Chapter Text
Chapter One
Nestled in the southern of the central plains, the kingdom of TIĀNQUÁN, surrounded by the snow covered high mountains in the south, with the great violent sea of Mengjiala wan on the east, is one of the strongest and powerful kingdom of the era. The kingdom spreads over 90 strong divided holding states with its capital in Qian Ju. The name of the kingdom “Tiānquán” came from the great river flowing from the mountains that passes through the whole kingdom and is said to be connected with the spring from heaven, thus called the heavenly spring or Tiānquán. The kingdom is ruled by the Imperial royal house of LETRATKOSUMS, for over a century.
Before the kingdom of Tiānquán, the lands were under the rule of the QIANGHUAN empire. The emperor Qiang Nan was an incompetent monarch, his holding was feeble, his rule was miserable and suffering for the common people. The emperor was not senile and only had the fear of loosing his throne. Thus rose the civil wars in the kingdom, the war of AN QIANG NEIZHAN, that lead to the fall of Qianghuan. The main fall of the previous empire was for the corruption that started from the throne and the unjust way the people were killed for greed and fear of the then king losing his throne. The throne got weaker and civil war rose to the point where more people revolted than they stood united. That was when the strongest power stood, the most just power that was THE LETRATKOSUMS.
After more than a century of establishment of the Letratkosum dynasty, The ruling descendant of the empire, the current empress, one of the greatest ruler of the history is Empress Sarocha with her Empress consort Rebícya. Under their monarchy, the kingdom saw one of the highest yields, growth, power and kingdom wide peace, flourishing to become one of the strongest kingdoms in the central plain. The empress was known for the just wisdom and iron holding for justice and fairness with strength and mind so high, one thought twice before even planning to cross the throne. In the beginning of her rule, Empress Sarocha declared the policy of monogamy among the imperial court, which was before a decree of law only among the Letratkosums, making it mandatory for all nobles of the court who served the throne.
This caused a lot of dissatisfaction and noise in the court but the Queen held her decision making it the law, that later everyone came to agree. But this did cause rise of tension among some in the court against the throne, which was later more signified when the queen married a princess of foreign blood, princess Rebîcya of western isles, now the Empress consort and she gave birth to the crown prince Naravith Letratkosum and hus twin the second prince, now the duke general Theerakith Letratkosum. The court could not accept a foreign blood in royal lineage, thus giving birth to a coup against the Daughter of heaven. But the attempted coup was effortlessly dismantled, transforming a threat to the crown into a flawless display of the Empress's unshakeable authority.
During the coup, while the Head of the Tangsakyuen clan, Quanin Tang, the head chancellor of the throne stood firmly in support of the Empress, his own brother, Quanli Tang led the coup. This began the weariness between the Tang clan and the throne in the empire. The Empress smothered the coup along with Quanli with great reverence of power, but in the process The chancellor and his omega met with their ultimate demise, thus creating a gap among the throne and its most loyal servant, the Tangsakyuen clan.
During the great war of An Qiang, the TANGSAKYUEN clan of QIANG dynasty stood tall with the fair and just supporting the rebel against the then current empire of QIANGHUAN. Due to their immense support and valour the emperor QIANG NAN fell and rose the current empire of LETRATKOSUM.
The Tangsakyuen clan stood by their side in the war, supporting them to join the cracks of the kingdom and helped the current empire to come in power. Thus as the kingdom of TIĀNQUÁN rose to power, the rank and power of the Tang clan also rose. The win of the war was dedicated to the Tang clan and the first emperor of the LETRATKOSUM empire gave the promise to the head of the Tang clan that the first born omega of the TANGSAKYUEN CLAN would be the crown consort of the kingdom of TIĀNQUÁN.
After that for three reigning emperor there was no omega in the house of the TANGSAKYUEN, but during the reign of the fourth ruler, Empress Sarocha of LETRATKOSUM empire, that changed. When the day the house of Tangsakyuen welcomed their first omega child, his fate was decided by the first hour, that after he was of age he was to be married to the crown prince of the TIĀNQUÁN KINGDOM.
The echoes of yesterday
The whole sky was a canvas of red hues and dazzling lanterns that were emitting warmth, that touched the deep amber eyes making them shine like of precious stones in the imperial treasure vaults. The air was humming with a soft vibrancy of traditional music, the type that indicates happiness and new beginnings, so sweet and familiar, that even the rabbit shaped sugar candy in the young omega’s hand could not match it.
Nestled between his fuqin’s warm chest, whose both hands were draped around the young omega, his one hand was holding the melting sugar candy, making a mess of the delicate winter furs, while his other hand was clutched to his fuqin’s smooth and thick winter coat, with no intention of leaving it anytime soon.
It was the night before the new year, the markets were filled with people, a happy and holiday spree in the air, with paths filled with coloured paper lanterns, and hawkers shouting about the prices of the products they were selling. “Fuqin, when will we reach there? What if the puppet show ends by then?” The young omega looks up at his fuqin, at his sharp jaws, the man is in his mid-thirties, his long hair tied neatly, in a bun secured by metal hair wrap. The market footpath was buzzing with people, crowds at every turn and trail.
“Son, have some patience, for patience is the strongest virtue of man.” He pouted at his father’s words. The older alpha always talked in a way that confused the young omega, but he did give him rabbit shaped sugar candy so he could look past that. “My love, the show starts two hours after sunset, so don’t worry we will reach in time.” His muqin, an omega in her late twenties, said with a breezy laugh, making her look so beautiful that he could not stop admiring. My muqin is so pretty like those flowers sewn in her robes. Her long hair was tied loosely in a jade hairpin, the sleeves of her silk robe of bright blue that was peeking out of her winter coat, floating in the winter wind. Nestled In her arms was his didi, his younger brother, who was lulled to sleep with his mouth slight open and candy half held loosely in his hand.
The path leading to the puppet show was quite long, no matter how much he walked and looked forward it still wasn’t coming to his sight and the people in-front of him were to big for him to look above them . So after walking for what felt like thousand days he demanded to his fuqin to pick him up, because he was frustrated and tired. He had an older brother as well who was supposed to take him to the puppet show quickly as he always did, but the said brother again got busy with his big scary scrolls for some big day coming up according to his muqin. Nowadays gege is always too busy to play with me. So he begged his parents to take him there, begged and then cried and then begged again.
The candy he was trying to steal from his brother’s hands fell with a soft sound as his fuqin suddenly came to a halt. His head rose from his fuqin’s chest excitedly thinking they reached the destination but his face twisted in confusion seeing nothing familiar but two old men standing in their path. Seeing them his father quietly handed him to their head governess, Governess Li, who was walking behind them with the guards and headed to a quiet side with the strangers.
The carriage was quiet, the young omega’s eyes were droopy in tiredness, sleep consuming him in a slow deviation, which was inevitable for the way he spent the whole day roaming around the market and then the evening jumping excitedly watching the puppet show. He was again in his fuqin’s arms, his head on the crook of the older alpha’s neck, who came back to join them in the middle of the puppet show, after he instructed them to go without him for he would join them soon, and left with the stranger.
His didi, in their muqin’s arm was again asleep. He did woke up for a short time to watch some of the puppet show before he was asleep again, his rosy cheeks puffed and small chin glistening with sticky drool. Didi slept most of the time, so why did we even bring him? He asked his muqin that evening but his muqin did say that younger babies need a lot of sleep to grow tall and strong, so it did make sense, his didi should also grown strong and tall like him and gege.
His eyes were almost closed, the light of the lantern dimming to almost a point, when the carriage jerked to a stop making his head smack against his fuqin’s chin, the sleep leaving his eyes in an instant due to the pain spreading in his head from the action. Loud noises float from outside, a screech of the horses. The governess ran inside the carriage, her breath ragged, face twisted in fear and panic.
“There are armed men outside, we are under attack your excellency.”
Setting the young omega in the governess’s lap, his father stood up, his hands gripping his sword in an instinct. “Fengjui, stay inside the carriage, don’t come out unless I say so and keep yourself and the children safe.” His mother gave her husband an anxious yet brave nod, understanding the graveness of the situation they were in. “Stay safe Quanli!” Giving his wife a curt nod, Quanli went out of the carriage. The young children shifted close to their mother, their eyes filled with tears from fear, the strong sound of metal clashing against one another and painful moans and groans reverberate through the carriage.
The situation inside the enclosed space was filled to thick tension and fear of the danger they were currently facing, every face stuck with a grim expression, the young pups shivering continuously as they shifted closer to their mother’s warmth, who was continuously consoling them. A loud desperate roar of pain shattered through the air, the voice so familiar, a shot of awareness jerked through the people inside the carriage. A sudden stillness then fills the air, making Fengjui sit straight, her face hardening, posture rigid in sheer determination of facing whatever situation she was to face outside, for she would go to support her husband.
“Governess, take care of the children, take them and run toward the southern east until you see a veiled light post with Tang clan’s burning phoenix insignia on its top. You will receive help there, show them young master’s head band they will understand.” Her tone was of steel, that held on space for any question or deference, it was pure determination to keep her children protected and safe. Then her hardened tone softens as she looks toward her precious younger ones, her hand raised, caressing their hair softly. “Baobeimen, take care of each other. Fuqin and muqin will find you soon. Phuwin baobei take care of yourself and your didi and listen to governess Li, muqin will come back soon.”
Fengjui shifts both of her children toward Governess Li, before reaching for her own sword, her heart trembling from the fear of what was happening to her husband, then she again turned toward her children with a tenderness that only a mother could attain even in a situation where death was more certain than being alive.
“Muqin, don’t go!” Phuwin’s lips trembled as the words rushed out of them, his hands gripping his didi’s, as warm tears rushed out both of their eyes. “We will meet soon baobei, here keep this for me and be good son, mae will always be in your hearts.” Taking her lotus jade pin out of her hair, she gave it in Phuwin’s hand a shredded whimper rose out of him, she gave them one small tender smile, her lips trembling, and her gaze, a prolonged veil of guilt, overwhelming sadness and the pain of uncertainty.
“Keep them protected and safe, Li!” Giving Li a final nod, she walked out of the carriage with her purple jade covered sword in a death grip in her hand. On her exit, Governess Li held the younger of the siblings in her arms, took Phuwin’s hand into hers and ran out of the carriage on the lead of her mistress, dragging them to the opposite direction, into the thick forest of southern east.
The situation outside was dreading, the smell of burning thatch and copper-heavy blood hung thick in the midnight air, loud screeches of metal clashing against one another, the air heavy and heated even in the deeply freezing winter night, only two guards were left who were trying their best to escort Li and the children to safety inside the thick forest, while all others were busy fighting the attackers.
Governess Li ran for her young masters’ lives, her own breath wrecked, caught in whimpers and low murmurs of soothing assurances to calm the panicked young masters. She could hear and feel the two guards fighting their best to give her some time to run, which she was grateful for, but carrying to young children in her arms and running in long robe in the freezing winter inside the forest with near to no visibility was something she was not prepared for. The crunching of wood and grass behind them kept getting closer, her heart giving violent thuds. I need to protect my masters. They need to survive, my mistress’s death will not go to vain.
Phuwin along with his young brother, dangling on governess Li shoulders could see through the gaps of the enormous trees lining one after another, the horrific nightmare that was occurring near their carriage, his hands instinctually clamped on his younger brother’s eyes preventing him from seeing such gravely situation, protecting him, as his mae instructed him to. He could hardly control his own whimpers as both of their bodies shook from the constant in motion state of their governess.
They, his parents were almost unrecognisable from afar. The sight of his fuqin, the strongest and bravest man he had ever seen, lying on the dusty ground with sword stuck on his chest, the thick pristine robe now bloodied. His mae, her thick hair wild, floating in the wind, her hands cladded with a sword clashing one after another with not one but many swords at once, her torn silk robe bloodied, her face devoid of that glow and happiness that was marred all day. He saw her fling herself at the lead assassin to buy them a few heartbeats of time, her blade flashed under the moonlight. Suddenly a hand clamped on his free hand, small warmth grasping him instantly, the heavy thuds of footsteps advanced closer towards them. “We need to go faster!” Li’s terror seized voice mixed with the trembling mourning of her master’s fall, fell into Phuwin’s ear.
There was no time to mourn. Hand in hand, the two princes of a fallen house disappeared into the black expanse of the thick forest in the arms of their governess, the horrific scenes slowly hiding behind the lines of trees, the cries of the fight fading into the rustling of the leaves, when a desperate shout shattered the night, cut short by the sickening crunch of iron against bone.
Phuwin’s felt his own chest collapsing at the sound, the voice so familiar, reckoning gruntled pained whimpers out of his mouth, as he felt his brother shake uncontrollably, whose cold hand pressed on his own tighter, the younger siblings shouts for their mother’s ultimate demise.
“MAE!”
“Mae! Mae! MAE…”
A dull, throbbing pain at the back of his head was the first thing Phuwin registered as his eyes flung open. Everything was paining, his whole body carried a dull ache, at so many places together he couldn’t pinpoint exactly where it hurt more. The dream, no the memories maybe, felt too real, it was not a dream, it felt like he was reliving that exact same night of murder again, the gruesome shouts of pain and demise of his parents still ringing in his ears. The constant throbbing in his head increased a pointed pain on the centre of his skull making him slight dizzy.
Blinking his eyes one to many times to clear the watery haze as deep laboured breathes rushed past his dry lips, his face was flushed in red from panic and distress, visible from the faint light of the bedside candle lamp. His fist clenched around soft silk of the bed cover, the fog in his mind clearing in an overwhelming slow pace. He slowly sat up in his bed, the soft silk of his light translucent robe rustling against the bed sheet, as his hand rubbed his forehead with force to ease the discomfort. Tears clung into his eyes as he remembered the horrific state of his parents, their screams of pain, the pictures running in his mind in a circular motion repeating the haunting scenes in front of his eyes.
Forcing deep breathes through his nose, he tried to ground himself from the overwhelming emotions he just faced through the relived past and the aching skull. His head was a jumbled mess, every memory collapsing against one another, as he tried to mentally shuffle them back in place.
The dream, no the past, it was much clear this time. The day, the events, every memory inch by inch was injected back into his brain after twelve years of hazy fragments and no junction to connect those fragments. The day, it was the day before new year, yes, as he always knew. His fuqin, mae both were killed in the attack, his didi was injured but governess Li? Wasn’t she one of those traitors who were the reason for his parents’ murder, but the memory he recovered from showed a different picture. How come she was the one who ran away with them? Wasn’t it Xiaomin shushu, who protected them?
Phuwin roughly rubbed the sheen coat of sweat in his face trying to pick up the pieces correctly from the dream. Thinking could wait for the moment for it was all getting too disoriented, with the constant pain and jumbled memories, he had to wait for his mind to clear up before he came to any rash conclusion. His eyes wandered from the faint glowing lamp on the foot of his bed to the rising light in the sky from his bed chamber’s window, soft lights entering through the wooden curved patterns. It was probably not past four Dian, since the sun has still not graced the sky completely.
A sudden soft sound of deep footsteps filled the outside of the silent bed chamber, a muffled voice of his younger brother could be heard from the other side of the door. “Check whether gege is awake or not! I would like to go check in on him.” On the queue, a petite beta woman entered the room quietly. On seeing the young master awake and sitting on the bed, she gave him a respectful bow and spoke in a low tone. “Master, master Gemini is here to see you, he is currently waiting outside, shall I call him inside?”
Phuwin who was already putting on an outer robe, gave her a simple nod and the maid went out after bowing again. Gemini entered the room after half a minute, his eyes scanning Phuwin’s face, worry visible in his face and walked over to his bed. “Ge how are yo—“ He could not even complete speaking when Phuwin pulled him in a hasty hug, holding him in a tight grip.
Visions from the recalled memory made his emotions override into the present, the violent pictures resurfacing in his mind like a live show of his young brother, so little in his age, his face stuck with tears and snot, his cheeks red in the harsh cold, the violent tremors and sobbing and the warmth of the little hands on his own during that horrific day. Tears started dripping from his eyes uncontrollably, the feelings of past and present blurring in an impossible knot in his heart that gets tighter each passing second.
Gemini’s hands start to caress Phuwin’s long hair gently, trying to sooth the omega, who was now shaking through tears in his arms. “Phuwin are you okay? What happened? Is it hurting too much? Should I call the physician?” The arms around him tightened. The omega stayed quiet for another few minutes long, the tremors slowing down gradually. Gemini felt Phuwin was calming down slowly, his breathes returning to normal and the shaking completely stopped. Soon Phuwin pulled away, his cheeks wet from the tears he shed, eyes swollen but his face looked calm, he seemed fine.
“Are you feeling better now? What happened?”
Phuwin sat back on his past position, dabbing his face with his sleeves before looking up at his younger brother. He could not disclose the reason of his emotional outbreak to his young brother, not right now, he will but he has to wait for the right moment to come. “Just the ache in my skull flared, I guess.” He gave a very vague answer, which he could see Gemini wasn’t believing. But the young alpha did not press him about it any further and changed the flow of the conversation.
“Of course it will ache. You fell from such a high wall ge. Thank god I reached there at the right moment or else—” Phuwin’s eyes widened suddenly recalling the events that led to the throbbing pain at the back of his head. There was a live drama show the previous evening near the flower market and if anyone knew about him, they would know that the only omega of the Tang clan loved watching those, no matter where the performances were held, he would surely go even though he was not allowed to. But who could even stop the young master. Anyways Phuwin was never a great fan of rules, for him boundaries were given to be tested.
So when last evening he was outright rejected of even harbouring the idea of going near the flower market, he did what he was best at, defying the order. He acted as if he was very angry with the decision so he would not eat anything that night and go straight to bed. And then when he saw the opportunity, he sneaked out from his bed chamber’s window and tried to go over the back wall of the estate. What he did not anticipate was the slippery surface of the wall from the constant rain fall for few days. His memory was blank after the fall, when pain was registering his whole body as his eyes were getting consumed in darkness.
“Does shifu now about it?” The omega quickly shuffled toward his brother, wincing at pain from moving his body too quickly, distress clear in his face. “Thankfully, he is still in the meditation hall, your hand maidens and I only know about the accident, and I already told the outside guards to keep their mouth shut about it.” Phuwin gave out a dramatic sigh, relieved with the information again sitting back in the bed. Gemini dropped beside him, giving out a similar sigh. “Why do you even do this? You know if you get caught by shifu he will punish you!”
The omega gave a casual shrug. “Shifu loves me too much to punish me too hard.” Gemini sighed again, the carefree demeanour of his older brother was nothing new to him, but that doesn’t make it less concerning. Before he used to try to stop his brother from taking reckless decisions but he soon understood trying and actually stopping were a distance far too long for anyone to cover, so he started tagging along with him in his shenanigans to silently protect the only omega of the house, not like his brother really needed it but he was protective. But last evening he was having a tutoring lesson and hence the mishaps. Still he could not really do much about it, for his older brother was far too stubborn and would only heed to advices he deemed worthy.
“Can you stop sighing like I am the sole reason of your disappointment.”
“Not disappointment, but stress and panic.” The omega gave him an acute glare while slowly standing up from the bed. “If you are done, now can we get to some real news? Gege send a letter yesterday, what did it say?” Gemini also shuffled off the bed following his elder brother. “He said he will be back in a month or so, also, he will be bringing our cousin from Xian’an. You can read the letter in the morning.” Phuwin turned his head toward the alpha in an instant, his lips widening in a delighted smile.
“Peach Ge is coming? We haven’t met in so long, not after Ayi and yimu—“ He sighed, the smile deeming into melancholy thinking of his aunt and her wife. “Still cannot believe how can a whole family be wiped out in cold blood in just one night! Thank heavens Peach gege was not home at that time. Gege wrote in the letter that he is bringing Peach ge for some change of scenery. Maybe it will help him recover from the great loss.”
“Yeah. This time we will take great care of him just like he did to us years ago.”
The sibling stood there in some silence, the air grim with the memories. After some time, the air again started feeling lighter, the grim settling down to a light comfort when a mischievous smile spread on the alpha’s face, his eyes brightening, making the older omega frown. “Gege also wrote another important piece of information.” Phuwin looked at him in confusion, not being able to grasp the teasing tone of his younger brother. “What information?”
“Well it is heard that the crown prince is returning to the capital after seven years to finally claim his betrothed omega.” Phuwin’s eyes widened, a fresh flush of red crawling from his neck to ears and face, his eyes throwing an acute sharp glare at the younger alpha. “Gemini, you—“ Before he could complete his sentence, his hands fisting in a scary motion, Gemini was already out of the bed chamber, his hollering laughter echoing in the otherwise silent hallway of the estate.
Phuwin took a deep breath, the flush in his face still intact as the thought of the Alpha came to his mind, the crown prince of Tiānquán, his betrothed from birth, Naravith Letratkosum returning back in the capital after seven years and with the return the changes that will soon follow.