Zhulong, Ice and Fire

THREE

Huian's hand hovered over the quiver of arrows before her gaze drifted to the targets set in front of her. Eighty-percent of her shots had met their target, but twenty-percent had veered off by a long shot. She gritted her teeth together as she placed an arrow in place and pulled back the bowstring, her back muscles shifting with the motion. She stared at the head of the figurine in front of her and let the arrow sail. It lodged into the dummy's neck. She frowned.

Chun clapped excitedly from behind her. Huian pursed her lips together and looked over her shoulder at the overly happy woman. It was hard to imagine that they were the same age sometimes. She reminded Huian of a small child that was excited to receive sweet treats any time something good happened. Huian took the jug of water she offered her and took a sip of it. Coolness slithered down her throat and she sighed contently. How long had she been practicing her archery? By the looks of it, the entire afternoon.

Chun hugged the jug to her waist when Huian handed it back to her. "You're as impressive as always, my lady."

Huian didn't answer to that and instead took another arrow from the quiver. She notched it and aimed at the dummy's heart. She let go, watching as it whizzed through the sky before smacking straight into the chest. Satisfaction pulled at the corner of her lips. "Did my father send you to tell me something?"

"Yes, he did, actually."

"What is it?"

"He asked if you packed everything you wanted to take."

"I have."

"Alright, I will tell that to him."

"All I need is my sword," she said with a shrug. "Other than that, nothing else concerns me. No, even then, the Yao family can supply me with anything that I want or need."

The maidservant bobbed her head slowly. "Oh, I see."

Truthfully, Huian didn't have any belongings that she cared about. Many people held items dear to their heart and yet she didn't. Her father held onto his grandfather's sword like it meant the world to him, while her half-brother loved his collection of miniature statues. She oftentimes wondered if that made her a cold and bizarre person to not have any care for any item, but she settled with the fact that she didn't value materialistic things like other people did. Even her dead mother's belongings had little meaning to her—they were just belongings, after all.

"Are you excited to see General Chenglei?"

The arrow slipped from her hand and lodged itself into a tree, five paces away from the target. She arched an incredulous brow at her. "Excuse me?"

Chun flinched. "Uh, err, I mean, you haven't seen him in eight years so I thought maybe you'd be excited to see him again. A lot can change—"

"Stop," Huian said. "I'd rather face a blaze of arrows rather than submit to his will."

She frowned. "But you're going to be his wife—"

"As I've been told multiple times," she said.

"Wives are supposed to—"

"I don't care."

"But you're his prop—"

She slammed her bow on the ground. "Enough."

Chun shrunk back while Huian pushed past her and headed inside. She was tired of hearing the same old nonsense over and over again. She wasn't supposed to do anything. She was tired of everyone speaking down to her as if she was unreasonable for not wanting to submit her will to her husband. Did they not realize who she was? She was Lin Huian and she refused to listen to anyone. She was defiant, she was strong, and she would never allow anyone, man or woman, think that they had control over her.