The Last Concubine

simply slay Ci’an when you could? You had her disarmed and trapped.”
    “If you can forget what I am, I never can,” Lan said, slurring his words. “It would not have been an honorable act to kill a woman.”
    “Hush now, do not distress yourself,” Hüi said. “Keep still, and then you may sleep.”
    Obediently Lan’xiu slid down against his pillows. The alcohol did allow him to withstand the pain without a sound, even though he bit his lip as Jiang stitched the gash in his arm. Then Jiang bandaged the wound and patted his shoulder. “Sleep well, Warrior Princess,” he said before he left the room.
     
     
    H ÜI slipped behind Lan’xiu, leaning against the pillows so he could hold his lover in his arms.
    Groggily, Lan’xiu said, “Did you hear? He called me Warrior Princess.”
    “And so you shall be, Lan’xiu, my warrior princess.” Hüi felt Lan’s head snuggle against his chest and lowered his cheek to touch his hair.
    Even disheveled and bloody from the fight, Lan’xiu never looked more beautiful to him. Maybe that’s what he needed, a warrior princess who was the prince of his heart in disguise. It all made a strange sort of sense.
    Hüi’s eyes grew heavy. It had been a long night sorting out the shocking damage Ci’an had wrought, and there was still her fate to be dealt with. Because he didn’t want to endanger Lan’xiu by falling asleep with the door unlocked, although it went against the grain to cower behind a locked door, he forced himself to remain awake until Ning came back. But even a general needed to sleep at times.
    When Ning returned, strutting a bit with pride, Hüi ordered, “Lock the door, Ning. I need to rest.” He had no energy left to explain, but Ning did not seem to mind.
    Ning went and locked the door. It was all Hüi could do to remain awake long enough to hear the click of the lock. Through the mists of sleep closing around him, he thought he heard Ning mutter proudly to himself. “Ning, Guardian to the Governor General of Yan and Qui, and his consort, the Princess Zhen Lan’xiu. That’s me. That reminds me, Lord Jiang owes me five hundred tael. I shall have to make sure to collect on that bet.”
     
     
    D ROWSILY Lan’xiu became aware of Hüi Wei bending over him and felt the gentle stroke of his fingers on his cheek. Hüi bent to kiss him. “Keep her safe, Ning,” he heard him say, and then he was gone.
    Lan’xiu slumbered peacefully through the day, waking several times to drink some water, but he didn’t say much. Ning told him what Hüi had said and he smiled.
    He awoke when the sky was growing dark and Ning was lighting the lanterns, feeling a bit drained, his arm throbbing but not actually painful.
    “Do you think you could eat some soup, Lan’xiu?” Ning asked when he noticed he was awake.
    Lan pushed himself up against the pillows, and he hurried to help, piling them helpfully around him.
    “Stop, Ning,” Lan’xiu laughed. “I don’t need twenty pillows to sit up.”
    “The general bade me to take care of you,” Ning said.
    “As if you wouldn’t even if he said nothing.” Lan looked at Ning affectionately. “Get my soup and stop fussing. I shall be quite well.”
    “Very well. Don’t try to cross the room on your own while I am away,” Ning admonished her. He rushed to the kitchen, returning quickly with a covered bowl on a tray. “Mind you drink it all!”
    “Don’t bully me,” Lan’xiu said crossly. But in fact, he ate almost the entire bowl. He hadn’t felt hungry when Ning suggested he eat, but the soup tasted good and it was warm, and he enjoyed it.
    Ning picked up the tray to return it to the kitchen when a tap sounded on the door.
    Lan’xiu sat straight up in bed, a look of alarm on his face. “My sword!” he hissed.
    “Not this time,” Ning said grimly. “You couldn’t stay on your feet for five minutes.” He set down the tray hastily and drew his own sword, creeping quietly to the door, and yanked it open suddenly.
     
     
    L AN ’ XIU laughed in relief. “Fifth Wife Bai. How kind of you to come to see me.”
    Ning eyed the young woman suspiciously as she entered the room.
    Bai held out her arms as if dancing. “Would you like to search me for weapons?”
    Blushing, Ning stammered, “I would, but it would not be proper.”
    “I could strip for you,” Bai offered.
    Lan covered her mouth and giggled. “I don’t think that will be necessary. Don’t tempt her, Ning. She might do it.”
    “I like