A Phoenix Rising - An Untamed Story (Book 1 In Series)

Chapter 22

A'Xian sat down when talking to A'Yuan and to these little ones. Is that what you're supposed to do to talk to them? Unsure of how to act, he knelt down bringing his eyes closer to her level. "Do you want me to carry you?" He didn't know how to walk slowly anymore; this was the best option. He thought back to when A'Yuan first moved in with him. He had often carried the boy when they went to play with the rabbits.... Sometimes the boy had hung from his arm like he was a sack of potatoes. Sometimes he was carried on his back or hip. But the position he liked the best.... "Would you like to ride on my shoulders?" The girl nodded happily, so he stood up and swung her high. "Hold on tight," he cautioned and took a firm grip on her legs. She was holding onto his head in a stranglehold, but it felt somewhat... comforting.... Like when A'Yuan had given him hugs back then.... "What's your name?" He should probably stop calling her 'the girl' in his head.

"Liu," she answered.

"Liu?" Her name was 'six'?

"Yes. Yī, èr, sān, sì, wǔ, liù," she counted.

"And your friend?"

"The geges call him XiaoShu. Because he's fast and sneaky like a mouse. I just call him Didi."

Six and Little Mouse. In Cloud Recesses parents spent months trying to come up with the perfect names for their children. This poor child was just given a number. He felt a tug on his forehead. "Please don't touch the ribbon," he requested.

"It's pretty. But why is it blue? XianGege is wearing black and has a black ribbon. You're wearing white but your ribbon is blue. Why can't I touch it?"

"Everyone in the GusuLan Clan wears a blue ribbon like this. They represent restraint and we don't allow anyone but our families to touch them."

"I'm sorry!" she cried out. "Are you going to hit me?"

"Child, why would I hit you? You did nothing wrong." What was up with this child? She expected to be hit for such a trifling matter?

"But I touched the ribbon and you said I can't."

"Child... Liu.... If you decide to stay with us, there will be rules. And if you break the rules, you will be punished. But we will never punish you for not knowing something. There is one rule we have right now: do not touch our swords. Do you understand why this is a rule?"

"Swords are dangerous."

"Yes. So now that you know this rule, if you touch our swords, you will be punished. My son, SiZhui, touched my sword several times when he first came to live with me. I made him kneel for fifteen minutes."

"Kneeling? That's not a punishment. Why didn't you beat him?"

"Why should I hit him when no one was hurt?" She brings up being hit a lot.... "Liu? Do you often get beaten?"

"Not so much anymore. See?" Liu reached down and pulled up a pant leg. "I've only got a few bruises now, see? It was worse when Didi didn't know to share. He wanted to keep all the food to himself; the Geges would beat him for that. I tried to protect him a bit so he wouldn't get dead. He knows to share now, so it's only when people get upset that I'm begging that they hit or kick me out of their way. Or if I'm working in a house or a shop and I'm clumsy.... I get beaten then, too. Didn't you get beat when you were a kid?"

"When I was a child, no."

"You never got beat?" Liu was amazed.

Lan WangJi nodded at the guards at the base of Koi Tower. He ignored their surprised looks at the sight of a street urchin sitting on his shoulders. "I did. Twice." Punishments were supposed to be designed to deter one from breaking that rule again. Apparently these punishments didn't work considering that he had willingly drank alcohol and got drunk several times since then. And brought wine into Cloud Recesses for Wei Ying to drink. And he still defended Wei Ying during the thirteen years he was gone and all the months since his resurrection.