Mei Meili sat on the edge of her bed in her cosy tent admiring Tiger Roaring and Dragon Howling, which sat with pride of place on the side table.
She had asked Manni to leave a candle lit so she could keep admiring the guqin.
She had already had a little turn playing the precious instrument, but First Brother had stuck his head into the tent and told her to go to sleep.
She was beyond excited to get to know the zither better when she got back home.
Her mind was a whirl of emotions so that even though she was completely exhausted, she wasn't ready to sleep yet.
The images of the past two days flashed in her head, tumbling over each other wildly despite her efforts to calm her mind.
Natural beauty, riding into the horizon, pain, fear, Bai Li, her beloved Tricky, her brothers' arrival, the banquet, Li Fengfeng's cruelty, no veil, playing 'On the Frontier' with Tan Bowen…
The excitement of these two days felt like more than she'd experienced in the last five years.
Her last thought for the night was that she would never be able to get to sleep.
Tricky quietly got up and padded outside. He lay down at the tent entrance, sleeping lightly.
The change of environment was a lot for the dog as well as his mistress. His ears twitched in his sleep at every chirp and rustle in the deep night. He bristled at the constant step and call of the perimeter guards.
Bai Li wasn't on duty tonight, but he found himself unable to sleep and he was drawn, inexorably, towards Mei Meili's tent.
He walked quietly towards the Mei encampment in the depths of the night. He could see through the hide that she had left a candle burning. He hoped Manni had secured it. Being in a tent was a much more volatile environment for fire than a bedroom in a mansion.
He was frightened for the naïve young woman's safety out here. She was swimming so far beyond her abilities in these political waters. A literal babe in the woods.
There was a time when he had had faith in her brothers to protect her, but the last 24 hours had shot holes in that pretty fairytale.
Like now, for instance, one of them should have been on guard outside her tent. Here he was, able to approach her without hindrance.
The soldier was pleased when he saw that Tricky slept at the entrance. 'Good boy', he thought approvingly. 'You're smarter than her brothers…'
The dog opened one eye and peered at him. He recognised the man as good. The one that had cared for his mistress. Back to his light sleep.
Bai Li slid down next to the Chow Chow. He intended to sit for a while until his state of high alert relaxed enough for him to be able to sleep.
Tricky gave a quiet chuff and rested his head on the man's lap. Bai Li chuckled and gave him a head ruffle.
Mei Meili awoke in the middle of the night and looked about the candlelit tent in confusion. Where was she? Oh, that was right, in her tent. Where was Tricky? He wasn't in his usual spot guarding beside her bed.
She tiptoed outside to look for him.
The dog's cream fur glowed in the moonlight. Meili was startled when she saw that he slept with his head and half his body on a soldier's lap. She peered cautiously into the man's face in the dim light.
Oh! It was Bai Li. What was he doing here? Was the man perhaps worried about her?
She thought again how strange it was that Tricky-Wu liked Bai Li. It put the soldier in a rarified class with her Third Brother. Even Fifth, who constantly snuck him treats, was not accepted by the dog.
She felt her heart clench at the sight of the two, man and dog.
She went inside and fetched a blanket, laying it lightly over them both, before hurrying back into the tent to climb into her warm bed.
She couldn't afford to care for a man like Commander Bai. She planned to save her heart and her first love for the 'good man' she knew her parents would choose for her in the future, and who her mother had often spoken of, ever since her early childhood.
It wouldn't do to have an unrequited crush on this eminent son of a General just because he was her saviour…
Outside the tent, Bai Li smiled and pulled up the blanket she'd given him.