Fair Trade

Chapter 3

Let the Games Begin

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“Yun Lu?” Wengi was startled when she laid her eyes upon a very imposing lady warrior. The teenager was well muscled, ample-chested and very proud of her heritage. She looked like she had taken her elder brother’s old clothes and modified them.

“Wengi?!” The youngest Ma squealed and ran over to hug the woman she hadn’t seen in years. “You’re home!!”

Ma Dai looked up skeptically. “Uh, last I checked you were still Mrs. Cao.”

“He’s dead.” Chao grumbled and smacked his cousin. “Be a bit more respectful.”

“Who needs to remember manners around friends?” Ma Dai sighed. “Still, you took your time coming to visit. You’d think that you could have come out to visit sometime before now if you gave a damn.”

“Shut up Dai.” Yun Lu ignored his mumbling. “So what have you been doing? Have you learned any new spells?”

“I haven’t used magic is a long time.” Wengi smiled. “You must be driving your brother insane; I can’t imagine the men of XiLiang are leaving you alone.”

“Tell me about it.” Chao tossed his helmet onto a table. “I wish that every man in XiLiang was all I had to deal with. Every officer in Shu is demanding I prove my loyalty by marrying my sister to them.”

Yun Lu rolled her eyes. “Like any of those boys could be man enough to be my husband.”

Ma Dai looked up at Wengi. “Must be nice to be picky about husbands, huh?”

“I married a man.” Wengi reminded him. “He was nothing more than a magistrate, no matter who his father may have been.”

“You used to be more than my cousin could handle, and that’s saying a lot.” Dai shook his head. “I have a hard time believing you just allowed yourself to be married off to all those men.”

“All?” Wengi snorted. “I gave up magic. I put down my sword. I could find no outlet to my anger except for poetry, and during my captivity I learned to channel everything through that. Let me be a pawn, I can tolerate the occasional inconveniences.”

“Dai, relax.” Chao poured himself some wine.

“So Cao Cao moves his pawn here…perhaps to lure out our King?” Dai mused.

“He doesn’t even know his late son’s name; I doubt he cares all that much about me. I requested a mourning period. I want to be nobody for a bit.”

“Good luck with that.” Dai took the wine Chao offered him. “You’re still known around here as Chao’s old flame. The damned Qiang still have their ass hairs singed from when you hit that village with a fireball. I still see you as a vassal of Wei.”

“And?” Ma Yun Lu asked. “It still took balls to come out here and visit. Something even that infallible and courageous Zhao Yun you all adore so much can’t manage.”

“Lu Lu…not this again.” Chao rubbed his temples.

“Just because he’s your best friend doesn’t mean he’s entitled to my body. So do your buddy a favor and find him a woman he can actually handle.” Yun Lu crossed her arms.

“I think when you see him in battle you’ll change your mind.” Chao waved off her protests. “However I’m sick of discussing it with you.”

Wengi sat down next to Dai and raised an eyebrow. “She doesn’t like Zhao Yun?”

“No, she called him an overrated gay babysitter to his face.” Dai smiled at her. “Are you interested in the Shu hero?”

“Hardly.” She said and rolled her eyes.

“There’s someone else already?” Dai elbowed her in the ribs as Yun Lu and Chao continued to argue about any potential marriage arrangements.

“No.” She said it quickly and she knew Dai caught onto it.

“Mengqi has already had his heart broken enough, don’t put him through that again.” Dai looked her in the eyes. “I want to believe you’re here to stay. I want to hear you say you’re going to join us. I know better. You’re both so alike, letting a damned grudge destroy any chance at happiness you can have.”

“He gave up on me, Dai.” She hissed. This had been a bone of contention between them since the day she walked away from Ma Chao. “He chose to give into anger and make that his obsession.”

“Look at him now. You think he can’t be convinced otherwise?” Dai asked quietly.

She looked at the powerful lord of Xiliang as he argued with his sister over the value of ever officer in the Shu army. He smiled as she threw a fit about how disgusting Huang Zhong was. He aggravated her further by restating a few lewd comments the old man had made about her. Wengi saw a burdened man, a man who was left alone to protect that little was left of his father’s.

“You’re the only one who could help him.” Dai admitted. “If you would just fight him and make him realize it…don’t walk away again and leave him to his anger like you did last time.”

“He’s a grown man. He can make his own decisions.” She spat.

“He’s a hollow shell and you’re not going to be able to hide forever.” Dai whispered. “It’s not too late.”

“It’s way too late.” She glared at him.

“Wengi? Perhaps you know of some available generals in Wei? My sister seems to find facial hair important and it seems like your officers don’t receive razors in their standard issue.” Chao bellowed as his sister stomped in frustration.

“Shut up Chao!”

“Well you seem determined to ruin everything I have going for you and XiLiang, so why not just marry the enemy? Get it over with in one blow.” Chao sat back in his chair and scratched his head. “You don’t like how slim Jiang Wei is, so Xiahou Dun is out. Huang Zhong is old and ugly plus he is an archer…I guess Xiahou Yuan is out. You don’t like Caos so Cao Cao, Cao Ren and Cao Pi are out. Zhao Yun is too quiet and clean shaven that rules out Xu Huang.”

“You like Zhao Yun so much, you marry him!” Yun Lu screamed.

“Wengi, help me! You know these scruffy men better than me.” Chao smiled and finally slapped the table. “Zhang Liao! He’s single, has a beard and is pretty aggressive.”

Wengi bit her lip. Liao. He had been all she ever thought about but as soon as she was away from him she lost focus. She looked at Ma Yun Lu and wondered what he would think of her. Certainly such a fierce and talented warrior wanted a woman like her. Beautiful, young and strong she was a little spitfire and seemed a better match than a used up widow.

“He’s worthy of you then?” Dai asked, seeing the look on her face. He continued as his cousins began to argue louder. “Zhang Liao is worth coming out here for?”

“Yes.” She sneered at the younger Ma general. Dai could read people so well; she knew he wouldn’t leave her alone until he discovered some weakness.

“He loves you as you are now? A woman beaten down by the misfortunes of life? He’ll protect you and allow you to wallow in your fear and self-pity?”

She glared at him; she hated how accurate his assessments could be. “I am here to revive what I used to be, to give him everything I can.”

“Well.” Dai played with his wine glass. “I suppose I have a battle ahead of me. I think you’re the only one who can save my cousin from himself and he save you from a common existence. So looks like the mighty Zhang Liao is going to have to suffer a defeat on his one.”

“Over my dead body.” Wengi and Yun Lu echoed each other as they fumed, determined to have more control over their lives than the men were willing to give them.

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“You and Dai were pretty engrossed in conversation.” Chao leaned against the edge of the railing overlooking the serene garden. “I know you two were always butting heads, but it’s pretty accomplished to pick up where you left off after so many years.”

“He is a stubborn ass.” Wengi looked away, noticing his tunic was open and his chest was exposed.

“I know, but he’s all I have.” Chao shrugged. “Which only encourages him.”

“Yun Lu is a beautiful woman, you must be proud.”

“She’s a stubborn ass.” Chao grinned. “She scares half the men she meets.”

“She’s sixteen. She’s still so young.” Wengi defended the girl.

“When you were sixteen…well…” He raised an eyebrow remembering some of the things they never should have done.

“You were a bad influence.” She blushed.

“When did you turn into such a girl?” He asked. She was never that far from what Yun Lu was now. He could have never imagined the Cai Wengi he knew being a demure lady of the court.

“Life has a tendency to make what it wants out of you.” She sighed and looked up at the moon. “I better be going home before my father worries.

“Or before you get too comfortable?” He said.

“Maybe.” She admitted and stepped back as he reached out to touch her.

Chao nodded and wanted to kick himself for taking advantage of how close she was. “Sorry.”

“You still want him dead more than you want to live.” Wengi stated simply. “Until you change that, I don’t think it’s fair to make any woman your wife.”

“Cao Cao seems to do a damned good job of alleviating my poor wives of their misery.” Chao snapped and clenched his fists. “Good night.”