Five years later

Xuelang scowled at the women standing before him. Some were laying at his feet using their grimy hands to rub up on his legs and thighs. But he didn’t dare move for fear his father think he had somehow lost interest in women.

He was in the throne room of the Imperial Palace of Lang, sitting on the intricately carved obsidian rock that was his throne. It had been two years since his father, the emperor, had abdicated the throne and passed it on to him. It had also been even longer years – five to be exact – that he had seen the woman he gave his heart to on that faithful summer night.

He had been absolutely furious when he realized she had left him. Used him and tossed him to the side like countless women had done before. He should have known better, but regrettably he had given her his heart and a wolf spirit could only ever love once.

Because his heart belonged to another he found all other women repulsive, hence his reason for giving the women laid out before him such detesting looks. His father and his adviser had both somehow decided – they hardly ever agreed on anything – that it was time for him to find a suitable wife.

There was one little secret that the royal family had been hiding from the citizens of Xing Wei. A secret that if uncovered, could possibly lead to the downfall of the monarchy. A secret that tore at Xuelang’s soul every time he thought about it.

He had been in love before, or thought he had. He had fallen for a mountain witch not long after he started his rite of passage. He would have laid down his life for her if he hadn’t found out that what he felt for her wasn’t his true feelings but the feelings she had forced upon him. She had bewitched him.

He had confronted her about it and he found it to be true. That’s when everything started going downhill. She had attacked in a fit of rage, he hadn’t expected it and for a while she had him subdued. He finally pulled her away from his body and left with no other choice he killed her.

He had plucked her still beating heart from her chest. He had watched as the fire in her eyes grew dim and all strength left her body. He had been so relieved that she was now dead that he hadn’t had time to see her cast one last spell.

That night the woman took something from him. Something, that as a prince, he greatly needed. His ability to procreate.

He hadn’t known about it at the time and it wasn’t until after his rite of passage had ended and he returned home that he found out, but by then it had already been too late. The witch who casted the spell was dead and seeing as he or no one else knew exactly which spell she used there was no way to reverse it.

This was the entire reason why he and his younger brother had been in such rivalry. His brother, Xiaolang, had not been in agreement with him becoming emperor due to his disability. They had fought many times over the matter but his brother was no match for him. Inability be damned, Xuelang knew that only the strongest would be able to handle the responsibility of ruling the kingdom and that was something Xiaolang lacked. And he proved it time and time again.

Xuelang rubbed at his temple as he started to feel a headache coming on. Even if he was still able to have children he knew he would never be able to have them with anyone other than Lianhua.

The topic of Lianhua had never come up between him and his father so the former emperor knew nothing of her. That was why he was barely voicing his displeasure for having to be in the presence of the women all around him.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he had barely heard the question his father had thrown at him.

“Son, if you won’t take a wife why not at least settle for a concubine?” asked his father who standing in the throng of laid out women. “They both serve the same purpose, and in my opinion concubines are a lot better seeing as they come with a lot less nagging.” He knew his father was joking for he had loved his late wife half to death and had never had any concubines of his own.

“I have to agree with you there Lord Zhaohui.” Said his adviser to his father. They were agreeing on a lot of things lately it seemed.

“As I’ve already told you father, I do not need a woman in my life at this moment.” Said Xuelang through clenched teeth. “I need to focus on the needs of the people of this nation before anything else. You of all people should know that father. Pirates have been terrorizing the eastern seas for the past five years and all you can think about is finding me a wife.” He could feel anger rising in his chest and he struggled to keep it down.

He was waiting for his father’s witty comeback when out of the corner of his eye Xuelang saw one of the servants enter the room. Quickly the servant rushed over to him and whispered something in his ear.

All conversation was forgotten as what the servant said caused him to abruptly stand from his seat, startling the lecherous woman that were sitting at his feet.

“What is it Xuelang?” asked his father as he saw the threatening gleam that could now be seen in his son’s eyes.

“Father, I think it’s time we pay the east a little visit, don’t you think?” Xuelang watched as his advisor visibly gulped. “I think it’s time we catch these pirates once and for all.”

+++++

Lianhua’s back ached as she bent over the river’s edge to rinse the last set of clothes from her basket. She stood upright trying to ease the pain when suddenly she heard someone shouting her name.

“Miss. Lianhua! Miss Lianhua!”

She watched as a young boy quickly approached her, arms and legs pumping fast. As soon as he reached within touching distance of her he grabbed on to her skirts and snuck behind her to hide.

“Please save me,” small tears were running down the boy’s cheeks, along with her skirt he was holding his arm tightly. “I don’t want him to bite me.”

Lianhua let out a sigh as she saw another little boy coming straight at her. When he saw her he picked up his pace and before she could even think the boy launched himself into her arms, all the while a big smile on his face as she caught him.

For a moment she forgot all about scolding him to stare at his beautiful face, but when she felt the grip on her skirts tighten she quickly placed the giggling boy back on his feet.

“Quan, how many times have I told you not to play so rough?” She turned to the boy holding on to her skirts and took the arm he was cradling to his chest gently in her own. There was no missing the angry bite mark that stood out harshly against his pale skin of his wrist. “Just for this you get extra chores for the rest of week, now apologize.” Her voice was strong and firm but as she saw the smile drop from the boy’s face and is lips begin to tremble her serious facade cracked slightly.

“I’m sorry Momma.” He said dolefully.

“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to Minzhe.” He turned to Minzhe.

“I’m sorry Minzhe.” His eyes were watering now.

“And?” she stared down at him expectedly.

“And I won’t ever do it again.” Minzhe had stopped crying now and was looking at Quan with wide eyes.

“Do you promise?” asked Minzhe who was still half hiding behind her skirt. Quan nodded his head vigorously. Minzhe regarded Quan for a bit then stepped out from behind her and grabbed on to his arm. “I believe you, now let’s go play.”

Lianhua watched as both boys ran back up the path they had come from with a smile on her face. Five years had gone by in a flash. She had escaped from her lover and was raising his son. What a thing huh? She could still remember the day when she found out she was with child and the strenuous birthing that had followed.

She had been travelling for weeks. The rain had stopped so she had to keep moving in case somehow Xuelang would pick up her scent. Just to ease her trembling heart she had circled around many times in order to throw off anyone who was following her for she just couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was.

She had passed through many towns and villages and one night when she looking for a place to stay she bumped into Zhong. She had been so happy to see a familiar face. As if sensing that something wasn’t right with her he had taken her into his care and for a few weeks she stayed with him. She soon found out that he was a resident of Tingguang.

Having no one else to speak to Lianhua told him everything but left out the part where Xuelang was a prince. She just told him she had ran away from someone extremely dangerous.

She had only wanted to stay with him for a few days but that all changed when Zhong told her that something about her was changing. At the time she didn’t understand what he meant and he didn’t either but after a few days Zhong was able to tell her exactly what he meant. Her scent was changing and when something like this started to happen it meant only one thing: she was with child.

Lianhua had cried for days when she finally grasped the gravity of her situation. She barely spoke and she could barely eat.

Zhong had tolerated her not speaking but when she had refused to eat he had taken measures into his own hands. He had called his sister who lived in the nearby village to help him and they had forcefully fed her what little she could keep down before she sent it back up.

Zhong’s sister had been really helpful, all the while telling her that it was important for her to eat or else it would affect the babe. When the nausea stage had passed away, slowly but surely, she was able to eat on her own and began to recover. But as soon as that went away something else set in. Her fear of being caught.

She nearly settled back into a state of depression when Zhong had volunteered to take her away from Tingguang to a village far in the east where no one would be able to find her. His sister had wanted to come, but she too being a new mother, had to stay behind for the sake of her child.

For months she and Zhong had travelled east, and with each passing month her belly had grown larger, the babe making its presence known every time she walked. Zhong had wanted to make it to the village before she gave birth but sadly it was not meant to be. The added weight of the child had caused them to travel far less slowly than they had intended and it was during the last month of her gravidity, while they were still halfway through the journey that the babe decided to come.

The weight of the child had been so great that Lianhua was unable to walk so Zhong had to purchase a horse and cart for her to sit in as they travelled. They were travelling on a dirt road just as they had been the first time they met, exchanging witty remarks and laughing at each when Lianhua felt a sharp pain tug at the side of her abdomen. However she ignored it and continued talking.

However the pains started to come successively and more frequently, causing her to grit her teeth. Zhong noticed she had gone silent and turned around to look at her.

“Are you okay, Lianhua?” he had asked worriedly. She had opened her mouth to speak but a rather sharp pain stopped her and made her hiss. It was then that she felt something wet soak between her legs. Before she had left Tingguang Zhong’s sister had told her what signs to look for when it was time for the baby to arrive and this was most definitely one of them.

“I think the baby’s coming.” She had pinned panicked eyes onto Zhong.

“What, now?” he asked incredulously. She nodded, her eyes going wise.

They were nowhere near any villages so Zhong had to think fast on what they were going to do. He had steered the cart off the road and into the nearby bushes. Jumping from his perch he went to her side and picked her up gently in his arms and began walking further into the foliage where he happened upon a clearing with a little creak nearby.

All the while sharp pains were tugging at her belly and she let out a whimper when each one hit.

“Take deep breaths Lianhua, deep breaths, it will help to ease the pain.” Said Zhong as he placed her on a rock by the water’s edge.

“It hurts.” She had cried out in pain, tears rolling down her cheeks.

“I know it does but just bear with it. Try to stay calm, it won’t do you any good if you start panicking.”

“But I don’t fee–” she was cut as a sharp pain lanced through her lower region drawing a scream from her chest. When the pain subsided she was only barely able to speak. “I really don’t feel calm right now.”

“Then think about things that make you calm.” She closed her eyes for a moment thinking, all the while breathing hard. Zhong was laying out some of the blankets he had with him on the grass when suddenly Lianhua turned to him.

“The water, it makes me calm.” She bit out.

“What?”

“The water, take me to the water.” Hearing the urgency in her voice Zhong threw down the blankets, picked her up once more and headed for the water. The water had been shallow so he had to move further out where it was much deeper.

She had a death grip on his shoulder and neck but he bore through it for he knew the pain she was feeling was far worse.

“I think the babe’s coming now.” Her eyes were squeezed tightly together. “I feel a lot of pressure down there.”

“Okay, here’s what you’re going to do, whenever you feel the urge to push, do so as hard as you can.”

Hours – or what felt like days to Lianhua – later she had successfully pushed the babe out of her body, right into Zhong’s awaiting arms. And as the piercing scream of the babe filled the air Lianhua watched, for the first time in her life, a grown man cry.

And now, five years later, her baby boy had grown up so big. It was due to the circumstances of his birth that she had given him the name Quan. Tears of happiness rimmed her eyes as she watched him play with Minzhe.

She was happy. Her son was happy. What more could she ever need? These were some of the things she wished to say. She had known for some time that her son wasn’t fully happy, she had seen the way he looked at his friends whenever they were out with their father’s, with longing in his deep sea green eyes. She had seen the way his lips quivered to ask about his own father but in the end he never did and he would just hide his face in the curtain of his long white hair, that was so much like her own, and run outside to play.

It pained her heart every time he did that but there was nothing she could do. She hardly wanted to think about Quan’s father, let alone speak about him. Every time his face popped up into her head her heart would ache and tears would rush to her eyes.

She liked her life here in the little riverside village. It was quaint and it was somewhere Quan could make friends. But somewhere deep down she knew; her heart and mind knew that she regretted running away from Xuelang.

Translations:

Xiaolang – little wolf

Zhaohui – brightness returns

Quan – fresh water spring

Minzhe – sensitive; wise