What The Fox? (Completely Free!)

Chapter 34

Chapter 34

I must have been dreaming. This couldn't be happening. Julong had me changed into a baizi with delicately embroidered plum blossoms over its grand sleeves. Although I was sitting before Julong once again, he was not playing the bandit king anymore. He was standing before me every inch the Prince whose very steps caused the earth to tremble.

The attendants brought me jasmine tea and fresh pears. As the minutes we spent together stretched into hours, the attendants started preparing the table in the Prince's tent for lunch. I saw them bringing plates of milky lamb, extravagant soups made to look like swimming eels, sticky slices of pork belly, and a fried hare with its ears decorated with ringing bells.

My stomach growled despite my best efforts to appear dainty and womanlike. I was starving. The wolves didn't have much to offer a mortal woman like me to eat. They were trying to survive on the bare minimum since they were preparing for war. I had eaten nothing but stale biscuits and juniper tea for the past couple of weeks.

It was quite a change to be a guest of the Sixth Prince.

"Who was this woman that you so admired, Your Highness?"

"She was a remarkable woman. Some would even say magical. I lost sight of her during an attack in Henan. I'll never forget the sight. The bridge over the Qin River was on fire, and I would have ridden through it if I could. But I took an arrow in my back before I could venture forward. I woke up about three weeks later in the care of the royal physician."

"I suppose it simply wasn't meant to be," I mused and made a show of how absorbed I was in the fragrant flavors of the Prince's tea collection. I didn't want to look too interested in the tragic story of his long-lost love, lest he piece together that I was the girl he left in that despicable village of Henan.

"It wasn't destiny that drove us apart," the Prince said, staring outside into the clouds that had gathered in the skies above the windswept grassland. "It was my advisor, General Nanxin."

"The late general?" I perked up, and my interest made the Sixth Prince laugh.

"Yes, the great hero General Nanxin that conquered all the southern kingdoms. What you don't hear are the stories about how he clipped the tail of my beloved while she was sleeping. He used it to heal my brother, but in doing so, he killed the woman I loved."

"Your beloved had a tail?"

"Yes, she was a fox spirit," the Prince laughed and shook his head. "You must think I had too much to drink to make up such stories. Perhaps, I am drunk on your beauty to be spilling out my secrets in such a manner."

I grew quiet as the attendants entered the room to finish setting up our luxurious meal. As they shuffled about arranging plates and lighting up incense to ward away the spirits, I thought about an altogether different spirit. A fox spirit.

I didn't have a physical tail in my day-to-day form, but when I slept, there had been times when my demonic form showed itself. Perhaps, the General's men had clipped off my tail while I slept, and that is why I fell victim to the villagers. Perhaps, I had been in such a smitten state that I didn't even notice their nighttime tricks.

All this time, I blamed Julong for betraying me when he was just a distraction. I was a fool in love and hadn't even noticed that I had been severely weakened in the process.

Julong shook his head as he stared at me. "The resemblance is uncanny. You even look like her when you're lost in thought."

"Perhaps I was sent by the heavens to reward a man's unfailing devotion."

"Perhaps," the Prince mused and clasped my hand again. He led me to the table and ordered me to eat. I didn't need much probing. "Or perhaps you have been sent here to listen to my confession before I lose my life on the battlefield. I've never told anyone this before. I had General Nanxin poisoned for what he did. He was my father's most faithful servant, but I couldn't stand the stench of his smug betrayal. I did it. And my father would have me executed if he found out the truth."

"Then you must make sure he never finds out, Julong."

"But he will because General Teng knows," the Prince said with a sad smile. "If I don't bring back these mystical wolves to aid the General in his campaign against the Northern states, my life is lost."

"You have that jeweled dagger Blacksmith Zhang made you," I offered. "Would that be enough to kill an Alpha?"

"I don't know," the Prince mused and rubbed his chin. He chuckled and reached over to squeeze my fingers. "But I do know that I have another weapon now."

"You do?"

"Yes, I do, Selene."

I nearly choked on the tea I had just taken a mouthful of. How did the Prince know?

"You called me Julong. That's not my name. I'm Prince Daoming." Yes, I knew it, his real name was not Julong, but in my mind, I never really accepted it. Now, with a slip of the tongue, I had given everything away.

"You loved me, but you never even told me your real name," I hissed.

"No, but there were quite a few things you didn't tell me either, did you, Selene?"

I backed away.

Daoming smiled in that mischievous way that used to make my heart melt. Now it chilled me to the bone. "Tell me, why did you follow me here?"

"You want to use the wolves as your slaves in war. I came to stop you," I choked out. "If you did love me, you would put an end to this."

"I can't," Daoming replied and took a swing of the wine his servants had set out as part of our lavish lunch. "It must be done. Once the emperor had a taste of what your mystical powers could do for my brother the Crown Prince, he would never relent until he conquered you all."

"Stop it. You can do it. You're the emperor's son!"

"I am my father's son, and this is what I must do. Selene, I can see it when I look at you now. Someway, somehow — you are human now. Forget these wolves. You and I can still be together."