a moment to lick his claws clean, his long tongue darting across his scales. Finally, he said, “After you had settled, I planned to send you to the head librarian. He has been reorganizing the treasure vaults in the Library Pavilion. They have recently fallen into disrepair. He needs magical and weapons expertise to properly categorize and safely store many of the objects we have collected.”

“You want me to help—the librarian?” repeated Wei Wuxian, a little dumbfounded.

Lan Wangji made a noise of agreement, apparently not seeing anything strange about a group of dragons employing a librarian. “Exactly.”

*~*~*

Of course, Wei Wuxian did not immediately go help this mysterious librarian. Instead, he had to first get Lil’ Apple more permanently settled, the process for which took several days on account of Lil’ Apple constantly managing to tear down Wei Wuxian’s fence posts. He really hadn't considered just how far the donkey would go in pursuit of cabbage. By the time he finished, the vegetable garden was a graveyard of its former glory.

Though the other humans had been furious with him, Wei Wuxian could have sworn that he saw the briefest glimpse of mirth in Lan Wangji’s eyes when the dragon returned to the sight of Wei Wuxian sitting in the middle of the torn-up garden, covered from head to foot in dirt clumps and shredded vegetables.

Finally, the morning after Wei Wuxian finished the donkey pen, Lan Wangji led him to where the Lan clan kept its treasure vaults, a cave called the Library Pavilion. After the elegance of the Jingshi and the Hanshi, Wei Wuxian expected to be impressed by the sight of the great dragon treasure rooms, and at first, that seemed like it would be the case. The entrance to the Library Pavilion was marked by marble pillars inlaid with sparkling jewels. Reliefs were carved into the archways, depicting the might of the dragons, and a giant, bone-white tree grew in the semi-darkness, giving the pavilion an otherworldly glow.

But then they entered the Library Pavilion proper, and Wei Wuxian immediately realized that something was wrong. The inside of the Library Pavilion was—grimy. Everywhere he looked, he saw cobwebs and clouds of dust, books piled haphazardly, insect carcasses and dripping water. There was a strong odor of rat droppings and mold.

“This is your great Library Pavilion?” Wei Wuxian gasped, too taken aback to properly hide his dismay.

“It is being repaired,” Lan Wangji replied, his voice stiff.

Surprised, Wei Wuxian turned to meet the dragon’s eyes. He had never heard so much sheer pain in Lan Wangji’s voice before.

Looking more closely, Wei Wuxian could see how rigid Lan Wangji’s shoulders were, how tightly his wings were pressed against his body. Wei Wuxian had no idea how the Lan treasure vault had ended up this way, but it obviously devastated the dragon.

“Of course it’s being repaired,” Wei Wuxian hastily exclaimed, “It’s a good thing you’ve got me as a captive. By the time I’m done here, this place will be worthy of being called the greatest treasure vault in the entire world.”

Doing his best to project confidence, he watched the dragon take one deep breath, then another. Finally, Lan Wangji turned away and said, “You should meet the librarian.”

With that, they walked through several rooms, each one more dilapidated than the last. As he stepped around a collapsed armor stand, Wei Wuxian asked, “What sort of dragon is this librarian anyway? How long has he worked here?”

What Wei Wuxian really wanted to know was whether this librarian had been the one to let things get this bad. From how much the disrepair clearly bothered him, Wei Wuxian didn’t think that Lan Wangji would have let the same person keep working here if they were the cause, but you never knew. Dragons also seemed to think that princesses made excellent servants, so their taste in hired help was clearly suspect.

“Not a dragon,” Lan Wangji said.

“Huh?”

A moment later, someone called out from behind a bookshelf, “Is someone there? Please be careful of the jars on the floor, some of them are cursed.”

As Wei Wuxian backed away from the row of jars that he had definitely almost stepped on, the speaker emerged, showing himself to be not a dragon, but a human man.

Wei Wuxian’s jaw dropped. “Nie Huaisang!”

“Wei-xiong!”

He couldn’t believe it. Nie Huaisang was here? Nie Huaisang? Shy, trembling, and cowardly Nie Huaisang? Seeing Nie Huaisang at home in a dragon cave was like seeing a rabbit serving tea in a tiger’s den. Possible in theory, but so unlikely as to be unbelievable. The Prince of the Qinghe Nie Kingdom looked pretty much exactly how Wei Wuxian remembered him, wearing fine courtier’s clothes and holding a lovely hand-painted fan, quivering with nervousness.

“What are you doing here?!” demanded Wei Wuxian.

Nie Huaisang fluttered his fan. “Me? What are you doing here?!”

“I’m Lan Zhan’s princess.”

“You’re what now?”

Rather than explaining, Wei Wuxian demanded again, “Never mind that. Are you a captive too? Which dragon do you belong to?” If it turned out that he wasn’t actually the first prince to have thought of becoming a dragon’s princess, he was going to be rather miffed.

“Nie Huaisang is my brother’s honored guest,” said Lan Wangji, interrupting the two humans. “He has graciously taken a job as head librarian for the foreseeable future.”

His face immediately reddening, Nie Huaisang bowed low. “Hanguang-Jun is too kind to this one.”

Lan Wangji silently nodded.

Wei Wuxian was too impatient for such formalities. “I thought you were on some sort of quest or something. No one’s seen you in years.”

“Wei Ying.” Once again, Lan Wangji interrupted Wei Wuxian’s tirade. The dragon lowered his head, breathing a wuff of gentle air through Wei Wuxian’s hair. “I have my own duties to attend to. Nie Huaisang is in charge of all matters concerning the restoration of the Library Pavilion. You will be providing him whatever help he needs. I expect you to return to the Jingshi in time for the evening meal.”

Distracted from his interrogation, Wei Wuxian shivered as he watched Lan Wangji leave. Despite how much time he had spent with Lan Wangji, he still felt awed at the dragon’s lithe movements.

Once Lan Wangji was out of sight, he turned back to Nie Huaisang, who was for some reason staring wide eyed at Wei Wuxian. “Alright,” Wei Wuxian said, “Tell me everything.”

The Nie prince sighed. “Perhaps we should make a pot of tea.”

*~*~*

Fifteen minutes later, Nie Huaisang and Wei Wuxian were sitting at a hastily cleared table in one of the cleaner treasure rooms. Wei Wuxian had heated the tea with a fire talisman, and Nie Huaisang seemed to have been fortified by having a drink in his hand.

“Well, you know I’ve never been particularly—princely,” Nie Huaisang began.

Wei Wuxian didn’t know Nie Huaisang as well as he would have liked, having only seen the Nie prince at state functions here or there, but he’d always enjoyed the other prince’s company every time they were together. While the Yunmeng Jiang Kingdom was known for producing adventurers and heroes, Qinghe Nie was more known for its knights and warriors. Thus, it was even more important for a prince of Qinghe Nie to be excellent at combat. Nie Huaisang’s older brother exemplified this trait to an almost unnatural degree. Nie Huaisang—didn’t.

“I remember you being pretty good at all those court manners,” Wei Wuxian said, searching for something positive to say. Nie Huaisang’s lack of princeliness was well known. “Madam Yu always had to beat me over the head to get me to remember the difference between the proper way to rescue a cursed sleeping princess versus a cursed transformed princess and all that.”

Nie Huaisang scoffed, “You know none of that matters if you’re never properly heroic. No, I’ve been a disappointment to my brother for as long as I’ve been alive.”

“Certainly not as long as you’ve been alive. How can a baby be a disappointment?” retorted Wei Wuxian, thinking that Nie Huaisang was being rather dramatic.

“I found a way,” Nie Huaisang insisted, shaking his head. “You know the whole getting a prophecy for your one-month celebration tradition?”

“Sure.”

It was a popular trend in several kingdoms for princes to receive prophecies from wise old men at their one-month celebrations, similar to how princesses often received a blessing from their fairy godmothers. Usually it was things like, this prince will become the greatest king this kingdom has ever known, or this prince will only ever be defeated in battle once. Oftentimes they were far more trouble than they were worth. Wei Wuxian had never gotten one, first because he’d been adopted at nine, far too old for such things to be proper, and second, because Yunmeng Jiang promoted forging one’s own path and prophecies tended to interfere with that.

“Well, mine states that I will save a kingdom,” said Nie Huaisang as he took a large gulp of his tea.

“That sounds pretty princely to me,” Wei Wuxian offered encouragingly.

Nie Huaisang shook his head again. “The prophecy says I’ll do it by helping a princess find true love. Not by defeating a monster or ending a curse or anything manly, but by playing matchmaker.”

“Ah.”

“It’s always been like that. I’ve never liked sword fighting or horseback riding or any of that nonsense. On my sixteenth birthday, I was supposed to receive my questing sword from the Lady of the Lake. When she rose from the lake, I told her how much I admired the color of her dress. It really just seemed like the polite thing to do, seeing as she was taking time out of her day to give me a free sword. But then we got to chatting, and the next thing you know, she’d given me a magical fan instead of a sword, and then disappeared back into the lake.”

He laid down his fan on the table. “My brother tried to throw me into the lake after her. It didn’t work.”

Wei Wuxian inspected the fan in question. “Having an enchanted fan isn’t the end of the world. People won't see an enchanted fan coming the way they would a sword. That could definitely still be appropriate for questing. What sort of magic does it do, anyway?”

“It changes color to match my outfit,” Nie Huaisang admitted miserably.

At that, Wei Wuxian had to cough to hide his ill-timed laughter. “I think I’m starting to see what you mean.”

“I do like fans much better than swords,” Nie Huaisang continued. “And this one is quite lovely. But my brother could never see that. And then there were the giants.”

“The giants?”

“Oh yes. You see, my brother decided that maybe my prophecy meant that I would rescue a princess for her beloved, thus finding her true love for her and helping a kingdom that way.”

Wei Wuxian frowned. “Don’t princesses usually marry the person who rescues them? How does you rescuing one help her find true love? Unless you turn out to be her true love, I suppose.”

Nie Huaisang sighed. “Obviously, I could never actually fight a giant, no matter what my brother hoped. But the one my brother sent me after, it turned out that the princess had already been rescued the day before. The giant was rather upset about the whole thing. Apparently, he was having some other giants over for dinner that night, and her leaving completely ruined his plans.

“He told me that he wasn’t very good at proper giant behavior, you know, ransacking villages and all that. And he was always getting bullied by the other giants for it, so he wanted to impress everyone by having a genuine captured princess serving the courses. Only now of course, he had no princess.”

Wei Wuxian had a sudden vision of where this was going. “You didn’t—?”

Nie Huaisang nodded dejectedly. “I did. I told him I would be happy to help him with his dinner plans. It might not be as traditional, but princes are probably harder to keep around and make behave than princesses, so it would definitely be impressive to have a prince as the server. I even helped him plan the meal. We made cherry jubilee for dessert.”

Wei Wuxian burst out laughing. He just couldn’t contain it anymore.

“It’s not funny,” Nie Huaisang snapped, his face burning bright, cherry red.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Wei Wuxian babbled, wiping away his tears. “It’s just—giants eating cherry jubilee. Did they at least like it?”

“Most of them asked me for the recipe.”

Wei Wuxian burst into howling laughter again as Nie Huaisang shot him an affronted look. “Look it’s not so bad,” he added once he’d his breathing under control again. “You seem to be in your element here at least. The dragons obviously respect you.”

Instead of being cheered, Nie Huaisang looked positively ready to begin sobbing at those words. “After the giants, my brother was so angry. He told me not to bother coming back until I’d fulfilled my prophecy and made myself actually useful to someone. It’s been over a year and he still hasn’t let me come home.”

“I see,” replied Wei Wuxian as he watched the other prince sniffle and swallow the last of his tea. Nie Huaisang’s brother sounded horribly strict. Jiang Cheng might constantly yell about how he was going to break Wei Wuxian’s legs, but he’d never actually do it. Nie Huaisang really did have it rough.

“But how did all of this lead to your living with the dragons?”

“Zewu-Jun knows my brother, and he heard about what happened. He’d just been crowned Dragon King, and he said I could stay with him for a little while until I figured out what to do. He used to ask me to help him classify some of the human stuff in the Library Pavilion. One thing led to another, and I’ve just never left.”

“Zewu-Jun? Who’s that?” Wei Wuxian asked. This was the first he’d heard of any Dragon King. Then again, while he’d seen several other dragons in passing and at the hot springs, he’d only ever spoken to the elderly supply master and the two Lan brothers.

Nie Huaisang made a confused noise. “Lan Xichen. I thought you would have met him, seeing as how you’re his brother’s princess.”

Wei Wuxian choked on his tea. “Lan Xichen is King of the Dragons?!” He considered this new information for a moment, then asked, “Does that mean that their father is the one who let the treasure vaults get like this?”

Nie Huaisang shook his head. “Zewu-Jun hasn’t really explained it. I know that being Dragon King is a job you’re chosen for, so it isn’t necessarily his father who was king before him. Something terrible happened though. Something they don't like talking about.”

“Hmn.”

Perhaps Lan Wangji would be willing to tell him. Then again, Lan Wangji had seemed so upset when talking about the library. Wei Wuxian didn’t want to accidentally hurt his dragon again by bringing up such a sore topic of conversation. He’d have to think about that one some more.

“So, you’re in charge of fixing this giant treasure cave by yourself?”

Nie Huaisang smiled weakly. “It’s a bit daunting, isn’t it?”

Wei Wuxian refused to let it be. Whatever had happened to the dragons, it was devastating to Lan Wangji, and that was unacceptable. “Maybe without help it was, but now you have me. What have you done so far?”

“Fully? The first scroll room.”

Wei Wuxian narrowed his eyes. “How many scroll rooms are there?”

“—Seven.”

Wei Wuxian stared at the Nie prince. Seven?! And that wasn’t counting the dozens of other rooms for armor, swords, precious gems, jewelry, and everything in between.

He took a deep breath, squared his shoulders and told Nie Huaisang, “Never let it be said that a Yunmeng Jiang prince backs down from a challenge.”

“I thought you were a princess now.”

“That’s not the point, Nie Huaisang.”

“Of course not,” replied the Nie prince. His tone contained what Wei Wuxian thought was an altogether unwarranted amount of sarcasm. But that was fine. The other prince just hadn't seen Wei Wuxian in action yet. He’d learn.

*~*~*

As the days passed, Wei Wuxian settled into a tentative routine.

Lan Wangji normally woke up long before his princess and spent most days outside of the Jingshi doing whatever it was that dragons did. Wei Wuxian wasn’t entirely clear on the details. Still, even though Lan Wangji was often gone by the time Wei Wuxian greeted the day, the dragon always left a bowl of congee waiting for him.

Wei Wuxian, meanwhile, devoted himself entirely to helping Nie Huaisang with the Library Pavilion. Restoring the treasure vaults wasn’t just about cleaning the caves, though that proved to be enough of a challenge by itself. They also had to recreate nearly all of the records of just what the Library Pavilion contained, as some pest had eaten through most of the originals, leaving the two princes to often guess as to what was what and where it should belong. Worse, even beyond the records, whatever organization system might have been used in the past, someone had obviously given up on it some time ago. Things were haphazardly piled together with no rhyme or reason. A large swath of the books had been ruined by damp, and half the swords were more rust than steel. Additionally, many of the more magical items had been left alone for so long, they had begun to go round the bend. Being nearly murdered by an enchanted evening gown gave Wei Wuxian a new appreciation for how reasonable his own wardrobe was.

While Wei Wuxian rarely saw the dragon during the day, Lan Wangji always brought some sort of boring vegetarian meal home with him for dinner, apparently not expecting Wei Wuxian to fulfill his cooking duties for the time being. Perhaps he had seen the vegetable garden disaster as a sign from the heavens of Wei Wuxian’s general food handling skills.

When the prince asked one night about possible meat options, he received a sharp look and a warning, “Meat is forbidden.”

How meat could be forbidden in a dragon’s home, Wei Wuxian had no idea, but he figured like with the alcohol situation, it was best not to openly argue.

Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji spent most evenings together in the main room, Wei Wuxian spread out over the floor with piles of scrolls and papers, scribbling out new talisman ideas and letting out a constant stream of chatter that Lan Wangji rarely responded to with more than a grunt. The dragon seemed to like to spend his evenings meditating or reading. Sometimes he even played music, claws dancing across the strings of a dragon sized guqin.

At first Wei Wuxian had been afraid that he would drive the taciturn dragon mad with his constant noise. He would realize that he had been babbling nonstop for the past however many minutes and suddenly fall into an embarrassed silence. But then, when he would turn a guilty look at the dragon, he’d find Lan Wangji’s gaze focused on him, attentively waiting for him to resume.

Part of Wei Wuxian missed being around other people, going on quests, and just generally getting into trouble. But the Library Pavilion’s vast treasure rooms were like a kingdom unto themselves, and the caves around the Cloud Recesses were full of secrets just waiting to be discovered. Even as a captive, he had more freedom now than he’d ever had in his previous life.

*~*~*

Chapter Text

*~*~*

The first rescue attempt came about three weeks after Wei Wuxian began living with Lan Wangji. The dragon had left for the day, and rather than heading straight to the Library Pavilion, Wei Wuxian was in the kitchen tinkering with the Pot-of-Plenty. Wei Wuxian only had the Pot-of-Plenty and its plain congee for all of his meals but dinner, and he was already sick and tired of it.

The enchantment on the Pot-of-Plenty that let it spawn endless congee was complex, but Wei Wuxian had found a book in the Library Pavilion called Magic, Salt, Fat, and Acid: An Enchanter’s Guide to the Basics of Magical Home Cooking that contained a charm that promised to add mouthwatering heat to any enchantable dishware, and he was nearly positive that a Pot-of-Plenty counted as enchantable dishware.

Thus, he was in the middle of scratching a new array into the side of the pot when the jade token attached to his belt began to heat up. Pulling it free, he saw the characters for ‘visitor’ and ‘gate’ glowing across the normally blank face of the token. Though the token had never done this before, he assumed it was as simple as it looked, and that this meant that he indeed had some sort of visitor who was at the front gate of the Cloud Recesses.

That puzzled him. It had taken a week to travel here on foot in the first place, and it had only been a week and half since Lan Xichen had sent his letter (Wei Wuxian had ended up writing most of the letter himself) back to Yunmeng Jiang. He didn’t think there had been enough time for anyone who knew him to both learn about his new living situation and also to travel here. Maybe Wen Ning? Wei Wuxian had told the archer that he planned on visiting him after he got settled in. Perhaps Wen Ning had grown tired of waiting?

Excited by this idea, Wei Wuxian dropped his stencil and left the Pot-of-Plenty with its partially carved array waiting on the kitchen table. He wasn’t dressed for visitors, so he had to stop to argue with the enchanted wardrobe, which had never quite forgiven him for their first meeting. When after much cajoling the wardrobe finally gave in, he shoved on an outer robe, pulled back his hair into a messy ponytail, and then followed the jade token out of the Jingshi.

Having expected to see someone pleasant like Wen Ning, Wei Wuxian was sorely disappointed when he got to the entrance to the Cloud Recesses only to discover a strange knight bellowing into the cave. “Dragon Lan Wangji of the Cloud Recesses, I challenge you for the Princess of Yunmeng Jiang! Come out and fight me, you great lumbering beast!” The knight’s armor was dented and dusty, but his sword gleamed in the bright afternoon light.

Wei Wuxian shielded his eyes against the sunlight as he approached. He’d never exactly been great with faces, but he was pretty sure he didn’t recognize this guy. “Who are you calling a lumbering beast?” he demanded, offended on behalf of his dragon. “Lan Wangji is the most graceful and accomplished dragon in the Cloud Recesses, and he would never answer such a rude, faceless challenge.”

Upon seeing Wei Wuxian, the knight deflated, letting his sword drop with a clang. “Damn, I was too slow. You’ve already defeated the dragon then, have you?” The knight craned his neck to look past Wei Wuxian, adding, “But where’s the princess?”

Wei Wuxian crossed his arms over his chest. “I am the princess. I’m Wei Wuxian of the Yunmeng Jiang Kingdom, currently princess to the dragon, Lan Wangji. Honestly, who goes around rescuing princesses without even knowing who exactly they’re looking for?”

In truth, he was surprised that anyone besides his unwanted betrothed was trying to rescue him at all. It was one thing to want to marry an accomplished prince of a prosperous kingdom, but quite another to embrace the indignity of a captive princess who was decidedly male. He would have thought that the type of people who went around rescuing princesses from dragons would be sticklers for tradition.

Speaking of which, the knight seemed extraordinarily confused by Wei Wuxian’s declaration. He looked Wei Wuxian up and down, taking in the messy hair and the simple black robe, crooked and hastily tied, and then glanced around as if he expected someone else to jump out of the bushes at him. “But—but, you’re not a girl, are you? You’re dressed like a young man. You can't be the princess. That’s just not proper.”

Wei Wuxian decided it probably wasn't worth explaining that if he had known he was meeting some strange knight and not Wen Ning, he might have dressed up more for the part. Really, when you showed up at someone’s home unannounced, you shouldn’t expect them to be perfectly presentable. “Who says I have to be a girl to be a princess?” he demanded. “What? Would you like a formal letter of introduction from the King of Yunmeng Jiang? Do you want to see my family tree? What do the details matter anyway? I’m living with a dragon and I’m not allowed to leave. Ergo, I am a captive princess.”

The knight gave Wei Wuxian a very dubious look. “So, you’ll be needing rescuing then?” He no longer looked excited by the prospect.

“Of course not. I’m perfectly happy here, and I don’t want to be rescued.”

“But you just said you were a captive—ah, princess,” replied the knight, clearly growing more and more confused and not sure how to handle it. “Princesses always want to be rescued. How can you be a captive princess if you don’t want to be rescued?”

Wei Wuxian sniffed contemptuously. “Well, maybe if I were being held by some oaf of a dragon, it would be different. But I am the captive princess of the peerless Lan Wangji. I don’t want to leave him.” He was beginning to think that this was the type of knight who had been hit in the head a few times too many during sword practice.

The knight’s mouth hung open in a rather unflattering way, and his voice came out strangled as he repeated, “Don’t—don’t want to leave him? Is this some sort of jest?”

“Nope,” replied Wei Wuxian, popping his lips on the ‘p.’ He put his hands on his hips and stared the knight down, purposely mimicking Lan Wangji’s most intimidating glare.

When it was clear that Wei Wuxian wasn’t going to add anything further to that statement, the knight asked hesitantly, “I don’t suppose the dragon Lan Wangji has another princess stashed in there somewhere? A more—proper one?”

As if Wei Wuxian would tolerate sharing his dragon with anyone else. He snorted, “I’m sorry to say that you’re stuck with me. Perhaps you’d like to reconsider this whole rescue notion?”

The knight frowned, “But I can't just give up. I have to meet the dragon Lan Wangji’s challenge. Besides, it’s not right to leave a princess in distress. Even though you’re not really a—not proper.”

“Do I seem in distress to you?”

“Well, no. But—.”

“There you go,” Wei Wuxian interrupted. “While you’re absolutely correct that it’s improper to leave princesses un-rescued, it’s even more improper to rescue one against their will. That’s the height of discourtesy, wouldn’t you say?”

The knight had to consider this for a moment. “I suppose so.”

“Of course it is!” Wei Wuxian agreed cheerfully, “As a princess myself, I’m a foremost expert on these things. I know it must be terrible to have come all this way for nothing, but that’s life sometimes,” Feeling suddenly magnanimous, he added, “If you want, I can send you off with some congee for the road. I’ve got a never-ending pot in the kitchen.”

“That won't be necessary,” the knight replied stiffly. Now that he wasn’t about to rescue anyone, he seemed awkward and overdressed in the heavy armor.

“Where did you hear that Lan Wangji had a Yunmeng Jiang princess anyway?” asked Wei Wuxian, “I’ve barely been here three weeks. Did you not get my name before you set out?”

“Everyone knows about the Lan dragon’s new princess,” said the knight. “The dragon Lan Wangji challenged all the heroes in the realm. He sent a letter to the royal family of Yunmeng Jiang stating that he had defeated their prince and had taken their princess captive, and there was not a hero or knight in the world that could do anything about it.” The knight continued on, oblivious to Wei Wuxian’s growing horror, “Of course, everyone who heard about it took it as a grave insult to their honor. All the greatest heroes in the realm are racing to get here first to be the one to defeat the so-called undefeatable dragon.”

The knight let out a morose sigh, adding, “I was hoping to make a name for myself by getting here first. I’ve got a pair of seven league socks, you see.” He shook one of his booted feet to demonstrate, seemingly oblivious to that fact that Wei Wuxian couldn’t see the socks through the boots.

For the first time in his life, Wei Wuxian found himself speechless. All the greatest heroes in the realm, all coming for Lan Wangji? If that was really true, then Lan Wangji would be furious. Wei Wuxian had only lived with the dragon for three weeks, and already it was obvious how much Lan Wangji liked order and routine. There was no way he’d tolerate being interrupted by a constant stream of challengers. He’d probably gobble Wei Wuxian up in outrage, or even worse, send the prince away.

Feeling sick to his stomach, Wei Wuxian asked, “But didn’t this letter say that the defeated prince and the captured princess were the same person? Don’t people know what they’re getting into? Jiang Yanli is still at court, isn’t she? She obviously hasn’t been kidnapped.”

The knight shrugged, his shoulder pads scraping against the metal. “Well, you know how it is. Everyone assumed that the Yunmeng Jiangs must have had an extra princess lying around somewhere, being raised by a fairy godmother or something, and that the name in the dragon’s letter was a typo.

“A typo?!” Wei Wuxian repeated.

“It made more sense than the alternative,” the knight replied. He then asked, looking far too hopeful, “Are you absolutely sure there isn’t another Yunmeng Jiang princess?”

“I’m quite sure,” said Wei Wuxian firmly.

After that, it took another hour of arguing to get the knight to finally give up and leave. Wei Wuxian tried to convince the other man to promise to send word back to court that the name in the letter was no typo, but the knight blanched, insisting that no one would believe that Wei Wuxian was indeed the captive princess and that he’d just be laughed out of court for his trouble.

As glum as that thought made him, Wei Wuxian had to agree that the knight was probably correct. If they hadn't believed the first letter, sending another likely wouldn’t change anyone’s mind. He’d have to solve this another way.

Thus, having wasted enough time today, Wei Wuxian headed straight for the Library Pavilion, where he found Nie Huaisang comparing a shelf of potions and mysterious jars to long scroll in his hand. He was muttering to himself, glancing back and forth between two nearly identical vials.

“Left is an invisibility potion; right is a see-through tincture,” Wei Wuxian called out.

Much to his amusement, Nie Huaisang jumped nearly a foot into the air, swearing wildly. “Wei Wuxian!”

“That’s me,” Wei Wuxian agreed. “Nie Huaisang, you have to help me!”

Rather than jumping to Wei Wuxian’s aid, Nie Huaisang turned back and squinted at the vials once more. “You’re sure?”

Wei Wuxian let out an impatient noise. “Positive. You can tell from the cloudiness.”

“Hmn.” With that, Nie Huaisang finally gave Wei Wuxian his full attention. “Alright then, what’s wrong? Did you make Lan Wangji angry about something?”

“Of course not!”

Nie Huaisang raised an eyebrow, and Wei Wuxian hastily amended, “I haven’t yet. But if I don’t do something, he’s definitely going to throw me out of the Cloud Recesses! You have to help me.” Wei Wuxian quickly explained what had happened this morning in front of the gate.

“So you think that Hanguang-Jun will be angry with you for challenging a bunch of heroes and knights on his behalf,” Nie Huaisang summarized once Wei Wuxian had finished.

“Exactly.”

Nie Huaisang frowned. “Doesn’t he like fighting humans though?”

That stopped Wei Wuxian short. “What?”

Nie Huaisang hesitated, “Well, you two spar all the time, don’t you? I thought you said he loves fighting you.”

“That’s different,” Wei Wuxian huffed, “He likes fighting me. I’m worthy of him. He doesn’t want to have to fight any random knight that comes to his doorstep.”

“Then perhaps you could fight off the knights for him?” Nie Huaisang suggested. “That way he wouldn't be bothered by them.”

“They’re coming to challenge him!” said Wei Wuxian.

Nie Huaisang blinked at him. “Um, yes?”

Wei Wuxian huffed, “If I fight Lan Wangji’s battles for him, everyone will think he’s too afraid to meet his own challengers. Instead of being known as the bravest and cleverest dragon in the Cloud Recesses, he’d be known as a coward who sends his princesses instead of himself to meet his enemies. I could never let people think that of him!”

Nie Huaisang closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Of course you couldn’t.”

*~*~*

Wei Wuxian was so lost in thought as he walked back to the Jingshi that night that it took him a moment to notice that something was wrong.

Rather than the silence of the cave tunnels that he had grown used to, Wei Wuxian abruptly realized that he could hear loud arguing echoing against the rocks. Sharpening his focus, he also scented a faint odor of smoke and sulfur. Knowing the Jingshi was the only cave at the end of this particular path, he broke into a run.

The sight that greeted him as he raced down the tunnel was pure chaos. Three dragons had gathered at the mouth of the Jingshi, Lan Wangji, Lan Xichen, and a stranger. The entrance to the Jingshi itself looked like it had collapsed, as if there had been a cave in. A mound of something glistening white spilled out of the doorway, mixing in with the rubble.

Lan Xichen was bodily holding his brother back as the younger dragon snarled aggressively. He begged, “Wangji, please, listen to me. You’ll only make it worse. You must wait for the dwarves to finish their search.”

The third dragon, silvery-white like the Lan brothers but clearly older and larger, growled, “This is unseemly, Wangji. Get ahold of yourself.”

Wei Wuxian stumbled to a halt several paces away from the dragons. “Lan Zhan?”

All three dragons froze, and then Lan Wangji pivoted, breaking his brother’s clawed grip. “Wei Ying!”

Wei Wuxian stared in open mouthed amazement as the dragon closed the distance between them. Lan Wangji wrapped his body in a loose circle around Wei Wuxian, like a large snake. His enormous chest heaved as he scented the air, nose almost buried in Wei Wuxian’s hair.

“Wei Ying,” the dragon repeated.

Wei Wuxian looked up at his dragon. “Lan Zhan, what happened?”

Lan Wangji raised his head, apparently satisfied that Wei Wuxian was unharmed. “Not sure. Wards were damaged. Came home and found it like this. Thought you might be inside.”

It seemed worry had demolished what little skill Lan Wangji had for speaking in full sentences. Something about that tugged at Wei Wuxian’s heartstrings, and he felt a wave of sudden affection. He pressed his palm gently against Lan Wangji’s neck, and the warmth of the dragon’s scales seeped through his fingers.

“So this is your new princess?”

Wei Wuxian looked up to find the strange third dragon staring at him unblinkingly, eyebrows furrowed. No, not him, he quickly realized. The place where his hand and Lan Wangji were connected. He snatched his hand back as Lan Wangji unwound himself enough to face the other two dragons.

Wei Wuxian took in the third dragon more closely, fighting to keep the embarrassment off of his face. He hadn't done anything wrong, and besides, Lan Wangji had definitely started it. This third dragon was bulkier where Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji were more lithe. There was something haughty and regal about the lines of his face, and he had the longest set of whiskers Wei Wuxian ever seen. Swallowing back his questions and confusion, Wei Wuxian bowed low to the stranger.

Lan Xichen approached Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian. “May I introduce our uncle, Lan Qiren, elder of the Lan Dragon Clan.”

Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji had an uncle?! Why hadn't Wei Wuxian met him before? Was Lan Wangji secretly embarrassed by his princess, such that he didn’t want to introduce him to the rest of the family?

“This one is Wei Wuxian, prince of the Yunmeng Jiang Kingdom and current Princess of the Dragon Lan Wangji,” Wei Wuxian replied on auto-pilot, putting false cheer in his voice.

Lan Qiren nodded in return.

Introductions finished, Lan Xichen stretched his neck forward, bumping his nose gently against Wei Wuxian’s bowed forehead. Wei Wuxian had seen the two dragon brothers do this to each other before, as well as other dragons at the hot springs, but he never would have expected to be on the receiving end of such dragonish affection.

He gaped at Lan Xichen as the dragon said, “I am glad to see you unharmed, Young Master Wei. Lan Wangji was very concerned.”

Next to him, Lan Wangji stiffened, but didn’t dispute his brother. Lan Qiren, meanwhile, looked like he had swallowed something particularly sour. He snapped, “I smell a strange human on his skin.”

Wei Wuxian had the good sense that it wouldn’t be smart to be his usual glib self with this dragon. He wasn’t sure what sort of power this older uncle had over his nephews, but Wei Wuxian was already going to be on thin ice as soon as the dragons learned how his letter home had been interpreted.

Keeping his voice even and pleasant, Wei Wuxian explained, “There was a knight at the gate here to rescue me. I had to go deal with him this morning.”

Lan Wangji let out a silent rumble. Wei Wuxian wanted to comfort him, but he was afraid to take his eyes off of the older dragon.

Lan Qiren narrowed his eyes in suspicion. “I see no knight. If that were actually true, then why have you returned here rather than staying with your rescuer?”

Wei Wuxian immediately bristled. He didn’t like the implication this dragon was making, both that he was eager to escape and that if he were, he would do things improperly by just running off. “Well, Lan Wangji was out, so it wasn’t like the knight could properly challenge him,” he said, and then added defiantly, “Besides, I told him I don’t want to be rescued in the first place. I’m quite happy where I am.”

“Humph,” said Lan Qiren at the same time that Lan Wangji muttered, “Shameless.”

Before the interrogation could continue, there was the sudden sound of clattering rocks and squelching boots, and then dwarves began to emerge from the rubble, one after the other, until five of them stood in a line before the dragons. Wei Wuxian was glad for the distraction as all three dragons immediately turned their attention towards the newcomers.

The dwarves were all wearing variations of the same uniform, yellow overalls with a blocky logo that read, “Wheezy, Weepy, Wonky, Winky, Wily, and Sons.” Rather than shovels or drills or any other tools one might expect, the dwarves were holding various instruments that whirred and buzzed and possessed no obviously discernable function. Two of the five were also wearing bamboo snorkels. Their uniforms had an odd slimy sheen, as if they had been wading through mucus.

Something prickled in the back of Wei Wuxian’s mind. He’d been so caught up in the interrogation that he hadn't noticed that no one had actually explained what had happened to the Jingshi. He was too far away to properly inspect it, but that pile of slimy white stuff spilling out of the doorway looked almost like—.

“Well?” demanded Lan Qiren imperiously.

One dwarf had far more hair that the others, his beard hanging nearly to his feet, and he was the one that bowed to the dragons and said, “Master Lan, Master Lan, and Master Lan, we’ve completed an initial survey of the damage.” He held up one of his instruments, which made several clacking noises and spit out a piece of parchment. He scanned the parchment, then crumpled it up. With a brisk, almost bored tone, he explained, “Damage was caused by an explosion, magical in nature, with the kitchen as the most likely origin point.”

A second dwarf shook his head. “See it all the time. Shoddily enchanted kitchen appliances are the number one cause of preventable magical catastrophes in the home.”

The first dwarf nodded in agreement. “Everyone wants a self-baking Dutch oven or an instant tea pot but no one wants to pay for it. Does a class-A, self-perpetuating congee pot sound familiar to you?”

Oh gods, the Pot-of-Plenty! Wei Wuxian’s heart almost stopped for a moment when he realized just where this was going and why the white stuff looked so familiar. That twelve-foot-tall pile of white stuff wasn’t rubble or slime, but glutinous rice. A floor to ceiling ocean of glutinous rice. But how was that possible? The new array hadn't even been finished yet. And an explosion big enough to take out part of the Jingshi? Even Wei Wuxian wasn’t that destructive.

“The Pot-of-Plenty is what caused this destruction?” asked Lan Wangji, echoing Wei Wuxian’s skepticism. The dragon shot Wei Wuxian a suspicious look as the prince did his best to assume an equally innocent expression. “Not some sort of attack?”

The dwarf did not look impressed at having his expertise questioned. “Seems like the safety-shut-off charm failed. Half of the cave is buried in congee. My best guess is the enchanted pot kept producing congee until it buried the room and then overloaded the wards, which is what caused the explosion.”

That—actually made sense, Wei Wuxian thought with growing dread. An ever-growing expanse of congee wouldn’t exactly be something the wards had been set up to deal with. And if the partially carved heat charm had been active, he could definitely imagine explosive consequences.

The second dwarf chimed in again, “Lucky the damage wasn’t more severe, really. Had a witch once who tried to enchant her favorite frying pan, and then stored it next to all her potion ingredients.”

The first dwarf let out a long-suffering sigh. “That one sure was a doozy. Started a fire that took out three blocks. Smoke kept turning people into rats. Your pot wasn’t dwarven made was it?”

Lan Wangji shook his head.

The dwarf nodded sagely, “I hate to say it, but you really have to be careful nowadays. Next time you should go with genuine, dwarven-enchanted kitchen products only. I can give you the name of my cousin; name’s Sleazy, best in the business. He’ll charge you fair prices, especially if you use my name.” The dwarf’s voice took on a practiced tone, “And speaking of fair prices, Wheezy, Weepy, Wonky, Winkey, Wily, and Sons is committed to green, environmentally friendly magical waste removal. That means the congee removal will have to be charged on the magical bio-hazard rate since it’s magic in origin. The ward repairs will be extra as well.”

“Of course,” replied Lan Xichen, his voice bland.

Once the dwarf seemed satisfied that they would indeed pay, he got busy yelling orders at the other four. The two snorkel-wearing dwarves dove headfirst back into the congee pile, while the other two began moving the largest pieces of rubble blocking the entrance. Meanwhile the three dragons huddled closer together. Wei Wuxian decided to stick close to Lan Wangji’s shoulder. He still hadn't admitted to anything about the Pot-of-Plenty, but both Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji had given him several considering looks already.

Lan Qiren spoke up first, “Lan Yi’s Pot-of-Plenty did not malfunction on its own.”

“Do you think sabotage? An intruder, perhaps?” suggested Lan Xichen, and Wei Wuxian knew right then that he was going to have to confess. He couldn't let them think that they had some sort of intruder when he knew the truth. Lan Wangji deserved better from him.

“It’s a strange way to attack a dragon home. A distraction? From someone who knew to draw the princess away,” said Lan Qiren with a frown. “Or merely coincidence?”

“It was me,” said Wei Wuxian, but his small human voice was drowned out by the dragons.

“They could be watching the comings and goings of the Cloud Recesses. We know the wiz—,” said Lan Wangji.

Wei Wuxian raised his voice, “It was me! It’s my fault the congee pot exploded!”

Damning silence echoed around the cave in the wake of his declaration. Even the dwarves had stilled, shamelessly listening in on the drama unfolding. Wei Wuxian couldn’t begrudge them that though since he would have done the same in their position. Lan Xichen’s expression barely shifted, and Wei Wuxian got the impression that despite Lan Xichen’s earlier speculations, the dragon was not at all surprised at this revelation.

“I was trying to-uh—improve it, and something must have gone wrong while I was away.” Wei Wuxian really wanted to gauge Lan Wangji’s reaction, but the dragon was standing just behind his shoulder, and he would’ve had to turn his back on the other two to clearly see Lan Wangji’s face.

“Improve it?” repeated Lan Qiren incredulously.

Wei Wuxian gulped and rubbed the back of his neck. The older dragon had begun leaking sulfuric heat with every exhale, a sure sign of imminent danger. “Well, it only makes—er, made plain congee.”

Lan Qiren remained silent for a long moment, then bit out, “That Pot-of-Plenty was a Lan Clan treasure. It was gifted to the Dragon King, Lan Yi, fifteen hundred years ago by the sorcerer Merlin himself, and it’s been passed down through the generations of this clan since. Lan Song kept it as his only source of sustenance while in the secluded meditation through which he found enlightenment! For fifteen hundred years, dragons have used that artifact to reduce the influence of worldly concerns, and you thought to improve it?!”

“Yes?”

Flames licked around Lan Qiren’s trembling muzzle and whiskers. Lan Wangji moved forward as if ready to step in front of Wei Wuxian, but unless the dragon had become flame repellent as well as flame proof, he didn’t see that doing all that much.

“I could repair it?” Wei Wuxian hastily suggested.

From behind them, the long-bearded dwarf called out, “It’s in about fifteen pieces.”

Lan Qiren took in a heaving breath. Seeing his death by flaming approaching ever nearer, Wei Wuxian scrambled for something else to offer the irate dragon, “Or I could make you another Pot-of-Plenty! A better one! Lan Zhan, I mean, ah, Lan Wangji, can tell you how good I am at talismans and charms. I promise I’ll find a way to enchant one that makes congee so disgusting, everyone who uses it is sure to find enlightenment.”

Lan Qiren gave up on conversing with Wei Wuxian at that point, and instead glared at Lan Wangji.

“Wangji, this has gone far enough,” Lan Qiren demanded, “Send this human back to where it came from. It’s bad enough that Lan Xichen has given his pet free rein inside the Library Pavilion. At least that one has some sense. There is already talk of your—.”

Lan Wangji interrupted his uncle, his voice surprisingly firm, “I will not.”

Wei Wuxian couldn’t believe that Lan Wangji had just interrupted a respected elder, and for him of all things. Even Lan Xichen looked a bit shocked. Lan Wangji continued, “Wei Ying is my princess. He is part of my personal hoard, and I have the right to conduct the affairs of my hoard as I see fit.”

Undeterred, Lan Qiren quickly changed tactics, “He must be punished.”

“Then I will see to his punishment.”

Lan Qiren let out a growl of frustration. “Wangji, I only want to protect you from—.”

“I understand, uncle,” Lan Wangji said, “However, my mind is made.”

Lan Qiren shook his head, his long whiskers slashing through the air. “I can see my counsel is not wanted,” he spat, then turned to leave. He did not once look back towards his nephews. Though Wei Wuxian had found the elder dragon to be rather unpleasant, he had to admit that Lan Qiren had conviction.

Once their uncle was out of sight, Lan Xichen let out a deep sigh. “Oh, Wangji.”

The younger dragon’s eyes flicked briefly to his brother, but he otherwise did not reply.

*~*~*

When the dwarves finally stopped for the night, most of the main room was free, though Wei Wuxian’s side of the Jingshi still remained inaccessible under a mountain of slimy rice and debris.

Every time he let himself linger on the events of the day, Wei Wuxian felt guilty and ashamed in a way he had never experienced before. He still hadn't told Lan Wangji about the details of his encounter with the knight, and that hung heavily on his heart as well. He was used to getting in trouble, used to his pranks and flighty ideas often having disastrous consequences, but this was hands-down the worst one yet. Not only had he accidently destroyed an important, ancient dragon artefact, but he had managed to demolish half of Lan Wangji’s home and ruin any chance he would ever have to make a good impression with the rest of his dragon’s family.

Once they were alone, Lan Wangji made as if to disappear into his own room for the night. However, before he could, Wei Wuxian called out, “Lan Zhan.” Lan Wangji paused, but didn’t turn back to face the prince. Wei Wuxian swallowed down his unease at speaking to the dragon’s back and forged ahead with a deep bow, “This one apologizes profusely for the harm I have caused. I never meant to—.”

“Wei Ying.”

Wei Wuxian fell silent as Lan Wangji finally turned to face him. The dragon’s eyes were dark and fathomless as they met the prince’s. “You were not happy with the meals I was providing you,” he said.

Wei Wuxian blinked in surprise and hastily straightened back up. “I—it wasn’t like—.”

“Wei Ying,” the dragon snapped, frills flaring.

Wei Wuxian froze, then admitted, “No, I wasn’t.”

“What were you attempting to do with the Pot-of-Plenty?”

“I was trying to add chili oil to its base enchantment,” Wei Wuxian reluctantly confessed.

Here was the moment where the dragon would finally explode. Wei Wuxian had caused all of that destruction over chili oil. Lan Wangji liked quiet nights with his guqin, reciting long lists of rules, and sorting his books for the umpteenth time, and he was finally seeing the consequence of choosing to live with someone as unsuited to his lifestyle as Wei Wuxian. Just because Wei Wuxian loved the challenge of reading the dragon’s silent emotions and finding new ways he could be provoked, didn’t mean that Lan Wangji felt the same.

But instead of snapping with anger, Lan Wangji said, his voice as emotionless as it ever was, “Besides asking for meat, you did not otherwise tell me you did not like your meals. Why?”

“I didn’t exactly hide it from you—.”

“Were you afraid to tell me?” asked the dragon, cutting him off.

“No, of course not!” The idea of him being afraid of Lan Wangji was absurd. The dragon was never anything but a perfect gentleman, always aware of his greater strength and power.

“Then why?”

I suppose I didn’t think you’d care about something unimportant like that,” Wei Wuxian eventually replied, wishing he understood exactly what it was Lan Wangji wanted from him right now. “I mean, it’s my fault we’re so low on vegetables, and it was just congee. It wasn’t like you were starving me.”

“You did not believe I would attempt to fulfil your wishes,” Lan Wangji stated, voice still toneless.

Wei Wuxian flinched. “That makes it sound so much worse than it is! Besides, you’re the one who told me I was out of luck if I didn't find everything here to my liking, remember?”

Lan Wangji made a low humming noise. Wei Wuxian couldn’t tell if the noise was an agreement or not. The dragon’s golden eyes held Wei Wuxian’s for a moment longer before he demanded, “What else?”

“What?”

“What else displeases you about living here that you have not told me?”

Wei Wuxian’s instinct to deflect uncomfortable topics was so ingrained that he was already whipping together something to divert the dragon. But before he could even open his mouth to reply, Lan Wangji let out a sigh, turned back to his bedroom, and commanded, “Come.”

Staring after the dragon, Wei Wuxian hesitated to follow. For all the free rein Lan Wangji had given him over the Jingshi, he had never actually entered the dragon’s personal bedroom before. But the dragon shot him an impatient look when he took too long, and so trying to hide his trepidation, he followed.

Lan Wangji’s bedroom was decorated to be a larger version of Wei Wuxian’s. The same blue and white color palette, paintings of rolling clouds, and that clean sandalwood scent, stronger here than anywhere else in the Jingshi. The only difference between this room and Wei Wuxian’s, besides the size of everything, was that instead of a bed, Lan Wangji had a nest of cushions meticulously piled against the back wall of the room.

Why had Lan Wangji told him to come inside the bedroom? Clearly, Lan Wangji was upset for some reason that Wei Wuxian hadn't complained enough about the food situation. He also had to be upset about the giant mountain of congee and the damaged wards, even though the dragon hadn't really shown it yet. Lan Qiren had said that Wei Wuxian needed to be punished. Was this where that punishment would happen? Wei Wuxian wondered just how dragons disciplined humans who misbehaved.

While Wei Wuxian was busy running his thoughts in circles, Lan Wangji pulled several cushions from his nest, laying them on the floor close by.

“What are you doing?” If Wei Wuxian didn’t know better, he would have said that the mini cushion pile the dragon was making was perfectly human sized.

Not turning away from his task, Lan Wangji said, “Your room is uninhabitable.”

Normally Wei Wuxian would have teased Lan Wangji, made some ridiculous flirty comment, but he was too heartsick for his usual antics. “You can’t—,” he began to say, but then his words fell away.

The dragon shot a glance back over his shoulder. “It is past nine. We will sleep now.”

It couldn’t actually be that easy, could it? Wei Wuxian made an incredulous noise, watching the dragon return to his own bedding. Lan Wangji turned a little circle before curling his tail and neck around himself in a loose ball.

After another moment of hesitation, Wei Wuxian clambered into his makeshift bed. The cushions were infused with a powerful aroma of sandalwood and clean smoke, and he took a moment to just let the scent wash over his senses.

Lan Wangji had already closed his eyes, but even if he were used to going to bed this early, Wei Wuxian was far too wound up to actually fall asleep. Instead, he lay there for a while, listening to Lan Wangji’s steady breathing. It was a comforting sound, reminding him of the years he’d shared a bedroom with Jiang Cheng.

He rolled over to face the dragon and whispered, “If you’re not careful, Lan Zhan, I’ll want to sleep here with you forever.”

He hadn't meant for Lan Wangji to actually hear him. The dragon already seemed to be deeply asleep if his breathing was anything to go by. But at Wei Wuxian’s whisper, the dragon blinked one eyelid open, hazy with sleep. “Mn,” he agreed with a hum and then closed his eyes again.

The motion had been so reminiscent of a curled up, sleeping cat, that Wei Wuxian had to stifle the giggle that bubbled up through him. He eventually fell asleep like that, watching Lan Wangji and thinking that as undeserving as he was, he had to have the most perfect dragon that had ever lived.

*~*~*