Zhulong, Ice and Fire

FOUR

Huian stood at the gateway of their house sullenly, her arms folded across her chest and her foot impatiently tapping the floor. Four carriages were drawn in front of their house, each filled with their belongings. A fifth carriage was a few paces away from the others; this one was fancier than the others and contained Huian's dowry. She glanced over at the mansion behind her; what was taking her father so long? Her half-brother, Cheung, was standing beside her with a sour look on his face, averting his gaze from her.

Soon after, her father strolled through the doorway with his wife, Lady Chyou, on his arm. She had been his second wife when Huian's mother had been alive, but now that Huian's mother was dead, she was the one and only wife. She was a beautiful woman, much younger than Huian's mother had been. She was in her mid-thirties, her gracefully aged face full of timid attractiveness. She was a wolf in sheep's skin, though. Huian despised her.

Lady Chyou clung onto her father's arm. "Darling, which one of the carriages is ours?"

"We'll be boarding the first one," he answered.

"And Cheung?" She pulled away from her husband and placed a hand on her son's head, thoroughly ignoring Huian. She smiled down at him, to which he embarrassedly stared at the ground. He was fourteen and yet he was still babied by his mother. "Will he be joining us?"

"No."

Cheung raised his eyes at that. "Father?"

"I want you to ride with Huian."

Huian's eyes widened in distaste, as did Cheung's. "Father!" Cheung said, horrified. "I wanted to, err, ride with you," he said hurriedly. "Uh-"

He raised his hands. "Now, now. This might be the last time you can have a long and meaningful time with your sister. She'll be married off soon, Cheung."

He ground his teeth together and didn't look at her. She rolled her eyes and looked at the guards her father had hired to protect them and the dowry. There was roughly a dozen of them. They all appeared to be muscle bound and they looked sturdy. She wondered if she could take them all down in one go. Probably not. Even though she was strong, she couldn't take down a group of giant men.

Or could she?

"Father, can I keep my sword with me in the carriage?" she asked him while Lady Chyou was talking to him.

"Of course not," he said. "Why would you need a sword?"

She frowned. "What if we're attacked?"

"That's why we have all these guards to protect us." He waved his hand at the men. "Huian, stop with this nonsense and get inside the carriage."

"Huian, I understand you're nervous, but don't be," Lady Chyou chirped in her honeyed voice.. "We'll be fine."

Huian resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead listened to her father. She climbed into the second to last carriage. The inside was velvety and plush, pillows strewn inside on the two opposing padded benches. She sat down on one side of it. Cheung climbed in after her and took the seat across from her. The door to the carriage was slammed shut by one of the guards.

Lady Chyou had always been like that, even before her mother had passed away. She had been threatened by her mother's position and had always feared that her mother would give birth to an heir. When she didn't, she had been thrilled. It didn't take long before Cheung was born and he was given the status of heir. Her mother passed away, leaving lady Chyou victorious in claiming a high position. Huian wanted to run her through with her sword.

Huian crossed her arms over her chest as the carriage lurched forward. Cheung clung onto the armrests and gritted his teeth together. Whereas she was strong, gifted, and intelligent, he was frail, average, and not suited as an heir. She was better suited for the position but since she was a female, she couldn't take it. Instead, she was being bartered off to the Yao family. He didn't even look like her, in all honesty. They both looked like their respective mothers, making them appear very different. The only similarity they had was their father's lips.

She flicked open the flaps of the curtain and peered at the outside. Sunlight filtered through the window and she decided to push the curtains aside, revealing the outside world. Cheung cringed. "Pull the drapes. I don't want to see the outside."

Huian arched a brow. "Are you ordering me around?"

"Yes."

"I'm older than you."

"I'm a man."

"You, a man?" She laughed. "Hilarious."

His cheeks grew red. "I'm the heir," he said hotly.

"Oh wow! I didn't know that!" She smirked. "If I was a boy, you'd be the disgrace of the family. Think about it. I'm perfect at everything while you're . . . less than average."

His bunched his fists together and glared at her. Clear hatred burning within his dark eyes. She knew exactly where to punch him to strike his nerves. That was one of them and she knew it. It was exactly the reaction she wanted. "That's not true-"

"You want to test it out? Do you think you can beat me?"

He hesitated.

She chuckled. "See, your reaction was all I need to confirm that I'm right. You're nothing, Cheung."

He stared down at his knees, his expression darkening. He pursed his lips together and she saw a muscle on his jaw twitch. "Do you know what people call you? A cold, distant, monster."

[Well, he's not wrong. Twelve percent of you is a monster, you know.]

Her expression didn't even falter. "And? Is that all you've got? Cheung, I take pride in the fact that I'm a fierce woman. I also don't care about what men think of me."

"Yeah, but-"

"I'm also marrying the heir to the Yao family," she said. "That makes me the wife of the Yao family when he takes the position. Now, do you think that you, when you're the head of the Lin family, will be able to compete with the Yao family? Especially since I'll be joining it?" She smiled thinly. "I think not. You're useless in everything you do. Just like your whore of a mother."

His eyes widened and splotches of red colored his face. He looked away, unable to say anything to her. Honestly, she hated using Chenglei as a way to bash Cheung, but it was appropriate in this situation. She shrugged it off easily and looked out the window instead, her gaze flitting over the blurring scenery.

[Don't you think that was a bit harsh?]

Why, do you care?

[Not really. He's not my kin.]

You don't care about humans, anyway, so it doesn't matter.

[True, but he's your brother.]

I don't like him. The day he was born, my mother cried. She hates him and his mother. I hate them too. They ruined my family.

[Don't you think your father ruined your family, not them? He's the one that had a second marriage.]

That's true. I hold it against him too.

[I think you were a bit too harsh, though, and I'm a demon.]

I was just being honest. He's useless. Well, maybe he's not entirely useless. I mean, if he has to compete with someone as perfect as me, of course he'd seem less than average. However, he's still average at best.

[Your arrogance is like a demon's.]

Have you forgotten that I have demon blood? All twelve percent of it.

The rest of the ride was spent in silence. Bazyn retracted deeper inside of her and disappeared, leaving her alone with Cheung. Her brother didn't say anything to her and instead stared down at his hands, his expression hard. She stared out the window, thoroughly bored out of her mind. The air around them was thick with tension.

Huian rested her head against the wall of the carriage and soon after, fell asleep.