“Can someone explain what’s happening?” Féng Wěi implored.

 He had moved aside when Jié Qiáng began to comfort her, accepting that such things would fall to her husband from then on. When they started to speak as if they knew each other, he was baffled. He knew none of them had ever met at the palace, and she had never been out on her own.

 Suddenly, he remembered the one time she was missing for almost an entire night. It would have been just before her obsession with the butterfly story. The guard’s remark of her being a crane made him take a step back. Was it possible that she kept something from them and this butterfly person truly existed?

 “They met on the last day of your lantern festival two years ago,” answered Yáng Ning. “I was there. He bought a black butterfly mask she made and she guided us through the village to explore the celebration. You and your brother arrived later to take her home. He’s been in love with her ever since.”

 Yáng Ning grinned and watched the confused expression on Féng Wěi’s face turn into awe and then realization, as if a lot of questions had just been answered.

 “Where did you go?” Mîn Jíng wondered. She sniffed away new tears that fell as years of anxiety and grief were swept away in his arms. “I waited like you said. I went to every festival and wore my mask, hoping you would return to look for me. You never did.”

 She started sobbing again and held him even tighter. Jié Qiáng patted her back as he continued to hold her.

 “Shhh…” he told her again and pulled away to wipe her swollen eyes. “Be good,” he gently ordered. “There’s no need to cry anymore.”

 He smiled and kissed her forehead before answering her desperate question.

 “When I returned to the palace from my trip, I broke off an arranged marriage and told my father I already found my wife,” he began. “I told him about you and our time at the festival and that I had promised myself to you. He was angry.”

 “That’s too kind of a description,” Yáng Ning laughed. “I thought I would have to protect the prince from his father’s beating.”

 Mîn Jíng noticed this person for the first time. She looked him over before realizing he had been one of Jié Qiáng’s traveling companions the night they met.

 “Your friend from that night?” she asked Jié Qiáng and he nodded.

 “Father was understandably upset,” Jié Qiáng continued. “The father of the girl I was supposed to marry had cultivated a rare plant that produced a necessary ingredient in a medication for severe wounds. It only grew naturally in one place, and we weren’t able to access it.

 The medicine created from this plant is more effective in treating our soldiers than even the newer treatments. Without it, our men only have a remote chance of a full recovery. When I broke off the engagement, it meant ending the agreement to acquire the plant.”

 Jié Qiáng sat more comfortably on the floor in front of her and continued. “My father accused me of being selfish and apathetic toward the soldiers fighting and suffering for us, so he ordered me to leave the next day to fight in the battle. I was in one battle after another for over a year before Father decided once again that I could serve him better by forming another marriage alliance.

 His advisors had researched every possible way to defeat the growing Wáng Píng tribe. When it was discovered there was an eligible princess here, he began working on efforts to convince your father to accept.

 I was still very much against taking a wife or any woman other than the girl I called my little crane, but I understood after being on the battlefield against this new enemy that we could never defeat them on our own.”

 He stroked the back of her hand with his thumb as he held it and looked deeply into her eyes. “You must know that I never intended to treat the marriage as anything more than an alliance. I had sent people to search for you while I was away. After I returned home, I continued searching. I was going to search until I found you and then make you my only wife.”

 She held his hand and wiped away tears that had formed from his revelation. She looked down as he reached over and pet her rabbit.

 “Her name is Xiùlán,” she told him. “I call her Xiù Xiù. My other brother gave her to me after what happened after the festival.”

 He tilted his head in question and she took a deep breath before explaining.

 Féng Wěi sat on a bench near the door as he listened to their stories. He knew what she was about to say and had begun to understand what lead up to her reckless behavior.

 “The reason my brothers returned that night was to surprise me for my birthday,” she told him. “They still had to leave the next day. When we returned home, my father was furious. He had been worried and so had they.”

 She lowered her head and watched him stroke Xiù Xiù’s ears.

 “My father disciplined me for the first time,” she managed to say over the embarrassment rising in a red tint across her face.

 He gave her a small sideways smile as he brushed her blushing cheek with the back of his hand. She was shy but bold at the same time, and he was reminded of another reason in a dozen different ways why he loved her.

 She held his hand against her face for a moment longer before continuing. “Father said that the only way he was going to stop me from being so foolish was to find a husband for me. I was so upset and even afraid at how angry he was that I decided to go with my brothers to the battle.”

 “What?” he interrupted and stared at her in disapproval for such an impulsive retaliation.

 “It wasn’t to hurt my father,” she quickly added, afraid he would believe her to be such a cruel and petty person. “I was afraid of staying because of his threat of marriage and because I felt like he wouldn’t ever see me the same as he did before that night. I would have found somewhere else to go for a while, but I decided to go where I could be useful.

 My brothers often told me that there weren’t enough people to treat many of our wounded soldiers. I knew Féng Wěi would never allow me to go. He’s almost as strict as our father,” she said as she looked over at her brother. “I begged my younger brother, Yǒng Wěi, instead.”

 “What kind of help did you think you could give?” asked Jié Qiáng curiously. “You were a sixteen year old girl without villagers to run to or masked strangers to protect you.”

 She looked quickly at her brother in expectation of questions she didn’t want to answer, but all he said was, “She’s a healer, as the constable said.” 

 When Jié Qiáng looked at him in wait for an extended answer, he said, “Our mother sent her to a Shangqing Daoist school when she was five. She lived there until she was twelve. During her time at the school, she learned about medicine and herbs and healing: body, mind, and spirit. She’s really good,” he added with a proud smile in her direction.

 Jié Qiáng looked back at her as he thought to himself, “No wonder she has such beautiful energy.”

 Mîn Jíng continued her account. “He said no at first but I was determined to help as much as I was determined to leave. I packed all of my medicines and tools and climbed onto a horse before my brother could stop me. He knew our father didn’t know I had left, so he sent someone back to tell him. He promised Father I would be kept at the camp away from the fighting.

 I did what I could for the soldiers there, but they began to tell me the men who needed me most were still lying near the battlefield. Our men could only bring back the ones guaranteed to survive.

 I couldn’t sleep knowing there were men left behind alive and suffering, so I snuck off to the edge of the battle and began treating any wounded soldier I could find.”

 “She even helped some of your soldiers,” came a voice from the corridor, and they turned to look.

 Yǒng Wěi stepped inside and glared at the enemy prince, who was far too affectionate with his sister, regardless of any marriage contract. He looked at Féng Wěi with an intolerant glare, wondering why he was allowing them to be so close.

 Féng Wěi answered with a silent shake of his head and his hand held up to silence the over-protective brother.

 Yǒng Wěi took a seat on the hard floor and listened quietly as his brother suggested.

 Yáng Ning nearly shouted, “That was you?”

 Jié Qiáng explained his guard’s reaction as he had realized it, too. “When our men returned to camp, they spoke of a young girl who was helping wounded soldiers, regardless of which kingdom they served. They described her as a fairy sent from heaven to heal them.”

 “I was there,” said Yáng Ning. “You helped heal Prince Qiáng’s older brother and get him to our men so we could return to camp. His leg was severely wounded, and he was losing a lot of blood. You managed to stop the bleeding, reset his dislocated knee, and gave him medicine to calm him and ease the pain.”

 “Because of you, his leg healed completely. You saved his life,” Jié Qiáng told her. 

 He immediately recognized how significant this discovery was going to be to their father and the alliance, not to mention the emotional reunion between her and his brother.

 “The stories of your compassion and heroism were all over the camp,” Jié Qiáng continued, “and the soldiers were eager to hear more about you when other soldiers returned. Although I was in the battle, I never had the chance to see you. I looked for you, though, waiting to protect you should you need it.”

 “I can’t believe it’s truly you,” Yáng Ning said in awe. He dropped to his knees and bowed to her respectfully. “On behalf of the soldiers, thank you, your highness” he said.

 Mîn Jíng quickly leaned over to pull at his arms so he would stand.

 “Please, don’t,” she asked. “I was only doing what I should,” she told him humbly.

 Yǒng Wěi cleared his throat of the lump that had been growing as she recounted his worst memory.

 “She never should have been there,” he told them with regret and a touch of anger over their praise. It made him feel guiltier.

 While Yǒng Wěi could only focus on his personal demons, Féng Wěi started calculating what her simple act of compassion would mean for her and the alliance. By saving the crown prince, she surely guaranteed a happy life in their kingdom and locked in the trust his father needed from their king.

 “I made a grave mistake allowing her to go,” Yǒng Wěi continued, “and an even bigger one for not stopping her when I found out she went to the battle ground. She’s had nightmares ever since because of the things she saw. You know what it looks like out there. Tell me if she should have ever seen it.”

 Jié Qiáng lowered his gaze from her brother and nodded in agreement. He looked at her to clarify something.

 “Your father insisted on a condition in the marriage contract that we forego the traditional red for the wedding. Is this why?” he asked.

 She nodded and wiped away a tear before it could fall. The memory was suddenly so vivid as she recounted her experience. She could smell the blood again as if it were on the ground before her. Thankfully, she had the familiar scent from his clothes to remind her this was no longer the past and this man she dreamed of for so long was sitting there before her.

 Her sudden smile surprised him but then she was serious again as she spoke. “When I think of Féng’s wedding, I remember the battlefield. I had thought the colors of weddings were beautiful and bright, but after being at that place for a week in the midst of a sea of blood, I can only feel sick and fearful.

 My nightmares aren’t as bad as they once had been, but if I speak too much of the war, it brings back memories and the bad dreams.”

 He breathed in deeply as he recalled the intolerant words of the queen when his father read the contract. She suspected this princess would be spoiled, delicate, and demanding, and worried the king would allow her improper attitude to continue for the sake of the alliance. Looking at this sweet girl in front of him cradling her small rabbit and speaking with such innocence, he knew the queen’s concerns were unfounded.

 “Will you have bad dreams tonight after telling me this?” he worried.

 She looked up from Xiù Xiù and smiled at him.

 She shrugged and said, “It’s only a dream. I know when I wake up that it isn’t real. I do something to busy my mind and fall back to sleep after a while to dream of something silly and beautiful.”

 Her brothers watched her as she lied to relieve her future husband’s concern. It was never as simple as she said. They and their father worried that her terrible nightmares would cause the marriage alliance to be broken, or at the very least, cause her new family to be intolerant. 

 “Is the prince worried about my sister’s health or concerned she will disrupt the harmony of his palace?” Yǒng Wěi asked with an underlying tone of bitterness.

 Jié Qiáng looked at him sitting defensively with his arms crossed. He remained calm at the challenge, understanding the guilt and the fear for his sister’s future.

 “Your sister’s well-being is important to me,” he answered honestly, “both as my wife and the tie binding our kingdoms in peace. If she experiences bad dreams while in my care, I will do whatever she needs to calm her mind. If her brothers have suggestions, I’m ready to hear them.”

 Mîn Jíng watched as they stared at each other for a moment longer, both determined to let the other know she was the most important matter between them.

 “Yǒng is the only one who can quiet my dreams,” she answered when they remained silent. “He’s worried I won’t have anyone to help me when I leave.”

 Jié Qiáng took her hands in his and kissed them. “I promise you will not be alone. Whatever you need from me to help, you need only tell me.”

 He looked at her brother once more before returning his gaze to her. “We can make our own contract if that will put your mind at ease and convince your brothers of my devotion.” 

 “Contract?” she wondered. “Our fathers already crafted the marriage contract.”

 He shook his head and laughed softly at her misunderstanding.

 “A contract between us, between husband and wife. A contract between the butterfly and his little crane,” he grinned and brushed the top of her nose with his finger playfully.

 She smiled and enthusiastically nodded her head.

 “I need writing supplies,” he called out and Féng Wěi directed his servant to acquire them.