When Xiaotzi was born, it was under the guise of a peace agreement.
One Imperial Consort would bear the child of the other Imperial leader, it said.
Ministers of both Empires were unhappy and yet cowed under the pressure of inner political strife, so in the coming years, Xiaotzi had to feign weakness and deafness just to find out how such a scheme could've been completed.
The answer was in the question.
What kind of Imperial leader could stomach the idea of their consort with another equally powerful figure? And what kind of consort could forgive their Imperial leader for such a sacrifice?
None.
The recent hatred of the Southern Empire to the Eastern Empire rose out of the birth of both Xiaotzi and his brother Hu'en. The ministers of Sonhrai called them inauspicious, and in turn the Eastern Empire called them savages for threatening to end the lives of Emperor Jung's blood, even as his favorite consort bore what would have been a prized alpha in the dynasty line of Molokhiyya. It was a double slap in the face.
So, Xiaotzi and Hu'en were raised on the outskirts like forgotten princes and married off when political needs arose.
And who was to blame?
Chuli knew him well.
He was far from naive.
This wasn't about seeing a long-lost parent. This was about his birthright as a hostage.
Xiaotzi carefully snapped the vine-like circlet around his neck and wrists—gifts once tucked into their swaddling blankets as babies. He twisted the robe around his waist but couldn't find purchase. These weren't the typical clothes he wore. Most of his days are not spent trying to stand out.
The makeshift encampment was comfortable but not permanent. He could hear the sounds of the port and boats docking throughout the day. He painted his eyes and donned the golden robes his omega father sent him these past two seasons. An omega father he had never met, and if not for escalations of war, they would've never met. Otherwise, he wouldn't have kept his hair so short and twisted upward like the tribes people of the outskirts do.
But fate spins the wheel.
"Have you primped yourself proper yet?" Chuli drawl spoke out from the corner of the encampment. Splayed on the bedding with sandals and an expensively donned robe covering her form. "We'll miss today's court if we wait any longer. I hope you planned in the case Hu'en doesn't show up."
"There's no reason he wouldn't except for his in-laws, which, I know his marriage to Nasir is going well, don't look at me like that," Xiaotzi replied as Chuli tossed an exasperated look. "I don't trust the Songs. I'll never trust the Songs. But, they said he would arrive. And I want to believe them."
"Because of his mother-in-law? "
"We're not to discuss that, but--"
"It would be too easy not to."
Chuli, when they first met, was a rascal who often stole strangers' pork buns. In fact, little had changed from that initial moment they met, and Xiaotzi knew that this marriage was made as a slap in the face of the Molokhiyya dynasty. Yet, Chuli was leery of letting any of the evil, poisonous world bleed into their lives. Xiaotzi was lucky to have a wife willing to do so--to protect them.
This poison was something they refused to pass down to children. You could try to avoid but they were realistic. They knew it wasn't possible to do so completely. He passed pregnant omegas often over the years but not once did he regret his choice not to raise his own.
"The Minister of Rituals, is it?"
"It is. Imagine someone who was like you in your situation, but for the Western Empire," Chuli said as she rolled up and steadied her feet on the encampment's sand flooring. "A child from a noble family wiped out decades ago. Half of this empire's nobility was cut in half back then, and the ministers thought it best to cater to the West's demands by sending him as a hostage."
"So, he's raised western and wishes to ally--with us?" Xiaotzi blinked. And then added, speculatively, "It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? We're neither Southern or Eastern or Western."
"Ah, but when you have no label then others can put some upon you," Chuli replied mischievously. "All I had to do was hmm and sigh when he said certain things like ocean trade, merchant routes, and prostitutes. I might as well have agreed to everything he said."
"Sounds helpful," Xiaotzi said with insincerity dripping from his voice. "How could this go wrong?"
A bit of hesitance struck him for a moment. Was this the right thing to do? And for what? So that he could be lent the demands of political power and respect?
"Here," Chuli reached over his shoulder, plucking the eyeliner inkstick out from his hands. "I've seen the capital's famous fashion eyeline designs. I'll make you the star of the evening."
The rascal took great care to paint over his eyelids and curve over his temple like the eyes of Ra in the bygone eras. Moments like this reminded him that Chuli used to sell forged calligraphy books. She was more than capable of painting brows.
"Just make it where I'm not the cursed star in the sky. Or cursed at all." Xiaotzi stood up, and the robe nearly slipped off his hip, but the rascal slid his hands between the folds and twisted them tight. They had been married for well over a decade, but heat still flushed across his cheeks. Within seconds, Chuli twisted the lower half of the robe in an ornate knot nearly as charming as the printed pattern.
"Ah," Chuli laughed. "There will be so many curses in the air. I doubt you're one of them."
"So you know how bad this is going to go."
"No different than going off to war."
"You've never fought in a war."
"I've read about it."
Xiaotzi knew that Chuli's jokes about lacking worldly experience had some truth, but he also knew that Chuli disappeared in the night, and people ended up dead in the morning.
He was never sure what she did but their accounts were flush with income and political adversaries avoided them like a plague. He reached for her hand to let her know that he appreciated it. Chuli merely sniffed and glanced at the ground but tightened her hands around his.
They entered the streets on foot, gazing at the markets, vendors, and housings that steadily increased in size, paving the way to the palace, when a caravan stopped them halfway.
"The El Mahdy Matriarch would like to speak with you," the caravan leader said as he directed them to the Matriarch's carriage.
A shiver of fear thrummed through him like the strings of a lyre. Everyone had known the El Mahdy Matriarch's hatred of the Eastern Empire. No mercy. No crime.
The space inside the carriage was no less comfortable than their docking encampment. This was surely what luxury is.
"You're going to ride in the carriage with me," the Matriarch demanded and raised a hand. "Please, if I hear a word of contradiction, I'll let the guards deal with you as Imperial Consort Malik plans to."
Chuli sighed and shrugged as he followed behind her clutching the sleeves of her robes, unsure why the El Mahdy Matriarch was being so helpful and fearing that this was a trap set by the Empress.
"I appreciate the thoughtful gesture," Xiaotzi said with a bow and a questioning glance at his wife, who merely shrugged again as he reached for her hands. "I'm unaware how you and my wife know each other or how the two of you became this close."
"Blackmail," Chuli sighed. "Far more straightforward than begging."
Xiaotzi's smile tightened, and his hold on his wife's hand tightened, too. He said, strung, and smiling still, "Chuli tends to take things either too seriously or not enough. I'm sure she didn't mean anything by it."
"Really," the El Mahdy Matriarch grinned and leaned forward. "That's why she called my husband a, what was it again, brothel wench."
"By all rights, she should apologize, isn't that right Chuli," Xiaotzi laughed uncomfortably. "Or we both lose face, isn't that right?"
Chuli groaned before she huffed out, "My apologies, Matriarch. Those words were too harsh."
"Your apologies are not meant for me, but I will let my husband know."
The three of them knew it sounded insincere and discordant, but it was the best they could get.
"Are you prepared?" the Matriarch asked him. "The Empress will not be happy to see you, and whether you can convince her to support you in any shape or form will be directly decided by the events that will occur today. I hope you take this seriously."
Xiaotzi was prepared for the worst. He said, hesitantly, "And my omega father? I expect he'll wish to dissuade me. The proper action would be to introduce me to his circle and allow me to safely enter among his allies. Rightly, I may never meet the Empress. I have no blood relation."
The Matriarch barked out a laugh. "He will do no such thing. Imperial Noble Consort isn't one to rub elbows with the elite. Believe you me. I've been trying for ages. And what you lack in blood relation, you have more than enough in everything else."
"Else?" Xiaotzi questioned.
The Matriarch tilted a look at Chuli. She said, "This one has been preparing for this day for awhile. You've got at least one minister on your side and the Empress' favorite scribe."
Xiaotzi frowned. "A scribe?"
"He might as well be the sah of the Empress."
"Like a vengeful spirit?"
"Something like that."
The Matriarch bold form was countenanced with her wobbling walking stick. An injury given during the war when she was in her prime. Xiaotzi couldn't help the wriggling question from escaping, "Why are you helping us?"
Chuli sighed again, and said, "My husband fears you will poison us or slice our necks before our feet reach the palace stones."
"Because your husband has the sense you lack," the Matriarch reprimanded. She relaxed into her carriage, seating with a passing look through the carriage screen to the outside. "I'm not helping you to help you. Or any of you. I'm here to get the military back into the hands of our empire. When we arrive, all you have to do is follow your own plans, and I will follow mine. The two will support one another like a wooden scaffold of interlocking pieces. Do try your best."
"Understood," Xiaotzi nodded and felt comforted by the idea that relying on his feelings weren't the goal. The chances were stacked against him. Why would his omega father feel anything for a child he abandoned?
For a moment, a pain struck his heart so strong that he nearly keeled over. If the two others in the carriage noticed, they made no sound. But he couldn't help but think over and over again.
Why would an omega father feel for a child he abandoned?
When he reached the palace, he knew it wasn't going to be easy. It would take several days, weeks, or even months before he met his omega father. He stepped out of the carriage and the grand entrance exterior of the palace full of fountains gifted from foreign kingdoms--a few with elephant statues, some with lotus flowers, and the rest colorful florid geometrics. And although grand, the exterior of such a palace was of burnished terracotta brown stones tightly linked to build a palace with three floors, grooved upper flooring for guards to patrol, and divided courtyards to connect the various housings, rooms, and halls.
He saw two unfamiliar figures; one with long braided hair twisted into a trinity with kohl eyeliner and the other figure was a familiar shape stoic-face speaking animatedly while swinging his tiny, twisting locks over his shoulder. They didn't appear to like one another much.
And the third figure, far more familiar and comforting, stood at the front of the grand doors leading into the palace--Hu'en, his brother. Hu'en had already arrived, so with great speed and as much grace as he could sum up, he reached his brother, whom he hadn't seen in years.
The two swung into hugs and tightly grasped one another. It wasn't appropriate to burst into tears, but they clutched each other's shoulders and shared a nod. This would be a battle halved between them.
Hearing the Matriarch behind him go to each of the strangers, and speak out, "Greetings Imperial Noble Consort Aino, Imperial Consort Malik, well wishes and may the daylights and nights offer you release."
"I'll be letting the Empress know who's arrived, then," Imperial Consort Malik snapped. His gold necklace swung as he stomped off into the palace with servants tow. Rather full-bodied and slightly muscular for an omega, his glare was no less menacing.
Matriarch El Mahdy cleared her throat and drew his attention back. She said, to the angry consort, placatingly, "No worries, your highness, I will escort you to the main halls and the court."
Imperial Consort Malik looked in derision at them as if to say, "There's nothing to see here. You've wasted your time," but did not deny Matriarch El Mahdy's request as they entered the grand hall through one of the corner pathway entrances. Whatever tension that had been hovering in the air disappeared.
Chuli trudged over like the shadows she preferred to wrap herself in and leaned against the walls as the consort pattered over with Matriarch El Mahdy and servants trailing.
Xiaotzi had believed the rumors that he and his brother were born with their omega father's face to be an exaggeration, only nonsense, but every bit of them appeared to be true.
Their omega father stood wrapped in brightly dyed robes with necklaces spilling over his chest, twisting around his arms and rings covering his fingers. His face was slightly rounder, several shades darker, and chest to shoulder stained with powder. Much like their own faces, angular with somewhat rounded cheeks, dimples at the corner of their jaws, and furrowed brows that on Xiaotzi's face looked like a stern statue, on Hu'en's face like a wary guardian, but on their omega father's face, the very likeness of the regal artwork held painted on the meeting hall walls.
Many were the figures and faces of pharaohs, princes, and princesses. How a face he and his brother have seen a hundred times appeared so similar yet so completely unrecognizable.
"I should," Imperial Noble Consort Aino paused. His eyes crinkled up, and their light brown tone sparkled. "Let me introduce myself properly. I am Ainomugisha Malahi of Azawagh. I gave birth to both of you in the middle of the night when the stars were up, bright and twinkling, and the air was fresh. I had picked some herbs for labor pains when it was time but the labors were quick and overwhelming."
Their omega father was not an ordinary omega in appearance, posture, or by any standards. His walking was closer to floating as his thick, golden-lined robes with silver embroidery dragged against the marble-floored entranceway. The Consort folded his hands as only a consort of the Empress might do and then smiled like only someone living in a palace might do.
Their omega father continued on, "It wasn't--it wasn't an easy labor. Many things tried to prevent me from getting to hold you both, from threats on my life to threats on yours before your birth. At the time, I did not know how cruel the court could be. Those very threats were then used as fodder for why I could not raise you both."
Voice shaking and timbre, the consort appeared to be feeling remorse and regret like a common person might do.
And yet, Xiaotzi flinched when Imperial Noble Consort Aino reached for his and Hu'en's face, using each hand to do so. Their Imperial Noble Consort father didn't relent from rubbing the pads of his thumb over their cheeks like children as only a father might do.
Xiaotzi wondered why he had gone his whole life and never seen what a person might do reflect in their actions. For this reason, his shoulders tensed up as only an abandoned son might do.
"You both were supposed to be raised up north by my cousins," Imperial Noble Consort Aino said, and his eyes glazed over. "They're not particularly wealthy but they would've taken good care of you."
Rustling sounded to the left of him but he couldn't see who or what it was until his wife's voice spoke up.
"So you knew they weren't taken care of?" Chuli added from her corner, watching from a comfortable distance on an elephant fountain ledge. She dipped her hand in the water and pressed it between her fingertips. "Even the water in this fountain is better cared for than your sons were."
"Sister Chuli," Hu'en said easily and brusquely. His eyes cut at his wife's expression like a blade might. "You would've never had the chance to marry my brother if that was the case."
His brother, Hu'en, married into a family with its own stack of scandals and troubles. It didn't help that his marriage was a throwaway vow that the Empress made in her youth. And as all things done in your youth, it was something she avoided for as long as possible.
So he knew how to sidestep increasing tempers.
Or, you know, express his own.
Chuli wasn't offended by his remark. She merely smiled and kept flicking water. As her spouse, he felt the need to intercede when he turned and met his omega father's gaze straight on. He withered at the scrutinizing eye but wondered why his omega father didn't question Chuli's appearance.
So, the words fall out his mouth, not much different from the water in these fountains, "You didn't accept this meeting for me or my brother, did you?"
The Imperial Noble Consort slowly nodded and then let his hands drop from their faces. "It's about the ambassador."
"Of course."
"Your wife is their daughter."
The pit in Xiaotzi's stomach dropped. Is this a part of the plot with the military? "She is in the same way I'm your son."
"The Empress wonders how willing the two of you are in helping our kingdom." The Imperial Noble Consort's countenance did not harden, and it did not chill. There was nothing mean in how he spoke. His hands grasped at Xiaotzi's shoulder with gentleness. He said it easily. "If not for this, the Empress would not have allowed you both entrance."
Such a pause was heavy with promise and warning.
"I only work in benefits," Chuli cut in, lacking all the playfulness of earlier. Her eyes sharpened. "If the Empress wishes to entice us with a deal, it should be sweet, shouldn't it?"
"Indeed, it will be," the Imperial Noble Consort replied, smiling still. "I will see you both inside.
Servants, as if from the shadows, removed themselves from the hooded protection of the palace and escorted the consort towards the Great Hall where the Matriarch and Imperial Consort Malik had already gone.
Chuli waited until they could no longer hear the clicking of sandals and stood up, dusting her hands of the sand along the fountain that found its way on her robes. She told the brothers, "This went well considering things."
"I'm surprised you know of the word," Hu'en said pointedly. "Consideration seems too big for someone like you to think up."
"Hah hah," Chuli said dryly. "Some of us were educated by maesters."
"Your wife is a bully. He knows our teachers were scholars," Hu'en said as he knocked shoulders against Xiaotzi. And then paused when he realized Xiaotzi hadn't spoken since earlier. "Is there something you need?"
What they failed to read was that although Xiaotzi had no aspirations in being a fully anointed royal, like his brother and sisters, born by the same father, he hoped to be of some value. He was a means to an end. A bridge to be used in passing.
Now he knew that he was nothing but available.
"Chuli," Xiaotzi said shakily. "I'm not interested. I wish to go home."
"Gege," Hu'en said with concern etched across his face. He leaned forward and grasped his brother's shoulders. "We're finally here. You want to turn back now? After everything?"
Before Xiaotzi could reply, he was cut off.
"I wish you wouldn't."
The three of them twisted around to see a young woman with her hair drawn up in a way only foreigners up north did. Then she smiled a grin that gave a familiar dimple, much like the ones on his and his brother's faces.
The young woman continued on, "Father really knows how to read people, doesn't he? He feared you might run as soon as he left."
Hu'en shared a look with Xiaotzi and then they both looked at her again.
Her who was the likely Crown Princess for the throne and future Empress of the kingdom.
And their sister that they've never met.