Part 4, Chapter 16

Shun and Xiaomin’s escape

Ch 16

Shun rocked Jiangou’s daughter to sleep. 

“Hush, Beibei (贝贝 - precious treasure),” she murmured, using her pet name for the princess as the toddler squirmed against her. 

They huddled in a corner, trying to keep as far out of sight of the Dowager Empress as they could. 

In the beginning the Emperor’s mother had taken no interest in the baby and her caretaker, preferring to focus on building a large harem of prospective brides for her son to choose from when her returned. As time stretched on and the Dowager was forced to work more closely with Jiangou she had begun to take more interest in her young niece. Shun was afraid it wasn’t a kindly interest either. 

The woman had started with questions like “Who do you love more, daddy or grandma?” The child, in her innocence had sidestepped the question by answering “Shun!”. Since that day the Dowager had begun courting the tiny girl with toys and attention while limiting the time Beibei was allowed to spend with her father. Shun and Xiaomin had tried to protect the child, but there wasn’t much they could do except watch as the Dowager Empress turned Jiangou’s daughter from a hostage into a weapon she could use against her step-son.

“Shun,” Xiaomin whispered from the courtyard door way. “We need to go now. Xidi is performing a review of the guards, but I don’t know how long he can keep them busy. The Dowager’s personal guards are returned Heavenly Soldiers and not very happy about being given orders by a Merfolk prince.”

Shun nodded, tucking Beibei close to her chest and hurrying over to her lover. “We’re ready. The twins have supplies for us in the city.”

Xiaomin nodded and the two slipped away into the courtyard. They just started to relax as they moved up a side passage, away from the area controlled by the Dowager, when a voice from behind cried out for them to turn around. More footsteps came racing from in front of them. Xiaomin drew her sword, prepared to fight, but Shun grabbed her wrist and the three of them ran through the wall into the courtyard of one of the star goddesses.

They huddled in a corner of the yard hidden behind an ornamental fountain. Shun clutched Beibei tightly, breathing hard.

“What was that?!” Xiaomin whisper shouted.

 

“Quiet,” Shun said, “Do you want them to find us? I’m out of practice with this magic and I need a minute to recover.”

Xiaomin bit back her words with obvious frustration as Shun’s breathing evened out. 

“There may have been one thing I didn’t tell you,” Shun said, so quietly that Xiaomin had to strain to make the words out. “This is probably not the best time to talk about it though. Can you trust me? At least until we are out of the city?”

Xiaomin leaned forward and kissed her lover’s forehead. “Shun, I will always trust you. I love you. Even if you are Ghost Tribe.”

Shun’s eyes were wide in the moonlight. The silence was shattered by shouting voices outside and Shun tucked herself tightly against Xiaomin in automatic reaction. Xiaomin wrapped an arm around her. “When these soldiers retreat can you use your magic to get us out of here?”

Shun nodded and they settled down to wait for their chance.