(PRINCE JIN)
"His Majesty took that seer?" After the surprise I felt, I chuckled at what my mother said. "We don't believe in seer, Mother. They are like jesters and clowns. We believe in the charts of moon and stars. Astrology..."
"Maybe," My mother nodded. "But still, the last record shows that the family of seer that fled the Turkish border to the Middle Kingdom was last seen in this land. Your sire must know something..."
I look at Hua. I think I made a mistake of taking her with me. The information I want to get from my mother, turned out to be...useless.
Seers. In this time? This is all about magic and voodoo, all garbage. I risk Hua's life for this.
My eyes turned to Yong and Dao, both discreetly observing our environment. I wish they will have more luck in mapping the defense of this place and the number of guards roaming here.
I stared at my mother again. "And this seer is more important to you than taking me to South Indes?"
My mother gave me a regretful look. "I love you, Jin. I don't ever want you to look at me like I some kind of villain out to take your happiness away. If you will come with me willingly, then yes, I will take you back with me to the Mughal Kingdom. But seeing that you won't leave Lady Hua..."
"You are right," I nodded at her. "I won't leave Hua. I will marry her and we will be happy together." I took Hua's hand in mind and squeeze it tenderly. "But what if His Majesty doesn't have the information you are looking for, what then? I heard you have people pouring through the record in the Royal Archive. What will happen if they won't find anything in there?"
My mother's expression turned more regretful, "Then your sire and I will think of more compromises to negotiate with."
I sighed exasperatedly at that. "Can't you not just take the gold and silver Baba is offering?"
"I don't need gold and silver, Jin. I have plenty of riches..."
"From whom?" I asked.
"From whom, what?" My mother's asked back, puzzledly.
"Your riches, where did they come from? Where did you get your silver and gold?" I specified my questions.
This time Princess Nadira laughed. "Not all richness can be measured in gold and silver, my Prince."
I looked at Hua. Then I nodded. "You are right...not all precious things are made of silver and gold." I smiled at the woman I love.
Hua is more precious that anything material in my life. By Buddha, Hua is more precious than my own life or my next breath. She is everything.
"Are you satisfied, my son?" I took my eyes off Hua when my mother asked that question. I frowned a bit, "Satisfied about what, Mother?"
"On the answers you seek to find by coming here," my mother replied easily. "What is it that you really want, Jin? Just tell me..."
I nodded. "I am here to tell you that I will never leave the Middle Kingdom. I am here to convey to you that no matter the campaign you will do, I will never change my plans of having a good life with the woman I love. I am grateful to you, for giving me life...but I am not the little boy you left a long time ago. Being grateful will be the extent of my feelings for you. Hua is the one giving me reasons to live now, and for that...I will never leave her. I won't. I can't..."
My mother stared at me with something akin to proudness in her eyes. "Are you truly comfortable revealing your weakness to me?"
I smiled at her. "Hua is not a weakness. She will never be a weakness to me. She is my strength. But I thought it's only fair that I tell you the reason why I am waking up every morning."
"Fair for me to know? Why?"
I shrugged. "Because you revealed to us the reason why you are living, Mother. And I know that it's not because of me...your son."
I feel...surprised. Surprise that I don't feel any resentment, knowing that there is something more important to my mother than me, her own son. I guess that made everything clear between me and my mother. We are not living to love and please each other.
My mother chuckled. "I am so proud of you, Jin. I see that you grew up strong and resilient. But please...don't blame me if I will use the knowledge you freely given to me." She waved her hand and two of the Mughal guards moved to attack us.
But Wang Dao and Yong are as alert as ever. The guard coming from right didn't get too far as Dao's two daggers flew the guard's way and struck his skulls. That guard fell to the floors like marionettes severed from their strings, dead.
Yong fought and defeated the one from left. Yong overpowered him easily and grab his head before slashing the guard's throat. Almost severing the head from the body.
That guard fell on the richly colored carpeted floor, writhing as blood flowed from it's cut neck. Manchu puts himself on our back, ready if anyone will attack us from behind.
Hua whimpered and I pulled her close to my chest. My fiancee buried her face on my shoulder blade to hide her face.
But the next shrieks came from the ladies gathering around Princess Nadira. Dao threw another dagger, targeting the Mughal princess. It missed its mark. The blade got stuck on a pillow beside the lounging princess.
Everyone stopped.
My mother stared at Dao, disdainfully. "You missed, boy."
Dao, bouncing another dagger on his hand, smirked. "I never miss. And if anyone moves again, the next dagger will stab the person you treasured the most." Dao then pointed that dagger to my mother. "I will repeat, I never miss. You cannot be the Crown Prince's guard and miss."
My mother and Wang Dao stared at each other. The whole place was filled with tension. They just witnessed General Wang's son down a guard with his skill in daggers. They witnessed Yong killing without any remorse or emotion on his face...and these two are not our deadliest weapons. Manchu and Hua are deadlier than Dao and Yong.
I stared at my mother. "Call off your guards, Mother. Imperial guards are outside this residence, with an order to raid this place if I and my entourage won't get out of here alive. You won't win this one."
My mother smiled at me. "And why not? I see a Prince standing before me, you are a prized commodity, son."
"True. But are you?" I asked my mother, smiling humorlessly at her confused face. "I am a commodity because my father loves me. Do you want to know the difference between us, Mother? This Kingdom will go to war for its First Born Prince. Spill my blood and you will bring war to these two kingdoms. My Sire won't remain sitting down with that insult dealt to us. What about you? Will your employers start a war for you? If my guards will kill you all today, leaving the Princess Nadira alive of course, will the Mughal Empire declare war on us?"
I didn't await for her answer. It's obvious enough. "Good day, Princess XiLen." I nodded to our guards. Dao, Yong and Manchu relaxed their stance. I let Hua go and took her hand again. "Lets leave. We got our answers."
"As you order, your Highness." Dao, Yong and Manchu all bowed at me.
Manchu lead the way, Hua and I followed him. Yong and Dao on our rear. I know Yong still has his sword out and Dao's deadly daggers are all in the ready.
When we got outside, I turned to my fiancee. "Are you alright?"
Hua nodded. "I think my Father is right, I have to take your mother as a serious threat to us."
I agree. "She is a threat, but you are under your Father's care...Princess XiLen won't ever get near you, my love."
Hua smiled, "I can protect myself." She said.
"Be extra vigilant," Dao stood next to his sister. He looked at me. "You owe me several daggers." My fiancee's twin seemed annoyed at that.
I sighed. "I will replace them. Let's go."
We left the Tan's ancestral home. Outside, the Imperial guards got our horses ready and we all ride away from that place.
I know I will never return there again.
......................
(PRINCESS XILEN)
"Will your son deter our plans?" Nadira asked me after Jin and his companions left.
I ignored her question, long enough to order the servants to clean the two guards General Wang's son and one of Jin's guard killed.
When the corpses where taken away and the servants started wiping the blood off the floor, I looked at Nadira. She is still lounging on the carpeted floor with colorful pillows surrounding her. But the maids had left and most of the guards also departed from the room. Leaving Nadira and I alone.
"Jin won't deter our plans. We know his weakness."
"That weak girl...Wang Hua." Nadira said. "Did you see how she whimper and cower in the arms of her prince? Pathetic girl." Nadira's tone dripped with disgust for my son's beloved.
But dainty and weak as she is, Wang Hua is an important factor in our plans.
I nodded. "I can weaponized that girl more than what I could hope for. General Wang is an enemy. His son is also proving to be a headache. My son's cause of stubbornness is Wang Hua. Once I got that girl, those three men will heel on my orders."
"So we are really planning to take Wang Hua?" Nadira chuckled humorlessly. "Madam, I didn't come here to drag a weakling noble lady back to the Mughal Empire to use her as a bargaining chip. I am here to get my hands on the MoonEyes Seer."
"Options, my dear." I smiled at Nadira. "We like options to our planning."
"Our only option is to bring the seer to the South Indes or we will both die," Nadira pointed out.
"I won't die," I glared at her. "This mission won't warrant my death sentence."
Nadira sneered. "You said that like you don't know your lover's temper."
"I can handle my lover. You...should be more careful. You might be a prized executioner in the Mughal Empire but your are supposed to be a Princess here. Act accordingly."
"Ugh," Nadira rolled her eyes. "Acting like a fragile flower here in the Middle Kingdom is more tiring that butchering a whole village in South Indes. Why did I volunteer to be here again?"
"I don't know." I replied coldly. "I would prefer the other one from you but you volunteered."
"Landor doesn't like traveling," Nadira smirked. "And you cannot disguise Landor as a noble. He looks too coarse."
"Coarse or not, he is more manageable than you. Stop flirting with every boy you will see. How old are you again?"
"Seventeen. But they probably thought I am only fifteen or fourteen. I look young...aren't I?" Nadira smiled sweetly at me. Too sweetly for my taste.
Yes, she looks deceivingly young. But there is nothing innocent nor fragile about Nadira. She is an experienced executioner. A punisher in the Mughal Empire. At her young age, she was trained and hardened to kill per the order of the Shah and his Queen.
"That Wang Dao is fast," Nadira said while plucking the dagger the Wang boy threw at the pillow beside her. "He got skill."
"Do not underestimate that boy. He is a Crown Prince's personal guard. The criteria for getting that job is a lot different than being a mere soldier. That means that boy has a few tricks in his arsenal to surprise us." I said to caution her.
"Yet we are targeting his sister whom I think Wang Dao loves tremendously." Nadira pointed out.
"Them being siblings is an unfortunate circumstance. But that's not a problem. Unless you are planning on getting close to the Wang boy?" I gazed at Nadira with suspicious. She is like a cat, who like playing with her food. Or this time, her kills.
"He looks interesting enough," Nadira shrugged nonchalantly. But she cannot fool me, I can see the interest in her eyes.
I sighed, it looks to me that Nadira could be a problem instead of a useful tool for this mission.
"He is dangerous for our plans. Like you said, we are here to get the seer so our master will be happy and regard us favorably. We are not here to play with interesting Prince's guards who can be a surprising factor to us. One wrong move, and we can fail. And we cannot afford to fail." I cannot emphasize that enough.
"But we have options. Like you said, we have Wang Hua." Nadira replied with a pout.
I sighed, "Yes, we do have that angle. I think it will be easier to take her and use her to persuade Jin to help us convince my former husband to hand the seer to us. Easier than taking the Crown Prince himself."
"How sure are we again that this Emperor has our seer?" Nadira asked while scowling.
"Shen has our seer. That's the only explanation that makes sense. We already visited other kingdoms and made sure that the seer is not there. The Middle Kingdom is our last option or we will be forced to admit that the seer is lost to us forever. That will be heartbreaking. That seer is important."
"A seer that can predict a Shah's fate. Not just Shahs, but Kings and Emperors as well. Yes, that kind of seer is powerful." Nadira sighed, "This mission is boring though. There are so many viable targets to seize. The Crown Prince, Wang Hua, Prince Jin, Prince Guo...the only princess in the land...this is way too easy."
I smiled at Nadira. "That's favorable to us. Don't you like that?"
Nadira's face crumpled. "I like easy with a bit of kick. Easy without any fight is just boring. Ugh...this whole kingdom is boring."
I tended to agree. That's why I chose leaving easily. Because this place is too safe for me even though I was banished from being a Princess.
I married Shen because I thought being married to the Crown Prince will be exciting...but it turns out to be nothing that I expected or wanted. Even giving birth to Jin never given me the satisfaction I was seeking.
So I left and in South Indes, I found something that excites me. Intrigues, conspiracies and deadly games inside the harem of the Shah. It was fun. It is fun. And I grew to love the Mughal Empire.
That's why I want this mission to succeed. Because once we have the seer that can recite the fate of the Kings, the games on the Mughal Empire will change.
And I am the one who will change it and will be on top of everything.