Plummet

Swimmer

How ironic that the sturdy glass all over the Princess' chamber, put to prevent any breakage, was now proving fatal. However, once everybody was out to safety, it would become painfully clear that somebody who knew the ins the outs of the Princess' chamber extremely well was behind this sabotage. Directly speaking... the woman who stood next to me.

But that was hardly the problem at hand. The problem was that Princess Hue was refusing to be sensible. The water was hardly upto her neck, from what I could see beyond the glass, but she was standing atop an exceptionally high table. It was comical and shocking at the same time - the fierce princess... that burning soul... what in the world was this!? All the attendants stood behind Anh and me - equally confused - torn between running to safety and ensuring the Princess' safety.

Bad move.

Because that was exactly when the glasses gave way. Shattering all at once and sending shards of glass flying at us.

Water gushed out, and not exactly gushed, it slammed into us in torrents. Princess Hue, until then acting like a three year old, shrieked as her table toppled over. Our knees gave way too - Anh clearly had not expected this. She grabbed my shoulder, "Damn it!" she spat at the water, "Minh - this can't fail!"

Within minutes I realized that we were in a big mess. The sturdy glass - heavier than water - settled down, at our feet. I realized this the minute I tried to find the ground with my feet. The water was not enough to drown us, but swift enough to carry us away.

Lady Hong, holding onto a pillar for dear life screamed out, "They're fixing the drains!"

Damn well they should, I thought, struggling to not stand because it hurt so much. I was irritated with Anh  - what had she thought this would lead to? Princess Hue flowing into my arms!?

Princess... Hue?

Was she the one no longer screaming?

As if on cue, Anh began shaking me. "Minh, save her! Save her, she'll die!"

In that moment, I no longer knew that saving Princess Hue would be of strategic importance. When my eyes widened, when I looked at the spot Princess Hue had been at previously, all I knew was confusion. How could a person die when the water was not even upto their shoulders?

"How!?" I shouted out, when I found my voice.

"She's the Dragon-Princess, Minh! Water is her fatality!" It was Master Huynh who shouted this time. He fixed his waist belt, "Come now, we must." We were the only two men in the place.

Clearly Anh was still calculating, "No, Master Huynh - Lady Sang has collapsed - Minh, GO!"

She almost pushed me away, and I did stumble, right onto the glass. Ouch. I swam a short distance, feeling around for more glass... they were all over.

Feeling around for glass, I felt Princess Hue's taut shoulder. I wrapped my arms around it, pulling her out of the water. Just as I did, she took in a huge gasp, as if waking from a nightmare. Finding water all around, her eyes widened again, in fear. She looked at me once, then at the water - and shot straight at me.

Heavens be merciful, I thought. Princess Hue was in my arms - clinging on to me. Hopefully the Lord shall not see this.

But the hard part had just begun. Princess Hue had no idea how to swim - and there was no way she could walk, trembling violently as she was. All I could do was hold onto her as tightly and possible and place one foot after the other.

How cliché, walk on glass for your love.

But walk I did, because Master Huynh, rushing towards me encountered the glass on his way. The same glass I was walking upon with unconcerned ease. He jumped up, gasping in pain, and seeing that I had the situation under control promptly stepped away. But it was far from under control. My very human feet stung as the glass dug deeper with each step. First shed my blood for her, then betray her. What a life I had chosen for myself.

Princess Hue made no attempt to release herself from my grip. Her head lay across my chest, the wet hair scattered - not only in my arms - I was... carrying Princess Hue?

I saw Anh watch me. She bit her lips, but she was impressed. At the success of her own scheme. The water drained steadily, now only upto my waist. The current had disappeared. Guards and medics rushed in. I had a look at what Lady Hong had been seeing all along. Indeed, the drains were functioning now, gulping in all the ample water. But it would take time for all of it to recede.

I left Princess Hue, very gently, on one of the silk stretchers the medics had brought. For a minute she was immobile - Anh and I watched her. Then her eyes fluttered open, and she looked at me. Then at the water again, and slumped backwards, as if exhausted. Not only by the physical strain but also by a mental battle she had been trying to win, but lost.

Probably, a mental battle of my worthlessness. 

+ + +

"Minh, WHY DON'T YOU WORK!" Mother shouts at me, frustrated beyond measure. I'm eighteen, and other than wandering about, attracting trouble, haven't done much. This is right after Chi. All I think about is her twin, much prettier.

I sit at the edge of the platform outside our hut. Mother calls it a 'cottage', but any unbiased eye would see the stark poverty of this 'cottage'. Then again, I have no right to complain, I have done nothing to alleviate it. I face away, staring ahead. She stomps up to me and shakes my shoulder hard, "I am talking to you, Emperor Minh!"

I look away, down. Work isn't for me, it's beneath me. I need money on my plate, all the money that blasted Lord took away. I will take it back, I won't work like some lowly commoner. She leaves my side, raging back inside.

Her next words stay with me...

"I would have been better off childless than with you!"

So she didn't mind me not existing. And I never actually existed for her after that.