The Princess Weiyoung: Out of The Darkness

Chapter 2: Trust Lost

As he had expected, Weiyoung had started to struggle against him from the moment she had recovered from her shock at being pulled down on to Tuoba Yu's lap. In spite of his injuries and exhaustion his darkest predatory instincts rose up to claim him and he leaned back a fraction as he tried to recover from being winded.

He pretended to struggle to hold her but kept a vice-like grip on her wrists which he held in one hand. His other hand remained clamped across her mouth. Weiyoung twisted frantically in his lap for several moments, her soft shoes were unable to grip the floor and allow her to push herself off him. Feeling her warm body squirm against him as he fought for breath was not an unpleasant sensation, and Tuoba Yu's open mouth curved into wild smile.

Internally, Tuoba Yu was undergoing a different sort of struggle: the desire to press his nose against her hair to better smell the mingled scents of rice, osmanthus, and sweat in her hair was almost overwhelming. 

But Tuoba Yu frequently strayed into grey areas in his struggle for power in the royal court. He knew from experience the right moment to publicly ease off adversities whilst still retaining a slightly tarnished halo.

"Your Highness? Princess Weiyoung?" Echoed the voice again. It was friendly and hopeful. Tuoba Yu could almost picture the wide-eyed optimistic face of the speaker from the timbre of his voice.

That decided it. Wiping the smile from his face, he took as deep a breath as possible. His eyes still firmly closed. Then he leaned against her again trying to find her ear. When his lips gently brushed against it, he whispered as softly as he could before the echoes died away.

"Trust me. Please. Our lives..." He trailed away as the last of the echoes faded.

It took a second for her to process what she said, but when she had understood his words the effect was instantaneous. Weiyoung stopped struggling, and firmly nodded her head once. Tuoba Yu was not sure of her sincerity but dropped the hand that had been over her mouth to her shoulder where he could quickly raise it to smother any sound she made. He did not fully loosen his grip on her wrists either, just in case she decided to make a break for the soldiers in the main cave tunnel.

Weiyoung shifted her weight, and slowly turned towards him in the dark. He felt her leaning towards him.

Yes. Lean closer to me. Make me forget where we are.

She stopped for a moment to listen to his breathing, and presumably to ascertain where his face was in the dark. Tuoba Yu's heart thumped harder than it had when she had been struggling in his arms. Thankfully his body was too weak to respond to her closeness, but Tuoba Yu still wanted to feel her body pressed close against him. Still he leaned back against the rough wall, and tried not to pant like a rabid dog.

Time to show her some trust. It will be easy enough to stop her even if she tries to call out.

His hands released her completely, and he carefully lifted them to the sides and down so that he would not accidentally bump against her in the dark. A moment later, he felt the back of one of her hands gently brush across his lips.

Her touch jolted through him with the raw power of a thunder bolt. Tuoba Yu had an overwhelming urge to look into her eyes and see whether she felt anything of the energy that seemed to be flowing between them. Without thinking, he opened his eyes and immediately regretted it. The darkness of a mountain cave was more oppressive than even the darkness of the Dark Room of his childhood.

It must be the thickness of the rock all around us. Of course. That would shut out the light more effectively than screen doors.

A detached part of his mind mused. Then the equally electrifying sensation of total panic set in as that thought penetrated his rest of his mind and overwhelmed his senses. The heavy darkness and the knowledge that if the cave collapsed he would be crushed to death sent his mind into a tail spin. Weiyoung was forgotten as his demons came back in droves to torment him.