The King's Dancer

Chapter 11

San Lang once again refused to put Xie Lian down for the whole duration of the walk back to his own private chambers, but Xie Lian had almost gotten used to the king carrying him already. Which he really shouldn't, he realised.

Once they'd arrived, the king carried him through his courtyard, the main house, and even further until he walked out of the house on the opposite side again. There was a comparatively small-ish, lush backyard, with many flowers, a pond and a small, octagonal pavilion. There was also a door on the opposite wall, to which San Lang carried him.

After San Lang stepped through the door with him, Xie Lian could feel himself gaping, feeling utterly dumbfounded at the sight in front of him. It felt like he had gone through a door that made him traverse through miles upon miles with just one step. He looked back through the door, only to see the same lush garden he'd just been carried through, which reassured him greatly. He would've thought he'd suddenly entered a different, very distant country otherwise.

The architecture was vastly unfamiliar, there was not a trace of Feng Shui to be found, and even the furniture and colors stood in stark contrast to the rest of the king's quarters.

In the middle of the room, a part of the painted ceiling was rounded, as if a giant ball of stone had left a dent in there, only without affecting the paint on it in any way, which portrayed a starry night sky rather realistically. A huge bed, that looked nothing like the beds he was used to, stood right beneath that rounded part of the ceiling, on top of a platform raised by three steps, almost overflowing with blankets and pillows, positively putting the one in the entertainment room to shame.

It was facing toward a window, that showed a night scene of some place that had roofs built in the shape of onions, complete with light sources on the ground and a huge, glowing crescent moon in the sky, though Xie Lian hadn't thought that was the correct phase of the moon they were in right now. In front of that window, which was also framed by a variety of drapes, just like the bed, stood a big, padded lounge chair, with a side table.

Shaking his confusion off, he took more of the room in. Apart from the bed, there was a bathing area in the far back, he thought, only that the bathtub was a pool of water in the ground. The walls and floor of that pool seemed to be made out of the same sand-coloured marble the floor of the rest of the room was made out of, with a small colourful bordure towards the upper edge, and two small-ish palm trees on each side of the entrance to the bath. There was also water flowing out of a part of the wall that was made to look like the bird's eye view of a lotus flower pistil, which was surrounded by golden rimmed lotus petals.

A little ways off from the pool was another door, and Xie Lian could only guess that it led into a proper bathroom. The only other thing that stood out to him in this room, was the stacked bookshelf, on the wall behind the bed, as well as a table, with only two chairs. On the table was a board for playing go.

"San Lang?", Xie Lian eventually managed to ask, his voice alone conveying all the confusion he was feeling.

"Does gege like this room?", he asked, mischief plain in his voice.

"I think this room is absolutely lovely, but... what is it for?"

"It's the room I want to use with my future mate for our ruts and heats. It hasn't been used yet, because I still haven't found a mate, but I think it would be a great environment for your healing. The water in the pool is rather cool, so if you ever feel the need to put your ankle in there, you're more than welcome to do that", San Lang explained, while gently lowering Xie Lian onto the extremely comfortable bed.

"I didn't realise we're having a crescent moon", Xie Lian could only reply dumbly, because too many thoughts were running through his head.

San Lang smirked.