A Wuxia Tale: Blades and Flowers

Changes

AGE OF CHARACTERS (from oldest to youngest)

PRINCE JIN: 22 years old
YONG: 22 years old
MANCHU: 21 years old
PRINCE GUO: 20 years old
PRINCESS CAI: 19 years old
WANG HUA: 18 years old
WANG DAO: 18 years old
ADDA: 16 years old
AHRAN: 14 years old
CROWN PRINCE HAN: 12 years old
SHUYIN: 11 years old
JIANG ZHOULIN: 9 years old

                        ..........................

(AHRAN)

I fell asleep while riding the horse with Dao. When I woke up, I found that the sack on my head was already lifted off me and I saw three faces gazing at me with varied degree of curiosity.

Prince Jin, standing at the middle of the trio, whistled. "Woah, look at those eyes. He is a seer indeed." He crouched low by bending his legs to level his face with mine. He smiled at me. "What is your name?"

I looked back and forth at the three of them. I swallowed and found out that my mouth is dry. "W-water p-please..."

"Dao, get him some water." Prince Jin ordered.

"Ugh!" Dao groaned in petulance but he did as the prince ordered. He got a up of water and handed it to Prince Jin who offered it to me. I bowed in gratitude as I accept that cup. "Carefully. Drink carefully or you might choke." The First Born Prince of the Middle Kingdom smiled at me encouragingly.

He's smiling and seems relaxed. He looked far and away better than the Emperor who killed himself in the other time.

I took careful sips of the water until my throat and mouth doesn't feel dry anymore. "Thank you, Your Highness." I said as I handed back the empty cup to him.

"You're welcome," it seems like we both have manners. Prince Jin handed the cup back to Dao who accepted it sullenly. The Prince turned his full focus on me. "Your name?"

"A-ahRan." I said, stammering a litte.

"AhRan, eh?" Prince Jin grinned. "You look young, AhRan. How many summers have you had?"

"F-fourteen," I said, looking down to avoid his intense gaze.

Something doesn't feel right about Prince Jin. In the past, before everyone fell unmoving, he seemed like an amiable and patient royal. But now, even though he is smiling and talking in a calm way, I can feel an underlying sense of anger in him.

Why? Why is he angry?

"My sire sent us to get a little parcel. It took us months to get to you. But I want to know, why the Emperor want someone scrawny like you as the grand seer of our temples?" I looked at his Highness again to see that Prince Jin's smile has vanished and his jovial expression was replaced by a look of curiosity.

"G-grand S-seer?"

"Is that stammer a normal thing for you?" Prince Jin asked when he noticed me stammering again.

"No," I shook my head. "It only happened when I am nervous." I added.

"Ah, I make you nervous." Prince Jin chuckled. But I cannot find any amusement in his eyes. "Or do we make you nervous? I'll admit, the three of us together doesn't exactly give a reassuring image." He gestured at the other two people with us in the room.

Its a decent looking room. Spacious with enough luxurious items in it to give an indication that an important person is using it. If we are in the Mughal Kingdom, that means Prince Jin is here as a visitor of the Shah. And Master Yong and Wang Dao...are his guards? In the past, Wang Dao traveled here with the prince. But why is Master Yong here? Shouldn't he be with Prince Guo?