[Suggested song for this Chapter – Fairytale, by Harry Gregson-Williams]
"Don’t even think about it," the Commander warned the guards. "Your highness," he shouted, as the n tried to shuffle him out of the room, "don’t do anything stupid! We made a promise, rember!"
The guards were shepherding him backwards without touching him, and he shoved them with annoyance, dropping his shoulder into the chests of the two n who were in his way. The soldiers closed ranks and ford a wall in front of him until he could barely see the Crown Prince anymore.
"May the best man win, your highness! Rember that? We agreed to play by gentlen’s rules. No underhand tactics! No pulling rank!"
The n continued to drive him towards the doors to the throne room, using the butts of their spears to pinion him at the centre of a square ford by their bodies.
"You’re breaking your promise, highness!"
Hearing the commotion, more guards entered the throne room. They added their spears to those of the n corralling him.
When he was nearly outside the doors, the Crown Prince finally raised a few fingers, gesturing at the guards to disappear.
Bai Li ca striding fiercely back into the room to stand before the dragon throne, his eyes flashing angrily at his friend.
"Miss i ili requests an audience," called Shi Lei loudly, knowing his master would want to be inford of this visitor imdiately.
Both n stopped glaring at one another and looked towards the doors.
"Well, show her in," said the prince impatiently.
The doors swung open, and i ili stood, looking pretty as a picture in light green silk with delicate pink blossom-shaped jewellery decorating her glossy hair.
Her lips parted in surprise to see that Bai Li was still in the throne room.
She approached the throne and kowtowed. Bai Li took her elbow gently to help her stand.
"I...I hope I’m not interrupting sothing important?" she asked them.
The two n exchanged a glance.
"I was just informing the Crown Prince about the Emperor’s marriage grant," said Bai Li.
She smiled encouragingly at her fiancée.
"I ca to do the sa thing. I t my father on his way ho from the palace, and he said that you’d inford him about the grant, Li. He was very pleased," she wisely omitted the fact her father had shared that the Crown Prince opposed the marriage grant.
The prince flinched, both at hearing her call Bai Li, ’Li’, and at hearing that Lord i had given the union his blessing when talking to his daughter just now. Despite the man knowing that he didn’t intend to honour his Emperor Father’s order!
"Li," she said gently, "can you leave to speak with the Crown Prince alone?"
He looked reluctant, knowing the prince would try his hardest to convince her to beco his Empress. Would she really turn down the opportunity to beco the most powerful woman in the empire just to be his wife?
"Please, Li. It’s a discussion I must have alone with the Crown Prince."
She hoped he would trust her enough to leave her with the prince.
He took a deep breath and nodded resolutely. After all, if she changed her mind, that was her prerogative. He would not force her to marry him if she didn’t want to. He knew he had to trust in her feelings for him. It was the Crown Prince he didn’t trust as far as he could throw him!
Bai Li bowed stiffly to the prince, before looking deeply into ili’s eyes. He tried his best to send her a ssage of love and trust, before he backed out of the throne room.
ili turned her focus to the prince. The look that had passed between her and Bai Li had not escaped his attention, and he felt a kick of jealousy that left him aching.
"Your highness," she began, "I wanted to be the one to tell you about the Imperial marriage grant. I’m sorry you found out about it from my Father."
"i ili. I don’t care about the grant. My Emperor Father has passed on to his next life. Tomorrow, I will beco the Emperor, and one of the few benefits of being the Son of Heaven is that I can marry whover I please. You will be my Empress. I need you by my side. Your service to my Father is already legendary. You will serve too."
"Your highness, I can of course, serve you as I served your Father. I just can’t marry you. I love Bai Li, and I intend to marry him," she said the words firmly, though she knew they would hurt him. Trying to soften the ssage would only extend the agony.
The prince closed his eyes against those horrible words, as though not looking at ili could sohow negate the sentence from passing from her sweet lips.
"i ili," he pleaded, "think what a difference you could make to our empire and the People as the Empress. I have you in my heart, i ili. Don’t you care about at all?" the pain in his voice rent at her heart.
"I do! I do care about you, your highness. I care deeply for you, as a friend, like a brother," each word was like a physical blow.
"I hate to see you hurting. I hate it even more that I’m the cause of that pain. I wish there was sothing I could do to make it better. I can do anything for you, except marry you. I don’t love you in that way. Not in the way I love Bai Li. And I don’t want to live as the Empress. I want a simple life married to a man who loves , and only . I know that’s selfish and it’s a sin for a woman to be jealous, but there it is. I’m a sinner. I don’t want my husband to have a harem full of other won. I don’t want to be competing for power, I don’t want to be fighting to keep your affections, I don’t want to be trapped inside these walls for the rest of my life. You must understand that your highness? Please, Yicai," she called him intimately, "let go. You have to let go. If you care for , if you want to be happy, you’ll let marry Bai Li."
The prince’s face was mask of pain and misery. He dropped his head to his hand, covering his eyes in despair. He knew she was right. And he knew deep down that he was going to lose her... that he already had.
So this was his fate, he gave a humourless laugh. He would be crowned as the Emperor while he was still a young man, he would et his soulmate, but she would not be his in this lifeti.
He wondered if this painful fate was punishnt for sothing he had done in a past life... and in how many lifetis he was destined to repeat the pattern...
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