Frozen Fire

Chapter 19 (Part 2)

Heart Made of Stone

As the statement came out from the consort's mouth, the bandits frowned upon hearing the unusual request. One of the bandits immediately stood up. He slipped his arm through the bars that caged the consort and grabbed the beautiful man's face.

"Who do you think you are for asking to meet our Big Brother? He isn't someone who you can meet as you please. He is our great leader." The bandit spat toward the consort.

"This man thought because he is so beautiful, and just like when he sold his delicious body to the emperor, he immediately becomes the emperor's current favorite toy, then he thinks he can do the same thing with our Big Brother." Another bandits behind him chuckled in amusement. "Let me tell you, male concubine, Big Brother would never interested with you no matter how beautiful you are."

Dayu shut his mouth tight hearing their responses. There was stinging pain in his jaw where the bandit grabbed him roughly earlier. But it was still incomparable to the the pain that surging through his heart with the way how the bandits disregard him as the emperor's toy. However his cold expression still didn't change. He knew no matter what he said, they still wouldn't let him to see their leader. It was just Dayu's eyes never left the bandits' forearms. The consort just realized that all of the bandits shared the same mark there. It was the mark of crescent moon.

The mark that still fresh in the male consort's memory.

-

It was midnight when the consort began to feel the hunger. His empty stomach twisted painfully that made him cringed every single times. Somehow, the consort could tell that they were still in the middle of the forest since the temperature dropped significantly once the night came, and it was just making the consort's hunger worsened.

The bandits might didn't torture him physically, but they didn't give him anything to eat. Probably it was because they were lacking something to eat themselves, yet still... once one of them came back with a rabbit or small deer they hunted from the nearby area, they still wouldn't let the consort to taste a small bit of them. 

The consort's teenage days used to he spent with starving. When he was still living in his hideout, they run out something to eat for countless of times, so this kind of torture was common. However it was the third days already they stayed inside that small cramped place, the consort couldn't help began to feel his body weakened. Aside from starving, the consort also barely could get any sleep. They tied his hands very tightly and it was nearly impossible for him to be able to sleep in that kind of position. In the midst of the coldness, he was often starting jerked up awake again just because of the pain or the hunger.

On the seventh day the hold him captive, it was becoming harder and harder for the consort to keep his consciousness. He was no longer could tell it was day or night. Then one day, he could vaguely heard so much noises outside. It sounded like there were bunch of people fought with each other. As much as the consort wanted to open his eyes to see what was really happening outside, it felt like his eyes automatically shut on his own. All strength felt like already left his frail body.

It was quite some times later when he finally could there was someone who untied him. A pair of hands immediately cupped his cheeks gently. In the state of half unsconcious, Dayu could tell that the person in front of him was asking a bunch of question with full of worries tone. Unfortunately the consort couldn't find any strength to respon. It just when he felt his body was finally engulfed in a familiar embrace, for the first time after a while, the consort felt warm once again.

Far back inside his mind, the consort somehow aware to whom that embrace belong to. It was the embrace from none other than his own enemy. However, without he knew what the reason was, despite his mind kept nagging to refuse that embrace, the consort felt so secure and for once he was giving up and let himself completely drifted into unsconsciousness.