Blood of Deception [ON HOLD]

Chapter Twenty Eight

"Princess." The door flew open. "Princess, things don't look good."

"I'm here," Meiyue said behind the changing screens. She'd given herself a bath earlier than usual that evening and was now fumbling with the layers of her nightdress.

Xiaonu peered over the screen. She secured a sash around the princess's waist as the finishing touch. Then she took her arm and guided her to the bed.

Meiyue sat, wondering about her maid's fluster. A towel was wrapped around her dripping hair. Xiaonu settled beside her. They both wore a similar peach robe.

"I saw mister thick-face with Zhuguan during lunchtime," Xiaonu said.

Meiyue stopped rubbing at her hair. "Wuji?"

She nodded. "I couldn't get near without being recognized, but Zhuguan didn't look very happy about something he said. Do you think it's about the festival night?"

Her mind raced. "I hope so," she said. Wuji acting on his own accord was one thing, but what if he was moving under some order from her mother or they both had planned some kind of charge on Yuzhe? She would only be left to dread what.

"Should we find out?" Xiaonu asked, reading her mind.

"Can you?"

"Not me," she said. "Us." She searched for her expression. "You haven't been asking for Zhuguan to explain so I thought it's because you don't want him to see you hurt. Now that you're fine, you should talk."

The conversation with the Abbot once again surfaced. Her head had been flooding with what he said that afternoon for most part of the day until she couldn't handle it anymore and decided to dip herself under water. But solace was never found. Despair dragged her closer to the day she was to be promised. Remembering it was like having cold lava down her throat.

"How can I see him with this?" Meiyue inclined her chin to where the parlor door was. She didn't mean to sound defeated, or weak even.

"We have the back door," Xiaonu said, undeterred. "A little distraction would do."

The back door was located at an adjoining room where the servants used to provide light refreshments. But every possible exit still had to pass the main entrance, the stairs, unless you'd entertain tumbling down a slope into bushes hidden with vicious thorns.

"I don't want to cause him more trouble," she said.

Xiaonu took her hand before she could stand up. "You're not yourself, princess," she claimed. The emphasis was like a blow. "When did you ever worry about the outcome before even trying?"

The princess remained quiet. Her usual self indeed would not succumb to a few words that presumably had the power to mold her destiny.

She'd put up some attitude when Yuzhe asked her about her imminent marriage arrangement. He believed her then, but did he now? Had she done anything to make him? The moments they spent in the glade were real. Her emotion was true.

Was she going to give all of that up after what he'd done for her in the past?

Would she give him up?

"Princess." Xiaonu caught her hands in her smaller yet rougher ones. Her large eyes were steady, scarcely solemn as they were now. "This might really be the last chance."

The girl wasn't wrong. After one more week, a private discussion of whatsoever with a man other than her betrothed could start something worse than a scandal. It'd be too late to regret. She hated regretting.

She met Xiaonu's gaze. Hesitation was like ashes. Without enough wind they would never disperse. But a storm was coming and she didn't mind being caught in it, for one last time.