Bonded

Chapter Sixty Three

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India

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It seems as though I do not need to ask my husbands to lend me their strength...  For both of them are doing so readily... Both Kavya and Ronin holding my hands... With Kavya keeping his arm wrapped around Jian's shoulders to keep him close and help him feel a tiny bit safer as we sneak our way through the quiet dim halls... Our journey is too important to be marred by any of us carrying candlesticks of our own... Or even for any of us to shoot off the occasional flame to aid the neglected wall sconces as they flicker and sputter out so randomly... The palace being so big that the night caretakers cannot possibly tend to them all...

It feels so... So bizarre to be making this journey while so distressed... *Not to mention that Jian and I are currently joined by Kavya and Ronin... Their nearly silent support of us, even just for making the journey down to the kitchens, so appreciated and so helpful... Even if I know that both Jian and I are still very much shaking and shaken...

Other than the odd stealthy trip to visit Master Qiao on happier terms with some of our chamber mates... We haven't quite had the nighttime escapade quite like this... One where every step we take and every word we utter or even think is considered treason and could cost us so much more than just being asked to leave the wing of the scholars permanently...

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Ronin

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It is so very obvious that our wife and chaperone truly do understand the circumstances at the moment... Both of them seeming to be drained of all color and warmth as they cling to us and the shallow superficial protection we offer... Our training and status are likely not enough to actually prevent any of us from being sentenced or punished for treason if we are discovered... Though I try not to let that thought dominate my mind... Mostly because I know that not even the Master Scholar we are sneaking down to the kitchens to visit has enough standing to save any of us if things take a turn for the worse tonight...

Not that things are not bad enough already...

It is hard to try and keep myself focused and vigilant at the moment... My mind keeps wanting to try and speculate all of the different versions of how things may play out when we are finally all sitting in the kitchens across from Qiao... Like if he decides to save himself and his future wife and turn Kavya in... Even though I know he is a better man than that...

Or how someone might overhear us and report our treason...

How we may be discovered and may have to resort to lying about sneaking away for some kind of bizarre lover's tryst spread across 2 couples... And how that version of events would lead to all of us being disgraced and asked to leave the palace... Though that may be a blessing in disguise that would allow us all to get out of this cursed place...

If the last situation would only just play out enough to get us all excused...

The whole lot of us would be able to get far far away from the palace... Maybe even the kingdom... We could go somewhere else... Like the island of Tigers... And we would all be safe and saved from King Xiang in all of his toxicity... He would never learn of Kavya being the one here in the castle with beautiful firey hair...

Even though there would be the stress on our set of beloved scholars losing out on part of their education and masterhood here at the palace, all three of them would be able to study as we traveled all around the world if they so wished... They could even become teachers after we find a place to settle down...

I know that it is not necessarily the best scenario... The best scenario being that King Xiang wakes up in the morning and has no memory of ever even hearing about a redhead residing in the castle... I cannot help but slightly hope that it is the situation that plays itself out as we get closer and closer to the kitchens...  Our steps seeming even more shallow as we all try to swallow our nerves...