Three ex-husbands and a marriage

Sunrise

"Are you scared?" he asked.

"No." I answered simply and lied because I would be a fool to admit my fear to him.

He smiled and looked past me towards the horizon. I felt the restraint on my waist lessen and completely let go. The heaviness in my chest also lifted and I stepped backwards and stood as far away from him as possible.

He ignored me and maintained an annoying smile. I leaned on the side of the carriage and concentrated on the horizon. Just like that we sailed silently as the sky started to brighten with the sun rising in the distance.

I gasped as I took in the beauty of the sunrise. I have never had the chance to ride a hot air balloon before in my previous life because it was extremely costly. For a student like me who had to work multiple jobs to support myself as well as study full time, I never had the time and more importantly the money to enjoy the luxurious ride.

The changing colours broken by the gentle rays of sunlight reflected beautifully on the endless blue ocean below. I sighed sadly, only in this fictional world could I experience the wonders of watching the sunrise from this height. The luxurious carriage is intricately built and the ride extremely smooth and comfortable. The air is fresh and the views is simply magnificent. If only I wasn't onboard with a lunatic who will somehow use this to torture me, it would have been simply perfect.

"Wow....the colours are so beautiful..." I whispered to myself. I want to lose myself in the beauty of the moment and forget my current situation but the presence next to me is too overbearing.

He laughed at me, mocking my excitement as if I was a country bumpkin seeing the world for the first time.

"Yes, beautiful," he said with a satisfied smile.

I ignored him and continued to take in my surroundings. He stood up from the wheelchair and leaned on the carriage side next to me.

"Mingling, see the lands below over there? The mountainous terrain that stretches beyond what the eyes can see belongs to the Man Clan. The seas to the east and those islands along the great reefs also belong to us," he said pointing from west to east.

"Where is my home?" I asked.

"Beyond the mountain terrains in the west lies the Great Tangenian Empire. It normally takes months of travel to traverse those treacherous terrains. Even if they have the perseverance to make it pass the natural barriers they will welcomed by a network of deadly traps and our wild beasts before they can enter our territories. Not many people survive to tell the story," he said.

"But it seemed like I was only taken for a few days...does that mean there is a shorter way? Do then underground tunnels link directly to the empire? Enough to cut the travel time from months to a week?" I asked.

He laughed and tapped my forehead lightly. For a moment there I mistook it as an affectionate gesture.

"I can tell you, because even if you knew you will never survive the tunnels without me. Yes, travelling through the secret passageways will cut out the travel time but it is deadly. One wrong turn will lead you to any kind of terrible deaths. Mingling, if you value your life, don't attempt to run away otherwise even I can't save you," he said seriously.

"I'm sure there's other ways to leave without sacrificing myself. Man Chiu, I really hope you don't start a war just to satisfy your boredom. I don't care about you but war is at a terrible cost to people that it's not worth it," I said. There is no doubt in my mind that if my family finds me here they will try to rescue me at all costs.

"War? Mingling, aren't you overestimating yourself? Or rather, underestimating my ability? I tell you this, Mingling will do well to remember that the only reason we have not dominated middle empire is because we have no need to deal with the problems that come with it," he said with a laugh.