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On the night of the darkest moon, the last Heavenly Demon spawn strode into the Mo Palace, and demanded an audience with Mobei-jun.
He was small, closer to the size of that Sha demonness rather than Mobei-jun, and starved-looking, no doubt from his short time in the Abyss. Even still, his hair fell in glossy dark curls around his face, and the smears of blood only highlighted how smooth his skin was. His appearance was not unlike that of the pretty young things that decorated every demon sovereign’s palace. For such a small, bruised little thing to deliver himself straight to Mobei-jun's door...
‘Arrogant,’ Mobei-jun had thought, unfavourably. And yet, there was a look in the half-demon’s eyes that gave Mobei-jun pause. It was the look of the lowest Abyssal beasts, when they knew they were going to die but refused to go alone. Even dressed in all his royal finery, gazing down from his throne at the half-demon covered only by rags and blood, Mobei-jun had felt a strange thrill in his stomach.
“Mobei-jun,” the last Heavenly Demon said, and pointed Xin Mo directly at his face. “I challenge you to a duel. Winner takes the Northern Desert.”
There was really no way around it without losing face. Mobei-jun accepted the challenge. In less than three days, control of the Northern Desert left the Mo family for the first time in decades. And Mobei-jun pledged his loyalty to the brat who stole it from him.
*
Demon politics was not particularly difficult. Most of it operated entirely on the understanding that the strong prevailed over the weak; weaklings formed alliances or found protection under those who were stronger, strong ones engaged in battles to prove that they were strong enough to keep their titles. There was no need for negotiation, just an understanding of how the hierarchy worked and how to stay on top. Mobei-jun had understood it perfectly when he was only half Luo Binghe's age, though that could have been because of his superior bloodline.
Luo Binghe, on the other hand, was only half demon, not to mention one raised among humans and cultivators. He didn't even seem to hold any particularly high status in the human realm. Privately, Mobei-jun thought he might have been a servant at best. It might have been sad to see how truly terrible Luo Binghe was at everything (well, mostly everything), if it weren't so satisfying. Demons could sense weakness, and Luo Binghe was practically bleeding incompetence.
Mobei-jun hadn’t been wrong about his arrogance. But more than that, that cornered beast mentality of his, which might have worked when Luo Binghe’s only goal was survival, failed miserably when this arrogant brat was trying to govern a territory.
Demons lived for weakness; an unexpected change in power was certainly one of them. Mobei-jun’s presence on the throne had kept most of them at bay, a fact that he was quite pleased with. Now the ruler was a half-human brat whom no one had ever even heard of, and who certainly had not proved his strength yet.
It was the perfect time for demons to try their luck at taking the Northern Desert for themselves.
A smarter ruler would have ensured that their very first order as ruler was to prepare for the inevitable attacks. The very first thing that Luo Binghe had done as the new king of the Northern Desert was to demand a bed. He was swaying slightly on his feet, the blade of his cursed sword Xin Mo scraping the floor. Despite his clear exhaustion, there was a glow to his eyes that hadn't been there before, some sort of satisfaction that he had managed to win after all.
Mobei-jun, left kneeling from where he had pledged his lifelong loyalty to Luo Binghe, squashed the urge to knock his feet out from under him and resume the fight anew. Both of them were bleeding heavily, and the throne room was little more than rubble now. It would do no good to try and keep fighting.
"You are loyal to me," Luo Binghe said. Mobei-jun gritted his teeth and kept quiet. "So, I...I demand that you give me your best room. And you will keep guard while I sleep. If you betray me, I will kill you."
"I understand, Junshang." Mobei-jun waited for Luo Binghe to allow him to rise, but it only figured that the half-human brat wouldn't know the basics of ruling. Mobei-jun rose without Luo Binghe's approval, and felt just a little bit smug at the rebellion that Luo Binghe did not even recognise.
Luo Binghe took Mobei-jun’s old room, and curled up beneath the covers into a tight little ball. He slept for two days. Mobei-jun watched over him as promised, before the first wave of attacks demanded their attention.
To his credit, Luo Binghe bore the first wave of attacks with admirable level-headedness. He still had that sword Xin Mo calling for blood, and when he strode into the battlefield that very first time, the scent of his Heavenly Demon bloodline sent demons scattering before he even got close.
Then it happened again. And again. And again.
Luo Binghe had never lost a battle yet, not even when the odds were completely against him. But the constant attacks were clearly already wearing on him. The brat had come to Mobei-jun already haggard and exhausted; now, every time that Mobei-jun had to wake him to inform him of another attack, he could see the way Luo Binghe’s brow remained furrowed even in sleep. It was only a matter of time before Luo Binghe was overrun with demons trying to take over his throne, and then Mobei-jun could easily take back the Northern Desert. He might have pledged his loyalty to Luo Binghe, but that only meant that he wouldn't attack Luo Binghe unnecessarily. It didn't mean that he wouldn't relish seeing Luo Binghe fall.
It took three weeks before Luo Binghe cracked.
“Why,” Luo Binghe said lowly, looming at the head of their former conference table. “Do I keep getting attacked?”
The generals that Luo Binghe had elected to be on his war committee cowered at his tone. One of them was trying to hide himself underneath a piece of the table, cleaved into two by Xin Mo. All of them were too pathetically afraid of the half-human brat to speak.
Luo Binghe turned to fix his gaze on Mobei-jun.
"They sense instability in the region," Mobei-jun said.
Luo Binghe scowled. "So they're testing their luck. They want to see if they can take the Northern Desert from me."
Without waiting for a confirmation, he demanded, "How do I stabilise the region?"
One of the braver demons coughed. "Junshang," he squeaked. "The demons sense weakness because you took the Northern Desert by force."
"What are you suggesting?"
The foolish, foolish demon coughed again. "Junshang," he said. "Perhaps...a marriage alliance?"
"...marriage," Luo Binghe said. The demon nodded, his head wobbling like a doll being shaken.
"Yes!" He said, completely oblivious to the hundred and one ways Mobei-jun was going to remove that empty head from his body. "A forceful takeover is like a show of strength; all the other demons will take it as a challenge. And a kingdom in the midst of a power exchange is bound to be weaker than usual. Demons will take that as an opportunity to try and take the Northern Desert for themselves. But a legitimate marriage alliance…"
"So you are suggesting that I marry Mobei-jun."
Encouraged by what he saw as Luo Binghe's interest in the idea, the demon continued, "It would be a joining of forces of the two most powerful demons in the region! Most of the attacks would stop soon after, Junshang, and in time there would only be the occasional skirmish from time to time!"
Luo Binghe cast his gaze around the rest of the table, and all the cowards began nodding enthusiastically when he met their eyes. Moebi-jun had selected all of them by hand for his army, and this was how they were repaying him? From his position standing behind Luo Binghe's chair, Mobei-jun projected his killing intent at every single one of them.
"Marriage," Luo Binghe said, and dragged a hand down his face. "Everyone out."
The demons scrambled to get out of the room, and Mobei-jun turned to follow them.
"Not you."
With great reluctance, Mobei-jun stopped.
“Junshang,” he said, with as little respect as he could safely convey in one word. From the way Luo Binghe's lips curled, it was not missed.
Just this once, it seemed, Luo Binghe was willing to let the offence go.
"Is it true?" He asked. Mobei-jun hesitated. Perhaps someone smarter than he would be able to find a way to dodge the question, or mislead without raising suspicion, or all sorts of subterfuge that Mobei-jun couldn't even dream of. But words had never been his strong suit.
"Yes," Mobei-jun said.
Luo Binghe nodded. Then he stared for a very long time down at his lap.
Their meeting room had once been the Mo family war room, designed to fit hundreds of demons of all shapes and sizes. Now it stood completely empty, save for the long table that stretched from halfway across the room to the other, and the occasional echo of a passing servant's footsteps. Mobei-jun stared down at Luo Binghe's bowed head, and, briefly, wondered what he was thinking.
"I promised to take Ning Yingying as my first wife,” Luo Binghe said, mostly to himself. "But in the demon realm…?” His lips twisted into a grimace. He seemed genuinely confused, as if he had never thought about the organisation of his harem when he was younger.
"I must be the Empress," Mobei-jun added helpfully. Luo Binghe barely even glanced up, but he pressed his fingertips to his forehead. "Or the alliance will not work."
"Liu Mingyan, the Qin sisters, secondary wives to a demon," Luo Binghe murmured. "They'll never accept it. And the succubi..."
Mobei-jun frowned. "Succubi?" He said. Other demons would assume that he was not properly satisfying his spouse if Luo Binghe had to bring succubi into his harem. Mobei-jun did not want to be his Empress, but he wanted even less to be Luo Binghe's unfavoured Empress.
Luo Binghe side-eyed him. “You wouldn’t understand,” he said, in a tone like he couldn’t decide whether to be haughty or left out. “I…stole the virtue of some in the Abyss, to satisfy Xin Mo, and so the honourable thing to do would be to marry them.”
“No point,” Mobei-jun said. Luo Binghe looked almost scandalised, before his expression was replaced with a poor looking cover up.
“I can’t just do that!” Luo Binghe said. "It...it would not be honourable!"
Honour. Such a strange, useless human concept. Demons did enjoy weddings, but most didn’t bother. Why would they, when they could simply take what they needed to slake their needs, and then part ways when everything was done? Besides, when one had a particularly good spouse, why would they waste time planning a wedding when they really should be training to make sure no one stole their spouse away? Mobei-jun’s parents had married out of love, but they were the rare kinds, and look at what good it brought them.
"So many human traditions," Mobei-jun said. Luo Binghe looked up at him, half-heartedly trying to intimidate.
"Unhappy?" He said. He tilted his chin up and stood. Luo Binghe still barely came up to Mobei-jun’s shoulder, but at least he was not hunched over as he was before. It was too strange to see a Heavenly Demon behave so meekly; it rankled some deep seated demon hierarchy within him.
“Don’t forget – the Northern Desert is mine. I am the king now, and if I want to form a harem I will. I do not need your approval, Empress or not.”
Mobei-jun stared down at him. His blood was humming in his veins, calling for him to pin this brat to the war table with his swords, show him just who the true king of the Northern Desert was. Luo Binghe had taken to wearing black and red robes made of Man-Headed Spider Silk, heedless of the way he drained the royal treasury with every purchase, and the colours highlighted his radiant skin and bright demon mark better than blood did. Would those robes make him look like a Needle-Tongued Butterfly pinned to a collector’s board?
Luo Binghe leaned in closer; Mobei-jun amused himself with the thought that if Luo Binghe wanted to get any nearer to his face, he would have to raise himself up on the tips of his toes.
“Don’t oppose me, Mobei-jun,” Luo Binghe said quietly. “It won’t end well for you if you get in my way.” The slight rasp in his voice made Mobei-jun want to put his claws through Luo Binghe’s throat.
Mobei-jun’s eyes narrowed.
“Understood, Junshang,” he said. Luo Binghe studied him for a moment, and then took a step back.
“As long as you understand,” he said. “Dismissed.”
Mobei-jun dipped his head, and swept out of the room.
*
There wasn’t enough time to plan a large ceremony, so Luo Binghe was forced to concede at least the human tradition of that part. Instead, they did as demon couples often did, and simply showed up to battle together, dressed in matching clothes. Black and red was not a good colour combination on Mobei-jun. He would have much preferred Luo Binghe wearing his clothes, but the brat dug his heels in for the most bizarre things.
And so they were married.
As promised, the number of challengers to Luo Binghe’s rule swiftly dropped soon after. Within the week, the number of attacks had dwindled in both number and intensity, and were easily taken care of by Mobei-jun’s original guards. Luo Binghe could not even disguise his relief at hearing that.
“Good,” he said, and then dismissed the meeting early. Only Mobei-jun would know that the new ruler of the Northern Desert immediately made a beeline to his room and crawled, fully-clothed, under the covers.
“Do not wake me unless it’s an emergency,” Luo Binghe said, and promptly fell fast asleep. Mobei-jun stood over him, and watched the gentle glow of the demon mark on his forehead as it pulsed in time with his breaths.
That was his husband, Mobei-jun realised, and immediately banished the thought. That was the brat who stole his throne, he corrected. Strangely, that did not inspire as much annoyance as it previously had. It was probably because Luo Binghe was now technically sharing the throne with Mobei-jun.
It was a meaningless marriage, Mobei-jun reminded himself. Most marriages were. Luo Binghe would likely form his harem soon, and if Mobei-jun was lucky, in a few years Luo Binghe would have good enough control over the region that Mobei-jun would be allowed to leave Luo Binghe’s side entirely. Then he could concern himself with the territories that he was allowed to keep, and put all that marriage nonsense behind him.
For now, though, the marriage was real, and it had obligations.
When Luo Binghe had won, his demand for the finest bedroom in the palace had necessitated that Mobei-jun move to an entirely different wing. It had taken days to fully move out, and now that they were married, Luo Binghe had ordered him to move back in.
It was not a small endeavour -- Mobei-jun was born into royalty, after all. Collecting useless trinkets just because they were expensive was practically a pastime of his. Usually, it was a good way to show off, dangling shiny items in front of other royals to see who had the most precious items. It, however, was not good at all when it came to moving. The thought of trying to squeeze his belongings in between those of Luo Binghe's, sharing spaces that had once only been his, was enough to make him reconsider his entire collection.
Mobei-jun needn't have worried.
Luo Binghe had not been the ruler of the Northern Desert for very long, and when he arrived, he came with nothing besides his sword and the rags on his body. Luo Binghe's room was completely empty.
As the servants hefted Mobei-jun's belongings into his new-old room, Mobei-jun stood in the centre of the room and gazed around. Luo Binghe hadn't changed any of the decorations, hadn't put up any new art or brought in any new weapons. One part of it was probably that he hadn't had any time to redecorate; still, the thought that Mobei-jun was now married to someone who had no belongings to his name was...
Insulting. It would make Mobei-jun look bad. Luo Binghe would wind up looking like a mistreated wife, instead of the last Heavenly Demon and the ruler of the Northern Desert. How could a person have nothing? It was bizarre. Mobei-jun didn't like it.
Luo Binghe, the controlling brat himself, had busied himself with peering into every packed box or chest, pulling things out and generally making himself into a greater nuisance than he usually was. The servants skittered around him, too afraid of his sharp gaze and unsmiling face to tell him off. Luo Binghe yanked out a bundle of human jewellery, all sorts of heavy chains and tiny jewels, and held it up towards the light.
"Where did you get these?" He said, sounding almost surprised.
"Keep them," Mobei-jun said. Luo Binghe looked over, full lips slightly parted, and then laughed.
"What use to I have for these tacky things?" He said. "Of course the Mobei-jun has many precious items, to let such expensive jewellery get into this kind of condition."
"Then don't keep them," Mobei-jun said, and Luo Binghe gave him an amused look out of the corner of his eyes.
"No, no," Luo Binghe said. With one swift movement, he freed one of the necklaces from its strangled hold in the bundle of jewellery, and wound it around his hand. "You said I could keep them. Don't go back on your word now, hm?"
As if Mobei-jun could take it back even if he wanted to. He snorted coldly, but that only seemed to make Luo Binghe more amused.
The brat was in a remarkably good mood for the rest of the day. He stashed the bundle of jewellery somewhere hidden, and whiled away the rest of the day going through all of Mobei-jun's other chests. The necklace that he stole, a big gold piece with lots of dangling parts, made little noises every time he moved. It was like a constant reminder that Luo Binghe was there, as if Mobei-jun could ever forget.
After nightfall, though, Luo Binghe seemed to have run out of things to amuse himself with. He kept fiddling with his sleeping robes, glancing over at Mobei-jun every so often and then away again.
Mobei-jun, the only one of them who had actually been doing any work all day, did his best to ignore that annoying little thing. It was harder than he expected, even when the brat wasn’t shaking that necklace around like a Fire-Breathing Cow bell. He carefully put his scrolls and notes away, and Luo Binghe busied himself with glaring at the bed like it personally offended him.
When Mobei-jun had finally readied himself for bed, Luo Binghe chanced a glance over at him, his expression unreadable.
“There is only one bed,” Luo Binghe said.
“Yes,” Mobei-jun said.
Luo Binghe frowned. "We will share it," he said, like he was expecting an argument.
Mobei-jun had once slept in a ravine after his uncle pushed him off a cliff. Sleeping in his own bed, even if he had to share it with a brat, was not even close to a problem. Without a word, Mobei-jun flipped open the covers and crawled under them.
Luo Binghe stood dumbly at the foot of the bed for a moment. Then, as if it were a competition he didn't want to lose, Luo Binghe tossed himself into bed as well. If only the other demons could see Luo Binghe now, they would not be nearly as afraid of him as they were. Pity that Luo Binghe only seemed to be annoying with Mobei-jun.
Mobei-jun put out the candles and the room swiftly went dark, save for the red glow of the moon through the windows. Luo Binghe, lying only an arms’ length away, naturally could not stop himself from being annoying even in bed. He moved around for what felt like an eternity, before finally settling down on his side, facing Mobei-jun. His eyes seemed to be searching for something in Mobei-jun's expression, but Mobei-jun kept his eyes firmly fixed on that familiar ceiling.
“Mobei-jun,” Luo Binghe said, almost as if he were testing out the way the words sounded in his mouth.
Mobei-jun grunted in acknowledgement. He immediately regretted it, because Luo Binghe perked up as soon as he heard the response.
“We are married,” Luo Binghe said, like Mobei-jun needed reminding. “Do you know what that means for humans?”
“...no,” Mobei-jun said.
“It can mean many things,” Luo Binghe said, in the tone of someone who was ready to speak for a long, long time. “Mostly, humans want to marry someone that they like. We have many stories, all centred around finding the perfect partner, the perfect person to build a life and a home with. Even more about lovers fighting against politics, the Emperor, the world, just to be together.”
Mobei-jun wisely stayed silent, but Luo Binghe somehow knew what he was thinking anyway.
"What does it mean to demons?" Luo Binghe asked. His eyes were strangely piercing.
Mobei-jun said, “Protection. Alliances.”
And then, without knowing why, “Love.”
Luo Binghe didn’t say anything for a long time. Mobei-jun had just closed his eyes to try and sleep when Luo Binghe said, in a tone so quiet it was like the rustling of leaves:
"You've already sworn loyalty to me. Now we are also married. For politics or for love, do you still think of betraying me now?"
Mobei-jun paused. He glanced over at Luo Binghe, but the half-human’s eyes were still closed. If Mobei-jun didn’t know any better, he would have thought that Luo Binghe had been sleeptalking.
Luo Binghe had clearly only started the conversation so he could ask that question.
“No,” Mobei-jun said, and meant it. And the little half-demon brat smiled.