Eirian and Yuze shared a wary look at the venom in Kai Low's voice. They arrived at the next family home, the minor family named Helian. Their ancestry actually stretched back to Song and Snow itself, and more recently than the Ye, Zhao, or Yang lines. It still showed strongly in their features as well. With long dark hair and dark eyes, all of them seemed a few inches shorter than Chenzhou and Mingzhe, who had enough Sorrowian bloodlines now to have increased height. The Helians claimed a royal connection to one of the many fallen empires of Song and Snow, but hadn't earned nobility in Sorrow until five generations previous. They commanded part of the Crimson Army's infantry and were another minor family closely aligned with the Yangs.
They reported the same rumors the others had, in the same vein as the Darrows, which put Eirian in a bad mood early in the morning. They were just as unapologetic about it, too, worried about the cohesiveness of their units and the strain between friends. Lord Helian professed a deep friendship with the Zhao's, but Eirian was quick to voice her doubts once they left.
"Mingzhe has never mentioned any of them." She skirted a puddle and waved at a few soldiers who bowed on their way past.
"They could mean his parents." Yuze pointed out. "Lord and Lady Zhao are still heavily involved with the other families despite having relinquished the title to Mingzhe."
Lady Zhao, in particular, but no one needed that reminder.
Eirian didn't look convinced.
"They are very concerned about the relations of their soldiers." Kai Low mused. "Is the Crimson Army really so weak that they would fracture over something as small as this?"
Eiriand and Yuze frowned at him. "The Crimson Army is not weak, but this is not a small matter. Lord Zhao is a powerful figure; trust in his command is required."
"I'd say an army brought down by a lack of faith in a single commander is weak." The tribesman argued. They passed a group of children kicking a ball between them. The ball spun out, and Kai Low caught it with his knee and knocked it back to the cheers of the children. He smiled, wide and honest, and Yuze couldn't help but stare at the way he lit up.
Eirian stared at Yuze, things coming together in her head in a way she didn't like. Yuze was still nursing a broken heart, and Kai Low was guaranteed to be another one. Was Yuze ever going to fall for someone who wasn't going to betray or leave him in the worst way possible?
Kai Low kicked the ball around with the children for several minutes. A few adults approached Eirian, glancing without recognition at Yuze at her shoulder, and paid their respects. Eirian managed to muster some cheerfulness for them. They were hers now, after all. Her responsibility, her's to teach. As much as she could, anyway.
And they were friendly enough. Painfully curious. She hadn't been out among them much since her arrival, and she needed to work on getting out more. She needed to take an active role in the Crimson Army, too, and the management of the Camelia. Take some of the work off Chenzhou's plate.
She'd never had a problem talking to the common people. She knew some nobles who thought it was beneath them to interact with anyone who wasn't their level or above, and they'd been some of the most out-of-touch and useless people she'd ever met. She never wanted to be like that, even though she knew that not every common person liked her or even cared about her. Some even hated her, but so did a lot of nobility, who seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time hating each other.
Eventually, they had to move on, but the next two families did nothing to improve her mood. The Moors and the Luo professed no knowledge of anything. They'd seemingly chosen the route of ignorance in the entire matter, and Eirian, Yuze, and Kai Low found themselves back on the street hours earlier than they'd expected.
Just in time to see Healer Akari walking towards them.
Laughter bubbled up in Eirian. Of all the days and all the times. She felt Yuze go terribly stiff next to her, cursing under his breath and looking for any possible exit. Eirian resolved to be as rude and quick as possible as she saw Akari's eyes lock onto them, and he changed direction. What was he even doing in this residential area?
"Lady Ye, Ambassador…Yuze." His bow was perfunctory and short, clearly a dismissal that made Eirian's blood boil as he focused on Yuze. "You look as if you are healing well. You haven't come in for a check."
"I'm fine." Yuze was short and sharp. "There's no need."
"That is at the discretion of the healer, not the patient." Akari sighed. His face was soft, almost fond, but he sounded exasperated. Like a parent with an uncooperative child.
Eirian felt the strong urge to punch him in the face as Yuze's gaze dropped before he noticed and yanked it back up to meet Akari head-on.
"You need to take your healing seriously, Yuze. You are not as young as you once were, and all of these injuries will add up eventually. You don't want to be one of those elderly soldiers who can't do anything for themselves, do you?"
Kai Low's eyebrows rose to his hairline.
"I'm fine." Yuze ground out. "I will see a healer if I need one, but there are many others who were wounded in the war and need care more than me."
Akari frowned. "This war was hardly as bad as the last. But you've always been terrible about accepting help, haven't you?" He sighed. "I just want to help you. You need to stop being so stubborn. It's not good for you." Before Yuze could even argue, he continued. "Have you been eating well? And keeping up with the exercises I gave you? Your muscles need to stretch regularly to prevent scar tissue from affecting your movements as you age. I can come by in the mornings and evenings to guide you through them."
"I don't need a guide." Yuze snapped. "I know how to stretch. I've been taking care of myself since I was a child."
Akari's eyes narrowed, annoyance finally showing. "You hardly had good role models as a child."
Eirian and Kai Low's eyes widened in shock at his boldness. Kai Low looked between the two of them in confusion, eyes narrowed, assessing.
Yuze's voice was ice cold as he responded. "That may be true, but it's also no longer your concern. None of it is."
Akari doubled down. "You will always be my concern, Yuze."
Yuze's ironclad control was slipping. Eirian could practically see him vibrating in place. Akari was probably the last person he needed to see while he was still coming to terms with everything that had happened with Fox.
She slipped her arm into Yuze's. It was time to end this.
But before she could, "Who the fuck are you?"
All three of them turned to Kai Low in surprise, and Eirian had to contain a snort at the disgusted expression he aimed right at Akari.
"Excuse me?" The healer barely gave him a glance before turning back to Yuze.
"I asked who the fuck you are?" Kai Low repeated, and Eirian didn't know him at all, but even she could see the fight brewing.
Akari seemed to finally notice that something was happening. Probably only because Yuze was still staring at Kai Low. "Who are you?"
Kai Low sputtered. "I asked first."
Akari frowned. "Don't be childish."
"Then don't be rude and condescending." Kai Low returned.
Akari stiffened, insulted. "How dare-"
Kai Low rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, how dare I. Tell you what, if you don't want to be called on your behavior, don't act like that."
Akari sputtered.
Eirian beamed, didn't bother to hide it. At least this time, she could honestly say she hadn't started it. Just thrown a bit of fuel on the fire. "Ambassador Kai Low, this is Healer Akari. Yuze's ex-husband."
Akari bristled and added. "And Deputy Director of the hospital."
"One of those is not as impressive as you think." Kai Low glanced between Yuze and Akari, eyes narrowed in study. "You turned me down, but you married this?"
Eirian's grip on Yuze tightened reflexively, the only thing that stopped her laughing outright.
Akari's head snapped around. "You-"
But Kai Low was still only looking at Yuze, who'd gone pale and then flushed under Kai Low's unflinching gaze. "Seriously?"
Abruptly, Yuze remembered himself and relaxed, rolling his eyes in the most exaggerated way possible. "That is unrelated. We were enemies at the time."
"We're not now!" Kai Low argued.
Yuze gaped. "You hate us."
"What does that have to do with anything?" Kai Low rolled his eyes that time.
Eirian had never been happier to be in the middle of an argument. Yuze was starting to look more embarrassed than angry and ashamed, and Kai Low clearly didn't care what anyone thought of him.
And best of all, Akari looked like he was about to lose his carefully composed everything.
"You're such a child." Yuze hissed at the Bandri.
Kai Low hissed right back. "You're telling me he's a better choice than me? I treated you with more respect and kindness when I was torturing you than he just did in a conversation!"
~ tbc