[Suggested song for this chapter – Carnival of the Animals: The Swan, by Camille Saint-Saëns]
Meili opened the ivory box. Inside was a beautiful hairpin.
It was gold with a tiny rabbit dangling from the end. The rabbit's body and tail were a large and a small pearl, its eyes were rubies, its pointy ears were diamonds.
She gasped at its beauty.
"It's not much, I'm sorry, but I'll give you the earth when I get back, Meili, I promise you."
"It's too much, Li, and I don't want the earth, I just want you."
He gently pressed the hairpin through the small bun in her hair which she wore half loose tonight, flowing down her back like a river of dark silk.
The delicate bunny caught the light cast by the myriad of lanterns, a perfect match for her white fur-trimmed cloak, and setting off her beautiful face to perfection.
