Heaven's Daughter

Chapter 31 - Rejection

The light intensified. Kairi was quickly awakened by the light and used her arms to shield her eyes. The light slowly faded away and a chirp was heard from the bed.
"Could it be...?" The chirp could only mean that her egg had finally hatched.

She jumped out of the tub. Excitement filled her as she struggled to dry herself. No sooner did she grab her clothes, the doors crashed open and a male voice cried out in alarm.

"Silly girl, are you alright?!" came Zhang Sheng's concerned voice. More footsteps could be heard from the other side of the screen wall. The light must've seeped out of the room catching the attention of many.

"Get out!" she screamed from behind the screen wall. With the light from the candles, her shadow casted onto the screen revealing her every curve. Voices of shock and surprised filled the room then Zhang Sheng's voice boomed right after.
"Get lost!" he roared. She was in the middle of slipping into her robes when she heard the noise of feet shuffling out of the room. Letting out a sigh of relief, she finished putting on her clothes and stepped out from behind the screen. She was quite surprised to see Zhang Sheng lifting up the doors that had been kicked off its hinges. Once the doors were back in place, he didn't bother leaving the room. Instead, he strode over to the bed where the small golden fire bird sat.

"Look! It hatched!" Zhang Sheng exclaimed brightly. The golden fire bird ignored Zhang Sheng but chirped happily at the sight of Kairi. So, it knew who its owner was. It flapped its wings furiously thinking it would fly but it merely levitated an inch off the bed for a few seconds.

"How cute!" Kairi cried as sat at the edge of the bed. She held out a hand and the bird instantly jumped into her palm. "You're not even as big as my palm!"

Seeing that he had been completely ignored, Zhang Sheng huffed.

"Aren't you going to thank me for kicking the guards out of room?" he asked with a pout.

"Thank you? You barged your way into the room while I was bathing and you want me to thank you?"

There was a loud slap followed by a bang.

Zhang Sheng had been kicked out of the room after being slapped fully in the face by Kairi.

The next morning, Zhang Sheng sported a red handprint on his left cheek.

"I was only worried something might have happened. Did you really have to slap me that hard?" he asked. Kairi sat opposite from him in the small carriage. She had ignored him the moment she woke up and hasn't said a word since. She focused all her attention on the hatched golden firebird. She couldn't help but smile at the fluffy baby bird.

"You look like a little ball of fluff," she crooned. The baby bird chirped happily at its owner.

Seeing that he had been completely ignored cause of a bird, Zhang Sheng reached out to grab it. The bird sensed danger and immediately spat a little fireball at his hand. For a moment, Kairi's heart stopped. The fireball was the size of a coin but she could sense the strength in that ball alone. It was enough to knock a fully grown man to the ground but Zhang Sheng easily flicked the fireball out the window with precision and continued to reach forward. It was Kairi who finally used her body as a shield. She turned her body around with the baby bird clutched tightly in her arms.

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed at him.

"Oh, so you're finally talking to me?" he asked as he lowered his hand. Kairi bit her lower lip. She swore not to say a word to him but she couldn't contain her anger when it came to her baby. The little fire bird chirped and its head popped out from her arms. It glared menacingly at Zhang Sheng. If the bird was a human, Kairi was sure it would throw a few cuss words at him followed by sticking its tongue out at him.
"I really apologize for last night. I thought something had happened to you..." Zhang Sheng said truthfully. Unaware of his real concern, Kairi merely brushed off his apology.