Sin: Path of Poison

Chapter 20 Part 2

"Sorry for my intrusion." I bowed to the Crown Prince. "Nomi told me Prince Si asked to send a message, I thought it could wait until later, but she told me you wouldn't mind." I bowed lower. "Please forgive me for using your paper and ink, I will clean your brush." I delicately picked it up, not making eye contact, but suddenly looking in all directions for something to accomplish this task. Nomi took it from my hand and set to cleaning the ink off herself.

"Thank you for today." I turned to General Bai and bowed deeply. His hand tightened more. He simply nodded in return.

In the middle of the room, which had been open before, were three eating tables. The same kind that were used at the banquet, but they were put together with pillows on the ground around them. Rather than using them in the traditional way they were being used to create a family style meal. Nomi had been serious about recreating our meals during our time outside the palace. A hint of anger came from General Bai seeing this. As one for protocol, it wasn't right for us to dine at the same table with the Crown Prince let alone on the floor of his inner chambers.

There was movement from the hall, several servants bowed low on entering. They set a variety of simple dishes on the table, then departed quickly. General Bai probably wouldn't leave until he saw Lei, it was best to help along his recovery a bit. With only a few incense sticks worth of time remaining until he naturally woke up, it wouldn't hurt him if I helped.

"I'll check on big brother first, don't wait for me." I said in a worried voice. I quickly walked back to Nomi's room. General Bai darted behind me but maintained his distance. I sat beside Lei on the bed, the squeezing of General Bai's hands grew louder. I wondered how close his nails were to drawing blood, what more would I have to do to witness such a feat?

Carefully placing my hand on Lei's wrist, I checked his pulse. He took to the medicine well, there were no issues. The effects of my scent would lessen but it still wouldn't be enough to cure him of my blood. I channeled a small amount of energy through him. It did seem like his body would be able to handle smaller doses of medicine without collapsing, the proper dosage wouldn't be hard to produce.

I left a trace amount of energy in his body to help him then released his wrist. Using two fingers, I tapped him quickly in six places. Two in his torso, two in his arms and two in the legs. I tapped gently at my bottom lip a few times while lost in thought.

"What did you do?" General Bai asked, interrupting my observations. I looked towards him with a flash of annoyance. "Don't hurt him." He trailed off.

"If I intended to hurt him he would have been dead yesterday." I said quietly, waving the General away.

I leaned forward and placed my face beside Lei's, my mouth lingered near his ear. Gently placing my fingers on his temple, on the opposite side of his face, I rested my palm on his cheek. I sent the smallest bit of energy through his mind, it opened his hearing and made him aware of the world around him.

"It's time to wake up." I whispered quietly, my warm breath blew down his neck. I adjusted my head back slightly to stare into his eyes as they opened. His eyes adjusted to the light and finally focused on me. His hand went up to grab my mine, instinctively trying to figure out what was on his face. I sat up to give him room, but he remained still except for the hand that insisted on holding onto mine. His grip softened as I halted my retreat from him.

"You! You!" General Bai was trying his best to keep his voice down so as not to alarm the others, but this was too much for him to contain. Lei was still not fully aware of what was going on but clearly was able to read his father's temper. He pulled me back, which managed to position me further onto the bed while putting his body in front of me. I nearly laughed, General Bai wasn't stupid enough to ignore the gap between us. Despite his current rage there was nothing he could do, but Lei was unaware of this simple fact. With Lei's arms out wide in a protective manner, General Bai was nearly purple with rage.