The stone passage's flickering torches cast jumping shadows on the wet walls. Su Shu and Lei Yǔlín rested quietly in their nearby cells—until quiet was unbearable.
"You're quiet tonight," Su Shu whispered.
Yǔlín's tone was low, a dark rasp. "I've always questioned how you're able to make chains look beautiful."
She grinned in spite of her sore muscles. "I could not help but wonder about how you're so peaceful when everybody's after your head."
He spun around and put his hand against the icy wall between them. "Because if I ever let fear in. I'll lose what's left of me."
Her tone changed and became softer. "Then be my distraction."
The words hovered like smoke on the evening breeze. She didn't even know she'd spoken them. Perhaps it was the shadows, or the pain in her heart each time he hacked out a wisp of blood.
Yǔlín let out a slow breath. "You're dangerous
"So are you," she whispered in return. "But perhaps here we can cease pretending we aren't human."
He inched himself toward the wall. "Say something true."
"I detest peaches," she remarked, surprising them both.
He chuckled, a rare and bitter sound. "I despise the stars."
I'm
They're stunningly beautiful. Far away. Unattainable. As all I've
She rested her head on the wall, in close proximity. "Then stop reaching for stars, Yǔlín… reach for me instead."
A moment of silence passed. Then—
His quiet and rattled tone. "If I do. I may not release it."
Her fingers touched the space between the stones. "Perhaps I don't want you to."
Shuffling footfalls echoed down the hallway. Soft tinkling of keys. A folded piece of parchment came sliding through the small grate at the foot of Yǔlín's door.
He grasped for it.
You're not alone.
Only that. In a dainty, hurried hand.
Yǔlín gazed at it for a long time.
A servant. His own servant. Gambling everything.
Hope flickered in his golden eyes.
"Su Shu," he said quietly.
She awoke.
"We're not alone."
The door to the cell creaked open.
Commander Xiéyàn walked in, two guards at his side, his face unreadable.
"Prince," he said, bending just so far as a mockery. "Answers time."
Su Shu attempted to stand up but got pushed down once more.
Xiéyàn approached Yǔlín, stepping just close enough to whisper. "You could end this now. Confess. Take the blame, and perhaps she lives."
Yǔlín's golden eyes grew sharp. "You'd like that would you? Her gone. Me gone. Way clear for your ambitions."
Xiéyàn's smile wavered. "Be cautious, Prince. You're not in a situation where you can bargain with me
But Yǔlín merely smiled, his teeth stained with blood. "You're not at a level where you can threaten me yet."
Xiéyàn came in close, face deadly. "Then rot in each other's chains. Xiéyàn exit the scene disgusted.
Su Shu chuckled softly behind the wall. "If these chains are what it takes to stand alongside him… I will gladly wear and embrace them."
They sat in silence together that night. They breathed. They listened.
Then Yǔlín whispered softly, "If I perish. recall me as a fool who chose to defend you."
Su Shu placed a shaking hand against the wall.
"If you die. I'll burn the entire kingdom down."
A stop.
Then his quiet, shaking, hungry voice:
"Don't make promises you ever expect to keep."
I've already snapped too many.
Their hearts had already crossed it but their wall stood firm between them.
Above, out of sight in the palace halls, the Queen's pieces advanced quietly.