There was a definite chill in the atmosphere of the large ballroom in the southern wing of Xiumin’s castle, despite the numerous roaring fires along its walls. Luhan stood in between a nobleman with a bad case of halitosis and a lady’s daughter who tried desperately to flirt with him every time he happened to glance past her to see what Xiumin was doing. The Northern Prince was being very courteous and polite to all the guests stopping him to talk, some wanting him to stay longer than others. Luhan felt the need to protect him from those vultures bubbling in his throat, the grip he had on the glass in his hand tightening with every person Xiumin tried to push away.

A hand covered his own. “Instead of decorating the walls with wine, why don’t you go over and talk to Minseok?” It was Tora.

“What do you mean?” asked the Eastern Prince, watching as Kris successfully diverted the small crowd around the Northern Prince and disappeared again.

“Every two months Minseok hosts all the nobles from the Northern Provinces in a meet-and-greet. Every two months they also brag to him about what has been happening in their duchies. None of us like these meetings, but it’s essentially the only way for Minseok to know what’s happening in his Provinces.” explained the Serpent, narrowing her eyes at a particular nobleman, “Watch out for him, by the way.” Luhan followed Tora’s gaze to a rather rotund middle-aged man with greying hair and beard, his small eyes darting around the room as if he were looking for something. He wore an abundance of medals over what the Eastern Prince assumed was a military uniform, a flame-red cloak protecting his shoulders and back.

“Kris thinks that he wears red so that no-one can see when he gets stabbed in the back.” Tora giggled, straightening up as said nobleman’s eyes swivelled over to them.

“You! Servant!” His voice was easily heard over the chatter of the ballroom, “Fetch me more wine!” Tora’s cheeks reddened with her fury, but before she could retort Luhan stepped in.

“Please refrain from speaking to Prince Xiumin’s Guardian in that manner.” he said calmly. The man puffed up visibly.

“Excuse me! I am the Lord of the Ice Plains! Who are you to speak to me in such a manner?” he exploded, stomping up to Luhan and staring down at him. Luhan didn’t flinch or move, returning the furious gaze upon him with his own level one.

“I am the Prince of the Eastern Provinces, Luhan, and I will ask you again to refrain from speaking to Prince Xiumin’s Guardian in that manner.” he said again, still using his calm voice. The man deflated until he seemed to shrink below Luhan’s height, murmuring apology after apology and slowly backing away into the crowd. Luhan frowned at the spot he’d vacated.

“That could be the main reason both Kris and I don’t like him,” Tora said, giving the Eastern Prince a quick one-armed hug, “That, and he’s been after the throne for years.”

“Why?”

“Before Minseok became Prince, he was the Northern Province’s most decorated General. You may have heard of him under the name ‘The Glacier’.” Luhan’s eyes widened; he’d heard of him! “The previous ruler dishonourably discharged him for conspiracy and named Minseok as successor, with permission from Suho of course. Since then he’s always been out trying to get the throne, though his conspiracies can’t be proven as of yet.”

“You and Kris must’ve been around when that happened.” Tora’s face softened, and Luhan could swear that she just aged those two hundred years they were talking about at breakfast. The lights in her golden eyes shimmered with the memories that she dredged up, tossing up between spilling them or not.

“Kris and I have been around a lot longer than many people realise, though we’ve been here in the North for only fifty years. I’m originally from the Southern Provinces, but I met Kris during a pilgrimage to a shrine in the Western Mountains. He was the Gatekeeper of the shrine I was visiting, but I managed to convince him to let me visit and pay my respects. After I’d returned to the South I’d received a strange note from a Western messenger that told me to go out to the border between the Southern and Western Provinces. I found Kris there waiting for me, and the rest is history, or so the saying goes.” She spoke of her fellow Guardian with such reverence and…dare Luhan think it…love that it made his heart melt for the both of them. Despite getting the suspicion that she was only telling him the bones of their story, he could understand why he was being told her story – it could perhaps help him with winning their acceptance and Xiumin’s heart.

The Eastern Prince glanced over at the long table situated at the head of the ballroom, Xiumin sitting in the throne he’d had moved from the throne room and chatting to an elderly noble lady with more diamonds around her neck than there were in his own Eastern Star. Something shifted behind the Northern Prince’s seat, and though Luhan promised himself he wouldn’t he probed the shadows to find out what it was.

“Prince Luhan?” Tora blinked at how rigid Luhan had suddenly gone. She squawked in indignation as his glass was into his hands and he made a beeline for the high table and Xiumin, “What are you doing?” She placed his glass on a passing servant’s tray and tore after him, stopping a metre away from the Eastern Prince.

“Don’t drink that.” Luhan commanded Xiumin.

“What’s gotten into you, Luhan?” Minseok frowned at his suitor, “General Han suggested I add the powder to my wine to help perk me up.” Luhan frowned harder than the Prince in front of him, knowing full well that he’d seen the General sneak behind the throne and away from the scene of the potential crime.

“Kris,” The Eastern Prince turned to the Dragon, “I would like you to find General Han. I believe he’s tried to poison your Prince.” Kris rose from his seat on Xiumin’s other side and fled the ballroom, embers spitting from his eyes.

“How would you know that?” Xiumin watched in shock as Luhan picked up the wine glass from in front of him and downed it in one go, swaying on the spot when the crimson liquid was gulped down.

“I’m a Psychic.” was all the Eastern Prince said before seeing black.

-

“Here’s one: ‘Wishing Prince Luhan a speedy recovery from his recent illness in the North.’ How so generic.”

“Listen to this: ‘Prince Luhan! I hope you get better! Then we can go out again, okay? Yeah, no desperation in that one.”

“What are you two doing?” Minseok frowned at his two Guardians shuffling through a small pile of pink and white letters and cards all addressed to the Eastern Prince. Kris and Tora shared a look before holding up one item each, waving it to try and entice their Prince into reading it.

“They were all opened when we got to them.” Kris deadpanned, noticing the sparkle in Minseok’s eyes, “Luhan’s been awake for two days.”

“Is he okay?”

“Still cramping in the stomach, according to the doctor,” Tora replied, throwing a pink card onto a second pile she’d dubbed ‘Too Cheesy For Viewing’, “But that’s what sort of poison it was. He’s going to be alright in a few days, though.”

“What happened to General Han?”

“We’re leaving that for you to decide. After all, you were his intended target.” Kris reached over Tora to throw a white-papered letter – all seven pages of it – onto the pile behind her, “Sehun and Kai have been with him since he woke up.”

“You can tell him that we have accepted him, too.” Tora added, not looking up from her frowning at a rather hastily scrawled note on the back of a flyer promoting a blacksmith’s forge in the South. Minseok’s entire body lit up at the statement, a flurry of snow enveloping his entire body as a display of his happiness. Did they really mean that?

“Yeah, we mean it.” He said that aloud. The Dragon looked up at his Prince from the fourth page of another seven-page letter and gave Minseok the widest gummy grin he could muster. Minseok switched his stare to Tora, who gave him two thumbs up. Squealing loudly with barely contained glee, the Northern Prince sprinted out of the room and down toward the room Luhan was staying in.

Kris watched his Prince go, then looked at Tora. “Should we have told Minseok why?” he asked, giving up on Luhan’s well-wishes and running a hand down the onyx scales on his face.

“He’ll ask when he’s finished making out with Luhan.” Tora replied casually, shoving all the cards and letters to the side and crawling forward, depositing herself in her fellow Guardian’s lap and holding up a white alpaca, “Ace is getting lonely.” Kris took the toy from Tora and placed him on top of the card pile, facing the opposite way.

“He can have a job to do while Dad and Mom do their own job.” he growled huskily.

-

“We were so worried!”

“Me more than him!”

“Shut up, Kai.”

“Guys,” Luhan held up a hand to quieten his Guardians, “I’m fine. And don’t go beating yourselves up over this, either; I knew what I was doing when I downed the drink.”

“But you said you wouldn’t use your abilities!” Sehun whined, stamping his foot like a child having their favourite toy taken away from them. Luhan sighed at the wind walker’s childishness and the fact that he’d created a small tornado in the middle of his room with his temper.

“Sehun, you know that I can’t turn my abilities off like you and Kai can.” Kai snorted an ‘Amen to that’, “The doctor said I’ll be out of bed tomorrow and I’ll be fine in a few days.” Sehun kept up his pout and temper, but remained silent as a force barrelled its way into the room and straight at Luhan. The Eastern Prince recognised the flame-coloured hair tickling his nose to be Minseok’s, and he quickly bid his Guardians to give them some privacy. Sehun grabbed Kai’s collar and dragged him out the door amidst protests from the teleporter.

“Minseok, I’m fine.” Luhan winced as another stomach cramp crippled him slightly, but straightened up and looked the Northern Prince in the eye, watching tiny crystals drip from his eyes. Reaching up, the Eastern Prince cupped Minseok’s face and used his thumb to dry his tears, noticing the large smile on his face.

“They said yes!” Minseok squealed quietly, closing the distance between their faces and smashing his lips to Luhan’s. Luhan’s eyes widened to the size of carriage wheels when he felt the pressure of Minseok’s lips on his own, quick to reciprocate the frantic kissing he was receiving.

“They’ve accepted me?” he gasped once they needed to breathe. Minseok nodded excitedly.

“They were sorting through your fanmail when they told me. Do you know what this means?”

“I can kiss you without caring who’s watching? And why were they going through my fan – oh yeah, I said they could.” Minseok giggled and leaned forward again, Luhan meeting him halfway.

-

With the combination of ex-General Han’s extradition to the Western Provinces and the need for representation from the Ice Plains, Minseok was working harder than ever to fill in those gaps in his Provinces. Luhan was still recovering from the poison, but at least he was out of bed and moving around the castle. Sehun and Kai alternated their time between being at their Prince’s side and helping Kris and Tora out with their duties, which seemed to have trebled in the last few days. Luhan was missing his Northern Prince terribly, but the question of why he was accepted after his near-death experience (as Sehun called it) burned in his mind until he asked Kris about it one day when he spotted the Dragon in the dining room by himself.

“It wasn’t because you saved Minseok’s life, though that was a factor in our decision.” replied Kris, looking up from the book he was reading, “Do you really want to know why we said yes so quickly?”

“I do.” Luhan said confidently. Kris smiled and marked his place in his book, placing it beside his plate and turning his body to face the Eastern Prince.

“It’s because you make Minseok the happiest he’s ever been since he became the Northern Prince. Before he became Prince he was our Frost Gem, and many people had travelled north just to see his power. Tora and I decided that no-one was to get as close as you did without going through us first, and we would rather die than allow the wrong person to court him.” Luhan breathed out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding during Kris’ story, “You’re the first person in the history of Minseok’s reign to get to know him and us before asking to see his power, and even though you’d known him only a day that was why we accepted you.”

“I’ve seen his power, though. He drew an ice heart on my cheek after you left to get Kai and Sehun new clothes that first day.” Kris laughed at that, slapping the table lightly.

“That sounds like Minseok. He told us about your correspondence, you know. I do applaud the both of you for keeping it a secret as long as you did.” A blush sprinkled itself over the Eastern Prince’s cheeks, but he shook it away in favour of another question.

“Tora told me at the meet-and-greet that you two met at a shrine in the Western Mountains. Do you sometimes miss it?” Kris’ eyes glazed over at the mention of his former home, the rugged scenery and crisp mountain breezes filling his mind’s eye with images that made his eyes wet. He blinked furiously to keep his tears at bay and nodded slowly.

“I won’t deny that I do,” he admitted finally, “but there’s something about finding the person you know that you’re going to spend the rest of your life with that makes you forget what it evens means to have a physical structure to call your home.” Luhan swallowed at Kris’ implications, his mind immediately drawing a picture of a flame-headed Prince with round cheeks and snowflakes dancing over his eyes.

“Luhan!” Kai burst into the dining room, destroying the serenity the two men found themselves in, “Prince Xiumin has some free time now and says that if you think you’re up for it you can meet him in the library where he first took us when we arrived in the North.” The teleporter panted in between each word, and he swore he’d never seen the Eastern Prince move quicker. His chair still rocked even after he’d disappeared down the hall.

“Nice acting.” Kris quipped, his book back in his hand. Kai straightened up and dusted off his tunic.

“I thought it’d be a nice touch.” he grinned.

Author's Note: There could possibly be a third part to this, because I feel that I haven't ended it well enough here. Or, if you like, it'll just be a bonus chapter. I'll see how I feel. For now, have some Xiuhan.

-GuardianOfTheDawn :3