The Last Dahlia

035

The queen nodded her head. "Yes, summon the physician so that he can prescribe Yang-yang's medication. It's normal for this time of year. Whenever spring arrives his skin will begin to have a mild reaction. Perhaps I should limit the time he spends outdoors during this season."

"Sang used to have the same reaction. He would always be frantically scratching his itchy skin to no end every time spring came around," Yuehwa recalled, "and I would just laugh."

Yi'en waved her hand to dismiss the palace maid, a slight cough emerging when she did so.

"You should return to your chambers to rest," Yuehwa said. "You've only just recovered and the wind can be a little chilly in the early spring." Helping the queen to her feet, they waited until the attendants had led the prince away and back to his quarters before they followed suit.

"Have you heard from Prince Minjun yet?" the queen asked as they walked.

Yuehwa shook her head. "The king of Feng has openly acknowledged him as his long-lost son, but other than that, the king hasn't yet given him any duties in the royal court. It will be difficult for him to gain a footing in the court if the king does not wish it so. He must be busy."

"I don't know the history behind what happened with the Feng royal family, but I'm glad we have none of that here. Perhaps it is a good thing that our family is small, so there is never a need for brothers, fathers and sons to fight over the crown. If the prince was willing, he could live in Hwa as your consort and after Yang-yang comes of age, the both of you could leave the palace and continue living the life that you want to lead. I expect it would be better here than over in Feng."

"I'm not sure it's his decision to make," Yuehwa replied quietly. She recalled what Sheng Yun had said back in the astrologer's vault, about Shoya's identity and who he used to be. If all of it was true then it would mean that Shoya was destined to have an extraordinary life and he couldn't leave everything behind even if he wanted to. Perhaps that was why he found his way back to the palace of Feng after all these years. Perhaps that was why the both of them had even met in the first place.

She didn't like to believe in destiny, but destiny caught up with her anyway.

#

Later that afternoon, Yuehwa sat in the king's study, her eyes staring unflinchingly at the large map of the five kingdoms that lay on the table. She was flanked by four of Hwa's highest-ranking generals, including General Han, her former teacher.

"If it is as our scouts have reported, then Gi should be attempting to invade Feng within a matter of weeks. They must be trying to expedite their campaign before we have time to react and send troops to support Feng," infantry commander Huai, a surly man with streaks of grey in his hair said.

"Are we sure that the information is accurate though? That would mean that Gi is moving its army towards the northern border of Feng, across the Jilin mountain range. They'll lose at least a third of their men to the frost before they even reach the border city of Muya," contributed Du Pingli, commander of the cavalry.

Yuehwa re-read the missive from their scouting party that had arrived earlier, and then the request for support from the king of Feng, beseeching Hwa to send men to help defend the Feng border. She looked back towards the map, at the peaks of the treacherous Jilin mountain range, once believed to be an impenetrable barrier between Feng and Gi.

Any military commander with good sense would not have chosen the northern border city of Muya as its point of entry into Feng, for the reason that Commander Du had pointed out. Yincheng, Feng's main trade stop along its eastern border, or Nanfu that bordered the kingdom of Jin further down south, would have made far easier targets.