The Last Dahlia

047

"Come on, we're wasting time," she declared. "Let's move further north so that we can get a better view of the back end of the Dahai army, maybe she's—"

"Wait," Shoya interrupted. "Look over there." He pointed towards the distance, where a few horsemen and a golden carriage had pulled away from the right flank of the Dahai contingent and were heading in the direction of the mountains instead.

There was no reason for a carriage to be part of an army, unless it carried someone important. Like a king. Or a king's concubine.

"Let's go."

"Yuehwa." Shoya grabbed her by the wrist, holding her back.

She turned to look at him, puzzled.

"What're you doing? We need to hurry. If we take too long we might lose them in the forest."

Shoya waved Ru Fei and the other Firebrands ahead, but he kept hold of her hand until the rest were out of sight and they were the only two remaining. The clashing of blades and frenzied screams from the battlefield seemed to fade away, leaving only the serene rustle of leaves in the breeze.

"Yuehwa, I just wanted to tell you that I never meant to lie to you, and the last thing I ever want to do is to hurt you in any way. I've lived my entire life in the shadows, carrying the burden of my past alone, living, breathing and dreaming nothing but revenge against those who had tried to harm me. That was who I was when I first met you, but everything changed from that moment on. I know it might be difficult for you to believe me, or to trust anything that I say, but I still want to say it anyhow." He leaned over, and his warm breath tickled the side of her ear. "I love you, Yuehwa. And I'm so, so sorry."

"What do you mean? Sorry for—"

A sudden blow struck her at the back of her neck, and her vision went dark.

#

Shoya cradled the unconscious girl in his arms, carrying her over to a small cave he had spotted on their hike up earlier. He set her down gently against the stone wall.

If I survive this, then you can scold me, kick me, beat me as much as you like. Even if you hate me and never want to see me again, so be it.

As long as she remained alive and well, then it didn't matter what she thought about him. He would not—could not—let her dive headfirst into such terrible danger. He could not risk letting her face the same fate as Wan Jue.

Pressing his forehead against hers, he placed a gentle kiss upon her lips.

"Goodbye, Yuehwa."

He let his gaze linger upon her sleeping countenance for a moment longer, then he turned and left the cave, heading in the direction that he had sent the Firebrands to.

There was a deep unease about the entire situation niggling at the back of his mind. It seemed too easy for them to have spotted Lady Kang escaping from the main Dahai contingent. Why would she attempt something like that, when she could have remained camouflaged in the midst of the unrest?

He found Ru Fei and the other Firebrands crouched in wait behind the thick bushes, observing the carriage and horsemen who had come to a halt beside a stream in the middle of a mountain valley.

"What's the situation?" he asked, coming alongside the Firebrand commander.

"They just stopped here, like they're waiting for something." Ru Fei turned to look at Shoya, then he looked past the latter's shoulder. "Where's my regent?"

"We saw another suspicious figure lurking in the woods, so she went to investigate," Shoya lied. "She'll join us soon."

If Ru Fei suspected anything, he showed no signs of it. Instead, he pointed to the carriage and asked, "Do you think Lady Kang is really inside?"