Sky Pride

“You cleaned up the battlefield? The heretics too?”

“Yep.” Liren nodded.

“Alright. Gently, please, do please gently carry me away from here. But gently. Please.

“I’ll be gentle if you say please.”

Liren grinned, but her hands still flinched as she reached for him. He met her eyes steadily. Her hands were soft and moving slow as she lifted him up. There wasn’t any trace of effort on her face, just concern.

“Can you tear the talismans?” She asked.

“Mmm. No idea if they will work on Heavenly realm trackers, but they are better than nothing.”

Tian pulled out the old anti-pursuit talismans they had from back in the Redstone Wastes. They were thick paper, clearly not ordinary stock, with sigils drawn in esoteric inks. Tian had no idea how they worked. Some you had to stick to your body, others you had to tear, or throw, or paste on a doorframe. These talismans you tore. They made you harder to divine, covered your smell, hid your footsteps and, he noticed, looking at where he had laid, dissolved your spilled blood into dust and dirt. How the talisman knew to destroy that and not the blood in his body, he really couldn’t say.

“Do you ever feel like you don’t actually know how anything works?” Tian asked.

“Constantly. To the Green River?”

“Yes, let’s find a mortal city or something. Some place where we can lay low for a while.”

“We are definitely throwing on our uniforms, though. I have to imagine the status of the sect has changed, but given that most of the Inner Court was trapped out here, well. You would have to be pretty bold to make too much of a fuss. Can’t imagine whatever trap Starsieve set up killed everyone.” Liren’s hands were very steady, her feet landing feather-light on the ground. It took less than two minutes for the two to be back on the water.

“This feels right. We may need a new boat, but this is always going to feel right to me.” Tian grinned. It was a strained grin. The pain in his stomach was rather incredible. He had seen patients in the hospital act this way many times. That manic courage, saying everything is fine and nothing hurts, even though you can see the sweat beading and falling from their head and turning the sheets dark.

“Yeah. I’m okay with patching a boat, but I don’t think I could make a Heavenly Realm boat. Who do you think has one?” Liren asked.

“Maybe the person behind the water bandits? It seems reasonable. Water Bandits. Boats.”

“Sure, we should go looking for them when we’ve healed up a bit.” Liren kept the conversation going, and it took Tian an embarrassingly long time to realize what she was doing. She was doing what she had seen him do for years. Sitting with the sick, and talking with them. Comforting and distracting them. He smiled and touched his heart, feeling it warm in the light of her.

Liren rowed them down the river for the rest of the day, passing by several towns and a small city. Tian entirely agreed. The more distance between them and where they killed the swordsman, the better. Tian amused himself by looking through the storage ring.

“Nice robes. Good quality, very small stitching on the embroidery.” Tian smiled. He wouldn’t wear white and gold himself, but he could see why someone might like the look.

“I’m tempted to see if I can’t get them altered to fit me.” Liren admitted. “Not the uniform robes, obviously, but that white-gold robe with the blooming peony on the back and the falling petal motif on the sleeves is…”

Tian had to hide his smile. “What about the headband? He had a couple of headbands in there.”

“I will become a farmer before I wear a headband with “Hero” written on it.”

“Written in red, though. Looks sharp, very galant.”

“Tian Zihao, exactly what hair am I holding back with a headband? For that matter, what sweat am I keeping out of my eyes?”

Tian shook his head. “Are you going to let mere practicality limit your gaudy ambitions? Maybe we should add even more red to it. Or gems. You could have a white headband with the word “HERO” spelled out in rubies.”

There was a pause. The waves broke in steady waves across the prow. “No. No, I couldn’t possibly. That would be tacky. Don’t you think?”

“Now, I maintain that, for maximum sparkle, head ornaments are the way to go. Elder Feng had six earrings and a little pendant thing that hung over her forehead. The earrings were too much. Ears shouldn’t look busy. But the pendant was nice. That's something you can imitate.”

The pause was longer this time. Tian covered his grin with his hand. He let his eyes fall over the other boats on the river. A distinct lack of pleasure craft, which was a pity. No reclining beauties or handsome young men carried on their flower boats over the waves, laughing and exchanging cups of wine and poetry and flirtatious looks. Just dead eyed men and grim women, working fishing boats and merchant ships and rafts of logs or bamboo, making their way along one of the great water-roads of the kingdom.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Tian couldn’t understand why things looked so different from what he remembered from the Agate, and nearly slapped his forehead when he figured it out. Who goes on a pleasure boat in an era of bandits and rebels? Who’s that free? More to the point, who would dare put such a target on their back?

“Maybe… maybe something simple. Like a pearl on a golden chain or something.” Liren sounded tentative.

“Sounds fun. Any particular kind of pearl?”

“Eh?”

“Well, they come in different kinds, you know. Some of them are in my medical books, actually.”

“Really?” She looked fascinated.

“Oh yes, and the descriptions are pretty fun sounding. Want me to read you some?”

“Sure!”

It was a pleasant way to pass the day, and it helped keep him distracted. By the time they had reached a larger city, they had narrowed their choice down to Three Blessings Coldwater Pearl or Heavenly Illusion Rosewashed Pearl. The fact that they had no idea where such pearls could be found or how much they cost was no matter. The chase was the thing.

Liren pulled the boat up to a small dock, and carefully lifted Tian out.

“I think I can walk now, Sis. Set me down, before your arms get tired.”

“I think I can carry you for a week, even with you being heavy as you are. Let me do this.”

“Alright, alright. I bet you whine your head off when I have to carry you.” Tian grumbled. He wasn’t really that mad. Liren was very warm, and they hadn’t been as close physically as he wished they were. For the millionth time, he cursed Mourning Cry.

“Is there a Temple in this city?” Tian asked.

“Maybe, but let’s not risk a visit. We will leave them be, unless they come and see us. And if they do, we show them the rings and robes. I’m not getting into some nonsense again just because we want to be careful.” This time it was Liren grumbling.

“Did you pick up anything about the relationship between the Radiant Dawn Sect and Ancient Crane Mountain?”

“You were next to me the whole time. So, no.” She shook her head. “That looks like an inn up ahead, and I can feel the breath of Earthly Realm cultivators. Probably decent.”

“Up to you.”

It was, actually, pretty decent. They got some odd looks, but the mortals of the Broadsky Kingdom knew perfectly well that immortals walked amongst them. The ability to be selectively blind, deaf and dumb was bred in their bones at this point.

“We have a room with an attached bath, if that would suit you?”

“Perfect, thanks. Also please send up a pot of tea and…” Liren glanced down.

“Soup.”

“A pot of soup. Broth or congee.”

“Of course Madam.” The innkeeper bowed ninety degrees, before extending his right hand and, still half bowed, guiding them towards their room.

Liren’s hat was beyond salvaging, and with bitter regret, had been discarded. Tian happened to love seeing her rowing with the sun making her bronze skin blaze and glow, the sheer glory of her making him breathless. The way the innkeeper was looking up at her with the whites of his eyes showing suggested she was making him feel a bit breathless too, though in a rather different way.

Tian couldn’t understand people sometimes. Sometimes, he was glad he didn’t.

“We don’t have to stay here. Actually, I don’t want to stay here.” He used the spell the Sect Master had given him to whisper the words to Liren. She glanced at him, smiled, and shook her head.

“It’s fine.” She mouthed.

It wasn’t, but he didn’t make a fuss. The pain in his stomach made everything tiresome. He was ready to lie in bed for a while.

They were led up to the second floor, to a room facing the inner courtyard of the hotel. It was simple, though comfortably appointed. The windows were wide, the shutters fit tightly, the paint was bright and there was even a nice flower arrangement in the room. Someone knew what they were doing there- one or two blossoms, brilliant golden bursts against the cream white of the plaster walls, framed by carefully trimmed stalks of green leaves. Tian didn’t know much about flower arranging, but was prepared to say that whoever made the display did.

“What lovely flowers.” Liren murmured.

“Chrysthianthumum. Though don’t ask me what variety, there are more varieties than I can easily count.”

There was only one bed, set against the wall in a corner of the room. It wasn’t a very big bed either, though it was entirely big enough for both of them. “Put me against the wall, please.”

“Don’t be silly, you will have a hard time getting up if I do. You will be right in the middle. I’ll just meditate-”

“Liren?”

She jerked to a stop. “Yes?”

“I’m done putting up with this, at least for today. I’m hurting. I’m tired, and I’m getting cranky. Put me against the wall, and lay down next to me. I promise I won’t ravage you, at least until I regain my strength. Just close your eyes for a bit. Soon, the maid will come along with some soup and tea, and when she does you can jump up and make a fuss. Until then, rest.”

She looked torn, but carefully set him in the bed, near the wall.

“I’m not worried about you ravaging me. I’m not worried about me ravaging you, for that matter.”

“I know what you are worried about. I also know that you are warm, and beautiful, and I feel safe in your arms. So shut up, lay down, and feel safe in mine for a while.” 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

She hesitated, but in the end, she did. He had to awkwardly side-hug her. His stomach hurt if he tried to turn on his side. She still pressed her back to him, letting him wrap an arm around her shoulders.

She was warm. After a few minutes, he felt her shaking. He pretended not to hear her crying. It took fifteen minutes for the maid to arrive with tea and soup. Liren jumped up, fresh as a daisy, and filled their cups and bowls. She did a fine job propping him up with pillows, in his professional pillow-fluffing opinion, though she pushed things too far trying to feed him. His hands worked just fine.

When he was done, and she laid him back down, he caught her eyes, and patted the bed next to him. “I’m going to cultivate for a while, then sleep. You do the same. When I wake up, you will be next to me.”

“I will, will I?”

“You will.” He nodded.

Liren’s face twisted, then she snorted and lay down again. Neither bothered with a blanket. It would have looked cold, to an outsider. Two grown people, lying on top of a bed in their clothes, not looking at each other. The last thing Tian heard before slipping into sleep was a whispered “Thank you.”