Gift of the Fox

Chapter 7: My Name is Xin Tao

She groaned, slowly raised her eyelids, and looked around. She was lying in a soft bed in a wooden room. 

"W... Where am I?" she murmured and noticed her tone was deep and manly. She gasped, grabbed a mirror nearby and looked into it. It was no dream - she had really turned into a boy. "So, it's true!" The mirror fell off her hand onto the bed as she froze in place. "Can't be..."

The door creaked and startled her. She saw how one of the court ladies entered and bowed once saw him awake:

"Hello, sir. You've woken up already? How are you feeling?"

Hmph, 'sir'... What a pain! I would've laughed if I weren't so terrified right now.

"I'm fine, I guess..." He winced and touched his aching forehead.

"Ah, lie down!" The court lady ran up to him and put him back to the pillow. "Your head was bleeding when they found you. It isn't completely healed yet."

"W... Where am I?" Tamie obeyed and lay down.

"You're in His Majesty's palace, sir. Consider yourself lucky you were found by His Highness, 5th Prince Wang Wu."

So, it was Wang Wu who found me? 

The 5th prince was the master of many servant boys with whom Liz was close. He was rumoured to be kind-hearted and benevolent towards all of his servants, and as far as Tamie had observed, he indeed lived up to those rumours. 

I guess I'm in good hands, but, would've been even better if Wang Shao had found me...

"Well then, I shall tell His Highness that you're awake. He wanted to see you." The court lady bowed again and left the room.

Wow... Now, look at that - I've turned into a boy and these women instantly began bowing. Damn you, Wanglong...

Tamie shook her head. Her heart had rejoiced, though - she had always dreamed to be regarded as equal to men, and now, she had a chance to finally come into the light and prove herself.

I guess I cannot revert the fox's doing since it has been done. All that is left now is to fulfill my vow and change the way Wanglong Empire works.

The door creaked and the familiar green-clothed prince walked in - Wang Wu. He smiled when he saw the boy awake. He took a seat in an armchair near the bed and looked down at the stranger:

"Greetings."

"Greetings, Your Highness," Tamie answered in Wanglongian, sat up and bowed to him. "Thank you for saving me!"

"Oh, no need. Please lie down. Court ladies said you weren't completely healed yet." Wu got concerned and made him lie back in bed. Tamie obeyed. "So, who are you? How did you appear in the forest in the river?"

Tamie froze - she still hadn't come up with her new boy name! She couldn't just say she was "Tamie Beanson" when that wasn't only boyish, but even a Wanglongian name. Since she looked Wanglongian, she should have the name of that ethnicity, too, and forget about her name - what would her back-story be? However, her great literary skills saved her - she was a writer back in Qartland, her home, so she used her creative skills in order to create a fake story for her boy self:

"Uhm, I... My name is Xin Tao. I was robbed while walking in the forest. I am a wanderer."

She instantly came up with the name "Xin Tao" as "Xin" was a common surname in Wanglong and "Tao" matched with the first letter of her real name, "T". Wu blinked at this whole explanation, and then smiled:

"Ah, now I get it why your clothes were gone."

Tamie flushed up:

Thank God he saw me as a boy!

"Well, it is nice to meet you, Xin Tao. They may have already told you, but I'll still present myself - I'm Wang Wu, the 5th prince of Wanglong."

"It is an honour to get to know you, Your Highness!" Tamie rose to bow again, but Wu shyly smiled and put him back to bed. 

"So, you said you're a wanderer, right? Aren't you too young for such a thing? Where are you from?"

"I am from the far-off mountains of the North, Your Highness. My little village was obliterated by the attack of the Sorovs, long ago. Since then, I am travelling. I am an orphan and a loner..."

He gained a sad face. However, at heart, thought otherwise:

So good I've been reading Wanglongian fairy-tales since my young years...

"Oh, that's truly unfortunate, Xin Tao!" Wu showed sincere sympathy, "I am sorry for you... My elder brother is leading battles against the Sorovs now, so do not worry anymore - we will avenge your village and all those other people who were harmed in these late years. My brother is truly a good warrior and strategist. They call him the Wolf Prince."

"You... You mean His Highness the 4th Prince?!" Tao gasped as if astonished by this fact. In truth, Tamie knew everything about the 4th prince because her affections towards him had increased her curiosity too - she was perfectly aware of his alias 'Wolf Prince' and all of his deeds in the North. 

"Yes, exactly him. He has come back for the festivity today. After a week, he is going to return to the battlefields."

Tamie widened her eyes - so it was one week until Shao departed again? Then, she should hurry up and become a great guy in the princes' eyes so that they would permit him to accompany Shao in battles! She decided to begin executing the plans she had never dreamed of ever coming true since she was a woman. Now, when she had miraculously turned into a man, she would finally be able to show all men how a real man should act.

From this day on, everyone will learn the name of Xin Tao, the greatest man of all time!