The morning after the auction was a study in awkward silence. The three new members of their strange, temporary household stood in the main suite of the inn, no longer shackled but radiating a mixture of defiance, fear, and profound uncertainty. Chang Li, the young Fenghuang, had her arms crossed, her fiery gaze suspicious of every move. Hysilens, the mermaid, hid behind the Qilin, her shy eyes darting nervously around the room. Only Gan Yu, the Qilin, stood with a regal, if weary, calm.
Xue Lian, sipping her morning tea, surveyed the scene. "You cannot be presented to the princess dressed in the drab rags of a slave auction," she announced with regal finality. "And I imagine you are starving. We are all going out."
"Out?" Chang Li's voice was a defiant chirp. "To be paraded on a leash through the city again?"
"No," Lan Yue said, speaking for the first time that morning. Her voice was gentle but firm, and it immediately drew the attention of the three newcomers. "Her Majesty does not break her word. You are under her protection now. We are going out to get you proper clothes and a decent meal."
Their first stop was a high end restaurant, where Xue Lian ordered a feast. It was a strange, quiet meal. Chang Li and Hysilens, who had clearly been starved, ate with a desperate, frantic hunger that slowly gave way to a dawning, wondrous realization that no one was going to take the food away from them. Gan Yu ate with a delicate, precise grace that suggested she was more accustomed to celestial banquets than a mortal establishment.
Their next stop was a grand clothing emporium. Here, the personalities of the three truly began to shine.
"Absolutely not," Chang Li declared, looking at the frilly, pastel pink dress Xue Lian was holding up for her with an expression of utter horror. "I would rather be set on fire and reborn from the ashes than wear that thing." She immediately gravitated towards the most expensive silks in fiery shades of crimson, gold, and orange.
Hysilens, meanwhile, was drawn to the cool, flowing fabrics of the deepest blues and sea greens, her touch lingering on anything that reminded her of the water she had been stolen from.
The entire time, Lan Yue stood silently by in her cat slave disguise, her own heart aching with a strange mixture of pity and a burgeoning, protective affection for these powerful, broken children.
It was during this chaotic shopping trip that the incident happened. As they were leaving the emporium, their arms laden with packages of new silks, a clumsy street merchant, his view obscured by a tall stack of baskets, stumbled directly into their path. Xue Lian, caught by surprise, lost her footing on a slick, wet cobblestone and began to fall.
Lan Yue's instincts screamed. She moved to catch her, her celestial speed ready to activate
But she was too slow.
In a blur of motion so swift it was almost imperceptible, Gan Yu was there. The Qilin, who had been a pace behind Xue Lian, moved with the preternatural, instantaneous grace of a mythical beast. One moment she was there, the next her arm was wrapped securely around Xue Lian's waist, holding her steady with an effortless strength.
"My lady, are you alright?" Gan Yu's voice was full of a calm, professional concern.
"Thank you, Gan Yu. I am fine," Xue Lian said, surprised but deeply impressed by her new guard's reflexes.
Lan Yue, however, had frozen mid reach. She was left staring at the sight of the beautiful, blue haired Qilin holding her Empress, her lover, in a firm, supportive, and undeniably intimate embrace. The illogical, possessive jealousy from the auction came roaring back, a hot, furious wave. Her cat ears, a constant source of her humiliation, flattened against her head. Her long, black tail gave a single, violent twitch beneath her robes. Her serene face became a mask of cold, silent fury.
Gan Yu, feeling the sudden, hostile glare, looked over at the "cat slave" and raised a delicate, questioning eyebrow, her expression one of pure confusion.
Xue Lian, feeling the icy, jealous rage pulsing from Lan Yue through their Soul Bond, quickly and gracefully disentangled herself from Gan Yu's hold. "Excellent reflexes," she said, her voice cool and appreciative. "You will make a fine protector."
The walk back to the inn was a masterpiece of awkward tension. Xue Lian was trying, and failing, to suppress her immense amusement. Gan Yu was utterly baffled by the strange, murderous energy being directed at her by the servant. Chang Li and Hysilens were just happy to have new clothes. And Lan Yue radiated a silent, furious energy, her mind screaming a thousand unsaintly insults at the beautiful, efficient, and infuriatingly competent Qilin.
That night, after the three newcomers were settled in their own suite, Xue Lian found Lan Yue brooding on the balcony, staring out at the city.
"She is a guard, Yue," Xue Lian said, her voice laced with a teasing lilt as she wrapped her arms around her from behind. "Her only job is to protect me."
*She did it very well,* Lan Yue sent through the bond, her thought dripping with sarcasm.
"Are you sulking?" Xue Lian laughed, pressing a kiss to her neck. "It's adorable."
Lan Yue sighed, the anger finally draining away, leaving only a familiar embarrassment. "I am not sulking," she mumbled, though her still flattened ears betrayed her. "I am merely… assessing a potential security risk."
"Of course you are, my love," Xue Lian purred, turning her around for a kiss. "Of course you are."