Part 1, Chapter 2

Birds are jerks.

Ch 2

Xun had been working in the Emperor’s courtyard for almost 800 years before she was first able to see him up close. Her usual duties of tidying the garden, cleaning the guest rooms, and mending the servant’s clothes left her very little time for trying to sneak peaks at the owner of the Palace where she worked. 

One day as she was sweeping the leaves under the single peach tree that grew in the courtyard she felt a large, wet, splat on her shoulder. Looking up she saw a long tailed, blue bird siting just above her in the branches. When it noticed her glare it wagged its head mockingly before jumping up to a branch just slightly beyond her reach. Idly it flipped another over ripe peach to splat on the back of her robes.

“You little...” Xun scolded it. “If I catch you I’ll give you to my mother to make soup!”

The bird chirped cockily at her.

Xun started to climb the tree and stopped. The bird had wings. Xun did not. The bird had an almost endless supply of ammo to throw. Xun had a broom with a fixed range. The bird would easily win this fight if Xun was stupid enough to climb after it. Xun climbed back down the tree.

“I’m not going to fight with some silly bird,” she declared theatrically. “Instead I am going to have some of these cakes that mother made specifically for the Lord of Storms. I heard the Emperor said they were the most delicious things he had ever eaten!” 

Xun snuck a look at the bird from the corner of her eye. It had come down from the upper branches and was watching her curiously as she laid out several cakes she had been keeping as a snack on a handkerchief. To be fair the cakes were from her mother and had been baked for the Lord of Storms. What the Emperor thought of them was anyone’s guess. 

Xun stood up, “Oh drat, I think I hear Xiaomin calling me! I’ll have to go see what she wants...” Xun hurried across the courtyard as if she really had heard her friend calling and ducked behind one of the arches. Carefully she peeked out to see if the bird had taken the bait. 

“I don’t recall trying your mother’s cakes recently,” said a mildly amused voice behind her. 

“Hush, the bird doesn’t know that,” Xun said absently. 

The bird fluttered down and began to investigate the cakes Xun had left behind. Grinning evilly Xun raced back into the courtyard wielding her broom like a staff. She swatted it twice before the startled bird gave an offended cry and managed to leap awkwardly into the air. 

“And stay out, you rude thing!” Xun yelled after it as it flapped off in a huff. Xun laughed triumphantly to herself before turning around and running into a very solid chest. “Ow!” She muttered, rubbing her nose.

“I’m pretty sure that bird belongs to the Dowager Empress,” said the same amused voice. “She’ll probably be quite annoyed that you upset her pet.”

Xun looked up into the laughing eyes of the Emperor. She had never seen the Emperor smile. Not once in all the time she had watched him. The effect was devastating. The breath rushed out of her and her heart began to pound loudly and erratically. A little desperate, she lowered her eyes as she tried to get her breathing under control.

“Bird got your tongue,” he asked.

Xun stuck her tongue out as proof she still had it. 

This time the Emperor laughed for real, a rich deep sound that made her head buzz as if she had been drinking.

“How long have you been working in my palace, little bird?”

Xun shook her head.

“Hmmm,” the Emperor said, still smiling. Then he turned and walked away.

Xun sat down where she was. And that was how Xiaomin, her closest friend, found her a little later. The two fairies theorized what the Emperor’s parting ‘hmmm’ could have meant as they hurried to finish Xun’s chores.

“Ugh, this peach juice is going to take forever to clean out of my robes,” Xun lamented. 

“Because that’s your biggest problem,” retorted Xiaomin. “What are you going to do if the Dowager Empress really does decide to take offense?”

“Run away?” asked a timid voice. Shun the third member of their trio stood quietly under the peach tree. Her small round face turned a little downwards, as always. 

Xiaomin smiled at Shun and took the girl’s delicate hand in both of her calloused ones. “Shun, I was looking for you earlier!” 

Shun’s lips tipped ever so slightly at the corners in the hint of a smile and her eyes darted up to meet Xiaomin’s, just for a moment. “I was cleaning the Emperor’s study.”

Shun was often assigned work in the Emperor’s rooms. Her shy disposition and innocuous presence meant she was easy to overlook and rarely disturbed the superiors she worked around. Xun would have been jealous if Shun and Xiaomin hadn’t been so obviously devoted to each other. 

“Come on,” she said cheerfully to the other two, “I’m going to visit Mother tonight and you know she makes the best food in all the Immortal realms!”

Xiaomin snickered, “Of course, even the Emperor says so.”

Xun blushed.