Falcon's Flight

Twenty-Three

As Fen quickly discovered, riding a horse for several hours even with breaks and without needing to worry about controlling a horse, was exhausting. Her legs ached from sitting in a way she wasn't used to.

But the world was stretched out before her. Cold but beautiful cloudless days, sunsets with oranges and pinks she had never seen before. And she didn't have to worry about being captured by the Chinese army, they were farther and farther away from them with each second.

It was still a little strange that she had some sort of roof over her head. She had spent so long looking at trees or dark clouds or stars before sleeping. Everything ached and since she had helped with the gers.

"How do you do this?" Fen asked as she lay next to Shan Yu. She had gotten used to it and since they had now confessed their true feelings, Fen thought it would be weirder if she didn't lie next to him.
"We are used to it." Fen hummed, he was right. She was used to a very different lifestyle, sometimes she still dreamed of pouring tea and reciting her duties to the matchmaker. "And I have a demonic advantage."

"Did you always think of it as an advantage?" Fen asked as she rolled onto her side and looked at him. "Or were you raised thinking that it was something to be ashamed of?"
"I almost forgot how often you ask questions," he said and Fen's cheeks heated up as she muttered an apology. "No, I like that you ask them. I don't find them irritating any more."
"You don't?" Fen smiled, remembering how he had been irritating but told her not to stop because he had said so.
"No, you are not stuck. Some people stop asking questions and they stop learning and changing and I like that you want to learn and adapt to this life."

Fen smiled. She hadn't been allowed to question anything at home. Maybe that was why she asked so many questions. Either way, she wanted to know the answer to the ones she had asked him.
"So did you always think being part demon was good?"
"Yes, my parents taught me that it was an advantage, that I was unusual but not bad. A few people spent far too much of their time convincing me that I was unnatural or cursed but I didn't listen. It was arrogance but I have learnt when to be arrogant." It didn't take a genius to figure out he had learnt by losing his men.
"I think it's just another word for confidence, you just have to be confident at the right thing, I suppose," she said. Shan Yu nodded.

"What about you?" he asked. "China is very different."
"It is. I was supposed to become a good wife, follow all of my husband's rules. I learnt most of it, pouring tea and reciting duties," I explained. If I had tea, I'd happily show him. That was one thing I missed, tea. "When the matchmaker arranged it and betrothal gifts were given, the marriage would happen and I'd essentially abandon my family and be the property of my husband and his family. I never liked that bit."
Shan Yu laughed. "Why would anyone like abandoning their family and follow a completely different one?"
"We're just told that is our duty."

"What if I had a rule that you had to sleep next to me every night?" he asked.
"It wouldn't matter, I sleep next to you anyway," Fen replied with a smile on her face.
"Yes, you do."

"I was also expected to have sons, some brides were written out of family records for not having sons," she said quietly. Then, she had a thought. "If we had children, would they be stronger like you? And heal quicker and bond with a falcon?" Shan Yu was quiet as he thought.
"It's not always a falcon but there is a chance they might," he finally said. "Why?"
"I don't know," Fen said honestly as she shuffled closer to him. "I just quite like the sound of it."
"So do I. And while we like sons to fight, they need daughters to marry and love. Besides, I think a lot of men would neglect a lot of things without women."

Fen smiled and closed her eyes. She still couldn't imagine what he would look like as a child and she had no idea what their children would be like. But she hoped they inherited some of the demonic strength, the healing at least. And it was nice, knowing that she wasn't going to be erased from records for not having sons. Fen wasn't even sure if they had family records but she didn't care. She was happy thinking of a future she had some control over while lying next to a man she love.