The Last Dahlia

018

"Baixun, I don't want to hurt you, if only for Naying's sake," Yuehwa said. "There's nothing here that so much as mentions a hint of a cure for Hell's Water, so if you don't want to search for it then pardon me if I do."

"Even if you want to find a cure, you don't have to look for him." Baixun was looking at her in all seriousness, his fingers gripping onto hers so tightly that she was finding it hard to break free.

"It's none of your business who I look for."

Baixun slowly loosened his grip on her, a tinge of sadness clouding over his eyes. "Why does it have to be him? What is it that he has that I don't? Is it because you think we come from different worlds? Because I can't give up this title and duty to roam the five kingdoms with you?"

"It's not about Shoya, Baixun." Yuehwa sighed in exasperation. "Is this what it's all about? You just don't want to lose to Shoya because it bruises your ego? Well if that's the case I'm telling you now that this has nothing to do with him. The reason why I'm going to look for him is because he knows more about poisons than anyone else you can possibly find and he's the best chance we've got of saving Naying. As for me and you, I've already made it clear to you many times that it's impossible between us!"

"Yuehwa," he said slowly, "I know that you don't feel that way about me right now, but all I ask is that you give me a chance. I meant every single word that I said to you before, that I hope that you'll be the one standing by my side throughout it all. If I become the king of the five kingdoms, I would want no one else but you as my queen."

"But I don't want to be queen, Baixun. Never did, never will." Yuehwa shook her head, heading for the stairs.

That was the problem, wasn't it? Baixun just didn't understand what she wanted. She didn't want to be a queen because she didn't want to be trapped within a gilded cage; she wanted to be free as a bird, free to go wherever the wind would take her. She didn't want riches or power or a whole palace full of servants at her beck and call; she wanted a table full of her favourite food and the luxury of being able to snore and spit seeds from her mouth without anyone judging her. She didn't want to sit in her chambers pining for a husband that had forgotten her because he had too many other wives to care for; she wanted to stay by the side of a man who loved her, and only her.

That meant that Baixun would never be able to give her what she wanted.

"You'll come back, won't you?" Baixun called out to her.

Turning back with a slight smile, Yuehwa said, "I'm coming back because of Naying." Not because of you.

#

"We've got slightly less than three months, Ember," Yuehwa remarked as she leapt off her horse and stared up at the gates of Feng's capital city. "Do you think we'll make it in time?"

Who knows? Do I look like a fortune teller to you? I'm just a bird, Ember replied.

Whistling a cheery tune, Yuehwa led her horse down the street and walked towards the gates. It had taken her close to a week on horseback to travel between Gi and Feng, and it had been a long while since she had felt that sense of freedom with nothing restraining her. Making friends with Naying had been fun, but it also meant having to put up with trivial palace rules and regulations that frustrated her to no end. There was nothing quite like roaming the streets and doing exactly what you wanted without having to look over your shoulder all the time.

Strangely enough, there was a long queue of people waiting to enter the city, but it seemed as though it was taking longer than usual to clear the checks at the gate. When she finally reached the front of the line, a burly guard stopped her in her tracks and barked, "Who are you and where have you come from?"