A Wuxia Tale: Blade in Training

Freedom

(AHRAN)

"The Consort is here," Adda's voice pierced in my concentration with painting in a canvass.

"What?" I asked because I know she said something but I was not paying attention to him.

I heard Adda sigh, "You have a visitor." She said in a louder voice.

I stopped painting and put down the brush I am using. "Who?" I gave Adda my full focus.

"The Consort," she replied evenly. "Wang Dao's father." She added for more explanation.

I was silenced for a moment. Then I chuckled. "Well, that didn't take long." I sighed. "I will meet him."

"Of course you will," Adda sneered. "You are obsess with that family," she mumbled grudgingly before going away to pick Jian Yu and escort him to me. I am at the back of the temple, painting. It's my favorite activity to pass the time. I tried reading but my imagination push me to draw them in canvasses and give them a physical form.

I waited in silence as the Consort approach me. "How stressful it must be for you to watch your lover and daughter fight it out to put their will on the top," I teased Jian Yu.

He frowned at me. "What? Stressful?"

"Painful," I amended my term. "Exhausting?"

"Yes," Jian Yu sat on a boulder near where I am painting. "It's tiring to watch Hua stray from the path we all agreed she will take and it's equally tiring to watch her Baba do everything to block Hua's way. How you know about my dilemma...I'm not too interested to find. I am here for Dao."

"I don't know when he will come back," I said.

The Consort scrunched his nose. Jian Yu is truly a pleasant looking man. Even in his plain colored robes, his beauty stood out. No one should blame the Master General for falling hard for his Shadow.

"Are you certain you cannot read minds? How did you know what I will ask of you?"

"It's just a matter of evaluating equations. You made this ten days travel to get an important information. You will not entertain the fact that Dao will die in that foreign land. So the next logical thing you will ask is when he will come back. And my answer is, I don't know." I explained the process I used to guess his predicament. And then told him the truth. I really don't know when Dao will return.

And that's not the biggest problem I have with the man who will one day end my life.

I cannot reach Dao's mind. At first I thought it's because of the distance between us. We are not in the same kingdom anymore. But no...it's beyond that. Something else is making it hard for me to reach my fate.

I think Wang Dao is dabbling with something as old as my magic. It's blurring the connection we have.

Dumb Dao.

"Fine, I understand. Then let me ask this, will Hua marry her Prince? Will Prince Jin makes it to wed my daughter?" Jian Yu asked.

"Yes," I nodded.

I watched in amusement as Jian Yu sighed in relief. I decided to burst his happiness on that news. "But not without difficulty. Wang Hua is not an easy conquest."

"I will help him," The Consort replied grumpily. "I will help Prince Jin to convince Hua to marry."

"Suit yourself. That's not my problem after all," I shrugged. Wang Hua is the least of my worry. "But Prince Jin coming back won't mean your son will be back as well. Maybe something will hold Dao back into the Mughal Kingdom and he will love it there."