*The Imperial Palace: Council Hall*

A suspenseful silence blankets the usually lively Council Hall. The heads of the respective departments and the elders of the extended royal family from Kynlun, TengHo, and Jiangu (the neighboring states) were summoned by Emperor YiLei to be present at the Council Hall half past noon. None except General Teng knew the reason for the emergency meeting.

"All rise!" The royal sentry announces, and all eyes turn towards the arched doorway.

Emperor YiLei walks down the aisle, taking his place in front of the throne, bows before seating himself. Without wasting time, he gets down to business. "Respected Elders and my loyal countrymen, every Yuanjian here knows our history. Finally, the time we have been waiting for is upon us. The words of the first have started to take form. Last night, General Teng observed the alignment of the planets," he pauses and beams at his audience, "the time for The First to walk among us once again is almost here."

The council hall breaks out in excited whispers.

"YiLei," An old man seated to the right of the throne, a step lower than YiLei, speaks, "not to dampen your spirit, but we still haven't found the key. Without the key, your words are no more than wishful thinking."

The excitement dies down. The hopeful, jubilant expressions turn into resignation.

"YiLei, you know where our race stands today. You know how important it is for us to find the key. What are you doing to search for the key?" The old man pinches the bridge of his nose and shakes his head, "Have you made any progress in depicting the words of The First?"

"Senior Han, you are aware that part of it was lost. From what we could translate, we know that the key is related to the human race. You know that is the sole reason we decided to pardon them even after what they did to this beautiful planet."

Most Senior members nod in agreement; YiLei continues, "Any day now, we expect the beacon to reveal the lock. Once we know what we are looking for, I believe the key will present itself."

A young distinguished-looking man with sharp, hazel-colored eyes and a prominent nose stands up and bows. "Your Majesty, I am aware of the importance of finding the key and the need for keeping it a secret, but if we are to look for it, we need more eyes and minds at our disposal. Except for you and the Senior members of our generation, the beacon and the key are more or less myths to us. I would request you to..."

"Li Kun! How dare you speak out of turn!?" The gentleman from earlier, Senior Han, bellows.

Moving in front of the old man, the Emperor shields the young man addressed as Li Kun, "Senior, please calm down. Kun is not wrong. That was the second matter I wanted to talk about."

Silence falls around the hall; all eyes come to rest on YiLei, who stands in the middle of the room. "Only three members of the council and one other except the General and I know the whole truth about the beacon and its key. The secrecy we have been sworn to and abided by has kept us alive till now. But these are dire times." YiLei's eyes drift to the ceiling of the room. It depicts the tale of the origin of the Yuanjians and their escape from their home planet, XueJian.

"I feel that the time has come to inject new blood into the search." YiLei addresses the two graying men on either side, "Senior Han, Senior Wen, I would like you to join me to discuss in detail about this issue." He turns to look at the rest of the members. "Meanwhile, I want each and every one of you to keep a lookout for anything out of the ordinary. However unimportant it may seem, I need you to look into it."

The council members nod in agreement, and YiLei continues, "The crown prince has decided that our barriers need reinforcing, and YiHuang is helping him with it. Rest assured, the royal family is doing everything in its power to keep you all safe."

As soon as YiLei is done addressing the council, the General rises, "Now, with His Majesty's permission, I would like all of you to follow me to the observation tower."

*****

*Eastern Grove*

YiHuang nods in reply and gets busy, first ridding the human of his uniform and then cleaning and redressing his wound. The night before, as he waited for the unconscious human to regain consciousness, the second prince had managed to turn a part of the cave into a medical unit of sorts.

"It looks like you have done this before. You have gentle, steady hands." Zhang remarks, observing the prince's handiwork.

"Every Yuanjian has to undergo basic first aid training," YiHuang answers matter-of-factly. He avoids looking at the exposed skin at the base of the human's neck. It was his doing, and he was thoroughly ashamed of it.

As if reading his mind, Zhang pulls up the collar of his uniform, covering the tempting expanse of skin subconsciously. "How do you know our language?" He enquires and follows it up with more questions about the Yuanjians.

YiHuang doesn't hold back. He tries his best to satisfactorily explain all aspects of Yuanjian life to the human in his care.

By midday, when Zhang is still not done questioning him, the prince interrupts their conversation. "I will have to visit the grove. We have run out of sustenance." But before YiHuang can make good on his words, the curious human stops him with a hand on his arm. "May I accompany you? I am feeling much better. I have been cramped up here for far too long."
YiHuang frowns. 'Is he stupid? Is his IQ not as high as I expected?' He wonders, and as if reading his thoughts, Zhang chuckles, "You are wondering if I am stupider than you thought me to be, aren't you?"

YiHuang averts his gaze.

Zhang stands up. The prince is next to him without being asked. "I think I can handle it," Zhang reassures as the latter's possessive arm circles his waist, almost plastering him to the Yuanjian.

YiHuang ignores him. "Where do you want to go?" He enquires emotionlessly while his body enjoys the feeling of Zhang's body pressed against him.
"The medical bay, please," Zhang says out of habit.

Once there, Zhang goes through the various medicines salvaged from his ship and picks out a few. "May I borrow your breathing apparatus?"

"Why?"

"You said that it helps you breathe on land. If I reverse the input and output parameters, it can help me breathe here." He pauses and holds the latter's gaze for slightly longer than necessary.
The prince looks away first. "We can give it a shot." He tries to keep his voice impassive. He fails.

"Are you impressed, Ah-Huang?" The human asks, turning to face the prince, who ignores the question and guides Zhang back to the bed. He hands him the mask. "What are these serums for?"

"Back up, in case the experiment fails. These can temporarily alter my constitution to mimic the terrestrial forms we might come across." Zhang's words sound uncertain as they roll off his tongue.

"They haven't been tested, have they?"

Zhang comes clean, "We didn't have time. Most of what I was carrying were prototypes and experimental drugs." He says, sounding dejected. He laughs, humorless, and adds, "Lot of good that did, didn't it?"

His words are met with silence. The human glances at the Yuanjian. "I am sorry. I am not usually like this. I have been told that I am quite likable."

"Yes, you are." The prince replies sincerely, and the latter can't help but smile, "You think I am likable?"

"Mn."

"Thank you. At least I have someone in this world that likes me." Zhang smiles fondly. "So let's see what we can do with these, shall we?"

The prince nods curtly, and the two get to work. Zhang is surprised to find that YiHuang was well versed in matters relating to human physiology. In fact, the Yuanjian was better than him in that department.

Zhang wanted to know everything about YiHuang, his untalkative, mysterious savior. On multiple occasions, he had to physically restrain himself from asking personal questions to his savior.

YiHuang explains the science behind the functioning of the mask, and together, the two customize it.
It takes longer than expected; by the time it's satisfactorily altered, the sun has already set on TengFei.

"Zhang, I think it would be better to test it out tomorrow," YiHuang suggests, noticing the bags under the human's eyes.

"Do I look terrible?"

"No, just tired." The prince replies, and without giving the latter a chance to protest, he walks out.

When he returns, he finds Zhang asleep. Though it pains him to bring him out of the slumber, YiHuang does it. "Wake up and have something." He gently taps the latter's arm.

"Sorry, I must have dozed off." Zhang smiles sleepily, and the two dine in silence.

"These are really delectable." Zhang sighs, "Back home, fruits were hard to come by. Children hadn't even had the chance to see most firsthand. I wish..." he trails off. He is brought out of his musings when he feels YiHuang's hand on his forearm, stroking it.

"Ah-Huang, you mentioned that your race practices a disciplined lifestyle, then how come-" He gulps and doesn't continue. The almost question hangs between them like an invisible entity.
The silence stretches till YiHuang does something that he had sworn he wouldn't do. "I am not like this with everyone. I... I don't like ...I prefer to be in seclusion." He glances at Zhang and continues, "You are special."

Zhang doesn't understand the reason for his racing heart; he is sure that he doesn't want to know either. Clearly, the word 'special' meant something else in the Yuanjian tongue, the human tells himself. For how could he be 'special' to this alien who he had met barely two days ago. A part of him, however, knew that his reasoning was flawed. He knew the Yuanjian in front of him meant it. After all, hadn't he, an orphan,  who didn't even belong in this dimension, let alone this planet, felt like he was being treasured by this prince, his savior?

{Author's Note:- Word count 1754

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