Three Kings and a Princess

•─☾#2 Gold I Bring to Crown You Anew – Part I☽⋅─•

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#wss366

“Wake up, lazybones.”

Mao opened her eyes. She felt sick, and the sight of the madam’s face didn’t help. The room spun as she sat up. She kept the thought “Grams leave me alone” to herself. Pleading with the old madam, Yarite Babaa, was worse than wasted breath.

“Hurry, there is someone to see you.” The madam jabbed Maomao.

“Jinshi?” Mao asked and nearly vomited. “I’m too sick for this,” she wailed silently.

Her stomach settled a bit, and her thoughts cleared slightly. “No, it wouldn’t be Jinshi,” she thought. “Maybe one of his messengers. What if he’d relapsed and died? That would mean an excruciatingly slow execution. Better poison, where did I put the Lemony Deathcaps.” Her thoughts whirled. If so, she shouldn’t expect any help from Grams.

“The Moon Prince?” The madam’s sneer was almost a relief after Mao’s thoughts. “You had your chance, girl, and wasted it. No, you’ll have to take what comes to you like the rest.”

It took a full three seconds for Mao to understand what the madam meant. Once she understood, her thoughts raced. “Haven’t I brought you enough wealthy clients?” If the sly old madam was killing the golden goose, someone must have offered a huge fee.

“Pairin, come help the princess get ready.” With those words, the madam left, replaced by the Pairin.

The first princess of Verdigris House looked at Mao with almond eyes, clouded with concern. Her long purple hair was disheveled, as if she too had been aroused from her sleep.

“You look sick, little one. I brought you some herbs. You left them with me when I was ill,” Pairin said, offering an earthen mug.

Mao gratefully drank what she was given. The warmth of ginger tea soothed her throat, and the slightly bitter tang of tangerine peel cut through the soapy taste of zǐsū.

“A good mixture,” she thought, as the urge to vomit ebbed, replaced by a gentle warmth spreading through her #chest.

She put down the mug and nodded thanks to Pairin.

“I don’t want to do this.” The grumble escaped her. She knew it was pointless, but she couldn’t help it, and Pairin wouldn’t hold it against her.

“Cheer up, little one,” Pairin said. “It’s not so bad. Besides paying Madam, your guest brought you expensive gifts: A #chest with as much gold as I receive for three nights.”

Maomao went still. Pairin did not exaggerate about such things. What good was gold if she were robbed of her freedom? If all she wanted was wealth, then she could have had Jinshi long ago.

[Continued in Gold I Bring to Crown You Anew – Part II]

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Three Kings and a Princess

Gold I Bring to Crown You Anew: Part IIA

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2/12 #wss366 #regard #ScribesAndMakers #Vivid? #MastoPrompt #Continuous

[Continued from “Gold I Bring to Crown You Anew: Part I”]

"Your visitor brought you not only gold but a dress too. It's outlandish, but it's made of the finest material," Pairin said, as she laid out a blue dress.

Mao’s eyes widened. The dress was made of soft blue silk layered over cream-toned linen and cotton; every ruffle was cut and stitched with almost obsessive care. Red satin ribbons and a #vivid blue sapphire finished off the opulent dress. It was an absurdly costly foreign gown—clearly the work of someone with far more money than sense.

It tugged at her memory, although she couldn’t say why. No one from Li would ever dream of wearing something so impractical.

Had an eastern prince, with no #regard for common sense, decided to court her?

With Pairin's help, Mao was slowly encased in a monument of silk, linen, and layers of petticoats. Finished, Pairin stepped back and admired her achievement. “Just think what we could sell this for.”

The lack of a compliment would have insulted any other woman. Instead, Mao thought the same thing, picturing the mounds of herbs and medicine she could buy. She hoped she would have the chance to do so instead of being packed off to someone’s harem or taken to a barbarous land to the east.

“Hmm,” Mao wondered. “Or did she mean me?” It didn’t really matter; they were both practical women. Marriage for the inhabitants of Verdigris House was about money first, with love being an afterthought.

“Would you like something to help with your first time? New girls often do.” Pairin produced a small packet. “Just the first time. Any more is bad for you.”

“Poppy paste,” Mao thought. She took it and secreted it away. “But not for this. I’ll save it for when nothing else works,” picturing a maimed soldier. “Or for someone too important to feel pain.”

A smile touched Pairin’s lips as she watched Mao both accept her gift and refuse to use it. “Come, we mustn’t keep the client waiting any longer.”

[Continued in the next post “Gold I Bring to Crown You Anew: Part IIB”]

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Three Kings and a Princess

Gold I Bring to Crown You Anew: Part IIB

#FanFiction #TheApothecaryDiaries #TearmoonEmpire
2/12 #wss366 #ScribesAndMakers #MastoPrompt

[Continued from previous post “Gold I Bring to Crown You Anew: Part IIA”]

The two walked to the parlor in the main house, with Mao being careful not to trip on her new, awkward gown. Managing it was a #continuous nightmare. If people had to wear these things every day, they would be useless for anything but decoration. Just something for men to look at. The thought displeased her.

The first thing she noticed upon entering the building was the scent of sandalwood and agarwood with a touch of frankincense. “An expensive waste of precious resins,” she thought. But that was to be expected, given how important this guest seemed to be.

Upon entering the parlor, her eyes were drawn to a man dressed in a lavishly embroidered gown. His clothes were rich with gold and silver thread; no expense had been spared. A gold crown adorned his head.

He rose and called to her, “Niang Niang, at last I can reveal my true identity.”

Mao stopped. “No, no, it couldn’t be!” The thought whirled in her head.

“Tianyu,” she said in complete disbelief. The dissection-mad surgeon stood before her in regal robes, arms outstretched with a besotted look on his face. A less august person was hard to imagine.

[Continued tomorrow in “Frankincense to Offer Have I: Part I”]

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Three Kings and a Princess

Frankincense to Offer Have I: Part I

#FanFiction #TheApothecaryDiaries #TearmoonEmpire
#wss366 #draw #MastoPrompt #Wobble

[Continued from “Gold I Bring to Crown You Anew”]

Seconds ticked by as Mao stared at Tianyu. Just before the incident with the Shaoh assassin, she had seen Tianyu fleeing Dr. Liu’s wrath. But now, Tainyu stood decked out like an Eastern noble.

Then relief flooded her. It was just Tianyu. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, but if the imperial court hears about it, they’ll have your head.”

She turned to the madam. “You'd best see him out or you’ll #draw imperial ire. He is merely a surgeon in the royal court. I have no idea where he found these riches, but they are undoubtedly not his.”

The madam looked between them, concern etched in her wrinkles. A misjudgment could easily mean death.

“I did it for you,” Tianya's voice #wobbled, falling to his knees, trembling hands outstretched toward Mao.

She clicked her tongue in irritation, but said nothing.

“Out with him,” the madam said, turning to their bouncer. “And beat him soundly so no one thinks we're in league with him. Pairin, help Mao take the dress off. If the rightful owner shows up, they’ll want it. I’ll hold on to the gifts until we know for sure.”

Mao clicked her tongue again. That was money she would never see.

[Continued tomorrow in “Frankincense to Offer Have I: Part II”]

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