They traveled the entire night and, although he couldn't see much of the world around him from inside his prison, ZaiWin was at least sure that they were traveling on one of the main roads. There was no way they would have been able to make such fast progress dragging that old cart with them if they had decided to take any of the secondary routes. The old, creaking wheels would have been ruined in minutes, if the wooden axis didn't snap first. Also, main roads had been built a long time ago, connecting all the capital cities of the Empire. So it was safe to assume that, for now, they were traveling towards one of them.
Looking at the amount of travel bags they were carrying, it was obvious they had carefully planed this whole trip in advance. Even the number of horses was just right. Which meant they had been counting on taking Snow with them, no matter if he willingly agreed to accompany or not. In fact, even though ZaiWin couldn't begin to imagine what had led Snow to decide to meet those people on his own, looking at all the care and planning that they had put into preparing that trip, he was pretty sure they would have tried to take him anyway, even if he hadn't left their bedroom of his own accord. They would have probably tried to kidnap him, he considered, maybe once they left the city. And, to ZaiWin's chagrin, taking into account what that fucking bastard MaoHan could do, although he hated to admit it, there was a high probability that he wouldn't have been able to stop them from taking him, unless he was willing to cause major destruction.
ZaiWin's presence had also been clearly accounted for, he concluded, although he couldn't be certain if they had readied that prison just in case it was needed, or if they had been planning to take him as well, right from the start. They had sounded truly shocked, when Snow had declared that he wanted to remain by his Chosen One's side. Maybe they had actually hoped Snow would simply agree to leave him behind, like he'd done before. And maybe, if that had been the case, they wouldn't have dragged him along as well. Or maybe they had, anyways. After all, they had tried to split them up, before, in Woodbridge, and because they had left ZaiWin behind, ZaiWin had been able to search and find Snow. As things stood, now they had him under that bastard's dominion. If they had even just a little bit of intelligence, they wouldn't have left him behind no matter what. As a matter of fact, if their places were reversed, ZaiWin would have made sure that he kept such important asset safely guarded beneath his nose. After all, Celestials weren't just bound to their Chosen Ones through their life energy. They felt an irrational, uncontrollable need to keep their Chosen Ones' safe above all else. So what better way to force a Celestial into obedience than to keep their Chosen One as a hostage? Which meant that, at the moment, he was, without a doubt, Snow's heaviest chain. And then, as if that weren't enough, there were those two kids, he considered, peering at the two children huddled together on the opposite corner of the cart.
Noble children, that was undeniable. Noble children dressed in rags, wearing prisoner's collars around their necks.
He wasn't too sure if what that fucker had said, about how he had been able to bound the children to Snow, was true or not. At the moment, it didn't really matter. He knew for a fact that Snow wouldn't risk two innocent lives just to call MaoHan's bluff. And, if he were forced to do so and the children ended up dying, ZaiWin was sure that the painful scars left in Snow's heart would be very hard to heal. Because sure, Snow was different from other Celestials. He seemed to be more … independent, more in charge of his own wishes and desires. But he was still fundamentally a Celestial. And no matter what he had said in that room, when he'd threatened to kill them all, ZaiWin was sure he would undoubtedly be extremely hurt if he were to cause the death of two innocent kids.
And yet … how had those bastards managed to get their hands on two noble kids? Even though they looked to have approximately the same age, from their hair and eye color they didn't seem to belong to the same Clan. Had they kidnapped the kids? Although there was that possibility, such a thing was sure to raise so many unwanted red flags that ZaiWin wasn't certain that taking that kind of high risk would actually be worth it. After all, they already had ZaiWin under their thumbs as means to force Snow into compliance. He would have to watch those kids closely. Things might not be what they looked like at all.
In any case. Where could they possibly be? Traveling towards what?
Glancing sideways at the tall, lean one, the one who had opened that dark portal, ZaiWin couldn't help thinking that he didn't look too good, his entire body wobbling with every movement of his horse. Maybe he was just sleepy. Or maybe opening one of those portals just wasn't as easy as it looked. In any case, no matter how amazing they might be, ZaiWin knew for a fact that a portal like that was bound to have its limits. In fact, before, Snow had been the only one to cross it. Now a total of ten people, thirteen horses and a wooden cart had been successfully transported. Yes, he could be just sleepy. But ZaiWin was more inclined to believe that that YunZen-guy wouldn't be able to stand on his two feet from how exhausted he was, even if his life depended on it. So, at least his markings seemed to follow the same rules as other people's, ZaiWin concluded.
Last time they had taken Snow all the way from Woodbridge, in Sur, to the mountains of Pon. They would have undoubtedly sent more people with him, if they could. If nothing else to make sure Snow really went through with his decision, and didn't change his mind at the last minute. Which meant that the more distant the goal, the lesser people were able to cross that portal. That night ten people had cross it, and so ZaiWin was sure they couldn't be too far from Seven Waters. Those bastards had probably just wanted to take them as far as the main road, where the cart could travel more easily.
Seven Waters was located in Pon, but it was near the border with Sur, and not that far from Nox or Wei. Which meant they had to either still be in Pon, or in one of the neighboring Provinces.
Although not too far, Wei was probably still too far to be reached through one of those portals. Besides, a prison cart carrying two small children of noble blood that looked more like slaves would never go unnoticed on the roads of Wei. Sooner or later they would definitely be stopped in one of the several security posts established along the main roads. So Wei was out of question.
And so was Nox. There was nothing for anyone in Nox. And dragging those two kids into Nox's lands would most likely result in one of the many underground bands of thieves trying to kidnap such precious charge. After all, noble kids with light hair and fair skin were always worth a considerably amount of coin, no matter which purpose they were being sold for. Which only left Pon and Sur.
Pon would lead nowhere, unless they were taking them to some hideout, maybe another abandoned Fortress. Not that Sur had anything better to offer to such a mismatched group of people. But at least Sur was on the way to other Provinces. Would even eventually lead them to Wen.
Were they thinking about delivering them to the Palace?
ZenTar had told him that an official order for his arrest had been issued. By now there was probably even a prize on his head. But then, he doubted that possibility very much. He couldn't see people who had no qualms openly stating that they hated all Chosen Ones willing to do the Palace's bidding. In fact, they probably wished they could kill all the royals, since almost all of them were Chosen Ones themselves. And wouldn't that be a nice idea, ZaiWin mused with a small smirk. If they weren't so extremist and fanatic about the whole matter, he would have probably happily joined their cause. As things stood, he was forced to join the Chosen Ones' side, standing side by side with all those noble and royal bastards! Oh, the irony of it all.
So. Probably their final destination was neither Pon nor Sur. Certainly not Wen. He also couldn't see a reason why they would be taking them to Won. Which only left … Tei. Freaking, fucking Tei! The only Province in the entire Empire that kept its borders closed, military detachments deciding who had permission to enter their lands and who didn't. Now that would probably make for a good place to establish a secret hideout, even a terrorist cell, ZaiWin considered. Because that's what those bastards clearly were!
ZaiWin had immediately recognized him, the moment that asshole had barged into his bedroom. The fucker that kept ordering him around. The one who looked to be in charge of the entire operation. MaoHan, they'd called him.
There was no mistaking it! ZaiWin had met him before, a long time ago, in Wei. The son of a bitch that had been hiding behind the scenes, pulling the strings, orchestrating LanWei's kidnapping and the whole uprising that had almost led to a civil war, when the miners had tried to take ownership of the mines that officially belonged to the noble Clans.
Back then, the fucking coward had been nothing more than a shadow in the darkness. But the scary pressure ZaiWin had felt as his inner energy was bent against his own will was something he would never forget. Back then, he had been too young, and he had hastily reacted against it. As a result, he had lost control of his markings and had ended up killing the leader of the rebellion, who in truth had been just a simple man, desperately trying to grant his family a better life.
Of course, ZaiWin's method of putting an end to the entire affair, albeit unintentional, had successfully inserted enough fear in the minds of everyone else, ensuring that no one dared even think about raising their voices against the ruling Clans of Wei ever again. As a result, a bunch of stuck-up, disgustingly fat nobles had acclaimed his amazing achievements, especially taking into account his tender age at the time. But the truth was that none of that had ever been his intention.
He had wanted to talk to the man they were all calling a cold-blooded rebel. He had wanted to listen to his concerns and difficulties. And, if possible, to somehow find a way to make both sides of that useless conflict happy. Losing control like that had not only shattered his initial intentions, resulting in needless death. It had also ruined his confidence in his ability to control his corrupted markings.
He had never been able to understand what had really happened that day. Not until that night, when he had felt it again, that bending pressure that fought to overpower his will. Of course, he could have resisted it, like he had done in the past. But then there was the risk that the result might be the same, and that he might end up losing control of his markings again. The problem was that if that were to happen now it wouldn't result in the death of just a few rebels. An entire city would undoubtedly be reduced to ash. A risk he just couldn't' take. Not to mention that Snow hadn't been anywhere to be seen. And so ZaiWin's first concern had been to quickly understand what was happening and ensure Snow's safety.
That he would meet that bastard after all those years … Back then, ZaiWin had been sure that his loss of control had killed everyone hiding in that complex of caves. The fact that VinWei and LanWei had been able to survive had been a miracle in itself. Apparently that bastard had also managed to survive. He wondered if the fucker also remembered him. In any case, he most definitely had to be the first one to die!
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I'd say that MaoHan has his days counted lol 😁
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