A Crown for a Tail

Trials 2

Turning to Di Jun, briefly for his opinion, which was nothing more than a slight rise of his brow The Skylord turned back to Ye Hua and gave a nod of his head. "Alright, you may have a few minutes, before a verdict is given." The Skylord said, as Princess Mei was brought to her feet by her mother who couldn't contain her immense dislike for Ye Hua, giving him a look of disgust, as he walked straight passed them and out through a side door without even a look of acknowledgement her way.  Giving her daughters hand a quick squeeze, she gently pushed her towards the door Ye Hua had taken.

Deciding on the spur of the moment to give her one chance to make things right, he faced her.  "Princess Mei, what do you want? I'm not talking about what your father wants, or what your Tribe wants, but what you want." he asked keeping his eyes firmly on her face as she spoke.

Accepting the opportunity he was offering her, she took a few seconds to formulate her reply, the one she had tried to give him the night before.  Then facing him directly, she opened up.  

"Ye Hua, when I initially asked my father to apply for a marriage arrangement to you, it was based on two things. The first was the stipulation that your Grandfather added to the decline letter he sent my father when I was considered too young. He had said that once I reached an appropriate age, marriage would be considered with every chance of gaining an agreement.  Since that day, I believed you would be my husband, and my upbringing since that time, revolved around me marrying you and taking on the mantel of The Celestial Empress."

Then taking a deep breath, she continued. "The second was our meeting the East Seas Banquet. If you are honest, we got along very well and I know you felt drawn to me at the time.  We talked and laughed and our conversation was well matched, I thought at the time, you were interested, and in time, it might grow into something deeper, so, with both of those two incidences in my mind, I considered a union with you to be viable. However, you met Bai Qian,"

"Initially, I admit, I was exceptionally jealous, and wanted her out of the picture, so I did what I did to keep you firmly in my sights.  And I know I made mistakes in order to gain a marriage agreement, but I did it because I honestly thought there was a chance. I am still hopeful."

"What I want is a chance at a marriage trial without the interference that was so unfairly thrown at me." she said finishing it.

Ye Hua could feel his temper about to explode, but he held it together as his brothers words remained firmly implanted in his mind.  

"Alright, I have heard you.  I understand what you are saying but you need to hear me.  I am in love with Bai Qian, I will never love another but her, in fact, my harem is closed and nor will it ever be open as long as she is in my life.  I have every intention of marrying her, she is the one I see my future with, only her and no other.  I need you to understand this!" he said firmly and clearly.

"I have never loved a woman as much as I love her, and nothing you do or say will change that.  Lets end this now.  Right now, our families are the only ones who know of the humiliation we have both suffered, there is no need for it to go further.  Take what pride you have left and go home." he said finishing it.

"No! You owe me Ye Hua, you and Bai Qian along with the Fox Clan humiliated me beyond belief.  Not only did you physically assault me, you treated me worse than a dog, and then you tried to kill me, I want compensation.  We have one week and 3 days left of our trial, I am happy to reduce it to one week, but I want it, and in that week I want respect and the chance to end our union with pride." she said refusing to back down or allow him any other way out. 

For the longest moment, Ye Hua looked at her, and as much as he wanted to slam his fist into her face, he held himself back with his brothers words still in his head.  One week and they could end it forever he thought to himself.