The Last Dahlia

015

The journey across the sea dragged on much longer than Yuehwa had expected, even though it lasted the exact same number of days as it had taken them to get from Jin to Dahai in the first place. Ember claimed it was because Shoya wasn't around to bicker with her (or actually it was just her bickering with him and him remaining stoically silent), but she reckoned it was because she had to spend most of her time holed up in the cabins so she wouldn't risk bumping into people she didn't want to see.

After their encounter with Maroo and the message that Ember had brought back from the prince's cabin, Yuehwa spent most of her time pondering over the politicking that was taking place beneath the seemingly calm facade of the five kingdoms.

Back in the palace, when Naying had told her that the king intended for his prospective son-in-law to either be the prince of Feng or Gi, she had already expected that the king had bigger plans in store than to find his daughter a good man; what she hadn't expected was for the old man to be ambitious enough to have set his sights on all of the lands of the five kingdoms. That would mean starting a war, one that would upset the uneasy peace that had been kept for over a century.

As unbelievable as it might seem, Yuehwa considered herself a pacifist.

She didn't like the thought of wars and bloodshed, even though she had slit many a throat herself. It was different, or so she claimed, because the people she assassinated all deserved their sorry ends. They were either greedy bastards who siphoned gold off anyone they could get their hands on or they were power hungry imbeciles who would have stirred up unnecessary unrest within the royal courts and made the innocent commoners suffer as a result.

You have a bloody hero mentality, Ember had once concluded. She didn't deny it.

"Do you think I should do something?" she murmured to Ember as she balanced lengthwise on the wooden beam. She had taken to doing that over the past few days, hoping that she would be inspired to come up with an answer. "Do away with the king of Dahai maybe?"

Are you crazy? The bird tossed her a judgmental glare. If you assassinate the king of Dahai, then what about her?

Yuehwa traced the direction of Ember's gaze downwards and the both of them looked down at the princess who was fast asleep in her bed. As Yuehwa refused to squeeze in the servants' cabins with the other palace maids, Naying had agreed to let her share the room. In fact, her exact words were, "I'd feel safer if you were around."

A twinge of guilt immediately struck Yuehwa and she swiped the thought of assassinating Naying's father out of her mind.

"You're right, I'm out of my mind. Assassinating a government official is one thing, murdering a king is a whole different matter. If I did that then I could start a war and then I'd be no different from the wily old man."

Sighing, she leapt off the beam and landed lightly on the wooden floorboards, tiptoeing towards the door. It was almost dawn and she couldn't get to sleep anyway, so she figured it was a good time for a breath of fresh air. Walking down the quiet corridors and up the stairs, she emerged on the main deck, taking a deep breath to take in the scent of the sea.

Stretching out her arms, she said, "That feels so much better! Being cooped up indoors all day is unbearable!"

There was no one else on the main deck at this time of the morning, so it was the perfect opportunity for her to walk about. The sun was rising in the horizon, but there was still barely a sliver of light that could be seen. Strolling over to the bow of the ship, Yuehwa squinted to make out what lay ahead.

"I think that's land up ahead," she remarked. "We'll arrive in Jin by the time the sun has risen."

"I reckon you're just about right," a voice replied her.