A marriage written in the stars

Disrupted peace

Ok first of all I just gotta say I am REALLY really excited for this. Hopefully I have the patience to actually finish this because Liu Shan x Xingcai is a REALLY small ship and I am surprised not many people are fans of it. So for the few people who like this ship and even for those who don't, I hope you like it. If I change anyone's opinion on these two characters (let me know in reviews) then I will be a happy chappie oh yes I will XD

Goes without saying but I ain't KOEI and I don't own these semi-historically based characters. All I own is a copy of the game they're in.

Chapter 1: Disrupted internal peace

Today was supposed to be a normal day for Xingcai. Wake, eat, train, sleep. Maybe a bit of chatter and study if she had time. That had been the schedule she had maintained for a couple of years now. Monotonous as it was predictable but she relished it. Predictability in a time like this meant peace, however fleeting. But on this day it was disturbed with a sudden announcement.

Most of the announcements she got of this nature related to the ongoing war. How she would need to participate in battle, that the forces were winning or losing or at a standstill. All of which disturbed the peace of the kingdom. But this announcement didn't disturb the kingdom's peace; it disturbed her personal peace.

That day, when her mother had announced that she was to become betrothed.

"Mother? Are you sure about this?"

"Why not? Don't you want to get married?"

"Mother, I have my duty to the kingdom. I am not only a general of Shu but I am bodyguard to the emperor. Is that not enough?"

"Which is why I allowed you to go and become a warrior, my daughter. But you must not forget you are still a woman." She paused slightly. "I do not want you to hang out around men for too long, should they decide to..."

"Mother, it will NOT come to that! I have a duty to the emperor. To the kingdom. To serve and protect them."

"Yes, but you must also follow the duty of your family! And that is to be married!" The lady Xiahou, mother of Xingcai, was on the verge of tears. Instinctively she hugged the doll in her hands. It was her way of comforting herself. "You must understand, Xingcai, soon you will be at an age where no man will marry you. You will be past your prime and you will be alone and shunned and—"

"I do not care." Xingcai interrupted. "If no man can see past my appearance then I shall stay a virgin for the rest of my life."

"Z-Zhang Xingcai!"

For a couple of seconds, it was an intense staring match between mother and daughter. Both refused to back down. But in Xingcai's mind, she knew she was just fooling herself. She had to be married. It was her destiny. A destiny she cannot fight no matter where she may go or whatever she does. She was the daughter of a powerful general and a well-to-do noble. And as much as she denied it, she was considered a beauty. Fair, smooth skin and ebony hair, a small waist and long legs. Just some of the things men found attractive.

No, she had to marry. But still...still...

"Mother." She announced sharply. "I will accept only on the conditions that I may choose who I shall wed."

"Sweetie, I—"

"You remember when you got married to father?" Xingcai interrupted. "Did you not have any...doubts about his marriage? About the rumours? And what he...did to you?"

Her mother was silent, looking down slightly at the floor, hugging her doll slightly. Though she had this strange youthfulness to her that made her seem almost childlike, it was in moments like these that Xingcai saw the adult in her mother. She could almost see it in her eyes, the memories of the arguments, the struggles to remain together, the scars he had inflicted on her—physically and mentally.