Chapter Text

My dearest Mei,

The endless energy of the desert sun shows no bounds, as I have seen. I miss the wide oceans, I miss the salt-scented winds, the bowing trees, but most importantly, I miss you, my beloved. It is the feeling of your hands, of your soft skin and gentle lips-

Lian placed the letter back on the desk, her face warming in blush as she turned over her shoulder, “Pardon, Jia, but I don’t really understand the importance of reading your mother’s-er, private mail.”

Jia did not respond, as busy as he was sifting through papers and parchment in the closet on the far end of the room. Jia, Khan, and Lian had come to The Ruby Queen’s bedroom in search of any information they could obtain on her, and so far all they had found had been less than useful.

“My mother has a lot of those letters.” Jia called back, “Dating back long before my father died. She was sending love letters to another man.”

Lian bit her lip, before responding, “Her lack of faithfulness to her husband is… immoral, to say the least, but not exactly useful information.”

“Just keep looking.” was Jia’s answer.

Lian continued to sift through the writing desk. There was letter after letter from this “Marcelli” character. Jia was correct: some of the letters were dated so far back as to before Jia or Zhin had even been born, while the latest ones had been written when Jia and Zhin would have been young teenagers.

“It looks like Meili forgot about her lover.” Lian joked, “He doesn’t send her any more letters.”

“Does he say why?” Jia called back. Lian scanned the final letter; nothing but poetry and sweet nothings. No sign of a breakup. Only one thing spoke to her, an odd and messy scribbling at the bottom of the letter,

I regret what I did, Mei. I don’t want to be a bad person. We could be happy together.

-Marcelli

Confused, Lian looked over a few of the earlier letters.

The queen of my own heart, Mei

I’ve settled in the Badlands, perhaps you should know. Jud and I have split paths: ‘A soul of the sea belongs on waves of water, not sand’, he tells me. Think of it, my dearest, you and I and Jud, we can rule the Realm together, it will be in our grasp. For now, I have little to say, but I shall update you on, and I am excited to know of the growth of your kingdom and of Zhin and Jia.

-Marcelli

Lian moved on to another letter.

My beloved,

I have heard of the death of your husband, and for this I offer my condolences. I know Bao meant very little to you- arranged marriages are something that perhaps a born commoner such as myself would never understand. I have found my happiest times with you, my dear, I could never think of a betrothal to another woman.

How did Zhin and Jia handle the deaths of Bao and his children? I am sure it has hit them dearly-

Lian was interrupted by a loud crash. She looked up in shock to see a large box on its side next to the closet, its contents spilled across the floor. Nearby, Khan stood between the mess and a shocked Jia, presumably having pulled the prince out of harm’s way. Jia shoved his hand into his vest pockets to check the contents, before calming and looking to Lian.

“Be careful!” Lian snapped, “We don’t want to draw any attention.”

She turned back to her work and continued to scan through the letters. Something started to click in her mind, something was off about this strange man’s writings.

Meili’s younger sons, Xun and Li, were never referred to by name. The reason why only snapped into place in Lian’s mind when she realised that in every letter mentioning them, they were referred to as Bao’s children.

“Jia. You and Zhin are bastards.” The pile of letters dropped from Lian’s arms and to the carpeted floor.

“What? Let me see that!” Jia darted across the room and snatched up the closest letter to Lian.

“It- it doesn’t say that here, where does it say that?” He snapped in shock, frantically scanning through the letters.

“It’s there, you’re the children of Meili’s lover, you are not the sons of the Ruby King, you are not heirs to the throne… you two are bastards.” Lian spoke, although she was unsure if Jia was listening. The prince shoved through the papers rapidly for a few more moments. Before pausing and throwing them down on the desk. He stared blankly at them, his eyes blank and unfocused.

“Jia?” Lian touched his shoulder. He glanced up at her, before closing his eyes. Slowly, he turned and walked back to the closet, and continued rummaging through the contents of the upturned box.

“Zhin is the Ruby Prince, the heir.” He spoke sharply.

“Jia, I-” Lian began, but Jia cut her off, “It’s how the Ruby Kingdom works. There can be an heir, even if he’s a bastard, as long as there is no other heir. So… Xun was the heir, my little brother, he was, it would have been him and Li, then Zhin, and finally me.”

“Do you think the disease that took Xun and Li had something to do with Bao?” Lian asked, approaching Jia, “It could have been something genetic… that would explain why they and Bao caught it, but you and Zhin and your mother didn’t.”

Jia did not respond as he continued to sift through the contents of the box.

Suddenly, Khan rose to his feet from his sitting spot by the closet door. He moved to the entrance of the room and poked his head through the doorway.

“You two might want to hurry this up.” He muttered.

“The summit lasts hours, the nobles and my mother won’t be around here for a while.” Jia assured the giant.

“You might want to let your mother know that, since she’s coming this way.” Khan responded.

Jia cursed under his breath and darted to the doorway. He shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a bundle of small spherical objects, “I’ve got this. You two hide just in case.”

Khan glanced at him with an annoyed gaze, “With all due respect, your majesty, just where the hell am I supposed to hide?”

Jia glanced up at Khan, before rolling his eyes and darting out of the room. Lian moved to the window balcony and was about to push through the curtains, when a loud snap interrupted her.

“What is he doing?” called Lian.

“Trying to kill himself.” Khan replied casually, continuing to watch the hallway.

The smell of smoke filled the air.

Lian grabbed a notebook from the contents of the box, before following Khan out into the hallway. The queen was no longer present, although a few servants were trying to put out the growing fire in the hallways while a few others escorted the queen’s panicked entourage away. A closer look revealed the downed prince Jia, struggling to his feet. Khan moved to push Lian away, but she pushed him back.

“You need to get out of here!” Khan snapped, grabbing Lian and hoisting her over his shoulder.

“I’ll run, Khan, but you need to get Jia! Please, he needs help!” Lian yelled, struggling in Khan’s grasp. He paused for a moment, before lowering Lian back to the ground and running toward the fire in the hallway. Lian turned and ran down the hallway in the other direction. She glanced over her shoulder to see Khan move to Jia and lift him off the ground, while the prince struggled in panic, unaccustomed to the giant’s protective manhandling, as Lian was. A few of the spherical objects fell out of Jia’s pocket and hit the ground, rolling in various directions, leaving a trail of the things that led to Khan and the prince. One of these objects rolled too close to the fire, and suddenly the object exploded in light with a loud snap.

Firecrackers.

The firecracker trail exploded one after another, until the one closest to Khan and Jia lit, shocking Khan and causing him to stumble, dropping Jia.

The pocket of Jia’s vest exploded, and both Khan and Jia vanished in the flash of light.











Kieran had been talking for a good hour now, but Lian had not been listening. He had been nagging and nagging about her debauchery, and about how she could have gotten the prince killed. Lian sighed in annoyance at this thought: first, how was she to know that idiot had brought firecrackers, and second, her father hadn’t even mentioned concern for Khan! Both Khan and Jia had been in the infirmary for days, the Ruby Queen was absolutely furious that the lot had not only broken into her room, but that Jia had ‘accidentally’ thrown firecrackers at her and her entourage in an attempt to distract them.

Kieran seemed to be finishing his long rant now, shocking, since Lian had seen him able to go on for multiple hours. A servant pulled Kieran away and the two spoke in hushed tones down the hall.

Lian sighed and rested her head on the wall behind her. In the room behind her, Khan and Jia were resting after having been treated on by the finest doctors in the Kingdom. According to the report, Jia had a severe burn on his right hip and abdomen, while Khan had taken fragments of a crystal firecracker to his face.

Lian pulled the notebook out of her pocket, turning it over in her hands. The pinyin inside was complex and written sloppily, and she had trouble reading it. She hoped she could get Jia to translate it- after she pummeled him for trying to kill her Primus, of course.

A servant left the infirmary, calling to the one who was speaking to Kieran. Lian snuck through the door before the servants could reenter.

The room was large with silver and white walls and a few high-cast windows. In one bed near the end of the room rested Jia, in a lined up pile of beds attempting to create a makeshift giant bed rested Khan, across from Jia.

Lian approached Khan’s bed, gazing with horror over the bandages covering his face. She reached out and gently touched the white cloth, running her fingers along the fabric slowly.

“My lady?” asked a curious servant girl approaching Lian. Lian ignored her.

“The doctors said they’d be removing the bandages soon.” The servant girl offered hopefully. Lian did not reply.

She placed her hand in Khan’s massive hand. His fingers gently closed around hers, and he gave a low, deep exhale.

He was awake.







