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Lian · 4/26/2026, 10:36 PM

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He may not know their customs, but Batu is deferent in the face of the princess' unperturbed welcome and gentle consideration. This masks any lack of expertise he has in their ways very well, and Lian notes his respect for his superiors with a bit of lament and mostly approval.

She misses her debates with Shouren, words exchanged between strategist and princess clad in silk and wrapped in thorns. But Batu is new to the Tianlong and new to his role. It wouldn't be fitting for him to hold the same flippancy toward the Golden Kin, and so Lian must find conversation woven amongst the niceties of submission.

She can hear his voice easier now that they walk away from the chattering laughter of the stream. Lian tilts her ears attentively toward the wèi jūn, then goes as far as to peer over her shoulder and arch a curious brow as he mentions his homeland. Oh, how interesting. I have not had the opportunity to meet any from your homeland before.

Lotus does not know much of the mongols, but she does know they are very different from her own Dynasty. Batu adapts well to their customs.

There will come a day she stands in shoes not so different from his. A daughter's duty is to step into a foreign world and shape herself to it after a lifetime of living as the pristine example of her people's traditions. It is the truth of her station that strangles the beating of her heart. Lian has fallen still and sober, gilded gaze trailing along the gnarled arch of a tree dressed in vine and moss.

I think there is great value in learning all I can of that within my borders and beyond. And I understand it is a difficult trial, to leave all one knows for something different. Lian does not say 'better', but she means it, however much she might not realize it. She tilts her head over her shoulder again - her expression opens like flower petals, a beacon of welcome. If you find yourself homesick, perhaps you would be kind enough to share your memories with me, so I might learn what I do not know. A burden shared was a burden halved. The land of your birth - is it very much like the forest the Dragon has led us to?

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Verdant's Grace

princess of the tianlong