Zhulong, Ice and Fire

SIX

By the time they finally caught up with the rest of the party, early the next morning, Huian felt like she would collapse from her horse in a heap. Her arms were noodles, her body was a wisp of energy, and she struggled to keep her eyes open. Any time she used Bazyn's magic, she wore out quickly. It was even worse since she hadn't slept much and now was forced into this messy situation. Seeing the other guards sent a relief through her chest.

"W-What happened?" the first guard roared, taking in their rag tag appearance. Huian was still dressed primly, but the dark circles under her eyes and her pallid skin tone made her appear possibly worse in his eyes, especially considering who she was.

"We were attacked," she said. "The driver and the other guard died."

"Oh my-" The guard cleared his throat. "I'll inform Lord Lin. We were worried when both carriages disappeared. We thought you were close by-"

"Tell him whatever you like." She halted the horse and gracefully jumped off. She brushed down her robes and walked over to her carriage. "I'll be sleeping, so take your time telling father. Oh, and prepare for punishment when we arrive at the Yao estate."

"P-Punishment?"

"The instant you saw that we weren't behind you, you should've sent one of the guards to check up and see what was wrong. If you had done your job correctly, my brother and I wouldn't have been attacked. Oh, and two of our men wouldn't be dead. The only way you can make up for all of this is by safely transporting us to the Yao estate without any other bumps on the road. Am I clear, or no?"

"Y-Yes."

"Good."

She pushed the door of the carriage open to find Cheung slumped in the seat, fast asleep. She joined him on the opposite side and gently shut the door. The carriage rumbled forward. The instant she closed her eyes, darkness swept her away.

***

The rest of the journey went with no faults. Her father had been furious when he had found out what had transpired. Lady Chyou had wept and held onto Cheung tightly. Huian had watched the entire fiasco without any concern. She was more hung up on the fact that they had attacked her because she was the bride of Zhulong. She knew that Yao Chenglei was famous on the battlefield, so it should've been expected, but this quickly? She didn't think she'd have to deal with his problems this soon. She wasn't even married to the man yet.

She leaned back against one of the trees while they were on break, a chunk of bread in her hand. She stared up at the soft blue sky. Once she was married, she would be bound by him and all the problems that followed his damned dragon tail. She was sure to give him an earful of what he had inadvertently caused. Although she despised lady Chyou and didn't particularly like Cheung, she would be dismayed if anything happened to him. He was still her brother, even though neither of them saw eye to eye.

He was lucky that she was strong. What if she was a weakling like Chun? Then what? She would've then been raped, kidnapped, and passed around to all the Ki generals, just to spite him. Who knew what else Ki would do? They could very well take her to the battlefield and pass her around to the soldiers, they could put her on a pike and use her as a battle symbol against Zhulong. They could've done so much to her if she had been captured!

[It's not really his fault, though.]

"Shut up," she muttered. "It happened because of him."

Her father perked up and looked over at her, his eyebrows pulling together. "Did you say something, Huian?"

"Oh, nothing, Father," she said with a strained smile before turning back at the sky.

Why don't I look like a demon if I have demon blood?

[Not all demons bear a 'demon' appearance. You're generalizing. Besides, most Halflings appear more human-like than demon.]

Then what do you look like?

[I've never told you?]

She frowned. He hadn't ever shown her. Since he was a shadow inside of her, he could show her images, and yet he never showed her images of himself. He had told her before it was because it was hard to think of what he looked like, since most times he lived his life living his life, rather than staring at a mirror. She thought it was an excuse. He was probably hideously disfigured. Or maybe he looked like the monster that he was.

[I have red eyes, which is why your eyes turn red when you use my power. All demons possess claws and sharp teeth, so I have that too. Your grandfather, my son, a pure Halfling, had the same features that I did. Your mother, his daughter, didn't have any of it. The more the demon blood is diluted with human blood, the less likely you will possess magic and the less likely you'll inherit demon features.]

"Makes sense," she muttered.

"Did you say something?" This time it was lady Chyou who was asking. She looked mildly concerned. The only reason she was showing a hint of attention to her was most likely because Huian had saved her son.

Huian shook her head. "Talking to myself," she said with a shrug.

"Oh, alright."

[You know, you can talk to her about the wedding night.]

I'd rather choke on my own spit than do that.

Twigs snapped from behind her. She spun around to see one of the guards approaching her cautiously. He gave a small bow when she caught him staring at her. He was the same guard that had been fighting with her when they were attacked. She gave a small nod of acknowledgement. "What do you want?" she asked.

"I just wanted to say that you were very impressive during the fight," he said. "I hadn't expected you to be that great. I mean, I had heard the bride of Zhulong was fierce, but not-"

"Stop." She raised her hand, halting his string of compliments. "Address me as Lin Huian, not as the bride of Zhulong. You are diminishing my accomplishments by making it about him rather than me. My fighting abilities that I showcased back then has nothing to do with him, so why bring him up?"

He nodded slowly. "Apologies."

"You may continue now."

"Err, I was just saying how you were very amazing back there. It was like you weren't even human."

[Twelve percent.]

She almost rolled her eyes at Bazyn but kept a straight face in front of the guard. "Yes, I suppose I'm so good that people think it's humanely impossible."

"Ah, um, yes."

"Tell me, what have you heard about me? You said that you heard that I was fierce?"

He shifted on his feet uncomfortably. "I heard the daughter of the Lin family was very skilled with the sword and that she was very beautiful."

"Was?"

"Is!" he hastily said. "Apologies."

"Anything else?"

"No, that was it."

She waved at him dismissively. "That's enough then. I'd like to eat my bread in silence."

He bowed before pulling away.

[That arrogance of yours never ceases to amaze me.]

Demons are arrogant too, so I don't see what the big deal is?

[Yes, demons are arrogant, but not so much around our own kind. You're arrogant no matter where you go. It could partially be due to your upbringing as a noble and partially because you're extremely gifted.]

She shrugged. Confidence is a good thing.

[Arrogance isn't typically a good thing.]

I don't want to hear that from a demon.

[I'm only looking out for you.]