-?????-

The dried mud did not stop the rays of the sun from scorching his skin, the red patches now littered with boils. His ankle had swollen to twice its size, his hands caked in dried mud hid the cuts and bruises, but it could not hide his swollen and broken fingers. Having been stuck on the roadside embankment for two days, he did not have the strength to shield his red eyes from the sun or the will to lick his dry lips, he could no longer even use the mud to quench his thirst.

He thought back to just a few days ago, when he had no want for food or water, all was plentiful and given to him at his request. He thought of the people he had always trusted, the people who had taken care of him, and the people that had betrayed him..... Now if he were to raise his voice, only a dry and guttural sound would be heard.

The boy knew that any sound he made would be useless, any movement would just cause him more pain. If he held on any longer he would only regret it. His eyes that had dimmed long ago showed the faintest light as he let out a shrill animalistic wail that shook his body to its core, draining the last of his strength. It was a guttural cry that was no longer human, a cry that was out of frustration, out of sadness, out of pain, out of desperation but most importantly out of loss.

The boy blinked once, twice and barely thrice before his burnt eyelids refused to open. His head lulled to the side, his breath shallowed to barely a wisp, his tears long turned to salt. 

-Western Kingdom- City of WyGate-

As Fai RuLan ran back and forth between the small tables he was caught off guard by one of Aunty Lilis' regular chatty customers.

"Marriage?!" Fai RuLan spit out, choking on his words. The word rang foreign and hollow to him, it was not a word he heard often, nor had ever used. It was a mystery to him how and why this customer of Aunty Lili's would suddenly bring it up as he was cleaning after tables. 

"That's right, you haven't heard?" the older woman laughed. "It's an official decree from the palace, it just passed two days ago. I was just talking to Lili about it. From what I heard, since the new emperor was not expecting to take the throne from his late brother he has to speed up finding his empress and make a new heir."

It was sad, but it was common knowledge by now that the late emperor and wife passed on during an accident last year. It happened while they were traveling between residences. After spending the winter months in the warmer south, they had prepared to return north to the imperial palace when a mudslide on a mountain road crushed their carriage and carried the remaining party off the side of the cliff. It was an accident that had caused months of mourning for the empire. Something that was not readily forgettable.

"What's so special about it to make a decree though?" Fai RuLan picked up the empty plate from the table. "Don't they have people always recommending women as concubines? And besides, didn't the late emperor have a kid, wouldn't he technically be the next on the throne?"

From what Fai RuLan could remember, while the late emperor and his imperial wife were young when they passed, they did have a child. A son that was thankfully spared from the tragedy when he was sent back north ahead of time to prepare for his formal schooling. It was an unexpected blessing in the midst of tragedy. 

"Ah that, I heard its because the little one is too young that they decided to pass it to the late emperors younger brother instead. It seems to be quite common sadly" the chatty woman replied with a shake of her head. "But hopefully they'll find a good noble lady from the those invited to the celebration."

"A celebration?" Fai RuLan questioned as he wiped the next table down with a cloth. "Is it not just choosing from candidates that his ministers recommend?"

"Ah, no no no, that's why they made a special announcement about it. Why would they make an announcement for something so common? It's because it goes against the grain that its become what it has," the customer chided. " Apparently his highness was really specific about the requirements for his empress. Aside from the fact that it is his birthday celebration, its invitation only, mostly those noble women chosen by ministers I'm guessing."

"Ah, those rich bastards only getting richer, hah," a mans voice cut in from the next table. "Really not surprised though, I betcha that its just gonna be nepotism from those damn ministers. Not carin' bout us common folk, only their dang wallets."

The man had a masculine air about him as he ate his hot meal, his tan skin, and taut muscles told Fai RuLan he was a common laborer who probably spent most of his time in the broiling sun. "Really though, if it wasn't invitation only, my little Abelle would be a perfect match for his damn requirements."

"Really? I think any woman could meet those requirements though, even those of noble blood."  The older woman replied in all seriousness.

"Ah, sure, sure, but with his title and loot he'll probably just end up being deceived by his ministers into thinking he has a choice in who he chooses." The man blurted out. "Those phonies are probably just after something in that damn treasury."

"Treasure? What do you mean treasure?" Xiao Yu asked walking over with aunty Lili.

"Ah, the emperors treasury, show me someone else that has one around here," the man retorted.

Aunty Lili smiled warmly. "Ah, that's right, the emperors marriage announcement. You're around that age too, aren't you? For marriage that is. Have you thought about it yet? "

What he thought........was no where close to that, while Fai RuLan was already twenty-three, where many men his age were bustling around courting women, he had never given it any thought.

"Aunty," RuLan began rubbing the back of his neck, " I'm not really suited for that, am I? I, you, you already know that I don't have a stable income. I mean all I've got to my name is what I can carry on my back, and the only talent I have is, well, this....."

Fai RuLan took a couple of large metal rings from his bag and interlocked them, swinging them up and around. Until finally unlocking them in a flashy manner and making them disappear in the blink of an eye.

The kids at the table next to them, witnessing the trick, squealed and laughed in surprise, breaking his concentration and alleviating the tension he felt in his shoulders. He smiled back at them and waved.

"Anyway, that's not important, what kind of treasure were you talking about?" Xiao Yu butted in, unwilling to let the conversation he walked into die quite yet.

Fai RuLan could only laugh at the excitement in his little brothers voice. Ah, really Xiao Yu was so predictable, always focused on making money. It was probably because they've always lacked money that the mention of potential gain always seems to excite this little brother of his. Although Xiao Yu's fixation on money could be considered a flaw, it was a boon for Fai RuLan who didn't like asking after it. 

"Ah, that? The emperors new wife will get to choose anything from one of the many treasuries as compensation to the family." The man harrumphed. "Not really shockin' but, what has everybody talkin' is that it can be from any of their many treasuries. Things like ancient artifacts, weapons, jewelry, books, even spoils of war, ya know, the point is that anything they have is on the table."

Fai RuLan's heart stilled. He felt his hands twitch and his pulse suddenly burst to life. Anything? Anything at all? RuLan could no longer hear anyone around him, his breath caught as the possibilities ran through his head. What was the chance? If there was one, he knew he'd just have to take it!

"Aunty, sorry, I just remembered something I have to take care of, I..." Fai RuLan stuttered.

Aunty Lili stopped him in his tracks. "Really now, what makes you think you have to ask permission to leave, just go if you have something to do, there's no harm here dear."

Fai RuLan nodded in relief and dragged Xiao Yu out of the restaurant. "Big brother, what's going on? We never have anything to do." Xiao Yu raised his voice in disbelief that his big brother would suddenly skip out on working at Aunty Lili's place. The only thing they could possibly do was fail at gaining donations, and really, they could do that without even trying.

"Xiao Yu....." Fai RuLan stopped walking after he reached the next block. "If there was something I wanted to do,no, something I needed to do but its something that could be dangerous, would you help me?"

The seriousness in RuLans voice caused XianYu to freeze. He trusted his big brother the most in this world, after all when Yuen XianYu was left abandoned on the streets, it was none other than the equally poor Fai RuLan that had taken him along and had given him a place to belong. 

"I mean, it's you brother RuLan, I'd help but aren't you over exaggerating whatever it is, I mean..."

"I'm serious, I'm not overexaggerating anything!" Fai RuLan raised his voice and dragged the shocked XianYu to a dead side street, careful to avoid the attention of others.

Fai RuLan leaned down, and stared in all seriousness at his loyal little brother. "Xiao Yu, if I said I wanted to commit treason, would you follow me?"

Treason? His Fai RuLan, commit treason? What?!? Yuen XianYu could not conceal his shock and almost shouted out, only to have his mouth sealed shut by Fai RuLans palm. XianYu could feel the sweat dripping down his neck as he stared in disbelief at his big brother, a big brother so honor bound that he would never do anything or forgive anything that hit his bottom line. But, how exactly was this not diving past his bottom fucking-line?!?!?

"I'm" Fai RuLan stuttered, as if just saying this one sentence eroded part of his soul. "I'm going to seduce the emperor."

Authors Theater

The emperor: My lovely husband, please seduce me soon ( ´ ∀ `)ノ～ ♡

Fai RuLan: Is this saccharine man really our emperor? 

The proudly saccharine man: <(￣︶￣)>

Fai RuLan: *extreme doubt* ლ(¯ロ¯"ლ)