The Last Honor

5. Be a father - remain a ruler

The evening sun bathed the sky in an orange red. Shen had moved back into the palace and was looking down at the courtyard from the middle floor.
The soothsayer noticed that he had become very quiet. First, she had resolved not to speak to him, but as this went on all day, she tried to talk to him.
"You look so thoughtful," she began behind him.
Shen didn't seem to be surprised by her presence and didn't even turn to face her.
"I'm concerned a lot," he said slowly. "Then I have to think a lot."
The goat walked over to him at the window and tried to figure out where Shen was looking all the time.
Fantao was standing in the courtyard with Master Croc and Master Ox. Master Croc's portrait was still present on the wall and now a new one had been painted next to it, this time a portrait with Master Ox. This also had more muscles than the original, which Master Ox checked on himself immediately.
"What do you dislike about that?" She asked.
Shen sighed. "With Fantao I hoped that he would become a great, mighty warrior one day. But apparently, I was wrong and he's becoming more of a great artist. I should have called him Kuaishou*."
The goat smiled. "He's a color-loving peacock. To be honest, it shouldn't come as a surprise. But he has skill in his movements. He will definitely develop his own fighting style one day. Just like Zedong."
"Zedong is good, as good as his brother," Shen agreed. "I could only expect more from Jian. He'd rather play his instrument than take care of his training."
"He is color blind like his mother," the soothsayer added. "He tries to beautify his world with music."
"Maybe," Shen muttered. Then he looked down. "Shenmi is the only one I worry most about. She has absolutely no interest in Kung Fu or other fighting techniques."
He winced when he felt the goat's hoof on his arm. "You wish too much that she would be like you, am I right?"
Shen backed away from her. "Nonsense! She should only learn to fight. That's all. But so far she shows no signs of trying really hard."
The goat sighed heavily. "Shen, sooner or later, each of them will go their own way at some point. You can't tie them to your ideas forever."
The white peacock shook his head. "No, it's a lot more than that. She has to learn it. She cannot remain a helpless child forever..."
The goat's eyes widened. Shen had unexpectedly bowed his head and held the wing over his eyes.
"Is everything alright with you?"
"I'm fine," he said. "I just feel a little exhausted today. I... I'm just not so for this..."
"Father role." She smiled.
"Uh... yes. Yin-Yu had a magic touch for them. But I had to take care of the city and..."
"Daddy!"
At that moment, Zedong appeared behind them.
"Shenmi fell in the mud. I think she needs a bath. And Fantao anyway."
With that, the little peacock turned around and Shen was left alone with his little problem. In the end, his pleading gaze was fixed on the goat.
"Please, could you do that?"

With an uncomfortable feeling, Yin-Yu retired to the night quarters. She had rummaged around in Xia and Sheng's old children's boxes for a long time, going through so many old memories that her head hurt more than her wings.
She looked around. She was standing in her former bedroom. With only one bed, of course. Xiang had always slept alone, and he had expected the same from his family. A single room for everyone. With locked doors. He had locked their doors every night. They were never allowed to leave their rooms at these times.
Yin-Yu made sure that the door wasn't locked, which was nonsense. Who should lock the doors now? But she wanted to be on the safe side.
Somehow, she wished the others had come along. But she didn't want to force Xia and Sheng to come back to this place.
Lost in thoughts changed her clothes. Her old clothes were still in the closet. Then she went to bed. For a while she hung on to her memories. Then she remembered Shen. She would love to have him next to her now.

Wearily, Shen shuffled into his bedroom. The goat had taken over the bathing of the two little ones, but he was completely exhausted. Dealing with young children was even more exhausting than training with an army. Exhausted, he dropped into the double bed.
"Shen, accept it," he muttered to himself. "You're not getting any younger either."
Then he wrapped himself in the blanket and fell asleep immediately.
It passed almost an hour when...
"Daddy?"
Drowsy, Shen sat up in bed when he recognized Shenmi's voice.
"What is it?"
The white peacock girl stood by his bed and looked at him shyly.
"Can I sleep in your bed?"
Shen rubbed his face wearily. "Why don't you go to your sister?"
"She snores."
"Oh, does she?"
Sighing, Shen lay down again and turned on his side. "Well then, come in."
Immediately, the little girl hopped on the bed and crawled under the blanket. Shen hardly noticed anything; his head was still so empty from the day. All he could feel was something clinging to his neck.
"Daddy?"
"Mmm?"
"Are you still angry with me?"
"Mm-mm." It sounded like a dulled "No".
As if subconsciously, his wing moved to the empty side of the bed and wished Yin-Yu would be here now.

Yin-Yu startled. Did she dream? A strange feeling had come over her, like a gloomy shadow. She straightened up quickly and her first look was on the door.
She held her breath in shock. The door was ajar. That's an odd thing. She could have sworn she had closed it.
"Hello? Is there someone there?"
Quickly, she got out of bed, went to the door and looked into the corridor.
Everything remained calm.
But then... A slight scrape had slid across the marble floor.
"Huan? Is that you?" She asked timidly.
When she got no answer, she quickly closed the door again. Are memories from back playing tricks on her now? Or was she even dreaming?
She quickly went back to her bed and lit a candle. The light that was illuminating the room now, made her feel more secure. But without noticing it, the light shed on several small eyes now that lurked behind her back.
Another three seconds passed - then a scream filled the air.

* "Kuaishou" means "light hands, clever with his hands, skilfully".