After Hwa's royal banquet, things across the kingdoms returned to a semblance of normalcy. Crown Prince Baixun and his wife left the borders of Hwa, as did the king of Feng and his new heir. Out on the streets, the common folk carried on with their day to day bustle, oblivious to the looming winds of change that were about to sweep across the lands.
Back in the Gi royal court, the ministers and officials had been on pins and needles for weeks because the crown prince had locked himself in his quarters and refused to grant an audience to anyone ever since he returned. The union between the soon-to-be crown prince of Feng and the regent of Hwa was making them lose sleep at night, in fear that this alliance could imply the formation of a new faction that might well be strong enough to fend off their own. The military prowess of Hwa was something that all the other kingdoms were wary of, yet the irony was that none of them could actually remember what the army of Hwa was like—it had been a long time since the sleeping giant had been awoken. They had been petitioning the king to consolidate the armies of Gi, Jin and Dahai to launch an offensive on Feng before the latter had time to assemble its defences, but the elderly king had long deferred all major decisions to his heir and would not give them an answer.
"We cannot keep waiting! The longer we wait, the more time Feng and Hwa have to build their forces. If Gi is to emerge as the victor out of all the kingdoms, then we need to act now!" one anxious voice cried out.
"The prince must have his own plans. Perhaps we should be patient and wait?" another official ventured hesitantly.
There a loud sigh in response, and many others began shaking their heads. "The prince has refused to see anyone except Adviser Park ever since he returned from Hwa. What is the matter? We need to know what the plans are or else we'll be caught in limbo, just waiting for the enemy to launch themselves at our borders!"
All eyes in the room shifted towards Maroo, who had been trying his best to blend in with the wall. Seeing that he could no longer camouflage himself, the prince's trusted advisor started breaking out in cold sweat.
Clearing his throat, he said, "The prince needs time to think through the plans before we decide on our next move. Please be patient and trust that—"
"We have already been patient! It's been weeks!" an irate minister with snowy white hair bellowed. "Already our spies have reported that both Hwa and Feng have begun increasing the number of troops stationed at their borders. This is an obvious sign that they are getting ready to take action! If we don't seize the opportunity it will be impossible to defeat their alliance."
"The increase in troops has been minimal and has always been expected. It is unlikely that they will go on the offensive," Maroo explained. "We just need to—"
"For years we have rallied behind Prince Baixun and respected him as our future king, but if he continues delaying the campaign then he isn't doing justice to all the men that have sacrificed their lives for our cause. Adviser Park, what exactly is the prince waiting for? We need to hear it for ourselves so that we can be assured that there indeed is a plan!"
"Excuse me, I-I-I forgot that there is somewhere else I need to be," Maroo mumbled, hurriedly backing out of the room before he was mobbed by the angry ministers.
He walked briskly towards the prince's quarters, taking a detour when he almost came face to face with another group of officials who were looking for an audience with the prince to lobby their cause. When he finally stepped into the prince's study, he heaved a huge sigh of relief.
"What's the matter, Maroo? You're looking a little pale," Baixun remarked. He was sitting on his chair, staring intently at a map of the kingdoms that he had laid out on the table.
"Your Highness, you need to come to a decision soon or else we're going to have a mutiny on our hands! The ministers are getting increasingly impatient and they won't want to wait any longer. Feng and Hwa have begun increasing their military presence along their borders, which means that we'll have a much tougher battle on our hands the longer we drag this out. The ministers think we should strike while the new prince of Feng has yet to gain his footing, else when the White Scorpion and the Phoenix join hands we could be at a disadvantage."
"I know."
That was all Baixun had in response, as he set down the wooden piece he had been toying with in his hand. After a moment's thought, he picked it up again and shifted its position on the map. And again. And again. This was all he had been doing for the past few weeks while he locked himself up in his study.
"If we hope to unite the five kingdoms under our banner, then there is no way she can escape unscathed, Your Highness," Maroo said quietly. He had been by the prince's side long enough to know the reason behind why Baixun had been wearing a frown on his face all this time. "She is not only the regent of Hwa, but also the Phoenix, and she will not go down without a fight."
"Is there really no way?" Baixun muttered, gripping the wooden piece tightly in his hand.
Maroo sighed quietly. The ministers were right to be worried and anxious, because for the first time in his life, their prince was hesitating. He reached into his sleeve and withdrew a black silk scroll from within. He placed the scroll on the table and said, "This has been sitting in the royal archives for tens of years. I heard about it briefly from my mentor many years back, but I didn't think much about it until a couple of days ago when I was analysing the situation across the kingdoms. It's an ancient prophecy that was foretold by the soothsayers back in the day, before the late king decided to eradicate all forms of what he considered to be the 'occult'."
Baixun picked up the scroll and slowly unfurled it, revealing the faded lettering on the yellow parchment within. "On a day when darkness descends upon the kingdom and the light of the sun is extinguished, the end of the kingdom will be born," he read. "What is this?"
"While I was checking the background of the White Scorpion, something interesting turned up. According to some of the old servants in the palace of Feng, Hwang Minjun was born to the sister of the current queen on a day when there was a solar eclipse and the sun was obscured in the sky right at midday. The historical records of Feng state that such a birth has only ever happened one other time, and that was when the first king of Feng was born."
"Are you telling me that the subject of this so-called prophecy could be the White Scorpion?" Baixun asked, arching his eyebrows sceptically.
Maroo nodded his head. "Your Highness, I know you don't believe in these things, but sometimes it's difficult not to. You were born at midday, on a day where the sun was the brightest and most scorching that it had been in years, yet Hwang Minjun was born at the exact same hour in complete darkness. Word has it that the king of Feng ordered his son killed because of this very prophecy, so as to protect his kingdom, but what if the prophecy had never been about Feng in the first place?"
"What if it was about Gi?"
"Or Dahai? Jin? Or perhaps even Hwa?" Maroo added solemnly. "Your Highness, I know that you don't wish to hurt Princess Yue, but you mustn't forget that she has already picked her side. Hwang Minjun is someone who has been hiding in the shadows all these years, yet the moment he appeared he managed to overturn the status quo and become the next in line for the throne of Feng. If we don't make the first move while we still can, then who is to say that he won't turn the tables on us? You have worked too hard to lose it all now."
Baixun fell silent, his brows furrowed deep in thought.
"Your Highness, if it is the princess that you are concerned about, then perhaps the safest way would be to put a stop to the alliance between Hwa and Feng. That way, even if we wage war against Feng, Hwa will have no reason to intervene."
Maroo knew that Baixun didn't want to do anything that would put Yuehwa in harm's way, which was why he had been sitting here racking his brain for such a long time. If it was Yuehwa and Hwa that Baixun was worried about, then it was his duty as the prince's adviser to help his prince find the best solution to his problem. Instead of hesitating and losing the chance to conquer both Hwa and Feng, it was better to forsake Hwa for now and focus their attentions on Feng alone. And in order to do so, they had to find a way to dissolve the alliance that the king of Feng had sacrificed so much to attain.
"You have a way to do that?" Baixun looked at Maroo expectantly, then in the next moment the look of anticipation in his eyes fizzled away, replaced instead by a tinge of sadness. "It's not possible," he said.
"Why not? There is one thing that the princess treasures above all others, Your Highness, and that is her family. The only reason why she returned to the kingdom to take on the position of regent was so that she could govern the kingdom in her brother's stead until the true heir comes of age. She's doing it out of duty. If the young prince is compromised, then..."
Maroo knew that it was a despicable sort of thing that he would otherwise hate to suggest, one that would put the Phoenix through a great deal of pain, but his allegiance was to Gi. If the prince was unable to sacrifice Princess Yue, then surely another sacrifice could be accepted. The only way to for the prince to protect the woman he loved and achieve his ambitions at the same time was to steel his heart now and play a cruel card. In the path to being a king, sacrifices were often necessary.
He could only hope that Prince Baixun would agree.
The furrow upon the prince's forehead deepened as he stared fixedly at the map before him, but he said nothing.
A gentle knock came at the door, interrupting their conversation. Maroo turned and saw the crown princess enter the room, balancing a wooden tray with a bowl on it. The fragrance of freshly made chicken soup wafted into his nostrils, reminding him that he hadn't had lunch yet.
"What are you doing here?" Baixun asked, sounding mildly displeased to see Naying.
"Your steward said you didn't touch any of the dishes at lunch, so I brought you some soup. I know you're busy, but you should still eat. The kingdom cannot afford to have you fall ill," the princess replied, setting the bowl down on the table beside the map. If she detected Baixun's irritation, she showed no signs of it.
"Leave it and I'll have it later." Baixun waved his hand dismissively, then turned his attentions back to the map, not sparing his new wife a second glance. "Maroo, you can leave too."
"Your Highness, about what I just suggested..."
"I'll think about it," the prince replied brusquely.
Maroo sighed inwardly, then bowed and backed away towards the open door. Under any other circumstance he would have no qualms about surrendering to the Phoenix with both hands in the air, for he was genuinely impressed (and very much frightened) by the woman's abilities and charisma, but he could not afford to be a coward this time, not when it meant possibly losing his prince's lifelong dream of uniting the five kingdoms. If Baixun couldn't bring himself to hurt Yuehwa, then maybe he had to play the role of the villain.
"Maroo, is the prince bothered by something?"
The prince's adviser turned his head, startled. He hadn't realised that the crown princess had followed him out, and was still trailing a few steps behind.
Naying smiled, looking concerned. "I happened to bump into Minister Go and some of the other officials outside, and they told me that the prince was refusing to grant them an audience. What exactly is going on?" she asked.
"It's nothing, Your Highness. Just some regular issues of the court," Maroo replied. It would not do to let the princess know what the prince was preoccupied with, not when Naying and Yuehwa were close friends. Besides, it was against protocol for women to be involved with court matters.
Thankfully, the princess didn't push any further. Instead, she said, "I have some more of that chicken soup left over. Would you like to come over and take some back with you? Baixun works himself too hard, and I'm sorry that you have to work as hard, if not harder, to keep pace with him."
Right on cue, Maroo's stomach released a loud growl. He grinned sheepishly at the princess. "In that case, I'd be happy to oblige," he said, recalling the delectable aroma of soup that he had inhaled earlier.
He would gladly give anything for a piping hot bowl of soup right now.
#
Shoya was standing in front of a window in the astrology building, surveying the unfamiliar surroundings around him. After so many years, he was finally standing in the centre of the palace looking out at the kingdom that would soon become his, yet he felt no joy. He felt no joy when the former crown prince was banished to the fringes, he felt no joy entering this city riding beside the king, and he felt no joy in seeing that look of hatred in the king and queen's eyes as they reluctantly introduced him to the royal court.
As he stood there staring into the night, he wondered how his mother would have felt if she saw him standing here right now. Was this what she would have wanted for him? Or perhaps she would much rather he have stayed far away from this gilded cage that had trapped her until her death?
"Self-doubt is a sign of weakness. If you hope to achieve greater things than the first king himself, then there is no room for that," a clear voice echoed from behind him. Sheng Yun stepped out from the shadows and came to his side. "All of this rightfully belongs to you. It's what your mother would have wanted."
"You don't know what she would have wanted," Shoya remarked sharply.
"I know that she sent you away from this place with the crystal sword so that you could one day return and claim your birthright. Why else would she have gone through such pains? The sword is the symbol of the king of Feng and only with it can a king legitimately inherit the throne."
What had his mother's intentions been? It didn't matter, because she had taken everything with her to the grave.
His mother had sent him to Dahai along with the sword, where she thought her sister would keep them safe. A pity the sword was deemed more valuable than an abandoned baby. If there was one thing he had learnt, it was that kinship was worthless in the struggle for power. His mother had two sisters—one of them was willing to step over her dead body to become queen, while the other turned away her infant son when he was in need of protection.
But then he thought of Yuehwa and how she was willing to give up her freedom for the sake of family, and he questioned whether or not his beliefs towards human relationships were valid after all.
Perhaps this was the self-doubt that Sheng Yun was talking about.
"Currently you are still just a prince in name. The king has given you no role in government nor has he placed any troops under your control and he obviously has no intention of ever doing so. Because you are consort to the regent of Hwa, the ministers and officials doubt your loyalty to the kingdom although they have reluctantly accepted you for the sake of this alliance. The moment the alliance is no longer needed, there will be no one on your side and the king will seek to remove you at the first possible instance. Before that happens, you need to establish yourself as an indispensable figure in this court."
Shoya remained silent as he listened to the chief astrologer's words, his expression placid and calm. "Maybe this is enough," he finally said. "I never wanted to be king. I just wanted answers." Everything else was out of spite, but was spite worth the sacrifices? He wasn't so sure.
"This is your destiny," Sheng Yun replied, her tone turning a little sharper. "You were born to be a king. Not just the king of Feng, but the king of a new empire, one that will begin a new era in history! You cannot defy what is written in the stars."
"I never believed in the stars. I only believe in myself." Shoya turned away from the window, saying, "I've already made use of Yuehwa one time too many. Now that I'm back here and the king has acknowledged me and reinstated my position, then I think my mother's grievance has been addressed. If the king loves this kingdom so much then he can keep it. To me, this place is just another piece of earth—no different from any other."
"You can't do that!" Sheng Yun's volume raised itself a couple of notches. "We've come all this way—you can't just give it all up now. What are you going to do then? Return to Hwa and be satisfied with being the princess's consort for the rest of your life? Do you honestly think your father will allow you to do that? You are as much a threat to him in Hwa as you are here. You will be a threat to him as long as you are alive. Remember this, Your Highness, you are the reincarnation of the first king of Feng and you need to live up to his name!"
"Enough!" Shoya shouted. "If I am truly who you say I am, then who are you to tell me what I should or should not do? Know your place, Sheng Yun."
The tension in the room was palpable, broken only by the sound of urgent knocking coming from the door.
"Come in," Sheng Yun called out.
Her disciple Xin'ai hurried into the room, whispering something into the chief astrologer's ear as she handed over a small piece of parchment. Shoya watched as the girl's large, ghoulish eyes darted left and right as she spoke, the agitation fully visible upon her pale face. Sheng Yun read the message and promptly dismissed the girl.
"What is that?" Shoya asked, eyeing the parchment in her hand.
The chief astrologer smiled, folding up the piece of paper and tucking it at her waistband.
"Nothing. A new prophecy that Xin'ai made, about the next harvest in the Jiangbei province. She is a highly sensitive child, so she sometimes gets overly affected by otherwise small matters." Sheng Yun stood up and bowed. "I think it's probably best if you took some time to think things over. War is imminent, Your Highness. You can either be a coward and run back to your nomadic life, or you can take up the mantle that you were destined for. It's your choice." She smoothed down the front of her white robes and walked out.
Left alone with his thoughts, Shoya turned his gaze back towards the heavens. The skies were overcast tonight, and there were no stars blinking from above—no prophecies to be read, nor futures to destroy.
He had been filled with rage once. He had been angry and bitter about his abandonment, about the cruelty with which his own father and blood relations had shown him, and it was that fire inside that kept him alive all these years. He owed his teacher—the hermit who had rescued him from a certain death—everything he knew about herbs and poisons, but the man had also been eccentric and unkind. Were it not for his own determination and resolve, perhaps he might not have survived.
He thought he had it figured out. When he uncovered the truth from Sheng Yun about what happened twenty-five years ago, he had truly believed that he would take his revenge on the people who had chosen to cast him aside. His father, his aunt, his wretched cousin—he would sentence them all to the same hell that they had bestowed upon him.
But then he met her.
Yuehwa.
Yuehwa was everything good in his world. She could be obnoxious and loud—crass even—but she also had a freedom of spirit and a joyful soul that could only have been nurtured by boundless love and care. A love that she had then chosen to gift to him, despite how undeserving he was.
He had almost single-handedly destroyed that with, ironically, his quest to right the wrongs in his life. Now they had a royal engagement and a political alliance, but love? Love hung only by a tenuous thread—and even then, perhaps he was the only one who wanted to believe that the thread was still there.
He let out a loud sigh that echoed against the walls of the spartan room.
What are you doing now, Yuehwa? And what do you think I should do?