Yuze doesn't cry often, but when he does, Chenzhou muses, it's always spectacular.
His whole body gets in on it. Tears running down his cheeks, face red and puffy, his hands shake, and he gets clingy.
It doesn't happen often, for obvious reasons, and never in front of other people.
He and Anna aren't very close, but they've known one another long enough that there is a level of comfort between them.
Chenzhou's not actually sure why they never grew close, it wasn't like Chenzhou didn't try to make them bond, but they just never clicked. Anna was a proper daughter, she liked children, poetry, and the kind of social gatherings that Yuze avoided like the plague.
Yuze had no patience for children, couldn't stand flowery language, and found absolutely no relaxation in the presence of others. He was a solitary sentinel according to Marian's husband, who'd helped mentor Yuze when he'd joined intelligence. Some people just were. Others required people to be happy and couldn't stand to go any length of time without human interaction.
Yuze used to go weeks without speaking and it was the happiest Chenzhou had ever seen him.
Their own friendship had been born in their comfort of being quiet together. Chenzhou's need for solitude wasn't nearly as strong as Yuze's. It existed more as a result of a life that did not allow him to have any. And Yuze's preference for playing the less-energetic games Chenzhou had been limited too as a sickly child.
Now they were closer than brothers. Soulmates in their own way and everything they did together and apart was aimed at the same goal, protecting the Camelia.
Yuze was also the only one that had followed Chenzhou's wishes for his own health, instead of looking for increasingly desperate ways to save him.
Chenzhou clutched him tightly as Yuze got himself under control and stopped crying.
"Are you alright? How do you feel? Can you breathe?" Yuze's hands flew over him, checking for…well, he didn't know what for but something. Anything.
It seemed mad to believe that Eirian had managed to do what so many others had failed to. All those years of healers and wizards and specialists and all their ridiculous tests and potions.
Chenzhou laughed. "I'm fine, really. I don't even ache."
Yuze stared at him.
"What?"
"You laughed." Yuze reached out and cupped his cheek.
Chenzhou flushed, but he couldn't help the small smile that crept onto his face. "I did." He laughed again and then Yuze started laughing to and they laughed together like fools until they were both crying.
"I haven't…I don't think I've ever felt this good before." Chenzhou rubbed the tears away as Yuze nodded along.
"Has Healer Huang examined you?"
Chenzhou grimaced. "No. I was hoping Eirian would be available."
"She's still not awake."
No wonder Yuze looked exhausted, Chenzhou thought. He hated being stuck in charge when Chenzhou couldn't be, and he would have been the first person to accept Eirian taking over instead.
"She…" It takes Chenzhou a moment to figure out what he wants to ask. "What do they think-"
"Exhaustion." Yuze shrugs. "Best they can tell anyway. She looks like she did after the other two times she used to her magic, but a bit worse. There's no other sign of injury. Marian's been looking after her."
"How do we even heal her?" Chenzhou asked, helpless.
Yuze shook his head. "I don't think there's anything we can do. Healer Huang did look in on her. Briefly. He said the fact that she didn't die in the first week is probably a sign that her magic is healing her."
Chenzhou let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "That's good then. Her magic is so strong."
Yuze nodded in agreement. "I'm not sure there'd be any other option." Then he starts to look apprehensive. "I haven't responded yet, but both the King and the Prince had written to her. Multiple times." He pulled the small stack of letters out of a pocket in his robe. "I haven't heard anything about them leaving the capital, but I can't imagine they're going to wait much longer."
Chenzhou winced. "I'll write them. Maybe they'll know something that could help?"
"If they know about her magic at all." Yuze glanced up at the missing ceiling.
"She seems close to the Prince." Chenzhou pointed out. "But perhaps I won't mention it outright." He took the letters with a sigh. "I'm sure the King's men will have heard about what happened by now."
"It's likely." Yuze agreed. "But the fact that neither of them have written me most likely means they're not that worried."
Chenzhou relaxed a bit.
"They'd have sent the Imperial Army if they thought she was in serious danger."
"I suppose it's a good sign that I didn't wake up to a siege."
Yuze snorted. "It wouldn't have been a siege. They would have razed this place to the ground in a few hours."
"That's comforting," Chenzhou drawled. "Thank you." The forces of the Camelia were technically part of the Imperial Army, like all military forces in the Land of Sorrow, and they ultimately answered to the King. But only a small fraction of the Imperial Army stayed in Aontacht. Most of the force was stationed along the borders under the commands of powerful families like the Ye's. Occasionally those families would change, falling in and out of favor or when new conflict areas arose, and forces had to reallocated.
But the part of the Imperial Army that remained in the capital was the strongest, despite not being the largest. The best soldiers from all other parts of the Imperial Army vied for positions in the capital, looking to make connections and earn honors from the wealthy elite that had the ability to raise a poor gutter rat to exalted heights.
They answered directly to the King and functioned as his own private army, though they were also responsible for defending the capital should it ever come under attack. The Imperial Army was the oldest institution in the Land of Sorrow, formed some thousand years ago and before the Soliel family had taken the throne, they'd had a hand in removing some less than savory despots. They'd suffered falls from favor and funding from kings who feared them before, but Eirian's Uncle had served as an officer in their ranks until he'd taken the throne, and they flourished under his rule.
They had an endless supply of funds, weapons, and determination and King Soliel could use them to destroy whomever he pleased.
~ tbc