From that day on, they sought each other out at every opportunity.

She learnt his name was Erden, and that he had been given the rank of Eighth Prince. He had left behind his parents, an older sister, two younger brothers and a baby sister when her father's envoy brought him to the Palace.

She assumed the role of teacher and tried to teach him her language. They spoke haltingly at first, but he was an apt pupil and was soon speaking like a native.

The other princes continued to harass Erden, until Weilong took him under his wing and put a stop to it. Erden, in turn, constantly looked out for Snow and often stepped in between her and the princes, despite his young age and short stature.

He was especially protective of her around Fifth Prince, who never forgave her for the crookedness of his nose. Snow wished she could punch him again. She never, ever, forgave him for what he did to Chow Chow. Still, if they saw the princes approaching, they would grab each other by the hand and run as fast as they could.

In the warmer months, they explored the Palace grounds and watchtowers together, played hide-and-go-seek amongst the rocks in the imperial gardens, and caught dragonflies by the lakes. When it was fruiting season, he would let her step on his back and shoulders to pluck pomegranates and apricots from the trees.

They were each other's enablers. Once, Snow wanted to put grasshoppers in her foster mother's vanity desk drawer, and Erden caught the biggest grasshopper he could find and put it in a little box.

It was too bad that when he showed it to her, Snow was so overexcited that she knocked the box out of Erden's hands by accident. The grasshopper had jumped all around the pavilion just out of Erden's reach, and when Snow's nanny ran towards them, Snow stamped her shoe on the grasshopper. It never made it to her foster mother's room.

The servants and nannies soon figured that if they saw one, they saw the other, especially during important celebrations like the Spring Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival or Winter Solstice.

Every Lunar New Year, they watched in anticipation as servants lit the streams of firecrackers that snaked along the pavement. The firecrackers would explode in a shower of red paper and sparks, and they'd cheer when clouds of smoke and the smell of gunpowder filled the air.

Another favorite memory of hers was of them sharing mooncakes filled with sweet red bean or lotus seed paste. Under a full Mid-Autumn moon, they'd eat slices of sweet mooncakes, wash all that down with tea, and then parade around the gardens with colorful paper lanterns.

She loved it when he told her stories of his life in the grasslands. She could almost see him as a young boy rounding up sheep and lambs on the endless green steppes, roughhousing with his brothers and huddled inside his yurt with his family, as they sipped cups of warm yak milk.

She especially loved it when he told her how the women were as skilled as men at archery and horse riding. She was so amazed to learn that his older sister was an adept archer who could shoot a moving target on a galloping horse.

"Who taught your sister? Your father?"

"No, my mother," Erden replied with a proud smile.

She was slightly envious that he had such interesting stories to tell. She did not have interesting stories of her own, though Erden would laugh whenever she told him about her latest run-in with the royal tutor.

"Snow, you mustn't antagonize Master Li like that, he's a gentle old man," he said as he wiped tears of mirth from his eyes.

"He's only gentle to you. You're his favorite pupil, you know."

"How do you know that?"

"He's always comparing me to you. You should be more like Eighth Prince! Ugh!" She tried to mimic the royal tutor's whispery voice. "You're such a lazy worm! Why can't you be more diligent like Eighth Prince?"

"Yes, why can't you be more diligent like me?" He chortled as he dodged the book that flew in his direction.

Often, she would find him studying his books in his courtyard or reciting classical poetry by the lake, which infuriated her.

She would rather watch him practise his swordplay instead. When Erden first started his training, he moved stiffly across the courtyard with his wooden sword. But as he grew lankier and more muscular, he could move at lightning speed, and to her eyes, he was a blur of steel and silver flashing in the morning sun.

It looked like an elaborate dance to her, full of twirling, lunging and leaping into the air as he thrust his sword forward and deftly sliced the air around him. She wanted to try her hand at swordplay, but to her dismay, before she could take the sword from Erden's outstretched hand, her nanny cried, "Princesses don't fight!"

Snow had cackled with laughter when Erden's voice started to break and teased him about the downy hair growing on his upper lip and chin, but he didn't seem to mind.

Every time she saw him, it seemed like he shot up another inch and she had to crane her neck to look at him. His jaw became more angular and his shoulders grew broader. When her body started to change, she felt self-conscious and awkward, preferring not to run along the corridors with him anymore. Mercifully, Erden did not mention anything about her appearance.

When she bled for the first time, he was the first person she confided in. He tried to put on a brave face for her and said that it was nothing to worry about. His mother and sister have gone through the same experience and they carried on with their normal lives. She found that absolutely unbelievable – every time she bled, she felt like curling up into a ball and dying.

As they grew older, they saw less and less of each other. He was occupied with what Snow called his manly activities, whereas she was increasingly confined to the inner courtyards where the concubines were kept. Every time she saw him in the gardens, she had to refrain from quickening her steps, or looking too eager to see him. Her heart would leap to her throat the moment she saw his silhouette from afar, and whenever she turned to look at his usual spot in the gardens to find that he was not there, she felt a hollowness inside her that would not go away.

Whenever she spiraled down to a dark and bleak place, she would reminisce about their time together. Out of all the sweet memories she had of him, she had one that she went back to time and time again.

It was summer the year before.

Snow had found Erden standing alone by the pavilion overlooking the lake. He had a familiar faraway look in his eyes.

Songbirds chirped cheerily in the trees. Bees and hummingbirds flitted about the bright coral trumpet creeper flowers cascading from the pavilion roof.

Her long sleeve brushed against his as she stood next to him. "Missing home?" she had asked.

He slowly turned to her with a bittersweet smile. "You know me too well, Snow," he replied softly.

They watched the trailing leaves of the weeping willow caress the water surface as a pair of mandarin ducks paddled nearby. In the middle of the lake, a red-crowned crane waded amongst the water lilies in search of fish.

Snow remembered counting in her head. It has been nine years since he left home. He must be thinking about his parents, and how his brothers and baby sister have grown up. She peeked sideways at his profile in the dappled sunlight. She liked it when he wore maroon and dark sapphire blue, edged in silver or bronze embroidery.

Look at him now. His parents would be so proud of him. But he should be free to ride across the grasslands with his people, not held captive here.

"I heard what happened," he said, turning to face her.

She tried to appear nonchalant. "Word travels fast. The whole Palace should have heard by now."

"Whatever made you do that?"

"Oh, you know. My foster mother threw my needlework to the floor, saying that it was not good enough. Not good enough for her. So I just... smashed up a couple of vases in her room."

Erden studied the wry smile on her lips. He held her gaze as he slowly reached down and brought her bandaged hand close to his chest. His eyes flickered to the small bloodied spot in the middle of her palm. When he looked at her, with irises that shone like tiger eye quartz in the sunlight, it was as if he could read all of her innermost thoughts. His fingers curled gently over hers.

"You alright?" he whispered.

"I..." She took a deep breath and tried to quell the emotions that churned inside her. She had so many things to say, but her thoughts were in such a jumble that she did not know where to start. She was afraid that if she pulled at one string, she would start to unravel.

At that moment, all she could think about was the warmth of his hand on hers, the perfection of his cheekbones, the curve of his lower lip, and the fire that smoldered in his eyes.

She tried to take it all in and remember every detail, because she knew in the back of her mind that their time together in the Palace was running out. At any given time, she would be packed onto a galleon and sailed across the sea to marry a sultan in the south. The Empress only needed to say the word. And Erden would marry his betrothed, the girl from a noble family, continue on with his life and forget all memories of her.

She wanted many things to happen. She wanted him to put her hand to his lips and feel his breath on her fingers. She wanted to reach out and touch his face, or embrace him tightly and hear the strong beating of his heart.

She wished that great, feathered wings could emerge from their shoulders. She would fling her arms around his neck and together, they would fly far, far away from this prison to start a new life elsewhere.

They heard light footsteps approaching. Snow's attendant was returning with fresh bandages. Erden let go of her hand and turned his head towards the lake. Snow could not make out his expression.

From the corner of her eye, she saw the red-crowned crane in the middle of the lake flap its white and black wings and lift itself out of the water. They watched it take flight over the high, orange rooftops of the Palace walls, and disappeared from view.

Question: Is the tension between Snow and Erden palpable? Let me know in the comments!

Author's notes: Mandarin ducks are symbols of love, devotion, affection and fidelity. The red-crowned crane is a symbol of longevity, immortality and nobility.

In Chinese, a lazy person is called a lazy worm 🐛 I didn't make it up 😂

Erden is a Mongolian boy's name that means treasure ❤️