The Last Dahlia

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Although his life was saved, Baixun still didn't wake.

"What's wrong? Why is the prince still unconscious?" Maroo cried, pacing up and down nervously. It had been a full day and night since Shoya purged the poison from Baixun's body, but somehow the latter remained in a deep slumber.

They were back in the cavern, which seemed a better place for recuperation than out in the icy cold, and Baixun lay on a tattered straw mat on the ground of one of the little cave rooms. Yuehwa squatted by the side, head tilted as she puzzled over Baixun's condition.

According to Shoya, the prince should have awakened by now given that his fever and inflammation had subsided.

"There is nothing about Prince Baixun's physical condition that is preventing him from waking," Shoya answered.

"Why then?" Yuehwa asked out loud.

With his wounds cleaned up and changed into a fresh set of clothes that they had found amidst the Horanjit stores, Baixun looked like he was merely asleep. It reminded her of her brother, lying still upon the bed of ice beneath the floorboards of the Hwa palace, waiting for her to deliver justice for his death.

"Wait," she suddenly called out. She stood up and walked over to Shoya, holding out her hand. "Give me your sword."

Shoya unhooked the scabbard from his waistband and handed the sword to her, its crystal hilt gleaming under the light from the fire torches. He watched as Yuehwa brought the white stone to one of the visible wounds on the back of Baixun's right hand. A long scratch mark that looked like the product of a sharp fingernail.

Nothing happened, and then the faintest of red swirls appeared within the stone, like a wisp of smoke. It was barely there, unlike the blood-red stain that had formed when Shoya did the same test on her brother.

Yuehwa looked up and exchanged a glance with Shoya.

Dark magic again.

She had thought it sounded suspicious when Maroo described the sudden appearance—and disappearance—of those so-called beasts in the tunnels. Silver eyes. Pointed ears. Curved, talon-like claws. All parts that didn't make up a coherent whole. According to Ru Fei, there had never been any wild animals that traversed the tunnel networks, except for the occasional wild rabbit or fox seeking shelter from the winter storms. Nothing as vicious as the creatures that Maroo claimed to have encountered.

She removed the sword's hilt, waited for the crystal to regain its original clarity, then pressed it against the scratches on Maroo's neck instead.

There was no red discolouration this time.

"Strange," Yuehwa murmured, staring at the silent dragon that curved around the length of the hilt.

If dark magic lingered in the wounds on Baixun's body and was the reason why he could not wake, then why were there no traces of it on Maroo? Had they not suffered injuries from the same cause?

Shoya bent over and inspected the wounds on Baixun's arms and torso again, then he shook his head. "I don't have an answer for this," he said. "Sheng Yun might know something. We'll have to take Baixun back to Muya."

"You will do no such thing!" Maroo exclaimed, looking scandalised by the suggestion. "I won't let you take the crown prince into Feng territory. Over my dead body." He stepped between Shoya and Baixun, spreading his arms out protectively.

Yuehwa's lips twitched. Who would have thought that the coward could one day have the guts to stand up against the White Scorpion?

"That wouldn't be difficult at all," Shoya replied drily.