Rise of a Matriarch, Part 3 (Patreon)

“Everything about today is confusing me! I haven’t understood a thing about today since I was dragged out of bed this morning!”

Empowered by her anger, she strode up to the bed and looked down at the unmoving form of her apparent husband. A small voice in the back of her head warned her that he could surely destroy her with but a flick of his eyelids… but on the other hand, his eyelids hadn’t moved since she’d seen him.

The smallest crease of the slightest frown crossed his perfect brow. “Was this not explained when you agreed to marry me?”

“I never agreed! I was never asked!” She didn’t shout. She wanted to shout but as angry as she was, fear was still her main emotion. So her voice trembled with repressed emotion, but it was not raised.

“I see.” He paused, and when he continued, his voice was softer, tinged with regret. “I’m sorry. When I left matters with Che Fu, I assumed that he would seek your agreement before proceeding.”

“Che… Fu? The Sect Master?” Chian stared at him in shock.

“Did you not recognise him? He was the one who presided over our wedding ceremony.”

Chian sank to the floor as the strength left her legs. “Just… who are you?” she asked weakly.

“Ah, of course, you would not know. Your unworthy husband is known as Lau Meng.”

“The Sect Champion?”

“I do have that honour, though I’m not sure if I will be allowed to keep it for much longer.”

“I heard…” Chian tried to sort through what she had heard about the Champion. There were all sorts of rumours, all of them wild, many of them unsavoury. “…That you were injured?”

“As you see.”

“I don’t see.” Lau Meng didn’t have any injuries that she could see, he just refused to move.

“Ah. Well it is a complicated explanation. I don’t mind sharing it, but I think we have more important priorities, do we not? Perhaps we should start with redressing the wrong done to you. Since you were not asked, do you wish to have the ceremony annulled?”

“The ceremony… our wedding…” Chian mumbled. She thought about the ceremony and all the important people that had cheered it on. She thought about the jealous and bitter look in the eyes of the servants who had prepared her. Could she go back to that house? Could she throw the expectations of her betters back in their face?

“I… I can’t go back,” she said as the realisation struck her. “Can a wedding even be annulled like that?”

“I’ve never concerned myself with what is possible,” Lau Meng assured her. “If that is what you want, I will do what I can to make it happen.”

“No,” Chian said. “I… I understand why the Sect Master didn’t bother asking. It’s not like I could have said no to such a request.”

“Then— actually, first, would you like the servants to bring you a chair?”

“A chair?” she asked, confused. Why would she need a chair?

“Or you could sit on the bed,” her husband said. “It’s a very nice floor, but the bed is going to be much more comfortable.”

“I can’t…” she said, and stopped, unsure how she could complete that sentence. —sit on your bed? But it was hers, he would say. —sit next to a corpse? Was even worse.

“Please,” he said. “I know I haven’t opened my eyes, but you should at least be able to look at my face while we talk. I’m told it’s quite comely.”

Chian almost snorted at the gross understatement, but managed to keep her reaction to herself. “Am I… worthy of looking at your face, my Lord?” she asked. She’d intended for the words to have a challenging, sarcastic tone, but to her dismay, they came out in a much more timid manner.

“My Lord?” Lau Meng mused. “I suppose it is accurate, but I was never of noble birth. I would prefer it if you were to call me Darling.”

Lau Meng had no line of sight to Chian, crouched as she was besides his bed, but he seemed to sense her reaction. As Chian blushed deeply at the thought of speaking to the Sect Champion with such temerity, he corrected himself.

“Or, if you haven’t actually fallen in love with me yet, I suppose Husband is fine.”

“In love with…” Chian squeaked, to her embarrassment. She hadn’t meant for the words to come out like that. Actually, she would have preferred if those words hadn’t come out at all. Her blush intensified and she stared down at the floor.

“Chian, my dear wife, will you come up and sit on the bed with me?” Lau Meng said, his voice gently insistent. Chian could hardly refuse.

She slowly rose to her feet, distracted for a moment by how her robe whispered around her as her body shifted. She moved around to the free side of the bed and got up on it, kneeling beside her husband.

“Does this please you, my L— Husband?” she asked, looking at his face. His beautiful, perfect face. His elegant eyelashes, the noble curve of his nose—

“It’s an improvement,” he said. “You seem to have figured it out, but for the record, you are my wife, not my slave. You are worthy— no, entitled— to look at my face or any other part of me.”

“Why me?” Chian asked. “Of all the people in the world, why pick me to be your wife?”

One side of his gorgeous lips curved up in a half smile. “Are you questioning the decision of the Sect Champion?”

No of course not, my Lord, was what she wanted to say. But somehow, the curve of his lips gave her the courage to say, “Yes! There must be ten thousand women more beautiful and accomplished than I am!”

“First of all,” her husband said, “You are beautiful, Lau Chian.”

It felt like her heart stopped, but she could hear the blood thudding in her ears as she froze, and stared at him in shock. “That’s not… I don’t…”

“You lost your family when they gave their lives to the Sect. You lost your name when you became a servant. You’re not a servant any more, Lau Chian.”

“I’m not… what you said, though,”

“There’s a mirror near the changing screen. Why don’t you take a look in it?”

Chian looked at him suspiciously, and then slid off the bed and padded over to the mirror in bare feet. When she looked, a stranger stared back at her.

Who? But she knew. The look of surprise on her face was matched by the elegant young lady standing before her. The slightly puffy eyes only just holding back tears were hers. Could years of servitude be erased that quickly?

“You see?” Her husband called from the bed. She slowly, after a last glance at her reflection, returned to his side.

“I may be prettier than I thought I was,” she admitted. “But there is no comparison between me and any of the Fairy maidens that you’re reputed to have slept with.”

“You are correct,” he said gravely. “There is no comparison, and that is why I have chosen you.”

She frowned at him, and the small smile returned to his mouth.

“Allow me to explain. All cultivators progress by purifying the flesh, slowly converting to a more perfect form. The physical beauty of cultivating maidens is simply a reflection of their progress. It speaks to no natural quality of theirs, it simply is. It has no merit.”

“What merit to my —inferior— looks have? They are what I was born with, nothing more.”

“Why just as much as theirs— none at all. A true cultivator looks past these things. But I don’t want you to compare yourself to women whose flesh is of a different order to yours. You will achieve the same ageless beauty once your own cultivation progresses.”

“I’m… not a cultivator.”

“You are not a natural cultivator,” he corrected her. “Nor, as a servant, were you provided with training and resources to make you one. You are no longer a servant, but a valued high-ranking member of the Sect.”

“Then…” she stared at him, unable to process what she was being told. “But why me?” she asked again.

“It is… difficult to explain. Perhaps if I said, I compared our fates. Or entwined them.”

“You saw my future— changed my future?”

“No, no,” he said. “If… you think of your fate as a gnarled tree branch. To know what every twist and turn means— well there are some that specialise in making that determination. I simply entwined my branch with that of all the young women on the mountain and determined… which fate suited mine best.”

“What does that even mean?” Chian asked.

“I do not know,” Lau Meng admitted. “But I know of no better way to determine who should be the mother of my children.”

Chian blinked, blindsided once again. Of course, she thought to herself. That’s what marriage is for.

“We’re going to… you’re going to…”

“Not tonight, I think, unless you’re feeling particularly amorous.” Lau Deng said. “If you don’t have any further questions, I think you should get some sleep.”

Chian’s thoughts were going in circles. He didn’t want to— but he was going to— that was what marriage was for— he wanted her to sleep?

Lau Meng’s eyebrow raised again. “You want to?”

“No!” Chian exclaimed. “I mean, I’m not ready…”

“That’s fine,” he reassured her. “I’ve never made love to anyone who wasn’t already madly in love with me. I can wait a few days for that to happen.”

“Is that how long it takes?” Chian asked, her anger flaring up again.

“In close quarters like this it’s normally faster,” he said nonchalantly. “I think the longest its ever taken is about a week?”

Chian glared at her husband, but looking at his unmoving form just proved his point. Who wouldn’t fall for… that? Not to mention all the stories.

“It has been a long and eventful day for you,” he said softly. “Sleep. There will be much to do in the morning.”

Chian was tired, but… “Next to you?” she asked. The idea was intimidating. He may have been her husband, but he was still the Sect Champion.

“I’m sure another bed can be found in the mansion if you desire it, but there is no better place than here. You will be safe, I swear it. I will watch over you.”

“You’re not going to sleep? You’re just going to watch?”

“Right now, sleeping would be dangerous for me,” Lau Meng said. “Most of my attention must remain on maintaining the seal, but I can spare some to watch over you while you sleep.”

He paused while she struggled with the idea.

“You can pull out my arm and use it as a pillow, if you wish,” he continued. “Many have commented that it makes for a superior headrest.”

Chian’s eyes narrowed. “I won’t be doing that. But…”

She was tired, and the bed was large and soft. There was plenty of room for her to sink into the softness, without being too close to Lau Meng. The summer air was warm, her robe was soft against her skin. She could feel herself slipping away as soon as her head touched the embroidered silk pillow.

“Oh! Should I put out the lanterns?”

“No, there are servants for that. Just rest.”

At his words, it started getting darker as the lights were extinguished one by one. She closed her eyes and fell into her own darkness.

* * *

She woke once during the night, briefly. The darkness and the unfamiliar surroundings almost made her panic, but the warm body she was clinging to calmed her long enough for some memories to return. She couldn’t see him, but she knew he was a man, his muscles firm yet yielding against her body. His face was close enough for her to hear his breath. He was—

Chian felt a flush start to begin as memories started to return. He was awake and aware of what she was doing, and—

“Shh, Chian, it’s alright. Sleep some more,” his warm voice softly whispered, and she felt the soft presence of his Qi. It was calming, and sleep called for her once more.