[b]Chen![/b]

"Princess Chen," said Princess Qiu. "I have a confession. I have in fact painted the places I intend to conquer."

And out here on the balcony, beyond the easel surrounded by reference photographs of Ys, you have a grand view of Princess Qiu's mustering legions[1].

[1]: Princess Qiu has needed to perform some truly heroic feats of optical illusion to make this sight seem as grand as it does, given that her army consists of about a thousand total - of which seven hundred are actual uniformed soldiers, and of which five hundred are deployed on various guard duties around her kingdoms. Even fully assembled it's barely a medium sized army by regional standards, and that's including her Assault Ribbons. With careful spacing, giving everyone dramatic helmet feathers, use of vehicles, tents fires, ensuring the skylines are clustered with evenly ranked Assault Ribbons, and other filmmaker's tricks, Qiu has been able to create the [i]impression[/i] of a mighty legion ready to march despite having barely enough people to fill up a community theatre hall.

"In fairness to me," said Qiu, "since I intend to conquer everything, it's hard to find subject material outside of that range."

[b]Rose![/b]

"You know what I think, Rose from the River of the White Doe with the Cute Nose?" said Princess Qiu, tail snaking around your neck. "I think that you're a raging submissive who's had some shitty masters. I think that you believe nobody will give you the [i]right[/i] orders unless you manipulate them into doing it. I think that you joined the White Doe School of all possible schools purely because you knew they'd send you against me, and you [i]desired[/i] this confrontation. Poor girl, to want so badly to throw yourself upon another's mercy while being unable to trust anyone enough to do it." 

Her finger pushed against your mouth firmly, pushing aside your lips, sliding along your teeth, intimate and invasive and vulnerable all at once.

"Well, you're in luck," she pulls her finger free and tosses aside her sheathed sword, and draws in its place another, lesser blade. A condescension in shining steel. "You've put yourself in a position where you can be collared and bought to heel in a way that is and is not your will all at once. But..."

She brings her still-wet digit to her own lips and kisses it gently. "... If you fight me here you are surrendering all of your concerns about my monopolistic power. You will lose, of course, and in defeat you will not be able to act on your fears. If you fight me here you won't be able to stop me from taking over the world as you will be too busy decorating the walls of my harem. Can you live with that, Rose from the River?"

[b]Yue![/b]

Watching someone move through a familiar kitchen is a magic of its own. Drawers and cupboards open up like puzzle boxes. Utensils and equipment emerge as if by magic. It's a little world where everything is known, mapped and measured. Princess Qiu must not have any maids to know her way around this place so well. She assists you with diligence and without ego, performing the constant string of support tasks needed to give a chef true freedom of motion.

And all the while her eyes remain fascinated. She's drinking in information and when you catch those eyes in passing you see thoughts swirling beneath. 

And then you confront her and she hesitates, and it's not that she's surprised. It's that she's specifically creating a moment where she is letting herself be just another girl in the kitchen here with you. But her eyes linger on your radiant battle-dress, and on the sword you have left by the door. Her eyes meet yours one more time and you can feel the uncertainty there, the edge of guilt to that slowly swishing tail. And then, a smile that is a guess.

"Oh? You dare question me?" said Princess Qiu, leaning back alongside the oven and spreading her arms imperiously. "How audacious! Very well! I have bought you here because you pose a threat to my reign! If you were to be trained in the blade by Mistress Tsao who hides from my wrath aboard the Sky Castle then the demons prophecise that you may yet be my match! And so I have bought you here to be my prisoner - and should you escape, my armies shall pursue you to the ends of the earth!"

This is the kind of thing that no doubt feels more dramatic coming from someone playing a pipe organ at the top of a great pyramid. Somehow, though, having it over cookies and tea in a comfortable kitchen doesn't feel wrong.