Golden Thread

Their Hiding Place

Ming Lei didn't have a wink of sleep that night as he often glanced at the paper door on the side of his room leading to his study. Leah was sleeping on the other side, laying on a makeshift bed with a spare blanket draped over her. The prince will have to call his attendant to find clothes for her as soon as the morning came. She was dressed too lightly for the weather approaching winter and would freeze to death if he left her as such. Her clothes would also be a giveaway of her foreign origins. He will have to burn them. 

When the songs of birds could be heard from the garden, Ming Lei rose from his bed, heavy bags under his eyes. He stepped to the paper door, knocking softly on the wood while whispering Leah's name. A few seconds later, she emerged, her hair standing on her head like a bird nest, her eyes still foggy of sleep. 

Ming Lei ushered her to another side room, where he put all his personal belongings and where servants weren't allowed to go. He made her hide behind a chest full of silk and ran back to his chambers, acting as if he had just woken up. Servants poured in the room to dress him, and once he was fully-clothed, the prince called for his closest aide and told him to fetch simple clothes for a woman of the palace. 

Soon, rumours that the prince was hiding a woman spread across the small courtyard and nanny Mei couldn't help but try to catch a glimpse of that mysterious woman who had enraptured the heart of the difficult prince. Of course, Ming Lei made sure to hide Leah as best as he could during the few hours where she didn't have any decent clothes to wear. Finally, when his aide came back with numerous outfits ranging from the most simple servant clothes to the ones worn by concubines. Ming Lei shot the man a look, knowing that Leah's presence probably wasn't that much of a secret anymore. 

"I should've known about your big mouth." He mumbled at his aide, who smiled sheepishly, bowed, then left the room. 

The prince walked to the side room and slowly slid open the paper door. He looked at the place where he had told Leah to hide and couldn't stop his heart beating out of his chest at the sight of the woman wrapped in layers and layers of silk on the floor, her breathing deep and regular as she slept. 

She reminded him of a little puppy dog he once had as a small boy. The puppy was very naughty and energetic, making the palace life a little brighter and more exciting for the young prince. One day, the dog went missing and he remembered how he had cried to his Imperial Mother, begging her to send out more men to find the little pet. Turns out, the puppy had run into his closest and tangled itself into dozens of layers of clothes. By the time they found it, the dog was fast asleep, its limbs wrapped under red blue silk. 

Ming Lei smiled at the memory and gently pushed aside the bangs on her forehead. Maybe it was because she looked so much like his little puppy that he couldn't help but worry and want the best for her. 

Leah stirred in her sleep, her eyes fluttering open. Ming Lei was sitting on the floor besides her, a scroll in his hands and her head propped in his lap. She squealed and sprung up, hitting her face squarely against the scroll he was holding.

"You're really jumpy, you know ?" Ming Lei gazed at her, an eyebrow raised. 

She rubbed the dull pain on her forehead, pouting. "I just wasn't expecting to see you there." 

It wasn't the first time the prince had initiated physical contact, yet Leah was quite sure people in ancient China were pretty conservative in terms of PDA. Curious, she sat down neatly besides him. "Are you a very  touchy-feely person ?" 

The prince glanced at her before going back to read the scroll. "What's touchy-feely ?"

"You like to touch people, hug them and stuff. You like to show your affections through physical contact." Leah explained.

"Do you think I'm a touchy-feely person ?" Ming Lei threw back the question at her. 

She nodded her head. "You've hugged me a few times and given me a lap-pillow." She didn't mention the previous night when she caught him trying to take her hand sneakily. 

The prince's cheeks reddened and he buried his face behind the scroll, not wanting her to see his vulnerable side. "I'm not usually like that. You could say that I..." He thought about the best word to use for a short moment. "feel at ease with you." 

Leah smiled. "I feel at ease with you too, as if I've known you for a very long time." 

Ming Lei wanted to reply when a sudden call outside his chambers froze him. 

"Announcing the visit of the First Imperial Prince !"