“You’re late,” Tala said, her arms folded under her breasts.
Opening his mouth, Ash considered how to reply. Then he started to laugh.
“I am,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. He didn’t have any other answer. He was also doing his best not to comment on the fact that Tala was acting more like an annoyed wife than a soul-bound slave.
“In the future, you will notify my elegant self if you’ll be late. I do not like sitting up and fretting over what’ll become of me if you should happen to get yourself killed,” Tala grumbled.
Oh. Huh.
That makes more sense than her worrying about me, doesn’t it?
“Do you understand me?” Tala asked.
“I do. I’m sorry, Tala. You and your elegant self definitely deserve better attention,” Ash said.
“Hmph, better. You may come over and massage me now,” Tala said, giving her black hair a flick. “My neck, shoulders, and the base of my skull. You will use your fingertips, except for my shoulders, where you’ll use your palms.”
Rolling his eyes, Ash didn’t bother to argue.
This was Tala’s way. Her prideful, lying, self-absorbed way.
It wasn’t just her personality either, it was the culture where she’d grown up that had made her this way.
“Of course, dear. Yes, dear. May I kiss your cheek, dear?” he asked in a flat, meek voice.
“I… well… of course, you may,” Tala said, then tilted her head to one side toward him. “Thank you for asking formally rather than forcing it on my elegant and lovely self.”
Not bothering to correct the Kin, Ash simply started to rub her neck and shoulders instead. He was willing to debase himself a bit to keep in Tala’s good graces. She’d been rather friendly and cooperative with him as of late and it’d been extremely helpful.
“I’m waiting,” Tala said, her cheek still tilted toward him. “Or would you prefer my other cheek? I do find my right side to be better. At least, in my own opinion. Though both sides are clearly splendid.”
Turning her head in the opposite direction, she presented the other cheek to him.
I swear to god that I’m—
At the end of his patience, Ash growled. And then—deciding he didn’t care—he leaned over Tala’s shoulder and kissed her on the lips instead, holding her chin with one hand as he did so.
He held the kiss for several seconds, then broke it off and patted her on the back of the shoulder.
“Goodnight,” Ash muttered and then left the Kin there. He just wanted to go to bed. Nothing else mattered right now.
Sleep would help wash the day away.
If he was really lucky, Moira would be awake and waiting for him.
Opening the door to the bedroom, he got his answer.
Moira was sitting in the middle of their bed.
Her white and black hair hung loosely around her face, framing her giant yellow eyes and making them almost brighter. Her large wings were pressed to her back in their natural place. She was naked, with her lovely, muscled body on full display.
Waiting for him, just as he’d hoped she would be.
Two
“Well, that’s curious,” Mei said, leaning to one side at the table. She rested her face on her hand and quirked a brow. “It almost sounds like he was expecting something else of you.”
Mei’s blue-black hair draped behind her head like a raven’s wing. Her light brown eyes were as light as they came, to the point that they practically glowed. They looked both amused and concerned about what Ash had just told her.
Mei was an abnormality in this world, though. She had curves in her hips and chest that weren’t actually considered attractive here, but would fare better back home.
In this land, physical beauty wasn’t viewed the same way.
“Yes, clearly he thinks you’re more than what you say,” Yue stated, her brows low over her eyes as she stared hard at Ash.
The young merchant was always far too serious when it came to Ash.
Her light-brown hair was cut short, though pinned close to her head. Her hazel eyes had a slightly fanatic edge whenever she looked at him for too long.
Especially if they were alone.
Ash knew beyond a doubt that Yue was in a strange sort of zealous puppy love with him. One that he didn’t quite understand if he had to be honest.
“Tala and Moira agreed,” said Ash. The two women had decided they would spend the day digging around for information. They wanted to know more about what was going on and weren’t willing to wait for Ash to find out.
Considering they couldn’t train with him, that did seem like a fair use of their time. He couldn’t fault them for it.
Yue sniffed lightly at that, then nodded her head once.
“Of course, they did. They know better,” said the young woman. Then she stood up and tapped the table twice with her fingertips. “I’m going to go make some pills for you, Ash. We need to get your cultivation higher. If what the sect leader said is true, we’ll probably be called to assembly today. I’ll see you then.”
Yue left Mei’s home quickly, closing the door behind her.
“At long last, I have you all to myself,” Mei said, holding a hand out to her side with a wide smile. “Why don’t you show me your petals, Ash?”
Snorting at that, he rolled his eyes.
“You’re never going to forgive me for that, are you?” Ash asked. He’d deliberately gone out of his way to infuriate Mei when she was still part of the Deng family. Before she’d crossed the lines and joined his forces.
And he’d done it by being extremely suggestive toward her.
“Maybe I just really want to see your petals,” Mei said, smiling at him, showing her bright-white and quite straight teeth. “Come on, just flip your robe up and let me get a peek? I’m curious to see how you feel against my fingers. Isn’t that how you phrased it?”
“Oh, come on, Mei. Let it go already,” he replied, laughing outright now.
Sighing, Mei pouted at him, tapping her pinky against her lips.
“I don’t want to let it go,” she murmured. “I enjoy it too much. You’re fun to tease because you get bashful about it. I know I’m not as slim as so many others, but I—”
There was a timid series of knocks on Mei’s front door.
Looking toward the door, Mei had a confused look on her face.
“Jia wouldn’t knock if she was here. Nor would she come around today. Not with Yue still shunning her and knowing that she’d be here today,” said Mei, talking through her thoughts. “Anyone else I’d be willing to receive would just enter… so… who would come to my door?”
“Any other petals you’re trying to get a look at?” Ash teased, grinning at her.
“The opposite actually,” Mei said, still looking toward her front door. “You’re the only one I’ve been chasing at all. I‘ve declined everyone else.”
“Everyone else?” Ash parroted back.
“Mhm. Since I’ve been separated from the Deng family, I’ve been approached by a number of families with young men and aspirations,” Mei said. Standing up from the table, she walked over to the door. “Yes?”
Other men…? I didn’t even… consider that.
“Outside of her body proportions not matching the standards of beauty here, she’s extremely pretty,” Locke said. “There is a pile of correspondence in her room which appears to be from at least sixteen different families seeking her hand. As a cultivator, she’s very skilled and would be considered a genius. Her natural talent is only a smidgen below Jia.”
Wait, you can read her letters?
“I can even tell you who’s at the door. It’s her cousin, the one you saved,” Locke said. “You seem to forget that I can scan everything around us. A door doesn’t exactly preclude me from doing that.”
Turning in his seat, Ash glanced toward where Mei stood at the door.
She’d opened it now and was having a conversation with someone beyond it. Her v
oice was low in volume. It was clear she didn’t want Ash to hear what she was saying.
Mei made a chopping motion with her hand.
“No!” she said quite firmly. “And that’s that.”
“Yes,” said a muffled voice from beyond the door. “Ashley Sheng? Can we speak!?”
Trying to shut the door, Mei was clearly done with whoever it was.
“Ashley Sheng!?” called the voice again. “You saved my life! My life is yours!”
Stomping her foot in frustration, Mei was clearly quite aggravated. Whoever she was trying to push out of her doorway wasn’t leaving. They had apparently wedged a foot or an arm between the door and the frame, preventing it from closing.
“Why are you doing this?” complained Mei.
“Because it’s right,” said the other party.
Mei deflated, her shoulders dropping partially, and she pressed her forehead to the door.
She muttered something to the other individual and got a response.
Opening the door, Mei stepped to one side.
Ash didn’t have a problem recognizing who the visitor was. It was Mei’s cousin. The same one who’d had been matched up against Jia in the tournament. Her control had been exemplary.
She looked significantly similar to Mei, though far more slim and athletic.
Stepping into Mei’s house, the young woman rushed over to Ash.
Up close, he realized she was prettier than even Mei or Jia. She’d been blessed several times over.
A genius, a beauty, and born to a great family.
Before he could say anything, the woman dropped to her hands and knees, prostrating herself before Ash and slamming her forehead to the ground.
“You saved my life, Ashley Sheng,” said the Deng woman. “You saved my life, spared me the Deng fate, and put me with those who supported the sect. Even when I had not done so.
“In several ways, you spared me and saved my life. Gave me something which was no longer mine by right. That means that my life is yours. I’m yours to do with as you see fit. Please instruct me.”
“Uh,” Ash said, then looked at Mei.
Everything she’d said had been correct, up to a point. He had saved her life, and he’d put her with those who needed medical aid amongst the ones who had supported the sect instead of those who hadn’t.
He also hadn’t specified there was anything wrong about her when Gen had questioned him. He’d merely stated that she was a victim as well.
However, as far as he was concerned, he didn’t own her.
Looking frustrated and angry, Mei came over to stand near her cousin. Her arms were crossed over her chest as if to flatten it down.
Maybe I should tell her I like them big? Nothing against less, but…
Giving his head a tiny shake to clear his thoughts, Ash held his hands up in a neutral gesture.
“By all rights… Na is correct to offer you her life,” Mei said, lifting her chin up slightly. “Though I’ve informed her several times that there’s no need for this. That she should simply live her life to the best of her ability.”
“I’m yours, Ashley Sheng,” Na said defiantly, clearly disagreeing with her cousin. “Instruct me.”
“Right. Go wait outside while I discuss this matter with Mei, then,” Ash told her. He had no intention at all of allowing this to go on. He just needed to check with Mei to make sure he could cut her loose.
“Of course, Master Sheng,” Na said, lifting her head up and giving him a smile. The force of it nearly knocked a hole straight through his head with its beauty. Getting to her feet, the lithe woman left the house, closing the door behind her.
Letting out a slow breath and shaking her head, Mei was the picture of annoyance and exasperation.
“I’ve told the stupid girl many times that you would want no part in this. She doesn’t believe me or doesn’t care, I know not which,” Mei said, putting her hands on her hips.
“And… if it were you in her position?” Ash asked. He wanted to know what would be Mei’s expectation. With any luck, it’d clue him in on which way he could take this.
“I… well… I suppose I’d be offering myself to you as well, if the roles were reversed,” Mei admitted gruffly. “Hmph. You’ll remember, though, I tried to survive on my own without your assistance. You chose to help me.”
“I did,” Ash said with a grin. “And I’d happily choose to do it again. You were quite brave, Mei.”
Smiling at him now, Mei lifted one shoulder and leaned toward him.
“Oh? Flattery, now? If you want to see my petals, you just have to ask as any good suitor would,” Mei purred at him, her annoyance vanishing.
“Later,” Ash said, waving a hand at her in dismissal. “So, she’s in the right? Offering herself to me?”
“Yes, given the situation and circumstances. There’s no reason for her to, though,” said Mei, her tone moving toward neutrality. “She and I both know where all the Deng treasuries are. Even if I had half a mind to try and take a portion of them, I’d never have been able to carry everything. She has more than enough to live on, beyond any definition of comfort.”
“Oh? I had no idea,” Ash remarked.
“I haven’t had much time to go look with the lockdown, but I do plan to go snooping. Most of my old family is either dead, in prison waiting to be executed, or enslaved,” Mei stated with a negligent wave of her hand. “Serves them all right for what they did to me.”
“Can I order her to be free? To go away?” Ash asked.
“Of course. Others might take that as an insult to her—and she might see it that way herself—but it’s perfectly acceptable,” Mei answered. “It wouldn’t kill her or anything. I mean, it isn’t as if her family can judge her.
“And anyone who would judge her for being dismissed would already be judging her for being a Deng. A moot point, if you ask me.”
“Got it. So I can just dismiss her,” Ash said.
“You can. However, she won’t likely accept it and will do as she wills anyway,” Mei admitted. “I’m afraid Na was one of the more headstrong in my grouping.”
“Grouping?” Ash asked.
“Yes, grouping. All Deng children were assigned to groups and taught how to fight in both a group situation as well as by themselves,” Mei explained. “It was an easy way for us to be all the more powerful since we were a family.”
“Alright. I’ll just get rid of her and—”
“Master Sheng, the house elder is coming,” Na called from the front door.
“Ah, it would seem it’s time for that assembly after all, I guess,” Ash muttered. “I was honestly hoping it’d just be information spread about. There’s no reason to have everyone gather just to listen. Everyone already knows what happened.”
“Not everyone. I’m sure there are those who were simply in closed-door training,” Mei murmured. Pulling out the chair next to Ash, Mei sat down in it and crossed one leg over the other. Reaching up, she lightly adjusted her dress, pulling it a bit one way and then the other.
She’s primping? Why?
“Send him in, Na,” Mei said, after reaching up to lightly run her fingers through her hair.
Almost immediately, the door opened.
The house elder who’d graded Ash on his Spiritual Sense walked in, eyeing Na in a strange way. Then he looked ahead and froze, staring at Ash and Mei.
“Oh, ah… yes,” said the house elder. His eyes were slowly moving toward Mei, only to jump back to Ash. “There is an assembly in the next hour. Everyone is required to attend this event. Attendance will be recorded.”
“Wonderful,” Ash said under his breath.
“Thank you for your time, House Elder Zi Xin,” Mei said, giving him a flat, cold smile. Ash had never even bothered to learn the man’s name.
“Of course, Mei,” said the house elder, giving the young woman a very wide smile. “Ashley Sheng, you may leave now.”
I’m going to what now?
“No, he wo
n’t be leaving,” Mei said. “And if he does leave, I’ll simply follow him to his home. And I’ll just put this out in the open and state it as clearly as I can.
“I’m not interested in you. I speak for me and no one else does. I have no familial allegiance other than to the Sheng family and my master is and will remain, Gen Sheng.”
“That is no way to speak to me. You will address me as your house elder when in the presence of others,” Zi Xin shouted at Mei. Then he turned a wild glare on Ash. “Ashley Sheng, leave immediately!”
Ash knew where this was going. Knew what this little toad was going to attempt to do.
He’d been polite to Ash previously, but clearly, he was only wearing a mask. Now he’d revealed his true colors and Ash didn’t care for them one whit.
He was going to end it here and now. And just like last time with the Deng family, he didn’t care if it caused problems.
Mei was part of his group now. His family here at the Jade Fist.
Protecting her was a given.
“Don’t break any of his bones,” Mei requested, as she reached over to lay a hand on Ash’s arm. She’d apparently picked up on Ash’s mood. “Just beat him black and blue. Gen can cover for that much without losing any face at all.”
“Oh,” Ash said, getting up to his feet. Flexing his hands, he opened them and closed them twice rapidly.
Since he’d run from his one-time brother, he hadn’t done much in the way of sparring.
Stiff and rusty was a polite way of putting how he felt.
“You have no idea what you’re—”
“Yes, I do,” Ash interrupted, holding his hands up in front of himself and getting into a neutral pose. “And it’s the same way I got into it with the Dengs. What’s your family name again?”
Zi Xin looked as if someone had just poked him between the eyes. Ash could practically see the man re-evaluating the entire situation.
“I’m your house elder. How dare you—”
“You’re a frog, attempting to force yourself into the home of a young woman who doesn’t want to talk to you,” Ash interrupted. “Again, what’s your family name, House Elder Zi Xin?”
Might be easier to kill him and store his body, actually. Dump it much later.
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