A Flower Without Rain

Chapter 43

With the 12th day of the 12th month in just a few days, Lian Yu decided that it was time to put her plan into action. Although she was still mourning the deaths of her parents, she had to push through.

Taking out the container of liquid that held needles and the other things that were soaking, she placed them into a small wooden container. Looking at a single needle, anger seemed to fill her for a moment before then setting it down alongside the others. The only thing that filled those eyes were resolution.

It was the dead of night as everyone in the palace laid asleep. Quietly, steps could faintly be heard from a group of men that entered the quarters dedicated to Crown Princess Lian Yu of the Xie Kingdom. The man who led them, was Xue.

Standing a distance from where she rested, he gave his order. "Restrain her," his voice low.

Nodding their heads, two of the men approached the woman who lied in bed. Reaching her, they pulled off the blanket and lifted her body up but doing so, her hand seamlessly reached under her pillow and pulled out her short sword to slit the throat of the two men who held her.

Like worms, they squirmed fighting for their life with hands at their neck and taking in the last bit of air they could before falling to their knees and hitting the floorboard. Seeing such a sight surprised Xue as he never would have thought a woman like her was capable of taking lives.

Looking to the last of the three men beside him, Xue motioned for them to detain her. Following his wish, they surrounded her as the Crown Prince's right-hand watched, inspecting her. He wanted to know what her next moves were.

One of the men lunged forward to grab her but avoiding his grasps, she plunged the blade into his spine halting all his movements. Distracted, one of the other men grabbed her from behind causing her to drop her weapon.

Xue simply laughed seeing that the show was now over. He knew it would end early but wanted more. "Blindfold her and tie her hands."

A short nod, the man who was not holding her, reaching for a cloth. However, slipping a needle into her hand, Lian Yu pinpointed the joint of the man's knee behind her and forced it in. This sudden pain not only made him jolt from the foreign object entering his body, but it immobilized the strength in his knees to stand. Lian Yu didn't stop there. The moment he released her from his hold, she took another needle as she retrieved her blade and forced the thin metal into the other man's body.

Doing so, she didn't bother to kill them immediately as she knew it was going to finish the job. Moving away from those men as she heavily breathed, the sound of applause suddenly entered her ears. Looking to the only other person left in the room, Lian Yu's blood stained face was nonchalant. There was no time to feel remorse.

A smile covered his face. "I never would've known that Your Highness was such a cold blooded person. You took their lives without hesitation." He was taunting her. "It tells me that maybe you're tougher than you look." He spoke as he drew his blade and pointed it at her. Slowly, he walked towards her. "I'll tell you what, Your Highness." He wasn't going to take her seriously. "If you can land a scratch on my body, I will let you go." It was a game to him.

Hands tightening around the handle of her blade, Lian Yu's brows pressed together. She knew she was far from even being a match against him.

Without warning, Xue suddenly lashed his sword at her. This placed a cut on her left arm as she began to bleed. "Oh no," he said sarcastically as he sighed. "I just remembered that I was supposed to bring you without any harm to your body." Hand over her arm as she still pointed her short sword at him, he came closer. "But I'll deal with the consequences."