Archive of Our Own

Sun Lian sometimes wondered how her past self had ever been so hesitant.

Scholar Ling had both awed and bewildered her. She could be so...callous, at times, yet subtly charming when it came to their flirtations. As princess, she had admired her willingness to make the pragmatic choices she had once shied away from.

Theirs had been a cruel dilemma, but the alternative was unthinkable. Let the Empire fall under her watch? Never. She’d thought she would be burdened with guilt when the Water Dragon shed her last tear, but instead she could only feel elation as she watched the power course though Ling’s body.

That was only the beginning. Who knew that defying the gods could be so fun?

The sound of gentle laughter and hushed conversation echoed through the empty halls of the Imperia Palace. Errant ghosts and demons no longer held sway here. Save the occasional lapdog, few dared to disturb the privacy of the Empress’s bedchamber, especially when she was in the company of her favorite guest.

“Gentle Breezes has assured me that Judge Fang remains too frightened to lay a hand on her.” The Empress reclined against her sumptuous bedding, skin flush against the golden brocade. "Your methods of intimidation are as effective as ever."

In the days following their victory, she had taken great pleasure in showing her companion the hidden rooftop paths and secret passages she'd used as Silk Fox. It amused her greatly to see Ling using them to increasingly deadly effect.

Lithe arms encircled her waist as similarly unclothed woman pressed herself against her back.

“It is good that she trusts you, but maybe it would be better to deal with him in a more permanent capacity.”

“Was it not your idea to keep him alive?” Lian turned her head back to give her companion a challenging smirk.

“Once. Now that your will is absolute, there is no more need for prudence. It's well past time that the man should have more to fear in his life than a gift of turtle eggs.”

“It is as you say, Tiger Lifts the Mountain.” Ling scowled at the mention of her old arena moniker, which only served to make the Empress laugh again. “I’ve no doubt you have your own ideas of how to deal with him. Trace of poison in his wine bowl? A tragic fall from his viewing platform? Such a trivial event would be beneath the notice of the Empress, but it might serve as an amusing diversion for her alter ago, hmm?”

She turned in her consort’s arms and brought a palm to cover her heart, feeling the energy pulsing there. Unlike with Emperor Sun Hai, the ravages of the Water Dragon’s power had not taken their toll on the spirit monk’s body, and the warm expanse of her skin remained unmarred.

Lian let herself fall back against the pillows, long shining hair cascading over the fine silks, arms resting loose and languid over her head. She gazed at Ling with expectant eyes full of yearning, to command, to possess.

“Attend to me,” she instructed, voice unwavering.

Poised for rule since childhood, she had never been willing to yield her position, not even to the woman who’d conquered a god. It was the deepest and most delicate of tensions between them, whether Ling would continue to indulge the whims of her mortal lover or if Lian would be made to lower her head to the one who’d secured her empire.

Ling simply scoffed, lips smiling and eyes warm with affection. Lian had her at her mercy once again. Just as she always did.

Her love captured her lips in a deep kiss as she straddled her midsection, fingertips stroking her sensitive sides in a way that made her tremble in anticipation. She lifted her hips shamelessly as she felt warmth and wetness pool between them. Ling let her mouth trail downward, pressing kisses into her neck before covering her breasts with more. Lower still she traveled, her ministrations as meek and gentle as any novice before the temple of her goddess.

To hold such sway, such complete control over one so powerful - it was a heady rush that left Lian breathless as the woman in question found her need and began to sate her with eager and worshipful laves of her tongue. The Heavenly Lily gasped aloud in a way that would have mortified her in a previous, more inhibited life, but now she only felt triumph as Ling’s mouth moved to pleasure her further, spurred on by her approval.

It was a pity her father had gotten it so wrong, she mused as sensations of bliss overwhelmed her.

The heart of a god was a prize indeed, and Lian was ready to embrace all this vessel had to offer: both power and pleasure in kind.

“It is an honor to serve my Empress,” Ling murmured the words as she placed a kiss against her thigh, making her heart swell in satisfaction.

Impossible though the imbalance between them seemed - consort and royal, god and mortal - neither of them ever tired of these playful tussles couched in words of love. Whatever end would result from this push and pull between them, never could it be said that the Jade Empire’s greatest ruler did not enjoy herself fully.