Chapter 417: Extra 12.

list of medicines to be sent to Reedbank. They exchanged brief comments on the amount of timber required to repair a damaged bridge and whether the medical hall could spare a healer to visit the village clinic.

Then Yan Cijin leaned her head against Bai Li’s shoulder.

Bai Li turned a page.

Yan Cijin kissed her cheek.

Bai Li turned another page.

Yan Cijin rested a hand on Bai Li’s knee and traced a small circle against the fabric of her robe.

Bai Li read the same paragraph three times. She had the sense to recognize what was happening, but no desire whatsoever to stop it. The report had survived for two days without being read. It could survive another five minutes.

Eventually, Yan Cijin lifted her face and looked at her. "My love, is something wrong?"

"Yes."

"What is it?"

Bai Li closed the report and set it on the table. "You."

Yan Cijin smiled as though she had just received a treasured gift. "I am doing nothing."

"That is precisely the problem."

"You prefer me to be busy?"

"I prefer you to be honest."

Yan Cijin blinked innocently. "I am always honest."

Bai Li looked at the hand still resting on her knee. Yan Cijin followed her gaze, then slowly moved her hand as if the motion proved her innocence. The expression on her face was so sweet that Bai Li felt an absurd urge to laugh.

"You are trying to distract me."

"I am trying to spend time with my wife. There is a difference."

"Is there?"

"A very important one."

Bai Li leaned forward and kissed her. Yan Cijin’s playful smile softened. She had a way of meeting Bai Li’s affection that always made the act feel both familiar and new. Even when they had already spent the whole morning together, a kiss could still make Yan Cijin’s fingers curl gently into Bai Li’s sleeve, as if some part of her wanted to keep the moment from passing too quickly.

When they drew apart, Yan Cijin rested her forehead against Bai Li’s. "You should stop pretending that you want to read those reports."

"I do want to read them."

"Then read them."

Bai Li glanced toward the table. "I have forgotten what they said."

Yan Cijin laughed so hard that she had to cover her mouth. The sound was bright, unrestrained, and full of delight. Bai Li watched her with an expression that made Yan Cijin laugh even harder.

"You are impossible," Yan Cijin said at last.

"You have mentioned that before."

"I shall have to mention it more often. You might eventually understand."

"I understand perfectly. You enjoy the impossible."

Yan Cijin’s eyes softened. "I enjoy you."

The teasing fell away for a moment. Bai Li brushed the back of her fingers over Yan Cijin’s cheek, then tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. There were times when she wondered how her life might have looked if she had never met Yan Cijin. The answer was easy enough to imagine. She would still have trained. She would still have climbed through the martial realms. She would still have become powerful, respected, and perhaps feared. She might have become a legend whose name appeared in old books. But the idea of that life felt strangely empty now, not because she could not have lived it, but because she knew exactly what it would have been missing.

Yan Cijin seemed to understand the thought without hearing it. She took Bai Li’s hand and pressed a kiss to her palm.

"Where did you go just now?" she asked.

"Nowhere."

"You looked far away."

Bai Li turned her hand over and caught Yan Cijin’s fingers. "I was thinking about our first meeting."

Yan Cijin sat up at once. "Were you?"

"You were very rude."

"I was correct."

"You accused me of hiding information."

"You were hiding information."

"I was protecting a witness."

"You could have said so."

"You would not have believed me."

Yan Cijin considered that, then gave a small nod. "That is probably true."

They had met years earlier during a dispute over a stolen martial manual. Bai Li had been sent to escort a witness to a neutral town, while Yan Cijin had been following a separate trail that led her to the same inn. Each had believed the other possessed important information. Their first conversation had been sharp, suspicious, and full of carefully chosen words. Yan Cijin had accused Bai Li of being too proud to explain herself. Bai Li had accused Yan Cijin of asking questions that were none of her business. They had spent an entire evening arguing over the best way to protect the witness, then discovered at midnight that they agreed on nearly every important point.

The memory still amused them because neither woman had been especially gracious. Bai Li had noticed Yan Cijin’s beauty immediately, though she had been far too irritated to admit it. Yan Cijin had been impressed by Bai Li’s swordsmanship, then annoyed by how little the other woman seemed to care about being admired. They had ended the night with a practical arrangement and the firm belief that they would probably never have to see each other again.

Three months later, they had met again.

Six months after that, Yan Cijin had begun looking for reasons to visit the region where Bai Li was training. Bai Li had started keeping a record of which tea Yan Cijin liked, then insisted that the notes were only useful because different teas helped in different weather. Their friends had recognized the truth before either woman had been willing to say it out loud.

"You fell in love with me first," Yan Cijin declared.

Bai Li gave her a flat look. "I did not."

"You remembered my tea preference after meeting me twice."

"You complained about the tea every time it was prepared incorrectly. It was a matter of efficiency."

"You learned which flowers I liked."

"They were growing beside the training ground. I had eyes."

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TO BE CONTINUED.