Tortoise and Fox [BL]

4.3B

"Beijie has always been a welcome home to the Caller."

By the afternoon, Amari lethargically sat up from the downy bed, reluctant to leave its encompassing embrace. His stomach gurgled, so loud that Amari touched it with a look of disgrace. Upon opening his door, a passing servant notified him of Princess Xinyi's temporary departure from the manor. So instead, another young servant excitedly pranced in to serve a full lunch.

"For you, Caller," the servant said, before cleaning up the plates in his room and scurrying off.

Atop the table was a shiny ceramic trinket that fit snugly in Amari's palm. It appeared pleasant to the eye—Amari placed it carefully on his tableside by the marbled stone he was given by the earlier servant.

Not long after, King Qianlong called him over for an audience. He told Amari of the resulting exchanges between ambassadors—and the misunderstanding regarding Amari's trade.

"The promised reward belongs to you," the King concluded. "A permanent citizenship and a grant for property—a manor reserved for honored individuals such as yourself."

Amari could only numbly ask the king to repeat himself, half-jokingly. "You cannot think I am worth so much, King Qianlong."

His expression grew serious. King Qianlong leaned in close, hands folded tight. "Amari, you are free to accept citizenship and fall away from Nanjie's temples. Beijie has always been a welcome home to the Caller. However, this gift can be refused if you so desire, and you can request something else, which I will fulfill to the best of my ability. You are no longer bound to them. "

Bound.

The chains Amari swore unclasped from his ankles haphazardly yesterday were left behind in Nanjie. They pulled against his legs and neck with a choking clutch, as if beckoning him to return to a life of obedience.

Upon noticing Amari's silence, King Qianlong spoke up.

"You can decide in a few days what you'd like to do. For now, I'd recommend heading out into the kingdom to see the festival—the celebration of the first rain after a season of drought. A festival partly to celebrate you, Amari."

The words trailed after him as he left the king and returned to his guest chambers. He stood at his window, gazing out to the ramping curl of streets and buildings in the distance—where turquoise curiously colored the city—not the same as when he looked out during the foggy morning. The chains pulled with an invisible jingle. From the corners of the room, they blocked off his movement to leave—his desire to explore a world unknown to Amari.

Amari had not chosen to trust King Qianlong. Yet again and again, the people surrounding him—including Princess Xinyi—all proved the virtue of their character. Their actions far erased any complaint Amari created out of caution. He picked up each item at a time of his growing collection at his bedside—more and more ceramic or marble items stuffed into his hands by every passing servant he saw.

Something unfamiliar caught his eye—a turquoise pin, almost crystalline in translucent beauty. It could have only appeared after Amari had fallen asleep–left behind by Princess Xinyi, the only one who dared enter. When Amari stared in the mirror, the top part of his hair clipped elegantly up by the crystal zan—he felt as if there was a certain meaning behind this same color of the common dress around Beijie.

The color of the city, too.

Here, thanks are far from common as a means of expressing gratitude.

And no amount of convincing would allow Amari to come to a proper conclusion.