Princess Snow and the Empress

27: Found Each Other Again

I shouldn't have done that head toss so vigorously, Snow thought, but she could not help herself. The commander's threatening tone and manner towards Erden and Weilong had incensed her. She was still seeing stars when she entered the tent.

Since the time she woke up, she'd not had the opportunity to process what had happened to her. I must have lost a lot of blood. How did I survive the cut? The poison? The last thing she remembered was lying on the cottage floor while her wrist bled out. She tried to recall more details but there were gaping holes in her memory.

Her father's ministers, generals and advisors hid their surprise when they saw her enter with Erden. "Who's that?" someone whispered. "It's the princess, looks like they've found her," another replied.

I'm not that unrecognizable, am I? Her legs were about to give way under her. Mercifully, someone brought her a chair and Erden stayed by her side, whilst the chancellor and the general stood before Weilong.

Her older half-brother, she noticed, stood at least a head taller than the general. How odd, I expected the leader of the Kingdom's largest regiment to be a lot bigger and look more masculine. The general's face was oval-shaped, gently planed and smooth, and his voice was neither masculine or deep, nor soft and feminine.

"Speak, Your Excellency," Weilong said, poised as usual despite everyone's attention on him.

The wizened royal court official looked at each of the princes and Snow. Despite his wrinkles and long white beard, his eyes were bright and alert. "The evening after your Highnesses left the Palace, the servants heard screaming from the Empress's chambers. When the guards got there, they found a terrifying, wolf-like beast smashing everything inside.

"Despite their fright, the guards had the presence of mind to bar the doors so that it could not escape, and summoned the exorcist. But when the doors threatened to give way, the guards slayed the beast. The Empress could not be found anywhere."

The Empress! Slayed? Meaning she's dead? Her mouth went dry when she recalled the Empress's glowing eyes, reddish fur and fangs. The image of the Empress transforming into her fox form was forever burned into her memory.

How? How is it that she could not return to her human form? In the torrent of jumbled thoughts running through her head, her last words with the Empress echoed in her ears: I wish the world can see who you really are.

Heavens, did what I wish for come true? Gods, what have I done?

The chancellor's voice brought her back to the present. "According to the exorcist, it appears that we had a fox demon in our midst," the chancellor said slowly, taking in everyone's stunned expressions.

"A fox demon? In the Palace? On the throne?" Weilong could not hide his incredulity.

"She fooled us all. For so many years. And we only discovered after so many had perished, and only after she brought the Kingdom to near ruination," the Chancellor said solemnly.

"Wait, if the Empress was a fox demon, what does that make the Crown Prince? Where is he?" Erden asked.

"Good question, Your Highness. We don't know what or where he is, but we believe he had fled the Palace together with some of the Empress's men.

"We caught her eunuch destroying items in her bedchambers. I was told it was full of herbs and animal parts and all manners of poisons. Thankfully, some manuals for poison were recovered from the coal brazier.

"Under... severe questioning, her eunuch confessed to a host of crimes. Kidnapping, murder, bribery" – he inhaled audibly – "ordering for the princess to be assassinated, and for the assassin himself to be disposed of, amongst others. We're still trying to determine whether he or the Empress had anything to do with the Emperor's premature passing."