Chapter 3: The First Appearance

Their first public appearance was at the spring banquet hosted by Prime Minister Hou — crowded, loud, and precisely the kind of social battlefield where reputations were made and destroyed between courses.

Ruoxi had spent two days preparing. She had selected her gown with surgical precision. She had briefed the general on the relevant political factions, the people he should acknowledge and the people he should ignore, the exact expression to wear when approached by Lord Pei.

The general had listened to all of it. He had asked one question.

"Should I hold your hand or your arm?"

She had blinked. "What?"

"When we enter. What looks more convincing."

It was, she realized, a very practical question. She was annoyed at herself for not having considered it first. "Hand," she said. "Arm is formal. Hand is personal."

He nodded. That was all.

When they arrived at the banquet hall, he offered her his hand without ceremony, without awkwardness, with the same steady confidence with which he apparently did everything. She took it.

His hand was warm. She noted this with the detached professionalism of someone who was absolutely not noticing it.

The room turned to look at them. She could hear the shift — the small collective intake of breath, the rustle of whispers starting up. She kept her chin up and her expression serene.

"Lord Pei is at the third table," she murmured. "He's already seen us."

"I know," said the general quietly. "He's been staring for thirty seconds."

"Don't look at him."

"I'm not." A pause. "You planned this entrance perfectly."

She had. She almost smiled. "Of course I did."