Mîn Jíng quickly made her way through the forest before the men could stop her. She knew enough from her own brothers’ uniforms and soldiers what ranks meant on insignias and styles of armor. Regardless of Yīng or Zhāng, officers’ armor was always adorned with some special detail to differentiate between ranks.
She had helped soldiers from both sides with only concern for seeing them return to their loved ones. She hadn’t thought of the possibility one from the enemy camp may not let her go. If these soldiers, particularly an officer among them, realized she was the daughter of their enemy king, she would become a political prisoner, regardless of her merits on the battlefield.
She was so engrossed in worries of what could have been that she didn’t notice a small tree root jutting up from the ground. She let out a loud gasp and short scream as she fell head-over-heels down a hill piled with thick brush and dirt. Her tumble didn’t end until she fell face first into a ravine.
Quickly sitting up, she took a deep breath of air and closed her eyes against the painful cuts and bruises.
“Ow,” she mumbled and did her best to sit up straight.
Rubbing her face with her sleeve, she spit out what she believed was mud, though it seemed not to taste of mud. When she finally managed to open her eyes, the scene before her made her scream over every attempt to silence herself.
She clasped both of her hands over her mouth and screamed beneath them as she looked around. There were bodies upon bodies laid out upon a river of blood.
She tried to blink and what she thought was mud turned red as it dripped from her long black lashes. Wiping at her face again, she noticed her entire sleeve was covered in blood. There was little left of the white of her robes, and she began to cry.
“Mîn!” she heard from behind her but she couldn’t turn around.
Something had transfixed her gaze upon the carnage surrounding her, and she couldn’t shut her eyes to it. The bitter, metallic smell of blood filled her nostrils as they, too, were covered in the thick red goo.
“Mîn Jíng!” called the voice again, and this time she recognized it.
“Yong Wěi,” she whimpered and sobbed uncontrollably as he held her.
“By the heavens!” he exclaimed as he looked at her and then the sight before him. “Come on, little sister. Let’s get you back to the camp.”
When he turned to guide her away, she collapsed in his arms. He lifted her as she fainted and hurried back to the Yīng stronghold.
Along the way, he met Yīng soldiers, who guided them to safety. He was warned about another swarm of Wáng Píng tribesmen on their side of the battlefield and quickened his pace.
By the time he reached the gates of their camp, their brother was waiting.
“Oh, dear gods!” he loudly exclaimed, but Yong Wěi quickly shook his head.
“She fell into a pit where dead soldiers had bled out,” he explained. “She’s unharmed, just frightened.”
They rushed into the commander’s tent, where the older brother made room for her to lay down.
“This is on you, Yong Wěi!” snarled his brother. “She never should have been here!”
“Don’t you think I know that, Féng Wěi?” Yong Wěi agreed with guilt hanging on his every word.
Mîn Jíng began to moan as she started to awaken, and her brothers quickly grabbed a clean set of robes. Her eyes opened but she didn’t move or speak as they helped her undress and wash off the blood.
“Father will skin you alive,” Féng Wěi angrily warned Yong Wěi. “If there’s anything left after I’m done with you!”
“It wasn’t his fault,” Mîn Jíng quietly defended her brother. “He told me to stay here, but I couldn’t leave our soldiers out there dying.”
Féng Wěi loudly huffed and tossed her bloody clothes into a pile meant to be discarded. He folded his arms as he watched Yong Wěi help her fasten the ties on the clean robe.
“And what of the Zhāng soldiers?” Féng Wěi asked in anger. “Yes, I’ve heard. We all have. Reports have come in that you’ve been helping their men as well as ours.”
“What of it, Féng?” she asked as her head began to clear. “Should I leave them to die, as well?
I know about the Wáng Píng. I know they’re here striking down men from both sides. What will happen when none of you are left?
Yes, I did what I did because it’s who I am. I’m a healer and I won’t change that no matter what it means for this war. Beyond that, the threat of the Wáng Píng is here. If we continue worrying about whose kingdom conquers the other, they will easily take control of both.
If our commanders and their commanders won’t fight against them together right here, right now, someone has to make certain their men live to fight the Wáng Píng another day.”
Yong Wěi and Féng Wěi shared a defeated look as they knew her words rang true.
“It doesn’t excuse you from putting yourself in danger,” Féng Wěi argued. “If Sī were here, would you have involved her, too?”
He huffed as he sat beside her on the pallet he used for a bed.
“Mîn Mîn, what you’ve been doing is honorable. You’ve made me proud. You’ve made both of us proud,” he added with a glance at Yong Wěi. “Father will be proud, too, but he’ll be hurt most of all. It hasn’t been long since we lost Mother. Do you think he could bear losing you, too? Do you think we could bear it as your brothers?”
She chewed her bottom lip and wiped away her tears. He held her hand and patted it as Yong Wěi sat on her other side.
“I thought you were only coming along with me to hide from Father’s demand that you marry,” Yong Wěi remarked. “I had no idea you were this serious about tending to the men. I certainly didn’t expect for you to go onto the battlefield. I’ll never forgive myself for bringing you here, especially now.”
“That was part of the reason,” she admitted. “I won’t ever forget my Black Butterfly. I will never marry anyone but him, but I wanted to help here, too.”
At her mention of the masked man from the fair, her brothers both gave an exasperated huff and Féng Wěi stood to pace the floor.
“This is exactly what caused trouble for you in the first place,” he admonished. “You have gone on and on about this imaginary man based on your fairy tale. This has to stop, Mîn Mîn! It isn’t healthy for you to become so obsessed with a character from your stories.”
She chewed her lip and tried to remain calm at his continued insistence the man in the mask wasn’t real. She hadn’t told them about that night. She was afraid her father and brothers would be disappointed in her more than they had been. She was afraid her father would punish her more severely, especially if he knew about the kiss.
She allowed them to believe she was only consumed with her own imagination, and she couldn’t allow them to find out otherwise. Her father would most certainly force her to marry if he feared for her virtue.
“Lieutenant,” called a soldier from outside the tent. “We’ve received a message from the other side.”
Féng Wěi gave a sigh as he glanced back at Mîn Jíng silently brooding and flashing him an angry gaze. He opened the tent and waited for the soldier to continue.
“Sir, the Zhāng commander wants to call a momentary truce,” was the shocking report. The soldier handed him a letter sent by a messenger. “It’s the Wáng Píng, Sir. They’ve become too much of a threat to continue.”
Féng Wěi read the note and handed it to Yong Wěi as his brother hurried to his side.
“They have a plan to flush out a hidden camp,” Yong Wěi read aloud. “They request we honor a pause in fighting to give them time to infiltrate the camp.”
“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” Féng Wěi considered.
“We don’t but I don’t think they’re lying about this,” Yong Wěi replied. “The Wáng Píng is going after us all right now. We can’t continue fighting two wars on one battlefield. Neither can the Zhāng army.”
With a nod in agreement, Féng Wěi went to his desk. He wrote a message to be sent back to the enemy camp agreeing to the temporary truce and offering assistance should they need it.
“What now?” asked Yong Wěi as they watched the soldier ride to meet the messenger.
“We eat,” Féng Wěi answered. “Sister needs something to quiet the excitement from today,” he added with a look at her.
They watched as she looked down at the blanket on the pallet. They grew concerned when she pulled away the deep red cloth and threw it on the other side of the tent. As she began to cry, they looked at one another in worry.
“I don’t think she’ll be the same after what happened at that ravine,” Yong Wěi remarked.
“Of course, she won’t,” Féng Wěi agreed. “The best we can do is keep her here in this tent until we can safely bring her home. Then, we face the consequences for letting her come here and letting her out on that field. It will be her nightmares we’ll face as well as our father’s rage.”
“General Zhuāngyán Jiāng has arrived!” came a call from the camp.
The two brothers looked at each other with a new worry.
“And then there’s Uncle Jiāng,” added Féng Wěi.
Yong Wěi swallowed hard at the fear of facing their uncle’s wrath for the emotional harm done to their sister.
“He’ll know what to do to help her through this,” Yong Wěi remarked.
“I’m not so sure we’ll make it through his temper,” said Féng Wěi.
Yong Wěi shrugged dejectedly.
“I deserve whatever he does to me,” he said softly and joined his brother to meet their fate.
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