Fresh Embers of Love

Chapter 37

'QingWa' Sheng-Da was up in the branches of the tree in the courtyard of Qiwu Palace. Below him, the Princess swam in the pool, the green scales of her magnificent tail glistening in the moonlight. Her long black hair floated in the water around her, clinging to her arms, framing her naked breasts. She looked up at him and waved.

"Sheng-Da" she called out, her voice sounding far away.

She lay down on the flagstones of the courtyard, and Tangyue climbed on top of her, his lower body undulating against her. Sheng frowned.

"Get off of her!" he thought.

Suddenly, he was no longer in the tree. He was the one on top of the Princess. She was closing her eyes and breathing heavily. She made that sound, the desperate moaning sound, rubbing her naked body up against his.

"Nuwa" he whispered.

She writhed underneath him, her moans becoming higher in pitch.

"Nuwa, I've always wanted your dragon form!" he said, but was that his voice?

Suddenly Nuwa burst into flames, her skin blackening and cauterizing, her cries terrible to hear.

"Nuwa!" He yelled.

Sheng awoke with a start. He blinked his eyes several times, trying to orient himself to his surroundings. A warm wet feeling was in the front of his pants. Had he peed himself?

"Nuwa, huh?" said the voice of a soldier lying in the bunk next to his. Sheng turned his head to look.

"Was that the name of the girl you brought in yesterday?" the soldier asked.

Sheng nodded.

"I was on duty last night. I got a look at her when you were bringing her in. She's quite the beauty" the soldier commented.

Sheng looked away, his gaze drawn to his pants. The warmth was dissipating, leaving behind a cold wet feeling. He sat up, covering the front of his pants with his hands.

"Nothing to be embarrassed about, son" the soldier said sagely. "Pretty girl like that. It's only natural. I expect you won't be the only one having those kinds of dreams."

Sheng looked up in alarm, examining the sleeping soldiers that surrounded him.

"You might want to be careful not to make a mess in the sheets, though" the soldier advised him. "We are hot-racking until the new barracks are finished. You share that mattress with Cao Yu. Qiao Zui Ba was assigned to that rack, but he got hooked. He's in the infirmary. Lucky you!"

Sheng nodded awkwardly, and then hopped down from the top bunk, headed for the latrine. He had only had a couple of hours of sleep, but he'd rather not wait and risk the other men waking up and seeing him like this.

He hopped into the showers, washing the sticky mess off of his skin, and rinsing it out of his pants. He wasn't really sure what to make of it. He had never really thought of the Princess that way before. It was confusing. He had never even suspected that she had that kind of relationship with Tangyue.

"Will Nuwa be safe here?" Sheng wondered.

All of these soldiers should protect her, but what if they lusted after her like that old soldier said? The thought of other men climbing on top of the Princess, in the way that Tangyue had done, made his blood boil.

Tangyue made his blood boil! If Tangyue was here in front of him right now, he would be tempted to kill him. He had never liked Tangyue, who was always so arrogant. He didn't like the way Mother set Tangyue on him, expecting him to comply with his directions. He had always viewed Tangyue with distrust, even though he was Mother's best friend.

It turned out that his instincts about Tangyue were correct. He was not to be trusted. Pretending to be morally superior all this time, and look what he had done!

Tangyue had shown who he really was. He wanted to take the throne away from Fuzangloong. He was willing to use, and shame, and hurt Nuwa in order to do that.

Sheng dried himself off with angry strokes of the towel, then went to fetch dry clothing. He had time to get in a run before starting training. He had asked Father last night to get Mother to train him in Demon magic. The next time he faced Tangyue, he would be ready.