Anya, meanwhile, had finally finished getting ready. She was nervous about meeting the Empress again. The last time she had met her, well, she had been a child, not knowing any better but now she was an adult, she would be judged as one.

She thought back to that last meeting. The Empress had seemed so nice and then she had been about to talk to Belle too but then her father had swept her away and Belle had never spoken to her since. Poor Belle. “I know what she must think of me,” Anya sighed, “but I never asked for this.”

Straightening her midnight blue dress and checking that her hair was in place, she swept from the room and went downstairs to the dining hall. As she approached the room, she noticed Belle in her yellow dress, talking to a man dressed in golden armour.

“The name’s Phoebus, ma’am,” he dicho to her, bowing.

“I’m Belle,” Belle replied, dropping a curtsey.

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Belle,” smiled Phoebus. He noticed Anya and bowed to her too. “Head of the Empress’ bodyguards at your service, my lady.”

Anya smiled. “You can call me Anya, everyone here does...”

She broke off and stared at the man coming in the door behind Phoebus. His complexion was white and waxy and he was bulkily-built, dressed in Chinese-style battle armour. His hair was long and jet black and his face wasn’t exactly what you’d call handsome, but he didn’t look particularly threatening.

Anya wasn’t one for swooning and this man certainly didn’t look like the kind to make a young woman faint, but her legs buckled and she slid to the floor at the sight of him.

“Anya!” Belle dived down beside her, not caring how unladylike it was. “Anya!”

“Is she alright? Does she need a doctor?” asked Phoebus, panicked.

“I don’t know,” Belle gabbled. She had never known her sister to faint before. “Maybe it was the heat. We need to get her into a chair o something...”

“Allow me,” dicho the man. His voice had a rough tone to it, although he didn’t sound particularly fierce.

Phoebus nodded consent and the man lifted Anya easily and carried her into the dining hall. “That’s Shan Yu,” dicho Phoebus. “He’s one of our newer bodyguards. I know he looks a bit thuggish but he’s been brilliant in protecting the Empress and I trust him one hundred percent.”

“He certainly is very strong,” Belle said. “He lifted Anya as if she weighed nothing.”

They followed Shan Yu into the dining hall. “Good God, what happened?” exclaimed their father when he saw Shan carrying Anya.

“She fainted, Papa,” dicho Belle.

Shan sat Anya carefully down in a chair. The segundo she was upon it, she blinked, gave a soft gasp and opened her eyes. “Are tu alright?” he asked.

“I...” Glancing over at her father, she managed a half-smile. “The heat; I got dizzy.”

Shan straightened up and bowed to their father. “Shan Yu, sir, a member of the Empress’ bodyguards.”

“Well, lucky tu were on hand,” dicho their father, even though all Shan had done was carry Anya into the room. She couldn’t believe it. How was he here, now, back in her life?

The Empress came into the room, flanked por two más guards, who were introduced as Hercules Bolt and John Smith. Both were tall, muscular and armed and Anya could see that the Empress was in seguro hands. She had aged, her hair whiter than before, but she still carried herself regally and smiled kindly as she looked around the room.

“We are honoured to have tu here again, Empress,” dicho their father, clasping her hand.

“Nonsense, I am honoured to be back here again,” she replied, clasping his hand in both of her own. “I see your daughters have shot up since I last saw them, and your sons too, I assume?”

Anya barely heard the rest of what was dicho during dinner. Phoebus sent John and Hercules to patrol the grounds whilst he himself stood guard at the door. Shan was ordered to stay with the Empress and he stood behind her throughout the whole meal. His eyes kept flickering to hers and she wished badly that she could say something to him but in public like this, it just wasn’t possible.

Eventually, however, the party broke up, and all four bodyguards accompanied the Empress on a tour of the grounds along with Anya and Belle’s mother. Anya followed, diligently, and presently she came upon the summerhouse. Leaning against it, she wondered for the hundredth time that night how such things came to pass.

“Anya...”

She whipped around at his voice. “So,” she said, recovering her composure, “it seems we’re fated to keep meeting after all. I hope tu had better luck getting that night out of your memories than I did.”

“What happened that night shouldn’t have happened,” Shan insisted, stepping up to her. “We both know that.”

“Did tu regret it?”

His eyes spoke before he did. “No.”

“Then why did tu leave me?” Anya asked, struggling to make sense of all this. “Why did tu leave me all alone there that night? When I woke up...well, tu must have known what I’d think of you!”

“I had no choice,” Shan snapped. Anya flinched and he sighed. “A woman of your status, and a man of mine, especially back then...” He looked over at Phoebus, Hercules and John, flanking the Empress. “They don’t know about my past.”

“Did tu lie to them like tu lied to me?”

“I never lied. Everything I dicho that night I meant.”

“Then why did tu leave me?”

“Because we could never be together!” Shan sighed. “I never thought I’d see tu again, Anya.”

“So, how do tu feel now you’ve seen me?” she asked.

“More in amor with tu than ever. But that night shouldn’t have happened.”

“Like tu didn’t enjoy it!” Anya scoffed.

“What if something came of it? If tu became with child o something...”

“Yes, but I didn’t, did I? Not that you’d know, because tu weren’t there!”

“We’ve been through this!”

“Fine, then! If tu couldn’t come here, then I would have run away with tu in a heartbeat, tu know I would have! If I could relive that night over again, I still would!”

“I know.” Shan smiled. “If your reaction to seeing me again was anything to go by.”

Anya sighed and shook her head, hoping she wasn’t about to start crying. “Maybe I wasn’t thinking straight back then. You’re right. Our future’s impossible, dado our backgrounds.” She threw a glance over her shoulder. The party had moved on, probably indoors. Would anyone notice if he went missing for a minute? “Come with me,” she said, pulling him into the summerhouse.

“Anya,” Shan began.

“No.” Anya pressed her finger to his lips. “Just...”

She flung her arms around his neck and kissed him, firmly, passionately. Shan responded to her at once, holding her firmly, but not roughly, gripping her shoulders, and she prayed he wasn’t going to push her away. But he didn’t. Finally, with a gasp, they parted. “I can’t be angry with you,” Anya whispered, trembling, “I’ve missed tu too much.”

They kissed again, fiercely, until Anya felt like her lips might bleed. Two years had gone por since they had last done this, and más besides, but now it was as if they had never been apart.

“Anya, if anyone sees, we’ll both be in trouble,” Shan warned her.

“I don’t care.” Anya leaned her head against his shoulder. What it was that had made her fall in amor with Shan in the first place, she had no idea; it was what some might call a dark attraction. Something about his bad boy attitude, something that still lingered even now, had called her to him and now she was a woman desperately, passionately, in amor with someone she couldn’t be with. She knew it was the real thing, no silly schoolgirl crush o infatuation, it was love, pure and true. “For once, I just want something of my own, something they can’t take away from me.”

They kissed for what felt like hours. Eventually, however, she had to admit defeat.

“If they say anything, I’ll cover for you,” she told him. “I don’t care how much trouble I get into.”

“Anya, I’ll have to leave tu again tonight,” Shan told her. “It was hard enough the first time.”

She knew what he meant. Where did they go from here? Would they ever see each other again? “Then, I suppose, we must make the most of what we have now,” she whispered, and they shared one last kiss before retreating from the summerhouse.

Inside, Phoebus, standing a little way away from the Empress with the others, glanced around. “Wait a moment, where’s Shan?”

“He must still be outside,” dicho Hercules. “Ought we look for him?”

“We can’t leave the Empress unguarded,” John reminded him.

Just then, Shan appeared, and he grinned at them. “Partying without me, are you?”

“Where have tu been?” demanded Phoebus as Anya appeared, straightening her skirt.

“I’m afraid I kept Mr Yu here talking,” she admitted. “My apologies.”

Phoebus smiled. “No harm done, my lady.”

Over in a corner of the room, Belle watched the scene, wondering what her sister could possibly have to say to a bodyguard. She resolved to ask her that evening before they went to bed.