Phoenix Rising

033

"Where do you think you're going," Prince Zhiren called out from behind her as the two men came striding out of the jewellery store in chase. When he caught sight of the Shadow Lord, his expression faltered, though he quickly replaced it with a broad smile. "General Du, what a coincidence. I wasn't expecting to see you here. I was having a delightful conversation with Miss Zi-ning before she stepped out."

His hand still around her waist, Zhenghuan firmly pushed her behind him, stepping forward to put himself between Zi-ning and the prince. "I trust you are enjoying your time in our capital, Your Highness," Zhenghuan said coldly. "The envoys seem to be staying longer than usual this time around."

"The king will be marrying the Shon princess shortly, so there's no reason we shouldn't be staying for a cup of celebratory wine, isn't that right? Now if you'll excuse me," Prince Zhiren looked past Zhenghuan's shoulder at Zi-ning, "I have a conversation that I haven't finished."

"Your Highness," Zhenghuan held out his hand, pressing it against the prince's shoulder to stop him from coming any further, "Minister Han has asked me to escort his daughter back home this afternoon. We should be going now. Perhaps you would like to continue this another time." Taking hold of Zi-ning's wrist, Zhenghuan turned and dragged her along, leaving the Hua prince behind.

Zi-ning was startled by the latest development, struggling to keep up with Zhenghuan's pace as he took large strides down the cobblestone pavement. It wasn't until they had walked down two streets that he finally let go of her hand.

"What was that about?" Zi-ning retorted, rubbing her sore wrist gently. The man had a vice-like grip and obviously had no qualms about mishandling a lady.

"I think you owe me a debt of gratitude for rescuing you from that," Zhenghuan said, "unless I was mistaken and you'd rather go back and continue that conversation with the Hua prince."

Zi-ning glowered at him, pursing her lips together tightly. Much as she wanted to say something in retaliation, she couldn't argue against that. If it hadn't been for the Shadow Lord appearing at the right moment, she would have been cornered by the prince of Hua and she wouldn't have had any means of escaping.

"Prince Zhiren is not someone you should be getting involved with," Zhenghuan continued. "Stay away from him."

"Don't you get tired of dispensing sagely advice all the time?" Zi-ning snapped, glaring at him in annoyance. "I think I have my own good sense to decide who I should or should not be getting involved with and from the looks of things, meeting you isn't exactly a good thing either. Excuse me." Bobbing her head stiffly, she turned on her heels and started marching off with Shujin trailing along timidly behind her.

The corners of Zhenghuan's lips twitched slightly as he watched her leave, then he walked up to catch up with her. "I'll send you home," he said.

"That won't be necessary."

"Prince Zhiren is a sharp man. It is likely he'll send someone to follow us until we reach your home. If he finds out that you were lying, he will not be pleased."

"You were the one who lied to him."

"Minor technicality. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have had to lie to him. Where's your carriage?"

"It's just around the corner, sir," Shujin piped up, eyes sparkling as she stared at the general's dashing demeanour.

Zi-ning immediately shot her maidservant an indignant glare. "Are you betraying me now?" she whispered to the girl.

"Miss," Shujin explained quietly, "the general makes sense. What if that Hua prince is waiting for us at the manor? He didn't seem like he wanted to let you go so easily. If the general escorts you back to the manor then even if those Hua envoys want to intercept the carriage along the way they won't be able to."