The next few days passed by in a whirl.
Sun forbade me from going out yet, saying that word of mouth still needed to be spread about me.
He went out often, saying he was bragging about me to all his friends and acquaintances.
I’d be able to go out after he introduced me to his brotherhood, the meeting of which was tonight.
I was in y rooms, going through what few clothes I had.
It wasn’t much.
About half of my clothes stayed inside more storage ring.
I refused to even touch it.
It wasn’t even my style anyway, it was all pants and training outfits stained to hell and back.
My sister wasn’t kind to her clothes.
My clothes were all dresses, some more formal robes, wraps.
I preferred accentuating my curves.
It’s been a while since I’ve worn my fancy stuff, and I found they didn’t fit quite right anymore, I had lost weight and now they were all a little looser.
I would really prefer a new outfit, but that wasn’t going to happen.
Apparently my “husband” stole all his clothes from either dragons or humans.
Eventually, I settled on a dress that was nice, but not too nice.
A little looser too, so I didn’t look so thin.
Sun said they kept things casual, so this dress should be fine.
It was white, with blue lace and a bow that tied just over my tail.
I had to use my chi to tie it up, then admired myself in the cracked mirror.
Not bad.
I grabbed the brush to brush out my fur and make it fluffier, it was too short and flat.
As I did so, I found myself thinking about Wukong again.
He said I didn’t even have to act like I liked him.
He was just openly admitting he kidnapped me.
All I had to do was tolerate sitting next to him for a few hours, and then I can start looking for anchor points.
As futile a task that was.
In order feel an anchor point, I’d have to be less than a li from it.
Plus, it takes time to feel out the flows of chi to see if it formed a snarl necessary for an anchor point.
I’d have to slowly fly over the land and comb through each and every crevice to try and find one.
Even then they were so exceedingly rare, I’d be lucky to find one in the next ten thousand years, if there was even another one on this world at all.
Maybe I should have a plan B.
Knocking at my door, and Wukong’s voice called through the door.
“You ready princess?” His charming nickname for me.
“I’ll be out in a second!” I gave myself one last once over in the mirror.
Accessories!
I quickly flashed a silver comb with a flower on it into my hand and stuck it just above my ear.
That plus my necklace should be plenty of jewelry.
I took a deep breath.
I was as ready as I would ever be.
I marched to the door with the resolve of a soldier going to war, and threw it open, causing Wukong to leap back.
“I’m ready, keep your pants on.
Now, walk me through the guests again.” He rolled his eyes at me.
He was wearing his nice clothes today, the gold ones with the red cape and the feather hat.
“Well, there’s going to be six of us.
Bull Demon King, Dragon Demon King, Eagle Demon King, Lion Demon King, Macaque Demon King, and Gibbon Demon King.
You’ll have a hard time just listening, so you don’t have to worry about talking to them.
Just stay by my side the entire time.
Seriously, don’t leave for a moment.
These guys like to party hard.” “It sounds like you don’t trust me.” He snorted, glancing away.
“You’re not who I don’t trust.
I just don’t want to leave you alone with them.
Don’t leave my side, for any reason.
Understand?
These guys aren’t as nice as I am.” I swallowed thickly.
“Understood.” Wukong was already bad enough, and he was warning me about these guys?
Well, they sounded like bad news.
He nodded.
“Okay, let’s go.
Oh!” He gave me a once over.
“You look nice today.” He knew exactly how to piss me off.
He offered his arm, and I grudgingly took it.
Whatever his so-called “friends” were like, something told me I wanted to avoid them by hiding behind Wukong as much as possible.
We made it to the banquet hall as the first to arrive.
Stone braziers lit the perimeter of the room, casting it in flickering shadows and firelight.
A long stone table dominated the center, cushions on the ground meant for sitting on.
Monkeys were bringing food in and then quickly scampering out, and the fruit and wine was quickly piling up.
All this for just eight people?
We sat down, in the center of the table, and Wukong reached for the wine but I slapped his hand away.
“Oh no you don’t.
If it’s as serious as you say, you’re staying sober so you can protect me.” He grumbled, rubbing his hand.
“I’m going to have to drink when they get here anyway.” “Well, there’s no need to add some more before they get started.
The last thing I want is you dragging me off to your room again and cuddling me all night.” He grumbled under his breath but grabbed a mango and munched on that instead.
I was too nervous to partake, my stomach nodding up as I waited for the first to arrive.
It didn’t take long.
One of the generals, Ba, walked in, and bowed to us.
“Three of your guests have arrived.
Bull Demon King, Eagle Demon King, and Gibbon Demon King are here.” He stepped aside, some other monkeys keeping the doors open as they walked in.
Shit.
They were big.
About three times the size of a monkey, with Bull Demon King being about six times the size of a monkey.
He had a torso and legs like a human, but hooves on his feet, and his head was that of a cow, a bull.
He was also covering in a thin layer of fur, and his nostrils flared as he smelled the food prepared.
Eagle Demon King was similar, but he was much shorter, the size of an average human, with brown wings folded behind his back, a face with a sharp beak, and feathers all over him.
He walked on talons, shiny metal spurs layers over them with his armor.
Brown feathers all over him, still better than humans.
And finally, Gibbon Demon King was the least offensive to my senses, except for my sense of smell.
He stank.
When was the last time he had a bath?
Too long.
He looked like a wide, squat, large monkey wearing armor.
He didn’t have a tail though, leaving me again to wonder how he could stand up straight without one.
He settled down, his large pot belly jiggling.
I activated my spirit sight.
And breathed a sigh of relief.
None of them had the amount of chi Wukong did.
Even the three of them combined didn’t.
As long as I stuck close to him it would be fine.
Bull Demon King laughed boisterously as he sat to our right, across the table.
“I didn’t believe it until now!
You really do have a wife!
And here I thought I’d be the only married man in the brotherhood forever!
Congratulations Wukong!” The Eagle Demon King snorted, directly across from us.
“It seems a shame to me.
Bachelorhood suited you, my friend.
But I suppose if you get antsy you can always take another wife or a couple of concubines!” His words sent another round of laughter through the group and Wukong.
He stopped before the others, his laughter a little more subdued.
“True enough my friend.
But as Gibbon will tell you, my wife is more than pretty enough to keep me entertained.” Gibbon Demon King stroked his chin, and I did not like the way his eyes swept over me.
“I have to agree with you there.
Your wife truly is a vision.
Tell me, did she have any sisters?
I might be tempted to get one for myself.” I tensed up, my older sister flashing through my mind.
I had to swallow my growl towards him.
She would kill you before you could take one step towards her.
No wonder Wukong told me to stay near him.
These men were disgusting.
I turned away, suffering in silence as they continued to chat, wasting no time digging into the fruit, fish, nuts, and other dishes provided, none of it cooked.
Ba eventually came in and introduced the next two guests, Lion Demon King who looked like a lion and a human smashed together, and Dragon Demon King, he was a very large lizard who took up the entire end of the table.
They also made inappropriate comments about me before devouring the food and drink.
Now I understand why there was so much damn food and wine.
They ate like they were Pig Demon Kings.
Watching Wukong engage with them turned my stomach.
I pushed my own fruit away, and the last demon king, the Macaque Demon King arrived.
“Sorry I’m late.
I was picking up a gift for the newlyweds.” He… was a monkey.
A proper monkey.
I lifted my head up, hopeful that maybe one of Wukong’s brotherhood wasn’t a complete waste of air.
Everyone greeted him, and he pulled a small box out of his sleeve.
It was a dark wood, nicely carved on the lid.
He sat down next to Wukong, and tossed it to him.
Wukong caught it easily, and he grinned and shook it.
“What’s inside?
A lovely dress for my wife?
A perfume?” Macaque gave him a grin right back, his eyes full of mirth.
“You should let your wife open it.
It’s a gift for both of you after all.” He handed it over to me, and I regarded the small, carved box with suspicion.
I glanced up at Wukong and kept my voice low.
“Wukong, is it really okay to open this?” He nodded, leaning in, whispering back to me.
“It’s fine, Macaque is a bit of a prankster, but he wouldn’t hurt you.” His eyes hardened as he glanced back to Macaque.
“Not if he wants to keep his head on his shoulders.” Ugh, his breath smelled like wine.
I looked around to see everyone looking at me in anticipation.
Well, I had a feeling I wouldn’t like whatever was in there, but I might as well get it over with as quickly as possible.
I popped open the lid.