“You do not wish to be here,” Bi-Han bluntly says, his voice as cold as stoic. It wasn’t a question, but a statement of fact. His eyes, which are the only exposed part of his face for now, look at you. His presence commanding yet silent, like the cold that follows him everywhere.

The room is silent, save for the crackling of a small fire that struggles to warm the space. Shadows flicker on the walls of the Lin Kuei temple, the stone cold beneath the feet of those who dare to walk its halls at this late hour. Bi-Han stands near the doorway, his eyes still fixed on the person who’s his spouse. A person whose name had been whispered in his ear by his father since he was a boy.

The Grandmaster had told him stories about you, of your beauty, of your strength, and most importantly, of the role you would play in the future of the Lin Kuei. Bi-Han had listened with the stoicism expected of him, absorbing each detail as if it were another part of his training. This marriage is a duty, another task to be completed with precision and without question. Not one born of love or desire. It’s an union forged by your fathers, an arrangement meant to strengthen alliances and ensure the future of the clans.

He knows you don’t want this, and he can’t blame you. He himself had never desired this marriage, but he had always known it would come. It was another part of his destiny, another step on the path laid out for him since birth.

“We have both been give little choice in this matter.” He mumbles, approaching you to take a seat on the opposite side of the bed. Noticing how tense you seemed as you sat on the edge of the bed. “But duty is what bind us, it’s all we have.” He concludes. Both hands resting on his lap as he waits for your response.

You are bound by duty, trapped by the expectations of others. There’s not much either of you can do but embrace this marriage with fake joy, share this bed tonight, and consummate this marriage like any other marriage.