ZenTar¹Literally zen (silent) + tar (wind) and ZaiWin²Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos). raised their heads and sat on their heels.

“Did he just ran away?” ZenTar asked, looking at the obvious empty space in front of him, and VinWei³Literally vin (hard) + wei (crystal) sighed.

“I knew he’d have some difficulty dealing with this. But I never expected him to actually flee,” she admitted and ZenTar scratched his head.

“Isn’t this a problem? What if he just runs away from the platform in the middle of the ceremony?”

“He won’t,” ZaiWin declared without the shadow of a doubt. “I’ll talk to him.”

“It will take more than talking,” VinWei warned. “He’s a smart kid. I have no doubt that he understood what I just told him, about how things are supposed to be. The problem here isn’t lack of a better explanation.”

“I’ll deal with it,” ZaiWin reiterated, getting up and closing his eyes. “Don’t wait for us,” he simply declared, and then he was gone.

“Maybe we should get the whole village to kneel before him,” ZenTar suggested and VinWei sighed again.

“Snow will probably be able to deal with that. He wouldn’t like it, but I believe he’d be able to bear it.”

“You mean that his problem is with Nox⁴Literally nox (night). Where Nox is the name of the Clan, also the name of a Province?”

VinWei stood up and patted her dusty knees.

“Unlike other Tien’Elhar⁵Literally tien (Heaven) + el (supreme) + har (girl child). The Heavenly Beings also known as Celestials in the common language., Snow has no real concept of who he is or of his own importance. His entire life he’s been at the bottom, fighting to survive. In his eyes, we belong to a much higher, intangible place. We’re of noble blood, after all. If normal people look at us with respect and awe, just imagine what a small beggar would feel. And, of course, from all of us, ZaiWin is at the top of his pyramid. We just told him that things are actually reversed, and told him he has to invert the hierarchic structure he’s lived by his entire life. He’s too honest and naive. Even if he weren’t a Tien’Elhar, he would still probably find it hard to integrate this.”

ZenTar took a deep breath and stood up as well.

“Nox better get him used to it, then. As soon as possible.”

VinWei simply nodded her agreement.

Before he had realized, it had gotten dark outside. And so, running without taking notice of where he was going, Snow clashed head-first into something large and hard, that immediately made him fall back.

A strong hand around his arm pulled him froward and efficiently settled him back on his feet.

“Hey. Where are you running to?” an amused voice asked him. He didn’t even have to raise his head to know who had just talked to him. “Calm down.”

That was easier said than done, Snow thought, his heart beating like crazy inside his chest.

ZaiWin looked down at the tuff of silver hair covering his head and couldn’t help smiling. The brat was so nervous that even the arm he was holding was trembling.

“You’re really something. You’re able to mindlessly run into a battle against the feimao⁶Literally fei (raging / furious) + mao (beast / monster). Raving beasts that appear in unbalanced, ungoverned lands. They possess destructive markings that in turn corrupt the land even further. Hard to explain in just 2 lines -_-; Anyway. Bad, vicious things that need to be killed., but you run away at the sight of other people kneeling at your feet?”

Snow breathed in, trying to catch his breath.

“It doesn’t feel right ...”

“It’s nothing to worry about. In the end, all this is just a formality. You’ll have to kneel in front of me as well. So we’re kind of even,” ZaiWin added, trying to lighten the mood. “And if we’re speaking about what feels and does not feel right, I much rather kneel in front of you, than have to kneel in front of those bastards,” he added and Snow finally raised his head to look up at him.

“It still doesn’t feel right ...”

ZaiWin smiled at that.

“I’m really sorry for that.”

Snow averted his gaze. What was he apologizing for? It wasn’t as if he’d been the one to establish those stupid rules.

“Besides, I’m an expert at kneeling,” ZaiWin proudly stated as if that were a great achievement. “I’ve been doing so since I was just a child. Once I even had to kneel out in the cold for an entire morning.”

Snow took a deep breath.

“I still wish you wouldn’t have to ...”

A warm, familiar hand landed on his head, immediately conveying him a strange sense of security.

“If you’re going to wish for something, wish that our stay in the Palace may be as brief as possible. I would gladly kneel for an entire week, if that meant I could leave that place a day earlier,” ZaiWin grunted and Snow peered up at him.

“Even though you lived there as a child?”

“Exactly because I used to live there as a child,” ZaiWin immediately retorted.

Snow hesitated for a moment before asking.

“All those people VineWei has been telling me about ... You know them all?”

“I do.”

That was kind of reassuring, Snow realized.

“Do you like them at all?”

ZaiWin chuckled.

“Not one bit. Well, except for NimRen⁷Literally nim (gentle) + ren (river). She’s always been ... nice to me,” ZaiWin admitted, and Snow quickly mentally reviewed the huge, complex family tree VinWei had drawn for him.

Wen⁸Literally wen (sun). Name of one of the three Empires, Wen, Ran and Sen. (Sun, Moon and Star). Also used as surname by the members of the Imperial Family with ascending rights to the throne NimRen. One of the El’Lin⁹Literally el (supreme) + lin (silver). Name given to the female children of the Emperor. Could be translated into princess in the common language., which obviously meant she was one of the El’Dur¹⁰Literally el (supreme) + dur (ruler). Name given to the Emperor’s daughters, the oldest one. She was also the daughter of the Dailar¹¹Literally dai (light) + lar (lady). Could be translated as Queen. Won¹²Literally won (wood). Won is the name of the Clan (family name), also the name of a Province. LinDou¹³Literally lin (silver) + dou (tree).. And she had an older brother from the same mother called Wen CalWan¹⁴Literally cal (bright) + wan (fire). Unlike all other El’Gin¹⁵Literally el (supreme) + gin (gold). Name given to the male children of the Emperor. Could be translated into prince in the common language. and El’Lin above the age of thirteen, she was the only one who wasn’t a Chosen One, Snow quickly recalled.

“VinWei said I should look out for the Janwan¹⁶Literally jan (flower) + wan (fire). Could be translated as Concubine. …” Snow added, uncertain, and ZaiWin smiled coldly.

“You should look out for everyone in that wretched place. But the fact that VinWei told you that shows that she knows what she’s talking about.”

Snow lowered his head, hesitating again.

“What about … the other Tien’Elhar? Do you know them?” he ended up asking, hoping ZaiWin wouldn’t get too angry, but ZaiWin sounded completely unfazed by his question when he answered.

“I’ve seen them all, on official events, when they accompany their Chosen Ones. But I am not allowed to talk to them, so I normally keep my distance.”

“So you never spoke with any of them?” Snow wondered, looking up at him, and ZaiWin sighed.

“No.” The pale eyes staring up at him looked disappointed.

ZaiWin sighed again.

“Which doesn’t mean they haven’t spoken to me,” he added and, true enough, disappointment transformed into expectation. “Or at least tried to,” ZaiWin added with a grunt, averting his gaze.

“Even though they mostly tend to keep their distance from me, Wen HenWan¹⁷Literally hen (heal / medicine) + wan (fire). Name of FeiWan’s Celestial., FeiWan¹⁸Literally fei (raging / furious) + wan (fire)’s Celestial, has, on occasion, made her best to overcome her disgust for my person and has tried to address me a few words. She’s what you could call a worrywart. She knows I’m not in good terms with most of the royals and so she’s made a few feeble attempts to patch things up.”

Snow smiled.

“She sounds like a good person.”

“A Celestial can never be a good person,” ZaiWin immediately retorted, efficiently assassinating Snow’s smile. “They can only see their Chosen One. The only reason she tries to patch things up between me and FeiWan is because she worries I may actually kill him one day. Which, I may add, is highly possible to happen.”

“How can you know that? That she’s only looking after her own interests and not actually trying to make things better for everyone?” Snow contested and ZaiWin looked at him, ending up sighing.

“I’m not going to discuss this matter with you. You will inevitably feel that my words also include you, and you’ll automatically take their side,” ZaiWin openly declared, which successfully erased the small annoyance Snow had felt at the way he’d so assuredly spoken. “You’ll eventually have the opportunity to see how things really are for yourself. I’ll not ask, much less demand, that you believe or adopt my point of view regarding the Tien’Elhar. I only ask that you keep your mind open and your point of view neutral, regarding this matter. So that you may reach your own conclusions.”

Those words sounded very familiar, Snow thought. The golden-haired woman he’d met in the Temple had told him more or less the same thing. See with your own eyes, listen with your own ears, think with your own head, feel with your own heart, and reach your own answers, she’d told him. He would try to do just that, he decided.

“I’m a Tien’Elhar too,” he declared, facing those cold-blue eyes, and ZaiWin sighed again.

“You’re di …”
“Different,” Snow interrupted him. “You’ve been telling me that for a while now.”

“I’m not the only one saying so. You can ask VinWei, or even ZenTar. They will tell you the same thing.”

“What if I end up not being all that different after all? What if I’m just … ignorant and unschooled? And once I’ve learned all these things I become just like them?”

ZaiWin couldn’t help laughing at his worried, depressed expression.

“Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around? We’re actually worrying that, no matter how much we teach you, you’ll never be able to pass for one of them,” he declared but, noticing Snow’s still worried expression, ZaiWin ended up taking a deep breath and ruffling his soft hair. “Don’t worry. If you were anything like them you wouldn’t have run away at the mere sight of me kneeling at your feet.”

Snow’s cheeks took on a light pink color at the mention of that.

“Which reminds me. We’ll have to practice that. A lot. We can’t have you running away in the middle of the Ceremony as if you’d just seen a demon. I’m even considering starting to permanently walk on all fours.”

Snow grimaced painfully at the mental image of that.

“Please don’t. We can just practice it normally,” he conceded in a defeated whisper and ZaiWin chuckled.

Unable to resist, ZaiWin pulled him closer and placed a kiss on the top of his head, before releasing him again.

“Let’s go and see if Rain has something to feed us,” he decided, already making his way back to Rain’s place.

His heart beating strangely faster, Snow slowly touched the top of his head. He knew that ZaiWin’s body was much warmer than his. But he still couldn’t understand how, sometimes, when he touched him, that warmth lingered on his skin, spreading to a larger area, sometimes even wrapping his entire body.

“Coming?”

Blinking, Snow looked at him. There was a small, mischievous smile on ZaiWin’s lips that made his heart beat even faster. He was amused at something. Probably making fun of his blushed, wandering expression, Snow concluded with an annoyed frown, before running to catch up with. And yet he couldn’t really get angry at him for that. He much rather see those small smiles on ZaiWin’s lips, even if they looked kind of evil, than the cold, distant expression he had worn on his face when they’d first met.

Silvareiel

Waa ... ZaiWin is being so nice and sweet ?Of course, I’m sure he’s planning to have those practice sessions in private, probably in the bedroom, most likely with has little clothes on as possible ... Evil, evil ZaiWin! ???

On a second note, I’ll probably have to stop uploading every day. ?. The reason is simple. I’m working double shifts now, due to some of my colleagues’ vacations and because of the covid outbreaks. Which means that I almost have zero time to write. Even uploading. I’m sure you’ve noticed that I’ve been missing a few days and uploading late at night (at least according to my time zone). So, if I keep up with my uploading schedule I’ll end up without any more chapters to upload. I haven’t written a new chapter in ten days, now ?I still have a lot of stuff written but, eventually, it will run out. So, in order to make sure we won’t enter a hiatus (which I HATE), I’ll start uploading every other day. The other days, when I don’t upload, I’ll be using the time I should be reviewing the chapter to upload to actually write new stuff. Don’t know if I made any sense ? It should be just for the next month or so. Then things are bound to get back to normal. I’m terribly sorry. But I don’t see any other way ? I too wish I could write fulltime and dedicate all my time to my beloved characters. Just please, be patient ? Thank you so much for all your support. I truly appreciate it ?