The carriage rolled through the capital with its full military escort. Citizens moved aside and lined up to watch the unusual procession, whispering speculation and creating rumors to satiate their need to know and need to be the first with information.
General Zhànshì rode his horse on the left side of the carriage beside a curtained window to keep his young wife safe from onlookers and danger. Lieutenant Chéng rode along the other side to block the window on the left. There were six soldiers leading the carriage and six protecting the back, all on horses and all in full armor.
Princess Mĕilì Xīng held her doll tightly as she stared with wild eyes toward the front of the carriage. There were curtains on the windows and one used as a door through which the general had shoved her in their hasty retreat. As the carriage rumbled and jerked, the front curtain would move enough for her to see two armored drivers.
She considered the reason soldiers would escort her, a lowly girl barely acknowledged by her royal blood. Would she become a prisoner in her husband’s home? It certainly felt like more of a prison transport than that of a new bride. Not that she knew much about how these types of traveling arrangements were conducted. She’d never been allowed out of the manor, which was why she kept her ears covered to keep out the sounds.
The conversations of merchants and patrons they passed frightened her. The sound of a craftsman banging on something metal invaded the barrier of her hands and made her jump. A man shouting about food nearby made her jump again and begin to cry.
“We’ll be through town soon, your highness,” a man’s voice suddenly called out through the window.
She looked through the narrow slit at the edge of the window and saw the general. He was looking around while he kept his position so no one could approach. She looked through a similar slit at the other window and saw another soldier doing the same.
Were they doing this to protect her? Did they truly care?
The tall man with wide shoulders and big hands had told her he was sent by her uncle to rescue her. Her father had told her she would be back with him soon. Maybe they knew of his threats and were keeping her safe from him.
Hope was dangerous. She couldn’t risk believing such things. She used to hope every time her uncle visited that she would be leaving with him, but each time he left without her, the punishment for merely being his niece was severe.
She sat back against the seat and kept her hands against her ears to muffle as much of the bustling capital as possible. Her doll rested on her lap, so she stared at it as a distraction from her wishful thoughts.
General Zhànshì looked around as they rode through the busy streets. He had heard the girl crying a few times and wished he could stop long enough to check on her. They hadn’t had time for introductions. He wanted to get her through the crowd and out of the capital gate as soon as possible, where there would be no vendor stalls and rooftops for her father’s men to hide among.
When they finally reached the gate, he pressed his men to push through the visitors leaving and entering. The people had no choice but to move aside for the mounted military caravan. He didn’t want to risk being trapped in an orchestrated gathering of citizens. They rode through as the guards at the gate nodded and bowed to their two commanding officers.
As soon as it was safe to leave her window, Lieutenant Chéng brought his horse around the carriage to ride beside General Zhànshì.
“I saw you give Eunuch Shîzhĕ a bag of silver,” he told the general with a slight grin. “Was it for Hónghuār?”
General Zhànshì nodded and looked at him in question. “How did you know?”
Lieutenant Chéng’s grin widened. “She came to my room after you kicked her out last night. She told Kāihuār you promised to have her freed by the end of the week. You move fast,” he laughed.
“We didn’t have time to wait,” General Zhànshì answered. “I wanted to get the princess out of the capital as soon as we took her from her father’s manor.”
Lieutenant Chéng nodded in agreement. “It might interest you to know that a good portion of my winnings paid for Kāihuār’s freedom. I paid it this morning before we left. It will be safer for them if they leave together.”
General Zhànshì nodded. “What I gave Eunuch Shîzhĕ should be enough for them to get away from the capital and start a new life somewhere away from their useless families and the slave traders. I wish them the best.”
Princess Mĕilì Xīng listened to their conversation as she watched from the space between the curtain and the wall. Did her husband make a habit of rescuing women? Is that why her uncle chose him to rescue her?
In her case, however, it wasn’t a mere rescue. With just a word from the king, they were married. She had to trust that her uncle wouldn’t bind her to a man like her father.
What kind of husband would he be? Tender? Compassionate? Did she dare to even hope loving? She knew he could be patient with the way he greeted her and took pity on her for her fear. How long would that patience last if she wasn’t ready to be a bride in every sense of the word?
She sighed deeply and held her doll closer as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks. She looked him over for some sign of this new man who would be in control of her life.
His ebony hair bound in a silver banded topknot almost glowed in the sunlight. His leather armor ended halfway down his legs. It was almost as black as his hair and the eyes she remembered gazing at her with fierce determination. The snug armored coat was embellished with dark leather and metal plates fitted tightly together for protection from blades and arrows. The coat continued over his arms until it reached his elbows, where metal bracers rose up from his wrists.
Over his shoulders were sculptured silver metal figures of a tiger’s face. She had seen the same face on the front of the armor across his chest surrounded by terrifying shapes of bent and hammered silver metal.
Beneath his armor was a black robe that covered black trousers. On his feet were black boots with silver metal accents to protect them. Around his waist was a thick black sword belt.
His sword was sheathed in a black leather scabbard accented with more silver and a black leather strap. The hilt bore a white tiger wrapped around the silver grip.
He sat tall astride a horse of greyish brown lightly kissed by golden honey. The mane and tail were deeper than ink, the same black that rose from its hooves up past its knees. She found it difficult to choose which looked more striking between man and beast.
“You’re being admired,” Lieutenant Chéng told the general quietly.
He laughed as General Zhànshì turned to look at the window of the carriage. When the princess gasped and hid once again behind the curtain, he laughed again.
General Zhànshì moved his horse to ride closer to the window and tapped on the wooden frame.
When she didn’t respond, he said in a friendly tone, “We haven’t been introduced. May I say hello to my bride?”
Princess Mĕilì Xīng huddled against the carriage wall with the window just over her shoulder. When she noticed the curtain move, she leaped to the seat on the other side and held tightly to her doll as she stared with wide eyes.
“My name is Ānníng Zhànshì,” the general told her as he held the curtain open wide. He watched her stare at him in fear and knew earning her trust was going to take a lot of effort. “This is my lieutenant, Zhōng Chéng.”
At the introduction, Lieutenant Chéng peered in from the other side of the general’s horse and bowed his head.
“When I’m not around, he can help you,” General Zhànshì told her. “You can trust any of my men to protect you. You have nothing to be afraid of any longer.”
Princess Mĕilì Xīng stared at the general as he spoke and looked over at the lieutenant when he was introduced. She chewed her lip and looked around to decide how she should respond. Silence never failed her, so she chose to reply with nothing.
General Zhànshì sighed at her nervously trembling lip. He watched as she held the rabbit-shaped doll so tightly, he wondered if its stitches would pop loose.
“My manor isn’t too far,” he continued. “We should reach it by noon.”
She continued to look at the floor and play with the rabbit’s floppy silk ears. Before he could say something else, one of his men called out from the front of the caravan.
“A rider approaches!” came the voice.
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