Yun steadied herself as she saw Xiao's silhouette. He was leaning against one of the panels, and the maidservants that walked past him into the hall all had their head bowed, and they looked away.
Yun imagined that he must been glaring at them, and took a breath to claim herself, although it was shaky and it made her even more nervous when she noticed it.
She saw Xiao tilt his head downwards, his side face illuminated in the red lantern light. "My patience is as far as it can possibly get now, Yun."
Yun immediately hastened her footsteps, the low tone in his voice intimidating her. Nothing more should happen tonight.
The day was almost through, and since Lord Xu knew about this, she hoped desperately that he would interfere when things got out of control for her, although she had covered it up at first.
They entered the hall, and immediately, their presence was noted.
Yun, despite being slightly unhinged, allowed herself to take in her surroundings as inconspicuously as she could.
Eyes quickly locked onto hers however, and they widened when they saw her.
"Yun?" He mouthed, and Yun quickly ducked her head.
She had not accounted for Jin being here, even though he had known about the event and that he had known who her partner was.
It is fine. It is fine. She told herself. Stay collected.
She could still feel his eyes trailing her as she took her seat next to the Huan King. And apparently, Xiao had noticed too.
"Apparently the wine tonight is exquisite." He started conversationally, and Yun reached for the small wine jug, pouring out the liquid into two cups on the small table that they were sitting at.
"It seems as though someone has their eyes on you." The Huan King said, in a low voice that only she could hear. "I wonder if he knows who you really are."
"And I had always thought that you never wanted to get anyone else involved."
"I stand by my words." Yun said, lifting a cup to him with two hands, bowing her head.
He took it, slipping his fingers around the white jade. He finished it with a tilt of his head, and set it heavily down onto the table.
"I wonder if you know who you actually are yet." He mused, locking his gaze with her. Yun couldn't help her hands as they quivered slightly at the predatory gaze.
How many times could she have died already if it weren't for the uses that she had?
"What are you doing?" He suddenly shot at her, and Yun hands shook even more, curling tightly around the jug.
She inhaled as she saw that the wine was already overflowing all the way from the table down to his robes, staining them.
"My deepest apologies." Yun forced a sense of calm into her voice. Pulling out a handkerchief from her sleeve, she dabbed as his robes. His hand stopped her however, and Yun just paused, keeping her head bowed. She could feel his gaze piercing into her, and her hands tightened around the silk cloth.
She did not know how to get herself out of the situation, but when she felt hands on her chin, lifting her head up and forcing her to lock eyes with him, she forced her gaze not to waver.
"My apologies, Your Highness."
"Speak." Xiao said, ignoring the man that stood before them both.
"I was wondering if it would be rude to steal away this woman by your side for a few moments."
Yun's lips quivered as Xiao's fingers dug deeper into her cheeks, and she had to bite them to prevent herself from whimpering. Her fists were clenched in an attempt to prevent the light from lashing out to the surface of her skin, as it would undoubtedly cause a commotion.
"It would be rude." He said, finally breaking eye contact and releasing his grip on her.
Yun let out a breath that she had not known that she was holding and slumped to the side.
"But you may take her. For only a while, that is."
Hands pulled her upwards, and she immediately felt a sense of comfort, washing away the shock that she had felt. Her head lifted up of its own accord, and she saw that it was Jin. His shoulders were taut as she was pulled along with him.
And as they made their way out of the hall, she found herself being more able to breath, her feet regaining their strength.
They made their way a bit further, until they came to a small side garden. The breeze that blew was cool, and Yun found a shiver going up her spine, unable to believe that it could still be this cold in the summer. Her hand was let go, and with a flourish, Jin draped his cape around her shoulders, the white standing against her red.
Without saying another word though, he turned around, and Yun thought that he was seething, so she kept her silence.
"Why were you with him?" Jin finally whirled around on her, but he kept his voice low. His eyes flickered from one side to another to search within her eyes, but Yun found herself lowering her head. The hurt and the anger in his voice was still evident no matter how hard she tried to suppress it.
"We were talking about something." Yun said simply, not wanting to lie but not willing to tell him the truth to expose him to danger.
"What discussion could he not have with Lord Xu directly? I thought he was your chaperone?"
"Something regarding my free will."
"Yun, is he trying to force your hand?" Confusion was written all over his face. "Because I don't care who he is, if he's trying to do something bad to you, I'll make sure that my sword will make holes in his body."
"No, you don't have to do so. I can handle this issue myself." Yun immediately stepped in front of him, her ruby earrings dangling vigorously.
"But I want to. Yun, why won't you let me do even this for you? Are you hiding something from me?"
"I thought we were in this together."
"We, as in me, Ying and Lord Xu. Jin, I'm sorry. But I won't put you in such risk." Yun decided that it was time to put her foot down. Even as she closed her eyes now, she can remember the pain that the male dancer was in because of Xiao. And she would never put him in such danger.
No matter what she had to do, she had to get Jin to give up on her.
"Yun—"
"I never gave you a definite answer. But now let me tell you why I couldn't accept you."
"Because my heart is already with someone. I love someone else, and that someone is not you."
Her voice was raised at the end, and her body was trembling with the effort it took to get that out of her chest.
She watched as Jin paused, his mouth and closing. The light in his eyes that she had loved so much, went out. His shoulders sagged in a matter of seconds, and he took a few steps backwards. He looked down, removing his eyes from her. And she noticed those little details.
What have I done?
She could imagine how Jin must've felt. Because she felt the same way. Her chest felt like it was crushed, and she couldn't breathe. But her mind was strangely alert. And it told her that maybe it was the right choice to make.
She wouldn't hurt Jin anymore. And he would leave.
Somehow, that thought made her feel like she wanted to cry.
"That hurts." Jin sighed softly, falling backwards onto the ground.
"But you know what hurts even more?" He breathed. There were tears in his eyes as he lifted his gaze again and locked them with Yun. "The fact that when you couldn't accept me the first time I professed; I already knew that my heart was going to be broken if I continue to love you."
"But I couldn't stop loving you. I liked you since the day I met you. That grew to something more. And now, I don't think that I could ever replace you. Because I won't be able to love someone than you. No matter if you get married off to the love of your life. I will still come to your wedding."
"Because I love you, and I want to see the smile on your face through the red cloth when you look at him. Smiling happily, like he's your world. And I would be happy for you, because I could never be that person to give you that."
He stood up, brushing the grass off his robes before he brushed past her to walk back to the hall.
Tears were already streaming down her face, and she felt like even breathing was hard to her.
She turned over, wanting to yell out something to his silhouette that was walking away, but before she could do that, the air in between them burned. She could only manage to see Jin turning over before she was thrown backwards into the air.
Her back hit a tree, and the air escaped her lungs with a wheeze. The ache healed sooner than she'd expected though, and she was able to stand up as Xiao walked out from a ring of fire blazing on the ground.
"It's midnight. And I expect an answer."
He snapped his hands, and a lasso of fire materialized in her hand. The other end went sailing over his shoulder and it went taut. A yell came from the short distance, and when he pulled it backwards with an effort, Jin was lying next to his feet, completely tied up and helpless.
An incredulous expression was on his face when he looked down at the rope, and Xiao, and at Yun. He looked at her like he didn't know her, and she found herself detesting that very gaze that he was giving her.
"What is it going to be Yun?"
"Let him go first. Let him go and then we'll talk." Yun tried to reason. "He has nothing to do with what you and me have to discuss."
"There's nothing to discuss, Yun." He smiled, baring fangs. "It's a yes or no question. And besides, I like my odds to be victory guaranteeing. And did I hear the little exchange between you two. You act like you don't care about him, but you do. A lot."
His fingers tightened suddenly, and the flames seared. A yell escaped from Jin's lips as he writhed, a burning scent coming from his clothes.
"Stop!" Yun rushed forwards, panicking.
The lasso uncoiled itself from Jin's body and it was thrown forwards. A barrier of fire suddenly separated them. Yun stopped in her steps, but she still felt the flames burning the moisture out of the air in front of her.
"So, have you made up your mind yet?" A taunting voice came from the other side.
"It has been made up all along." She stated firmly after a few more moments. "I am not leaving the mortal realm. And I am not switching sides."
She pulled out her dagger and took a deep breath. Her best bet was the dragon scale jade that she had, and she had to use it now.
She took a step forwards, steadying herself to run through the barrier of fire, before she heard a prominent chirping.
Wind suddenly blasted from above them, knocking her to the ground. The fire was extinguished, the smoke rising densely. She coughed, feeling the smoke starting to choke her.
Another gust of intensely strong wind, and the air was clean. Yun took a deep breath, feeling the heaviness in her lungs relieved.
"Why am I always dragging you up?" Arms pulled her upwards again, and she was set on her feet.
"Ying!"
"Go get the high general."
Yun nodded and sprinted over towards Jin. A blast of dragon fire soared in a wave through the air, heading towards her. Another blast of wind dispersed it, and Yun successfully got to Jin's side.
His clothes were seared open, and he was limp, showing no signs of consciousness.
She heard the sounds of weapons clashing, and the clinking of metal against metal. Heat occasionally seared the air, as the strong gusts of wind that blew the fire attacks apart.
Yun wasn't sure how long the fight would last, but she trusted that Ying would be able to hold him off. Through the strong blasts of wind, she could tell that her powers had become augmented ever since she had recovered from the injury during the fight with Xiao.
Yun tried hard to lift Jin up, but he was really, really heavy. She let his hand slide down over her shoulders first as she thought about what to do.
Her hands reached for the dragon scale jade, deciding that she should manipulate air. It should support his weight to get him to somewhere safe that she could heal him.
The air around them increased in heat significantly however, and before she knew it, the dragon scale jade glowed an iridescent colour, the pinks and blues flashing as she threw her hands out.
An air blast she'd managed to conjure deflect the sudden blast of fire that sailed towards them. Her eyes seared and her throat still tightened at the proximity of the heat however. But another wave of heat dried the air again, and she soon found herself having to blast away wave after wave of the fire sailing towards them. And every single time, the air blasts she'd conjured became smaller and smaller, the fire edging closer towards them.
Desperate, she lifted her gaze to Ying and saw that she was in a tight spot herself. Sparks flew each time they crossed blades, but Xiao was pressing his upper hand. His sword was on fire, and each time Ying pulled out of his range, he would use a whip of fire, extending his range of attack.
They needed help, and they needed it fast.
Yun's eyes lit up with another blast of flames racing towards them, and prepared herself for the worst.