A Tear Frozen in Time

A Peaceful Moment

His lips were still on her mind the moment she awoke.  They were the last thing on her mind when she went to sleep and though she felt incredibly guilty, as if she had broken some deadly unforgivable sin, she couldn't help but smile at the memory of it.  Though a a little frown was slowly etching its way across her brow as she pondered on how close she came to allowing him to lead her back to his chamber.  

Only another face in her mind got in the way.  One that had her pinching herself then, and pinching herself now.  She didn't know what it was about Guotin that made her feel so weak and make her lose all reason, but the way he looked at her, had her feeling as if the entire would could collapse at that moment, and she wouldn't care.

Though not entirely, because the moment Mo Yuans face entered her mind, her body had instantly drawn back from his arms and a distance of several steps were placed between them.  She saw the hurt in his eyes and his lips harden, but she had merely stood her ground, bowed her head and wished him a good night, before spinning on her heels and almost running back to her own chamber.

Now rising, she ushered the maids away in order to dress herself.  In fact, it had become a daily issue for her and one she had yet to address with Guotin.  Only she hadn't, simply because she did not see herself staying on.  But every morning the maids would arrive to draw her bath and then dress her, and every morning she chased them away again.

It wasn't that she didn't enjoy being pampered, but it seemed rediculous to use other women for something she could well do herself.  And as her dress was pulled over her head, she disregarded the bath, because she also preferred to bathe at night before bed, it made her sleepy and warm and more than ready to sleep.  Whereas bathing in the morning, had the same affect and made her want to go straight back to bed.  Though after what she had done the night before, the thought of crawling back between the bedsheets did seem like a far better option to joining him for breakfast which was where she was headed now.

Putting a smile on her face, she walked straight through the sides corridors she had come to know so well,  until she was once again in his small Peach Tree Grove where they had shared several meals, but breakfast was the one meal that he insisted they share in that particular part of his palace.  It may have been a baby compared to Zhe Yans Grove, but it was very beautiful regardless and he was also very proud of it.

"Did you sleep well my dear?" he asked with a warm smile of his own.

Dressed casually in a pale blue gown and with his hair out, he looked far younger than one would imagine him to be.  In fact, he was not much younger than Mo Yuan, but like him, and even her, time had been very kind, so age was never really a problem.  Not when he was sitting there looking relaxed, beautiful and very happy to see her.

"Mmm...." she replied with an even bigger smile when breakfast came into view along with the main dish which Guotin had gone out of his way to acquire for her.

"I know you like these fruits, so I had some gathered from the Mortal realm for you." he said highly amused at the way she was almost drooling.

"How did you know I like loquats?" she asked genuinely stumped that he had learned of it when he had no loquat trees, or at least none she had seen.

And suddenly the air rocked with his laughter.  It was deep, resonant and highly infectious, and though she had no idea what he was laughing at, she couldn't help but giggle along with him.

"My dear, have you forgotten that loquats are what you dished up with every meal?" he asked in reference to his time in Qing Qiu.

Her hand stilled above the bowl while her eyes narrowed in on those crescent shaped eyes sparkling back at her and once again she found herself admiring the rugged yet finely chiseled face of a man who turned heads everywhere he went and not just for the fact that he was the Demon Lord.  He was also beautiful and her softening gaze fully gave away her thoughts at that moment which only had those eyes dancing with mirth.