"Your Highness, wake up." Fatima's soft whisper and incessant prodding force me to open my eyes. I roll over so my back faces her.
"Five more minutes, ok?" I plead in Latin. I can hear a sigh from behind me. Victory! And then a cold hand brushes over my abdomen. The shock causes me to bolt upright. Damn it. Groaning and dragging my feet as much as possible, I crawl out of the warm haven of the bed. Fatima is already dressed. This time she's wearing a demure brown dress that tumbles off her hypnotizingly with a çarsef of the same color. She helps me put on a vibrant turquoise muslin dress, adorned with golden flowers. I slip into delicate slippers of the same shade as Fatima fetches an appropriate çarsef and sāl.
"What's the shawl for Fatima?"
"It has the same purpose as the çarsef, to protect your modesty and purity, Your Highness. We will soon be entering the Han Empire proper which means there will be many eyes upon you. The sāl will maintain your innocence for His Highness, the Eighth Prince." Her tone indicates that I will be putting on the sāl whether I like it or not. Sighing, I let her tie on my çarsef, one woven out of pure silver and white threads. She proceeds to drape the sāl over my head, concealing my radiant, golden hair.
As I step out of the inn, I'm suddenly grateful for the çarsef and sāl, the sun is beating down ruthlessly and the sour smell of sweat assaults my senses. The inhabitants of the city ooh and ahh as I make the short walk from the door of the inn to my carriage. I can't blame them. The sun reflects off my silver çarsef and the golden threads of my dress, throwing rays of light everywhere. Dots of light appear on the surfaces where the light reflects causing children to chase and try to catch these miniature stars.
What I see by the door of my carriage stops me in my tracks. More accurately, it's who I see. Ma Guanxin, this time in armor, stands by the door of my carriage. The smiling, casual Guanxin I saw last night is nowhere to be seen. The Guanxin standing in front of me now is stone-faced and professional, the Imperial Protector. As proper etiquette dictates, Guanxin goes to one knee and dips his head, raising his hands above his head in a military salute at the same time.
"Your Highness, as unworthy as this one is, this Imperial Protector has received an Imperial Edict to personally escort Your Highness until the walls of Chang'an." This is going to be a long trip, isn't it?
Talking about oneself in the third person: You'll notice that people refer to themselves in the third person a lot, this is a practice known as illeism. In ancient China, this was usually done to establish one's position, I think. Chinese emperors were known to practice illeism to establish that "holier than thou", son of heaven thing but otherwise it generally seems to be a practice meant to emphasize some sort of social difference. Just take it as it is :).
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The Foreign Empress
Historical FictionA cold and potentially fatal marriage, an imperial court embroiled in assassination and conflict, a hidden conspiracy that could shatter not just a four-century-long peace but the empire itself. In the midst of it all, a girl whose struggle to survi...
