It was a chilly breeze in the middle of the night that first woke Wang Shiyao.

An unusual feeling in the pit of her stomach that made her wake immediately and jump from her bed, and no sooner had she done so was there a scream from the living area, a crash of a vase and the loud bang of her bedroom door bursting open and hitting the wall. Ina came running in, grabbing Shiyao's arm and the princess stood in front of her as two people in black clothes came careening through the window.

She grabbed her necklace, the pendant slipping from her grasp several times before she was able to cast the Slow spell over the intruders, both of whom had already drawn their swords as they leaped, now in slow motion, towards the two ladies. Shiyao pulled Ina out into the living area where they skidded, almost falling as they scrambled to turn the corner upon more intruders appearing. The front entrance seemed safe, and so the pair ran outside and directly into Yixing.

"Your Highness, you must go!" he ordered, his sword clashing fiercely with the intruders', and a few quick moves on his part had them all slain in the blink of an eye.

He dragged Shiyao and Ina out through the courtyard, the three almost making it to the gate, but not before the black shadows of more intruders gave chase, and in an uncharacteristic show of aggression, Yixing pushed the girls out of the gate.

"Run!"

"Yixing-!"

"Your Highness, let's go, we can't stay here!"

"But Yixing!"

"He'll be okay!" Ina yelled, grabbing her wrist and pulling her away from the gate, a sudden whoosh and flourish of purple light and Yixing's jeers assuring them somewhat that he wouldn't go down easily.

Shiyao soon picked up the pace, running alongside Ina as they made their way through the shadows towards the main courtyard.

"Where are we going?" Ina panted, her head turning back to check behind them, Shiyao doing the same to their right and left.

"Library." she replied. "They won't touch Lu, I know that much."

"Good idea!"

They sped up, dresses clutched in their hands as they broke into a sprint once the courtyard came into view. The freezing winter air didn't bother them in the slightest, adrenaline running too high through their veins for them to notice anything about their environment. It was, perhaps, why they didn't notice the shadows on the rooftops, the shadows in the shadows who waited for them to reach the centre of the courtyard before revealing themselves, startling the girls so much they almost fell to the ground.

The pair stood back-to-back, turning as they quickly realised that they were surrounded.

The head guard, whose coat bore a red embroidered flower across the chest, dropped to one knee and the rest of the men followed suit. He kept his head down as he finally spoke:

"Her Highness Princess Wang Shiyao is summoned by His Highness Crown Prince Yun Jing Han. He requests your peaceful co-operation in relocating to Raven Residence in preparation for marriage."

"Your Highness, we request your full co-operation!" the guards, arranged in circles around them, were firm in their supposed request.

"I won't go!" Shiyao yelled, her eyes darting around to try and think up any escape route.

"Please reconsider, Your Highness!" they chorused once more and Shiyao wondered if she could run over their backs and out past the guest parlour, but she suspected that while their heads were bowed their eyes were probably trained on them.

"I apologise for whatever His Highness has threatened you all with should you fail to bring me back, for I have no doubt that he will follow through. Please understand that I cannot go." she called out.

"Please reconsider, Your Highness!" the head guard said once more, standing to his feet.

"No."

That single word was all it took for every guard to follow suit, pulling their swords out as they did so, every blade tip aimed in their direction.

"Oh, Mammy!" Ina whimpered, her grip tightening on Shiyao's arms

"Don't worry." she placed a hand over her lady-in-waiting's. "We're not dying today."

In a flash, Shiyao's hand flew upwards, a huge glyph appearing over where they stood and sending the soldiers into slow motion as they approached. She grabbed Ina's hand and pulled her to start running, but in the time it took them to turn around another glyph appeared overhead, the head guard having countered with the Haste spell.

The head guard watched intently as Shiyao waved her hands around, seemingly disappearing from sight while the number of soldiers multiplied - everywhere one looked was nothing but soldiers and buildings. The guard laughed out loud at how cute the princess was, before uttering a few words and with the snap of his fingers, the Mirror spell was shattered by Break, revealing the girls just as they were about to try to run through the circle.

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"Your Highness, I advise you to give up before we are given no choice but to bring harm to you and your friend."

What bullshit, Shiyao smirked at the mere thought. No King would accept a consort who was scarred or maimed in any way. Although... there were spells for healing over such things. Would he really have the balls to harm her?

She and Ina backed up, the younger girl hiding behind her princess as they found themselves surrounded once more.

They were too on edge to notice anything awry, to hear the footsteps of one lone soldier slowly approaching from behind.

They didn't see it,

But all it took was a single hand landing on Ina's shoulder to make her shriek and send the soldiers into a frenzy as even louder screams rose from the back of the circle. Bodies began dropping like flies and it took Shiyao a good moment to realise the single soldier slaughtering his comrades was none other than Tang Zixuan.

"Let's go!" he barked, taking the chance to sprint away and grabbing the girls as he did so, the remaining soldiers giving chase as they disappeared into the night.

All three were running on pure adrenaline as they somehow managed to outrun the soldiers, hopping up the steps of the library and through the huge, solid doors, managing to slam them shut and lock them just as the soldiers reached the bottom step.

Aside from some initial banging and shaking, the soldiers' attempt to break in was soon stopped by the order of the head guard, who barked it loud enough for those inside to hear. Shiyao ran into the main building, locking on to Lu as he stood in the centre of the room with his arms opened, automatically wrapping them around her as she came crashing into his chest.

After they were settled, Lu fed them a delicious meal, noting how Ina and Zixuan wolfed everything down while Shiyao pushed food around her plate. It didn't take long for the pair to collapse into a deep slumber after finishing, Ina sprawled out like a starfish while Zixuan slept beside her with one strong arm draped over her body. Shiyao smiled at the sight, knowing Ina would practically vibrate with elation if she were to know her crush was being so protective of her.

"Well I'm glad something made you smile." Lu said, sitting down beside her on the sofa in the adjacent living area.

"They're cute." she commented.

"As are you." he replied, grinning as she let out a sigh and covered her face with her hands, giggling through her exasperation and exhaustion.

Still, she didn't protest as he slung one arm around her, not understanding why holding Jing Han's hand was enough to make her nervous, but she never gave a second thought to the kisses she'd shared with Lu. Was it because of some magic he had? Because of his being an immortal, as Jing Han had told her? The more she thought about it the more curious she became:

"Are you really an immortal?" she asked quietly.

"Yes."

"Did you found Ranhara?"

"I did." he nodded.

"Then, are the ruins at the top of Mount Oma really your home?"

"They were, a long time ago."

He watched her with a slight smile as she thought about her next question:

"Am I your descendant?"

"No." he shook his head. "But you're someone I've been waiting for for a very long time."

Shiyao shifted slightly to regard him more closely.

"Why?"

It was the first time Shiyao had ever seen Lu look even remotely nervous, waiting patiently for him as he shifted and gathered his thoughts. His fingers drummed gently against her shoulder before falling from it and returning to his own lap where he began fidgeting with his nails.

"Because I love you." he replied quietly.

"You barely know me!" Shiyao's laugh died as soon as she met his eyes; soft and sad. "Right?"

"I know you better than I know myself." he continued. "In another lifetime, we were lovers."

"What other lifetime?" she frowned.

"In the Immortal Realm." he explained, "We were in love, but couldn't be together. You were betrothed to another man, but on the morning of your wedding you ran away to Purifying Lake where you dove in... Entering the water will wipe all your memories and send you this realm, you see."

"But my whole life I've been here." she shook her head, "That doesn't make any sense."

"It makes sense. You were reborn, you were reborn because you begged for death."

"So if I were to die here-"

"You would wake up back in the Immortal Realm."

"...I must've really hated that guy." she mused. "Did he follow me, too?"

Lu nodded.

"Is it the Crown Prince?"

"No."

"Is it Wang Jun?"

"Not him, either."

"Then who?" she asked, burning with curiosity.

"Your teacher, Yu Liang." he replied, finding his heart thumping in anxiety as he tried to gauge her reaction.

"Oh? He doesn't seem so bad." she frowned. "I wonder why I hated him so in the Immortal Realm? More than that, though, why couldn't we be together if we were in love?"

"Because we're from clans that are diametrically opposed." he began, tentatively putting a hand over hers and feeling relieved when she didn't protest. "I'm from the Heavenly Mountain Clan and you, the Moon River Clan. My clan rules the heavens, as the name suggests, and everything falls under our jurisdiction with the support of the other clans. Your clan, however, wants the responsibilities of governance split between every faction regardless of size or location."

"That makes sense." she nodded. "Why should one clan hold all the power?"

"I couldn't care less about these things, but it has villainised the Moon River Clan, the only allies your people have are the Glacial Sea Clan, that's the clan Yu Liang belongs to. The union between the two of you would solidify your commitments to the cause."

"So why did I run? Was he awful to me?"

"Truthfully? No." Lu shook his head. "But marrying him meant losing me, so you ran."

"How come you remember all this?"

"Because I didn't go through Purifying River. I'm able to come and go as I please between realms."

"How come? Why weren't you reborn when me and my teacher were?"

"Because I was a sacrifice to the universe." his eyes lowered, fixing on how he held her hand. "But the universe took mercy on me, being just a baby, and granted me immortality. I didn't need to cultivate anything, everything was handed to me because the person who birthed me thought they would get extraordinary powers if they gave up their first born. The universe sees all - the gods and the celestial beasts - only they have the right to give and take away."

"My goodness... just how old are you?"

Lu's mouth opened and shut as he sighed in exasperation, though he couldn't help smiling all the same. He ought to have known this question was coming.

"Actually-" she began before he could formulate a response, "It doesn't matter. Were you ever going to pursue me in this lifetime, then? What were you waiting for?"

"Well, I didn't know who you'd grow up to be, I certainly never expected you to be part of the royal family, but I think I was pretty forward with my intentions."

"Were you?"

"Do you really think I had to kiss you to show you visions of the past?" he smirked, leaning closer to her, "Or to come up with a plausible excuse for your appearance in the King's Quarters?"

"Well, I didn't think too much about it." she shrugged. "I've kissed a lot of men for many reasons."

"So how do I compare?"

"I'll have to check again." Shiyao sang, slinging her arms around his neck and pulling herself onto his lap, trying to suppress her smile as he froze in shock, his hands tentatively coming to rest on her waist before he was pushed back when her lips crashed down on his.