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~~(*)~~
When Fu Xuan walked into the Seat of Devine Foresight, she was very calm. Her head was held high, or as high as it ever could be, at least, her back straight and regal, the tails of her garments fluttering imperiously as she walked. But her eyes... her eyes snapped sparks of energy, quantum power held tightly in check by the thin veneer of pride and will alone. But despite her efforts, her aura bore an impressive weight, that caused the workers in Exalting Sanctum to hush and duck their heads as they passed.
She came to a halt in front of the doors, clicking her heels together sharply. "Open the door," she said, in a tone that was so fiercely calm that the guard turned white as steamed puffergoat milk.
He hastened to do so, and Fu Xuan swept inside, as majestically as a thundercloud sweeps over the horizon.
Jing Yuan's head lifted, one hand poorly disguising a yawn. "Ah, Lady Fu, I was merely resting my eyes from the strain of reading for a mere mome--"
Fu Xuan swept onwards. The closer she reached her goal, the more strength her aura built up, the tighter the thunderclouds strained against the cords that held them. Each step grew quicker, came down harder, until she was nearly stomping at the end. But she wasn’t, because she was completely. Calm.
Jing Yuan's face was still wreathed in a blithe smile, but his eyes narrowed.
She pulled to a halt before his desk, slapping something down atop it.
Jing Yuan reached out and picked it up, bringing it close to read it.
Rage crackled in his eyes, wrath leaping across his face like lightning through the heavens. For a moment it shone, fury incandescent, in every line of his body, for his narrowed eyes to his hand curling around the edge of the desk. The edge cracked, a sharp noise in the heavy quiet--
Then Jing Yuan blinked, and it was as if the rage had been sucked out by a vacuum. His face smoothed into its habitual lines, and he set the jade abacus on the desk gently.
"So they have summoned you, have they?"
Fu Xuan's fingers curled, nails biting into the flesh of her palms. "Don't you understand? They're trying to destroy you! They want to use me to do it!"
Jing Yuan was unmoved. "I'm sure the Marshal simply wants to clear up any misunderstandings."
"There are more people than just the marshal involved, and you know it!"
Fu Xuan drew herself up even tighter and taller, with the feeling that if she didn't do so, she would either scream or shake him. Possibly both.
He smiled at her, bright and dazzling as the sun. "I have full faith in my Master Diviner’s ability to speak the truth and banish the lies. I could ask for no greater defense."
She desperately wished she was tall enough to shake him.
"Aren't you angry? You did everything you could, and—and this is how they repay you?" Her throat was thick, the muscles contracting so tightly she could hardly squeeze the words out, squeezed by the weight of memories that had haunted her for months. "You... you nearly gave your life! What more could they ask for?"
Her voice didn't break at the end, cracking like pottery. It didn't.
He drummed his fingers slowly on the desk. A muscle in his cheek ticked, but his voice was calm and smooth when he answered.
"What good would anger for myself do me?” He shrugged, an elegant motion of his shoulders. “It would only cloud my judgment. If I were to be angry, I would be angry that they are attacking my people;" his voice deepened, his eyes narrowing slightly. "That they are taking you away, isolating you and putting you on trial. That, I could be angry for."
His voice thickened like a thundercloud, the air nearly crackling, charged with electricity. The energy thrilled through Fu Xuan, causing her heart to gallop in her chest--though she tried to ignore the reason why.
But then Jing Yuan's shoulders relaxed in a sigh, and he smiled ruefully. "But perhaps it is for the best. I had already thought that it would be well for you to attend to some matter outside the Luofu—this way they will get to see the veracity and nobility of my chosen successor. And, with you away from my presence, if the worst happens, you will not be implicated."
Fu Xuan blinked.
Then she exploded.
She stomped forward, slamming her hands on the desk and leaning forward to snarl in Jing Yuan's face, "You were going to send me away!?! You were planning that all along?"
He did not flinch, only staring back at her placidly. "You would never fulfill your goals if you got dragged down by my mistakes. Yanqing, too, if I had a place to send him. Perhaps the Astral Express..."
Fu Xuan was vibrating. She told herself it was anger, but the cold, miserable pit in her chest betrayed her other emotions. Her forehead throbbed, her ever-present headache doubling with the strain of her thoughts and feelings.
The words rushed out from her in a torrent, unable to be dammed--and in truth, she no longer wished to.
"My goal is for you to acknowledge my worth and hand the title to me yourself!” She snapped, her throat burning, even as her eyes did, threatening tears. “I won't accept any other way!"
He stared at her, his golden eyes steady despite the emotions she could see, drifting through them like clouds reflected in the still surface of a lake.
"Lady Fu," he said, his voice so gentle it ached like a wound, "I will do all I can to ensure the future unfolds along that path. But you know far better than I that there are many paths the future can take, and if my reign ends in shame or darkness, please... let me be comforted in the knowledge that you will guide them in my stead."
Once again, the room fell quiet. Fu Xuan's heart stuttered tentatively in her chest, the workings of her mind slowly spinning through his words and the feelings they stirred.
His words on the edge of Scalegorge Waterscape had been seared into her mind, just as the image of him, pale and still on the bed in the alchemy commission that night, wounded and torn, wracked with pain.
Would these words join them, inescapably emblazoned forever across her mind, along with the image of the noblest man she knew, bowed in disgrace, locked in chains deep beneath the waves?
His face blurred before her eyes, water swamping her vision, obscuring his gentle smile, the soft gold of his eyes, and Fu Xuan could stand it no more.
She threw herself across the desk, snatching at the blue ribbon around his throat, yanking him forward even as she leaned towards him. For a moment she saw the startled widening of his eyes, and then her lips were on his.
For a moment he was stiff, frozen as marble against the press of her lips, and shame swamped hot through her gut, and she stiffened, beginning to pull back.
Then large fingers threaded though her hair, tugging her forward again, a strong arm curling around her waist. Jing yuan’s lips pressed against her own, desperate despite the gentleness of the thumb stroking her cheek.
The gentleness smote her like a blow, and the tears she had held back finally released, trailing down her cheeks. Finally he pulled back, pressing his forehead against hers even as he carefully wiped her tears away. The touch made her heart thrill and ache at the same time, and eventually she reached up, pressing one of his hands against her cheek until he stilled. Fu Xuan forced the tears back as best she could, but her voice was wet when she spoke. "Please. Don't let them beat you."
"I won’t," He said, lifting her free hand to his lips. "Have faith in me."
"Always," she whispered. "So have faith in me, too."
He chuckled against her fingers, his arm tightening against her waist. "I never stopped, my lady Fu."
And they stayed there for a long time, as the sunlight turned to evening's gold around them.
~~(*)~~