WangXian: The Arrangement ✔️ [Untamed Fanfic]

3-Dance With the Devil

The Conference of the Clans didn't formally begin until dinner the next evening. By the time the sun had set, representatives of all the great clans and some of the lesser ones were seated and sipping beer and wine in the Great Hall. This being the one occasion where the rule against alcohol consumption was relaxed.

Lan Wangji sat at a long table with his brother and some of the other Lan clan disciples. Their light blue robes made them stand out, as did their good looks. The Lan disciples were famous for their looks as well as their cultivation skills and their three thousand rules for proper behavior.

He hated these gatherings but understood the necessity. It was harder to plot against people when you looked them in the eye. 

His gaze drifted over the crowd, picking out Wei Wuxian's black garb amidst the other lavender and purple robes of the Jiang disciples. He sat betweem his two adopted siblings, and the smile he bestowed on his sister lit his face up like a festival lantern. Wangji felt his own lips begin to curve in response, but then he remembered Wei Wuxian was just a drunken brothel-goer.

He turned his attention to the Wen clan, which had appropriated the table at the front of the room. The bearded clan leader, Wen Rouhan, was abnormally tall and swathed all in red and black. He took up a lot of space. Next to him was one of his lieutenants and his second son, Wen Chao. No sign of the elder son.

As the night wore on, conversations became more relaxed and the noise level more boisterous. Lan Sizhui, one of the junior disciples switched places to sit next to Lan Wangji. 

"Were you able to find out anything?" Wangji asked him.

Sizhui nodded. "The junior Wen disciples were happy to tell us about it. There have been some mysterious deaths and disappearances in Nightless City recently. But according to them, it was the work of vengeful spirits. The victims' throats were all torn out."

"That could be," Wangji said. 

"There may be one more thing. One of them mentioned that there wasn't enough blood. Hardly any blood at the scenes he said." 

Wangji thanked him and returned his gaze to the Wen table. Another man had joined them, but his face was shrouded by a dark hood. Wen Rouhan's lieutenant moved to the other end of the table, offering the newcomer his seat. When Wen Rouhan grasped the newcomer's hand, Wangji felt his body tense. 

Others began to notice as well, and the room grew quiet. Then Wen Rouhan stood and announced the welcome return of his first child, Wen Ling, from the wild lands of the north. 

As applause rang out, Lan Wangji looked over at Wei Wuxian. He was, for once, the only one not smiling.

When he looked back at the Wen table, Wen Ling had removed his hood and his eerie light eyes were fixed on a single point. Wei Wuxian.

***

Just after midnight, Lan Wangji came to relieve the disciple on watch. It wasn't his shift, but the unexpected events had him on edge.

Normally he didn't patrol the far side of Cloud Recesses. It extended into the deep woods up the mountain and was protected by an energy barrier. There was little chance of it being breached. Tonight, he didn't know what led him there.

He froze when he heard voices from within a stand of trees.

"Do you remember that day in the woods before I left, Wei Ying?" It was a man's voice, soft and not one that Wangji recognized. 

"I remember," said Wei Wuxian. "You stole my first kiss."

The man laughed. "I promised you I'd be back. You don't know what I went through to come back to you. My beautiful Wei Ying." He made a noise that sounded almost like a moan. "And just as strong as I knew you would be."

"What happened to you, Wen Ling?" Wei Wuxian's voice sounded... worried. "Your core... it's... Lingyi, what did they do to you?"

"Come to Nightless City with me."

"Things aren't like they used to be, Lingyi. I can't--"

The soft voice turned into a snarl. "Don't defy me, Wei Ying. Not you."

Lan Wangji approached and jammed his sword up between Wei Ying and Wen Ling's chests. "It's past curfew," he said, glaring at Wei Ying. "You are not allowed to be here." 

"Lan Zhan-"

"Go!"

Wei Ying slipped from between Wangji's sword arm and the rough tree he'd been pressed against. In three steps, he was invisible in the darkness, and Wangji turned to the other man.

Wen Ling straightened and stepped back. "Second Lan child," he said, looking Lan Wangji over from head to toe. His narrow lips turned up in an expression of disgust. "So bloodless." 

"You should return to your quarters," Wangji informed him.

The man visibly tensed, and his eyes, which had seemed crystalline until now, took on a hazy red glow. "I'll warn you once," he said. "Don't ever come between me and what's mine."

Lan Wangji watched him depart, his tall figure receding into the trees. In a moment, the only sound was the whoosh-whoosh of wings overhead. A bat?

Lan Wangji let out a heavy breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and followed in Wei Ying's direction. 

He didn't get far before a hand reached out of the darkness to tug one of the ribbons attached at his shoulders. "Thanks, Lan Zhan," Wei Ying said, joining him on the path. "I never thought I'd be grateful you're such a stickler for the rules."

"Explain why you were out here with him."

"Uh, he asked?"

Lan Wangji raised his brows.

"Oh, come on. He was my friend."

"And now? What is he to you now?"

Wei Ying sighed and let his shoulders drop. "I guess I just wanted to know what I'd be getting into."

"With him?" Lan Wangji couldn't keep his voice steady.

Wei Ying nodded. "If it were to come to that. You know Jiang clan has to make the marriage offering tomorrow, right? So that means either me or my sister. She's just had a broken engagement because of that horrid peacock Jin heir who thinks he's too good for her. How could I watch her stand and be auctioned off after that?"

"So, you are planning to take her place?"

"Of course. What brother wouldn't?"

Many. Lan Wangji thought, but it was no secret how much Wei Wuxian loved his siblings.

"Does he know?" Wangji asked. "Wen Ling?"

"I'm sure he's guessed."

Wangji turned and resumed his course back down the mountain, and Wei Ying fell quietly in stride beside him. 

Halfway back, Lan Wangji was the first to break the silence. "Your first kiss was with him?" 

Wei Ying chuckled. "You heard that? Still, not really the point, Lan Zhan. Why do you only focus on these sorts of things, huh? Don't you Lan disciples ever do anything fun?"

"What's fun about kissing a man?"

Wei Ying tugged on one end of Wangji's forehead ribbon, forcing him to meet his gaze. "Want me to show you?"

"Shameless!" Lan Wangji straightened and took two long strides away from Wei Ying.

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying called out, breaking into a run. "Don't leave me. You've got the only light."