A Wuxia Tale: Blades and Flowers

Admiration

(GENERAL WANG)

"How is Dao?" I asked Dayu as soon as he entered the villa where we will stay during the duration of our stay here in the Mughal Kingdom. I rented a whole villa residence for our contingent. Dayu was in charge of the security in this place. I trust my lover and his cousin to protect us while Jiang and I talk to the Shah about meeting Prince Jin.

"In dire need of bathing," Dayu said disdainfully.

"My heart," I winced at the annoyance on my partner's face.

Dayu let out a disgruntled noise. "He is fine. AhRan is right, Dao is in great shape considering he was tortured for days in that place. His wounds are healing nicely. I heard from our spies on that place that the guards are acting strange and kept on being accomodating to our son. Must be AhRan's work." Dayu said.

"Well, whatever it is that AhRan is doing...we should be thankful that he is looking after Dao." I said.

"AhRan is doing his job. What about us?" Dayu's jaw visibly tightened. "We need to get Dao out of that place. Fast..."

"I am doing all I can. But even the Shah couldn't force Princess XiLen to produce her son whom she claims is still too weak to move from his bed." I told Dayu.

Dayu stared at me. I nodded to him, "Tell me what you are thinking. Give me a strategy here, my heart. Something I can use while I take the offensive side."

Dayu is an offense specialist the same way that I am a defensive one. Dayu knows many ways to attack an opponent. He was taught to look for a weak spot, any loop hole, any blind spot. Thats how my heart survived this life and kept on going even though he lost both his parents in such tragic ways while he was young.

Dayu trained and he became the best there is.

"Send a letter to Prince Jin, ask for a reply within an hour." Dayu told me. "I know his handwriting, he used to send poems and letters to Hua."

"And if they fail to do so. If Princess XiLen Prince Jin is too weak to send a reply back...?"

"Ask the Shah if the First Born Prince of the Middle Kingdom died under his care," Dayu said.

I almost swallowed my tongue at what he is suggesting. "Dayu ah...if Prince Jin died...our son..."

"I am ready to spring Dao out of that place anytime," Dayu sounded confident. I am sure he already has a well laid out plan to get Dao of that dungeon. "I will never stand by and watch my son swing from the end of a rope or let his head roll away from his body just because the Shah in this kingdom couldn't control one banished princess." Dayu gave me a sharp look. "Demand them to produce Prince Jin within the next two days or step aside and let me do what I am good at."

Killing people stealthily. Thats Dayu's expertise. That and plotting and forcing his opponent to think fast as Dayu contemplate how to best kill them.

I stared at my heart. "Did you lie to me?" I asked him. "Is Dao truly well?" Maybe Dayu is desperate to get this mission over so we can take Dao home and he could save our son's life.

Pain lanced on Dayu's eyes. "I held him. I got to hug our Dao. He grew taller again and he is a tad thinner. It seems to me that he looked a bit more mature than before. I think this place aged him." Dayu sniffed before turning away to hide the tears that formed in his eyes. "I get to hold our son, Captain. In one insane moment, I thought about taking him home and just leave you to deal with all of these. In my mind, I've decided that Dao is all I need from this place. That we will just wait for you back in our estate."

In other phrasing, Dayu's old habit of obsessing over our children reared its head again. Dayu's desire to run and hide away our children to safety has bloomed in his heart again. For one insane moment, he decided it is alright for him to abandon me just as long as he has Dao in his arms.