The Last War

6. True or False

It felt like death. Or so Po thought he would feel like that. The air was like killed. No word, no sound, no nothing around him. He just dared to give a single sound: "Huh?"
Like under a spell, he watched the two birds, which still didn't move or spoke. They stood there like stones. Xia like frozen, and Shen – Po didn't know – like he had heard nothing.
The panda didn't dare to ask a question, until like sun melted the ice in the room.
Shen began to move his beak lips. Po thought, he would say a word, but instead, the lord started with a chuckle.
"You are joking, don't you?"
Po opened his mouth in surprise. He had expected the lord would ask, how and why. Was the master of his special martial art irritated?
But the panda kept silent and paid his full attention back to Xia. But the peahen didn't say a word. She was still like stone. She just looked at the lord without to break the eye contact.
Meanwhile, Shen smirked quietly. "No. Right?"
Xia still stared at him.
"You aren't serious, are you?"
Po realized, the ruler lost more and more his self-assurance. Shen made a few steps closer to her, always looking for a doubt in her eyes, but her eyes didn't laugh. The lord stopped. His sense of jokes completely gone.
No, she was serious.
For a moment, Po thought he would give in, but then the white emperor found back his dignity. In one second, the lord tightened his position and made a graceful face.
"Nice, but sorry that I have to disappoint you. Anybody could say that. And that's a cheap joke."
"No, you are my father!" she insisted.
Po became frightened. The expression of the lord got an angry wave. And he knew that wasn't a good sign. But the white peacock managed to keep his calm. He closed and opened his eyes several times slowly before he continued.
"You can be glad, that I'm in a good mood today. For this reason, I connive that message and pray you to leave my house now, if it's not a trouble to you. Right?"
Po winced. Tears filled the girl's eyes. The panda took the courage in both paws and walked between them.
"Don't worry," he said and touched her wing. "I'm sure everything will clear up."
"Panda?!"
Po froze while Shen moved a finger feather warningly at his direction. "Could I speak with you a very, very short moment?!"
Po swallowed. The voice of the lord sounded very harshly.
"Uhm, of course."
Po forced a smile and waved at Xia. "Excuse us."
With that he followed the lord to a corner of the hall.
"Are you crazy to pull everyone to me?" Shen hissed at him quietly and Po replied a little indignantly.
"Sorry, I didn't know that she is your daughter."
"She isn't my daughter!"
"How do you want to know that?"
"I know it! I know better than you!"
"Oh really?" Po crossed his arms. "Think about it. Was there ever someone in your life?"
"No!"
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure!"
Po narrowed his eyes. "Really? Really?"
Shen hissed, but he got a malicious smile. "Be careful, panda! You seem to forget where you are. I said, I would let rest my weapons, but from time to time, I'm itching to throw this at you."
Po winced when the lord darted a feather knife out of his wing.
"Uhm, you are still wearing these things? Are they sharp? Ouch!"
The panda waved his finger when he had touched the top of the feather blade.
Shen grinned. "Very sharp."
Po swallowed, but he found back his courage. "And you seem to forget what you have done. Say. Are you sure that she isn't your daughter?"
"Yes!"
"But why is she asking for you? Why should she search for you, through the winter? Believe me, it's very cold outside."
The lord snorted in disgust. "That would be not the first time that someone personates as lost family part. Believe me. I've heard about that several times in royal circles."
Po rubbed his head nervously. He couldn't believe that she was a liar.
"Well. But cross my heart. If so. If you are right. But could there be someone who could play that game with you? Maybe you met someone and she wants to make you think that you had children. Remember. Was there a special person who you had met in the past. Think about it."
The two competitors stared at each other. Shen with rage, Po with sad anger.
Finally, the lord sighed. But he kept his angry look. "Well, maybe. One day... But that was nothing!"
"Nothing?" Po opened his eyes wide. "That looks different. That speaks for itself."
The peacock hissed. "Anyone could aver that!"
Po narrowed his eyes. "I can't believe, that she is lying."
The lord took a sharp breath. "Naivity can be very dangerous."
Po sighed. "That's not new for me. But Shen, before you make a mistake, give her the chance to prove her assertion. Just with that you can get certainty."
Shen was unamazed of that suggestion.
Po rubbed his chin. "Mm, say, when was that "one day"?"
The lord narrowed his eyes in disgust. He eyed over to Xia, then back to Po.
"17 years ago," he muttered through his almost closed beak. "17 years and two months more precisely."
Po turned to Xia. "Say, how old are you?"
"17.*"
Po looked back at Shen. "That fits."
"Pure coincidence. That's not a proof."
Po was disappointed. But then the lord smiled evilly.
"Well then, maybe something else."
With that, he passed the panda and walked over to the peahen. She ducked her head a little when the lord came closer.
"Well, if you say, that you are really my daughter, then... tell me the name of your mother."
Xia looked at Po. This one nodded encouraging. The peahen hesitated a moment before she spoke.
"Yin-Yu."
"Ha!" Shen's mocking laugh let the panda wince. "She had a different name!"
With disappointment, Po lowered his face. What a shame. In contrast to Shen, who looked like a winner and didn't care about the desperate girl.
"Sorry, but that was just a mistake. Maybe it's the best you look for another one."
With that, the lord turned around.
"Wait!"
With anger, the white emperor looked back. Meanwhile, the girl had taken out something from her wing.
"Look. That's what she was wearing the whole time with her."
Po came closer and saw on her wing a white feather with a red circle and a black spot in the middle. It was clearly a feather of Shen.
"That's impossible!" The lord said hoarsely. "You..."
He felt Po's glance. Shen gave him an aggressive look.
"She must have found it outside! That's still not a proof!"
Po moved his mouth. "Do you have feather loss?"
A hard look and Po ducked.
"Sorry. But there must be a way to give you a..."
"You heard it, panda! I never met someone with that name. What was it?"
"Yin-Yu."
"No, her name was Fang...."
He stopped.
Po avoided his glance quickly.
"No more questions, panda, alright?"
"Okay."
"But you must be my father!"
Po was afraid Shen could lose his self-control and tried to save what he could.
"Hey!" Po snapped his fingers. "Could you describe her? Maybe this could help us. What do you think?"
He looked at Shen pleadingly and this time it was not a problem.
"Alright." The lord admitted. "But just to bring this comedy to an end. Ling?"
At next the moment, the little sheep appeared next to him. "Yes, Master Shen?"
"Bring Chun-Chen. Immediately!"
"Yes, Master Shen."
Po had no idea. "Who is Chun-Chen?"
"Chun-Chen is the best painter and artist in the whole province," the lord explained. "You will give him a description and he will paint it."
He gave Xia a warning look. "But should it be not familiar to me..." He came closer. "Then you leave my house immediately, right?"
She nodded.
"Fine."
As if he had waited around the corner, Chun-Chen, an old goat, looked into the hall in short time.
"You asked for me, Master Shen?"
"That woman will give you a description of a person," the lord came to the point. "Ask every detail and make your work good. I expect a lot."
Chun-Chen nodded. "As you wish, Master Shen."