Dreaming of Zhou Gong

by Traci Harding

  ‘Seeing you with Ji Fa, I had to appeal my case to someone,’ he explained.

  ‘You were jealous?’ Huxin smiled, appeased.

  ‘To the point that I feared for my king’s safety,’ he confessed.

  ‘So Hudan appealed your case to the king,’ she concluded.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And the king appealed your case to the Great Mother.’

  ‘Yes,’ Shi said more cheerfully, as she seemed to be leading the conversation straight to the crux of the matter.

  ‘And what did my Shifu have to say?’

  ‘Well,’ he moved to stand.

  ‘Ah!’ Huxin directed him back to his knees. ‘I haven’t forgiven you yet.’

  Shi remained as he was. ‘As the West of Zhou is now under my governace, our king wishes me to marry and as you see, my prerequisite for a wife is very particular.’

  ‘So you chose me for lack of options?’ Huxin took offence and Shi was on his feet to defend himself.

  ‘I chose you before I even knew who you were. You know I did.’

  ‘Li Shan is my home.’ Huxin appealed her own cause. ‘I am not persecuted here, I am revered … and I should never see my sister again if I leave!’

  ‘I know I am asking a lot when you barely know me … as a person,’ he allowed. ‘But I am not afraid of what I am any more: you made me rejoice in my uniqueness. I believe in the West, where the white tiger is respected above all other creatures, we can build a new home for our pride, and make a haven for others like us.’

  ‘Others?’ Huxin had never even considered there were others.

  ‘We came from somewhere, Huxin. I come from the vicinity of the Kunlun Mountains, that I … we now rule in their entirety and far, far beyond.’

  Huxin choked, overwhelmed, and then collapsed into tears. ‘I am not normally this emotional … it’s just a lot to take in.’ She fanned her face in an attempt to calm down.

  ‘I understand.’ He made a move to comfort her, but she held him at bay. Then with a wave of her hand, changed her mind and hugged him tightly.

  ‘I am so sorry,’ she cried into his chest.

  ‘What are you sorry for?’ Shi asked, a lump forming in his throat as he suspected a rejection was forthcoming.

  ‘This is probably not how you imagined the event of your marriage proposal would be like.’

  ‘I honestly never expected to make a marriage proposal before today.’ Shi was deeply immersed in the feeling of her bare form hugged to his — he was attempting to savour the feeling for future reference, when it suddenly went away.

  ‘Did the Great Mother command you to wed me?’ Huxin was immediately on guard and regarding him warily.

  ‘No!’ Shi whined — why did she have so much trouble believing that he wanted this. ‘I fell in love with you the moment I saw you flirting with my tigers in the garden. I am the one who championed this proposal, and by Tian’s grace I was granted the opportunity to shoot for the moon.’ He dropped on one knee before her to lay it all on the line. ‘Jiang Huxin … would you do me the very great honour of becoming my wife?’

  Huxin was fidgeting in her stance and tears streamed from her eyes. She was clearly torn, tongue-tied, and feeling under pressure to give him a response.

  ‘Do you not feel as I do?’ He rose from his knees to ease the tension.

  ‘I chose you to father my pride … I did not have to go with you that night, but I did so joyfully.’

  ‘But when I am in this form, a man, you do not feel the same way about me?’

  ‘I find you very agreeable, Shi, but as a man … you pose an entirely different level of commitment for me.’ Huxin reached out to brush his long hair from his face, and finally smiled again. ‘You are not so much why I hesitate … it is me, this place.’ She referred to the mount on which they stood. ‘And as you say, I do not know you, as a person, very well. If I make a mistake, there is no running home to my family … once I leave I am banished and can never return.’

  ‘I wish to make us a life in Shao that is so fine you will never want to return to Li Shan,’ Shi contested, but he also did not want to upset her again. ‘If I were permitted to court you for a time, so that you might know me better and have more time to prepare for leaving your home, would that be pleasing?‘

  When Huxin threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tight, his heart finally found some peace. ‘I should like that very much.’

  ‘Perhaps you can give me an answer once our pride is born,’ he suggested, daring to place a hand upon her naked belly.

  ‘I should love to give birth here,’ she admitted, her tone lighter now, and devoid of stress, as Shi knelt and placed an ear to her belly.

  When Shi felt a movement in her womb and his lover affectionately toying with his hair, he smiled broadly. This was bliss.

  Beyond the open window in Jiang Hudan’s quarters it was a glorious morning on Li Shan. The sky was brilliant blue and the birds were singing. Dan had been awake since dawn and had not moved from his position curled up behind his lover — the moment was precious, so he wished to stay focused in it and make it linger. He had some concerns about Hudan’s reaction when she awoke to discover she’d invited him into her bed, and when she began to stir Dan figured the romance was just about over.

  ‘Hmmm …’ To his delight she wriggled in closer to him. ‘Good morning, brother Dan.’ She glanced back to see him gazing down upon her. ‘You haven’t been awake all night, have you?’

  ‘I wanted to stay awake,’ Dan admitted, kissing her bare shoulder, ‘but I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I slept like a baby.’

  Hudan turned on her back to smile up at him, and brushing his hair back out of the way, drew him into a long kiss.

  As the good morning became rather heated Dan thought he should remind Hudan of her commitments. ‘Do you not have a class you should be teaching about now?’

  ‘Holiday,’ she enlightened him.

  A holiday was a rare event on Li Shan and, elated by the news, Dan returned to their fun — disappearing under the sheet, as he kissed down one side of her body.

  ‘What is this?’ He flicked the sheet back to admire her bare thigh which had one darker stripe of skin across it. ‘That is my birthmark,’ she said proudly. ‘It’s my little bit of tiger.’

  ‘I like!’ Dan grinned, as he pulled the sheet completely over them and kissed the mark.

  ‘Hudan,’ Huxin said as she slid the door aside and entered, ‘do you know where I can find —’ She gasped when two people popped out from under the bedcovers. ‘Brother Dan! Holy mother!’ She ran back and slid the door closed. ‘Have you both lost your mind?’

  Hudan was a little lost for words, but could not wipe the grin from her face. ‘He didn’t do anything I couldn’t do to myself?’ she retorted, recalling Fen’s defence and was fit to burst as she shrugged to admit, ‘except the tongue thing.’ Hudan and Dan were reduced to laughter, and Huxin was having trouble being the responsible one for a change.

  ‘Well … good for you,’ she said, adding to their mirth. ‘But, the Great Mother is asking to see Zhou Gong.’

  ‘What? Now?’ He was naked and dishevelled.

  ‘No, when you are finished ravishing my sister,’ Huxin stated with a good serve of sarcasm. ‘Yes. Now!’

  Dan flew into a panic, but Hudan prevented him from going anywhere until he’d kissed her, and when they parted he found himself dressed, groomed and ready to leave. ‘You have to teach me that —!’

  ‘Just come,’ Huxin insisted, with a grumble, ‘before we are all in trouble.’

  ‘Thank you.’ He kissed Hudan farewell, loath to part from her so quickly, at which point Huxin strode over and, grabbing one of his arms, dragged him away. ‘Are you trying to get her banished?’

  ‘Oh, she won’t get banished,’ Dan replied. ‘Jiang Hudan doesn’t get banished,’ He aimed his cynical quip back at Hudan, who found it amusing. ‘Will you come and see me off?’

  ‘Of course I will.�
� She choked back her emotion and nodded.

  ‘I’ll speak with you later,’ Huxin stressed, trying to look displeased, but looking more excited as she shoved Dan out the door.

  ‘Do you manhandle all your guests in such a manner?’ Dan asked as she closed the door behind them.

  ‘Only the ones I am personally mad at.’ She forced a smile and led off.

  ‘Why are you mad?’ Dan was surprised by her reaction when she was normally such a little minx. ‘If we did anything wrong, your fingerprints were all over our backs.’

  Huxin turned about, her mouth gaping open. ‘What do you mean if? You took advantage, when I warned you that she was not herself.’

  ‘She is herself now,’ Dan said and motioned back to the happy instance he’d been dragged from.

  ‘And tomorrow, when you are gone for good, who will she be then? Not herself, I assure you.’ Huxin continued walking, as Dan opened his mouth to respond and pursued her to do so quietly.

  ‘She will feel much as I shall, I expect.’

  Huxin rolled her eyes as walked on. ‘You will eventually find some other distraction, Hudan will not.’

  ‘No,’ he assured her. ‘Zhou Gong Dan never marries again.’

  Huxin frowned. ‘Are you a prophet now?’

  ‘You might say that,’ he replied confidently. ‘Shall I predict something for you?’

  Huxin’s eyes narrowed, but she was intrigued by his game as she led him down the stairs. ‘Does your prediction have something to do with your brother, Shi?’

  ‘It does,’ Dan grinned, and Huxin looked thunderstruck.

  ‘You knew too!’

  ‘When I saw my brother transform into a tiger before my eyes, it was rather hard not to guess,’ he confessed, glad to have taken Huxin’s attention off his love life. ‘Shi loves you very much.’

  ‘He has told you so?’ Huxin was immediately pacified when she realised she had a witness to question.

  ‘Many times,’ Dan emphasised. ‘In fact on one occasion you were there.’

  Huxin had a chuckle at the memory. ‘You were so jealous that day,’ she recalled, ‘but not any more.’

  ‘No,’ he was pleased to admit. ‘Nor shall I be in future.’

  Huxin, pregnant and extra-emotional, had tears in her eyes. ‘I am happy and sad for you both.’ She forced a smile, but it was sincere. ‘I just hope last night will bring you more cheer than heartache in the future.’

  ‘As long as I know Hudan lives and prospers, I am content.’

  ‘I have a feeling your brother will not be so easily contented.’ She led them out of the stairway and across the open courtyard of the cloister toward Yi Wu’s chambers.

  ‘And that saddens you?’ Dan was surprised.

  ‘Either life I choose, I lose someone dear to me,’ she explained. ‘How would you feel?’

  ‘No competition. I would stay here with Hudan,’ he grinned broadly, to lighten her mood.

  ‘The wisest man in the land and you are no help,’ she grumbled in fun. ‘I shall miss you, Zhou Gong.’

  ‘For my brother’s sake, I hope that it is not for too long,’ he replied.

  ‘My wedding would be the perfect excuse to see my sister again?’

  ‘I hadn’t considered that,’ he replied honestly, his smile as broad as could be. ‘But it only serves to make me want to champion Shi’s cause all the more.’

  Huxin laughed at his resolve. ‘So, you think I should stay here with Hudan, and marry your brother. You are as confused as me.’

  ‘Clearly, when it comes to love, there is no reasoning it out, you just have to do as your heart compels you,’ he advised, and Huxin took that advice into consideration with a nod and an affectionate gaze as she let his hands go.

  ‘I should announce you.’ She entered the Great Mother’s chambers, leaving the doors to the outer room open for Dan, as she passed through the doors into the main chamber.

  Dan was left alone with Yi Wu as Huxin ushered him in and then left, closing the door behind her. The duke walked forward to address the Great Mother, but only bowed his head in greeting.

  ‘Zhou Gong …’ She remained seated. ‘I trust you slept well.’

  ‘Very well,’ he replied, raising his eyebrows in emphasis.

  ‘You appear much at ease, my lord,’ she observed graciously and not in the slightest bit wary.

  ‘Clarity is a calming force,’ he granted. ‘I assume this meeting is to discuss my future training.’

  The Great Mother nodded to concur. ‘You understand, from what we discussed yesterday, that you must be more focused in your efforts to develop your supernatural skills?’

  ‘A captain should be as able as any of his crew,’ Dan warranted.

  ‘Precisely.’ She stood. ‘Fen shall be a good instructor for you, for now. Once you have mastered your own talents, however, you must be taught the art of physical teleportation.’

  ‘Like Hudan.’ Dan smiled keen to have her mentorship back.

  ‘Like Huxin.’ The tigress was more the mentor Yi Wu had in mind. ‘You, Shi and Fen must be competent in this art before your dying day, which, if time holds true, shall not be for some time yet.’

  ‘Why that art in particular?’ Dan was curious, and was startled as the young son of the sky manifested his form in Yi Wu’s stead.

  ‘Because you require this skill to shift through time, like the rest of us,’ Telmo explained. ‘If you die without mastering this, you get left behind, and will default back to your old life as Lucian.’

  ‘That does not sound so terrible.’

  ‘Well, that depends …’

  ‘On what?’ Dan was wary of asking, as the young lord had ducked behind his long fair hair, and was peering out from beneath.

  ‘It depends on whether or not any of the rest of our team complete the mission. If just one of us succeeds in killing Dragonface and willingly teleports back to our universe, to the time before we all shifted to this one, then we foil the bad guys in both universes and everyone lives happily ever after.’

  ‘And if none of us completes the mission?’

  ‘Our souls revert to the bodies we left for dead on Kila in the future of this universe,’ he replied flatly.

  ‘Left for dead,’ Dan repeated, not liking the punchline.

  ‘Lost in space, dead, yeah! Bad guys win. Game over,’ Telmo said. ‘You see what I mean now, about this being only a tiny drop in the ocean of what is really unfolding in your soul-life?’

  ‘More and more so,’ Dan granted, his consciousness feeling pushed to the limit once again.

  ‘So Fen will continue your training,’ the lord summed up, ‘but you must not forget the aspirations of the person you are now, in the process. Zhou Gong Dan’s life must stay on track.’

  ‘I believe we understand each other,’ Dan stated, seriously. ‘Hudan and I shall make allowances for the sake of the mission. But …’

  ‘Ah, here it comes.’ The lad waved on the rebuttal.

  ‘I shall be communicating with her,’ Dan stated, ‘and seeking her company for solace whenever heaven allows me that opportunity. This is your captain speaking.’

  ‘Boom, boom!’ Telmo was amused. ‘Well … I cannot stop you. But I will say this: I am not the judge here, causality is the judge. I would also point out that having unpredestined offspring is not your only concern here … missing an important event because you are seducing your lover could be every bit as damaging.’

  Dan had not explored the scenario so far as to consider this.

  ‘Last night, you would only have spent alone in your room. There was very little possibility of any other outcome,’ Telmo said, explaining why he’d allowed them to transgress. ‘Out there in the real world there are far more possible outcomes, and any one of them could be vital.’

  Dan nodded, fully comprehending the spirit’s cautionary words. ‘Would I be right in saying that this would not be the first time we’ve cheated history to be together?’

  Telmo gr
inned broadly. ‘If you only knew how right you are, you’d be much less of a worry. Am I dismissed, captain?’

  Dan felt quite empowered in the wake of this chat, and smiled and nodded. ‘I thank you for your guidance.’

  ‘Any time,’ Telmo emphasised.

  ‘Until next we meet, I wish you well.’

  ‘Hopefully our next meeting will be as joyous an event as this.’ Dan was hoping it would be his brother’s wedding.

  ‘I have one pregnant and courting, another having an affair!’ Telmo grumbled, as he transformed back into the form of Yi Wu and was seated. ‘I’m starting to feel like I’m a matchmaker rather than Shifu.’

  ‘How do you bear the distraction of having so many beautiful women around you?’ Dan asked out of curiosity.

  ‘If Hudan was not here, would you be tempted by any of these beauties?’ Yi Wu posed.

  Dan raised his eyebrows and shook his head, seeing Telmo’s point.

  ‘My love awaits me at our final destination, captain. She was not chosen for this mission. And now you know why I am so eager to see our mission executed to perfection, and to make you see that any risk you take, is everybody’s risk.’

  Dan was sobered by that realisation, and nodded as he considered everything he had heard. ‘I am grateful for your honesty and your confidence in me to date. I shall do my very best.’

  ‘That is all any of us can do, Zhou Gong,’ she said, applauding his resolve. ‘You have always, always, led us to victory and this life shall prove no different.’

  Beyond speech, Dan bowed, exiting through the waiting room and out into the sunshine of the cloister where Huxin, Hudan and Shi were waiting to accompany him to the morning meal.

  ‘What did Shifu say?’ Huxin was most eager to know if he’d been found out and scolded.

  ‘The Great Mother said that we make a great team,’ and Dan nodded once to confirm he felt the same. ‘My Wu training shall continue.’

  ‘Congratulations.’ Hudan was relieved and happy for him — and herself, as being Wu meant he would remain unmarried.