Sin: Path of Poison

Chapter 7 Part 1

I felt someone approaching quietly. The guard. I remained unchanged, not signaling that I was aware of his presence. He walked several feet around my side before circling back from a wide angle. Obviously he wanted to see if I reacted from sneaking up behind me. Giving me plenty of opportunities to notice him, I never reacted, even when he stopped within my peripheral view.

"Is something bothering you?" He asked, confused by my lack of reaction.

I glanced over in time to notice his hand open up, he'd been clenching his fist so tightly it left an imprint in his palm. He shrugged and laughed lightly, embarrassed that I noticed. I didn't hide the fact I was aware of his nervousness. Something about him was familiar, but I needed more time to think about it.

"Mm." I barely shook my head as if brushing something off. "Nomi was just telling me a story, I was overthinking I guess."

I wiped away the blank look I had on my face. No longer thinking of the past, I put on a somewhat melancholy smile. His body froze momentarily, something about his reaction piqued my interests. The smell of his body hit my senses, everything about him became more familiar, yet distant. Despite traveling on horseback for a long period of time, every hair was still properly held up in place and his robes didn't show even a single wrinkle. Surely I was never entangled with such an upright person in this life.

"You're not going to hurt him right?" He asked.

"Who?" I needed clarification. There wasn't much point in denying anything, but I wasn't willing to give him additional information either. We had some connection that I couldn't place. My instincts told me I didn't need to hide from him, despite our glaring differences in character. He hadn't informed the others of his suspicions, so he was still trying to place me as well.

Upon hearing this simple word his hand clenched again. I couldn't help but smirk, amused by this display of loyalty. If this were a different situation I'd surely toss him a pouch of coins for entertaining me. I raised an eyebrow at him in question and he eased his tension.

"The Crown Prince, Prince Si, Blake...." He trailed off, not including himself. I smirked, his lack of self concern amused me all the more.

"No." I turned my body for the first time since he came down, fully facing him, aware that the people up top could clearly see us. I smiled up at him, still using the innocent youthful face he was used to.

"Oh." He trailed off again.

"I've been meaning to ask, what's your name?" It was bothering me for some time now, this big clue I was missing.

"Bai Lei." He answered immediately, leaving no sign of hesitation. Nervous for the others, but not himself.

"Bai." I repeated, tapping my finger against my temple. "As in General Bai's son?" I asked. He swallowed deeply as his heartbeat raced.

"Yes." He agreed, why was he so flustered after I repeated his surname?

"I see." I smiled up at him innocently.

"Who are you looking for?" He asked, his hand clutched at his own robes.

"Relax your hand, smile." I trailed off. "They're watching." I counseled. "Whoever is trying to kill the Crown Prince." I added with a smirk.

His expression looked stunned. He wasn't expecting me to answer honestly and for the briefest moment it looked like he doubted what he heard. Uncomfortable standing here like this in front of me, with the others watching from up above, he shifted his weight. With much force he tried to change the expression on his face to match the more casual stance he took.

"I hope we can keep this between the two of us, it's more convenient this way. It does involve your father after all." I added casually.

"You know my father? He hired you?" He asked. Still trying to piece things together while wondering just who I was that his father would come to me. His father, General Bai, the head general that every other person in the military reported to.

"Mm." I confirmed. "You may have heard the eagle calling the night before you saw me. It led me to your group, it was gone by the time I emerged the next morning." He nodded quickly, recalling for the first time that he did hear an eagle the night before. "It's golden in color, you've probably seen it before. I met with your father in his study at your home when he first started training it, about a year ago. It had to become familiar with me so it could find me when I was needed." I over-explained. I needed him to relax around me in the future, things couldn't be so weird between us. Even the dimmest person would be suspicious of his current behavior.

"Who are you really? How long have you known my father?" He asked, still nervous. I laughed. He knew I wouldn't answer that question. He changed the topic. "You're hurt?" He looked at me, trying to puzzle over what part of me was hurt. Interesting. He knew I was hurt, but he didn't know where or how badly.

"Mm." I agreed. "How do you know?" He was able to strike my curiosity twice in this conversation. While I didn't get along with his father, I found the son quite delightful.

"I don't know either, sometimes I think.." His face contorted and his neck became red. "Sometimes when I smell your scent, I feel that you're in pain." He concluded, fully embarrassed.

"Interesting." I said out loud when I'd meant to say it in my head.

I subconsciously tapped my finger on my lips a few times before returning my hand to its previous position. "I'll be better in less than a week, don't worry about it. Oh, if you see your father you may not want to mention me. While he did hire me, he isn't exactly happy about the arrangements." Because we're like water and oil, said a voice inside my head.

"Yes, of course. It's not likely we'd speak even if we did run into each other. We're, it's hard to explain." He gave up on trying, but I already understood.