It had taken a while, but the children were finally asleep.
Not all at once… it was never that easy…but close enough.
The youngest girl had been the last holdout, stubborn as her fathers and louder than everyone else around her, her small fist was wrapped around the edge of Yizhen's sash like it was a rope to keep him close.
She was only willing to let go after three stories, two glasses of water, and a bribe of cookies in the morning.
Shadow stretched across the threshold of her room once she drifted to sleep, a dark line of muscle, death, and comfort, his tail flicking whenever linens rustled as if he could scold dreams into behaving.
In the next room, lamplight turned everything gold and quiet. It was almost like a breath of relief when the world quieted, the children when to sleep and Xinying and her men could just be.
Mingyu and Deming sat at the low table, their heads bent over the last two scrolls that refused to leave them alone.
