No Light: 3 Lives, 3 Worlds , Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms AU

Part 5: Travels to the Eastern Sea

"Why are you following me?!" she asked in exasperation, turning to glare at the Crown Prince.

Bai Qian had believed that once their conversation was completed at the Peach Blossom Orchard Lord Ye Hua would leave. Having cleaned herself of all traces of last night, her wedding clothes conveniently stowed away, she'd grabbed a passing cloud back to Qing Qiu.

Her first hint that the Crown Prince was following her was when she'd glanced over her shoulder upon getting ready to land. He'd followed her down, so that any thoughts about him continuing on were quashed. "We're almost back at my fox den, a small distance away from Qing Qiu's market. I can get home safely. I've been doing it for thousands of years." The sarcasm was heavy in her voice.

He raised an eyebrow at the acidity, but said nothing.

"How am I supposed to explain running off this morning, and then I come back with my groom in tow?" she asked in frustration, folding her arms across her chest.

"Explain to who?" he asked.

"My people! Qing Qiu's people! They love to gossip, since they have nothing better to talk about than crops and prices. I've given them enough fodder for this week. I don't want them to give any more reason to gossip," she related petulantly. She waited expectantly, but he made no move to leave. "You need to go!" she instructed, frustrated at his continued obstinacy.

"We need to spend time together, to get to know each other, Goddess Bai Qian," he explained his reason for staying.

"I'm not going to run away again, Lord Ye Hua!" she promised. "We can learn about each other after the wedding." 'After all,' Bai Qian thought to herself, 'why waste the time when there might not be a wedding at all?'

He tilted his head to the side. "Did you really think that was how things would work? I'd just go back to my life? You'd go back to yours? Only to meet again on our wedding day?"

"I'd hoped," she muttered under her breath. Bai Qian reached for some much needed patience, forcing a smile on her face, "You're not very trusting, are you?"

He gazed at her quietly, his eyes focusing on her face, as if trying to peek into her mind's workings. "My trust has to be earned." He paused for a moment and then continued on. "We haven't known each other long enough for there to be trust."

Bai Qian pursed her lips, unsure of what to say next. "Well," she began, "We can't spend time together right now. I will have to attend an event for the Fox Clan."

"I'll go with you," he volunteered.

"You can't!" she burst out, incensed.

"Why not?"

"Because we aren't close enough to go to events together!" She stared at him, wondering at having to explain such simple matters.

"You're my fiancé," he pointed out drily. "One would hope that if we're ready to marry, we're able to attend festivities together. So, Goddess, where are we going?"

Bai Qian opened her mouth and then closed it, unsure of how to respond. Shaking her head, and letting the argument drop for the moment, she muttered, "I'm going to the Eastern Sea for the King's child's. They helped my mother a long time ago, and it's time to return the favor that Qing Qiu owes."

He wrinkled his brow, but then forced himself back to calm, his features showing nothing now.

"What?" she asked.

He said nothing.

"What?!" she burst out, getting more agitated. She was Gugu of all the realms. The lower immortals saw her as this calm, graceful being, never realizing that the calm came from an indifferent laziness that pervaded everything she did. But around him, all of that disinterest . . . that calmness was deserting her.