The Flower Among the Flames

Chapter 6

Seulgi wished he kept his mouth shut. So much so in fact that he was actually contemplating about whether he should break his promise to escape from the stronghold. The desire was burning hotly within him. That one moment of weakness was going to haunt him forever, that was he certain. He did his best to hold it back, but his nature overcame his willpower in the end; to that woman, of all people. Even Seon-Hee wasn't this bad and her antics were terrifying.

On a side note, Seulgi knew something was wrong the minute he entered his cell. First of all, it was way too clean; afterall, everything was practically demolished only days before. This was also coupled with the fact that there was no effort to fix anything before. Had there been only minor cleaning, Seulgi would have thought nothing of it; but the tables were rearranged, silk pink and indigo clothes covered their tops, and paintings of flowers were hung on every wall. The paintings were clearly strategically placed to cover up the irreparable damage, but the sheer amount of them was enough to draw suspicion on its own.

What devilry is this? He thought uneasily as he heard another thing clearly out of place. Laughter. Not just any form of laughter but laughter from a group of women. Seulgi cursed quietly. This was Zhao Meng's doing, wasn't it? Training his ear, he was able to pinpoint where the voices were actually coming from which was a room with its doors shut closed dead ahead of him. Heart smashing against his ribs with unrelenting nerves, he leaned his head against the door and heard the women talking.

"So who is the man Zhao Meng wanted us to guard again?" one asked. He knew it. That crafty fox, he thought. What's more is that they were assigned to guard me. To guard him. This either was meant to be a sick joke, or, he shivered, they really were capable of killing him. He prayed for the latter. He was practically begging for the latter to be true.

"Some man from Joseon," said another much younger voice. At the sound of her voice, Seulgi frowned. It was the voice of a child. She continued, "I heard he nearly single-handedly defeated a regiment of Bao He's warriors."

"Bao He's men are weak," another scoffed. "A spring breeze would be capable enough to wipe them out."

Seulgi did nod his head slightly at that comment. The troops were pushovers really, and the men's lack of discipline in combat was alarming. How they passed basic training with lacking skill was beyond him. Then he heard shuffling. Someone was approaching the door. He panicked slightly and hurried to sit at one of the tables in the opposite room. There was a silent tension as the door opened and footsteps slowly approached where he sat.

"That's funny," the younger girl said. "I could have sworn there was someone by the door."

The footsteps continued to get closer until finally she entered the room. Her gaze locked on Seulgi sitting at a table and pouring tea into a cup. Seulgi lifted his eyes from his drink and took note of the person in front of him. He was surprised to see that she looked no older than fifteen. To the naked eye, she looked anything other than a would-be warrior. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail reaching up to her shoulders, and she wore no armor other than sleek iron bracers and shin guards while her slim figure wore a cyan conservative dress covered in red lacing. Her menacingly dark eyes and her belt bearing six large knives spoke volumes otherwise.

She was also taken back by Seulgi. She was expecting some old fart or some aged general like Zhu– not someone as young as he was. Her comrades were in for a surprise.

"Good afternoon," Seulgi said with a weak smile and gestured towards the pot. "Do you want some tea?"

"No, thank you." The girl shook her head with an obvious look of disdain. "What kind of idiot do you think I am anyway?"