Embrace Of The Wind And The Flame

Chapter 7

The palace gates were opened and the people stood by the gates, waiting to bid goodbye to Fu Lang princess who gave away her freedom to save their lives.

"Do you know my sister works as a court lady in the palace?" One tall and thin man spoke to the man standing next to him, a fat man who gave him an unbelieving look.

"Yes, and what did your court lady sister tell you?" He scoffed and returned to admiring the faded rings in his beefy fingers.

"Well" the other man called in a loud voice attracting other people in the queue. "My sister is one of the servants who will accompany Fu Lang princess to Hua Nation"

Laughter broke out from the crowd and the man's face flushed. A horn sounded and the people forgot the lying man, their attentions on the palace gates that were slowly pulled open.

Rows and rows of soldiers rode out first, followed by servants on horses bearing large boxes and then finally, the princess's carriage came.

It was red in color, phoenixes were painted on it and looked like they would fly out at anytime.

"Fu Lang Majesty"

The people knelt and kowtowed several times. The carriage stopped and the curtain was pulled a little. A fair face covered with a red veil poked out and spoke.

"Thank you all for coming here. All the people of  Fu Lang and myself is one family. I thank you for taking the trouble and I wish you good life as we part today" She released the curtains and the people cried out their thanks again.

Inside the carriage, Xu Wei yawned and removed the veil. Saying those words really helped like Crown Prince said they would. "Brother should leave now. It would raise some questions if people knew you are in here"

Xu Li pretended not to hear what she said and concentrated on the book he was reading. If one looked closer, he would see that crown prince Xu Li's attention really is not on the book. His eyes were far away.

"Let brother accompany you for a while more" he snapped the book close and looked at her.

"Wei" he paused and she looked at him too, a smile on her face. "Wei if someday you find out that I have done something terribly wrong, something you never thought I could do. Will you be able to forgive me then?"

Xu Wei laughed. "What is brother saying? Brother is not an evil person, Wei knows"

Xu Li shook his head. "No. Wei you have to answer me. Will you forgive me then?"

The smile faltered and she looked at him, seeing that he was serious about it, she nodded.

"Yes. Wei trusts in brother and knows that brother will only do things he believes in. Wei knows that brother is not evil and that brother only thinks for the best."

She paused and clenches her fists together.

"When that time ever comes, Wei will forgive you if there is ever anything to forgive"

Xu Li sighed loudly and leaned back on the chair, his eyes closed. She kept her gaze on him. "Why did brother ask this?" He smiled at her. "Wei does not need to know yet. Wei should trust in brother for now."

The carriage returned to a comfortable silence. Xu Wei yawned again and fell asleep seated. Xu Li looked up from his book and stared at her for long time and laid her on the cushion properly.

He rubbed her hair fondly and sighed "Wei"

The carriage stopped and a knock on the window interrupted his thoughts. "Crown Prince Highness. We have reached the border.  Perhaps Highness would like to like to return to the capital now"

Xu Li frowned at the soldier. "Who gave you the right to tell Highness what to do?" The softness in his eyes was gone, replaced by a harsh glint.

"Soldier apologises" the soldier fell behind. Xu Li knew he had to leave soon before his absence in the palace would be noticed.

He glanced at the sleeping Wei and his heart felt a tug which he quickly pushed to a side. He would dwell on that later. Reaching inside his robes, he produced a long hair pin.

This had been his gift for her but he never had time to hand it to her and even now, she was asleep and he could not show her how to use it.

He dropped the pin beside her and rubbed her hair again and again.

"Goodbye Wei. You must take care of yourself" he whispered and jumped out of the carriage. The people below could only see a fleeting whiteness pass them, some believed it could have been an effect of the sun.

The sleeping figure suddenly opened her eyes and stretched. Lying in the same position for a long time made her feel stiff. Her eyes fell on the pin and she carried it, it felt light unlike the other normal ones.

Her eyes narrowed and she looked at it closely, trying to find out if it had any special tricks. Knowing Xu Li, he would never give her such a plain gift.
She got tired of playing with it for a while and dropped it. Supporting her chin with a hand, she read a book but her eyes kept drifting back to the silver pin.

The fast moving carriage suddenly came to a abrupt halt and she lost balance. Frowning, she pushed the curtains "Yu Kai, why have we stopped?"

The silence that answered her question did not comfort her so she pushed the doors open and stepped out.

Bodies. Plenty of bodies were on the floor, the corpses looked like they had been neatly done with only a slice oozing blood on their necks.

Swish! The sounds of swords being moved could be heard as they pointed to her. Xu Wei remained calm, her eyes searching and when she finally found Yu Kai who had been gagged and tied down, she understood why She was not answered.

She quickly swept her eyes over the black clothed men. One of them, probably the leader roared at her. " Princess Xu Wei you can not complete the journey to Hua Nation. Your life ends here, you must die today!"

Silence followed. A flash of sword, a splash of blood and a body fell down!