Princess Snow and the Empress

20: An Old Friend

*Warning: Some mildly gory description of Chinese Hell in this chapter*

"Princess, it's time to wake up," a soft voice said in Snow's ear.

"It's too early, Lotus," she mumbled and turned away from the voice. In the dark, she opened one eye to find her nose almost touching a curved, wooden wall. This is not my bed. Why does it feel like the ground is moving?

The light around her grew bright, as if the roof had been suddenly blown away. She squeezed her eyes shut against the glare and slowly sat up. Her bed rocked gently underneath her.

When she finally uncovered her eyes and pushed her hair out of her face, she saw that she was in a flat-bottomed boat that had just exited a low cave. She stared in disbelief at the yawning cave mouth and the vegetation growing from the rocks and water.

Where am I? I thought... She pushed back her sleeve to find that there were no marks or injury on her wrist. Her clothes were clean and spotless, with nary a bloodstain on them. That's so strange, I seem to be unharmed.

She looked down at her boots and wriggled her toes. It was only then that she noticed a white boot peeking out from beneath long white robes. Just seconds ago, there was nothing there, but now, somebody was sitting silently beside her.

White! Ghosts always dress in white! she thought in alarm, remembering Fifth Brother's warning about vengeful ghosts.

Snow didn't dare to look at first. But she slowly turned, and found herself looking into a pair of round eyes as black as onyx, framed by long dark lashes in the most beautiful face she had ever seen, with fair skin that glowed translucent like white jade in the sun.

The thing that struck her the most was his pure white hair, which was dark at the roots and fell to his shoulders like a lion's mane. In the sunlight, it shone like a halo around his head. His face lit up with unbridled joy upon seeing her looking his way.

"Princess!" he said, making to hold her hand, but she quickly pulled it out of his reach.

"Who are you?"

He looked so crestfallen that she regretted her harsh tone. "You don't remember me?" he asked in a small voice.

Snow was about to retort that she had never laid eyes on him before in her entire life, when she caught a floral scent on the breeze. It smelt of summer, and of lush roses in bloom. She took a closer look at his face, taking in his large eyes, button nose and wide mouth that curved upwards. There's something about him. It felt like she was meeting an old friend from a past life.

"Chow Chow?" she ventured tentatively.

He gasped upon hearing his name, and beamed from ear to ear, revealing a straight row of small teeth and noticeably longer canine teeth. "I've missed you so much!" he cried as he embraced her, causing the boat to rock dangerously.

"Chow Chow!" She froze, stunned by the sudden display of affection. Usually, she was the one holding him in her arms, but he was much smaller and furrier then. His white hair obscured her vision but over his shoulder, she could see the side of the boat dipping towards the water surface. I've missed you too but we're going to sink!

"Oh, I shouldn't do that, we both might fall into the water." He sat back on his side of the boat and smoothed out his robes. "Sorry, Princess, you know I can get carried away sometimes."

Her eyes traveled from the top of his head, to his moonstone earrings, and to his white robes embroidered with swirling clouds that shimmered like mother of pearl in the light. "I can't believe it. I buried you, and– How? But–"