I thought about my next destination, I wanted to head to the forest mountains of Hai Jing which where coincidentally located in the coastal area of Sheng and Great Chu. I was well on my into the heart of Tianmin, a small country bestowed upon me by my father, many didn't know I was the countries ruler but I was still treated really well.
* * *
As I watched the thugs scatter I looked around for Mu Mu. As I peered all around I paused staring at the tea shop. I saw that Mu Mu was in the tea shop with the pervert from earlier and I felt the slightest urge to fight them both.
Not pausing another second, I rushed over as composed as possible and Mu Mu flurried to my side excitedly. I was momentarily confused as I turned to leave before I did anything rash but I was suddenly stopped and pulled back into the grasp of the pervert.
He held me into his body, my head on his chest and he began to speak. "I'm sorry for my rude behavior earlier but it seemed you needed a little push and the only thing I could think to anger a virtuous woman like would be to commit such and act. I hug you know to prevent you from hitting me from a distance, at least in my embrace I can defend myself," he said letting me go. I staggered a few paces from his embrace and eyed him warily and he continued. "I am Wu Koe, the son of Wu Ruan the greatest silk merchant from Sheng," he finished bowing with a fist to his heart as a true man of Sheng.
I could feel that there was more to this man but I couldn't quite pin what I knew in the right places yet. I relaxed and offered him my words. "I'll need more from you than your words to completely forgive you," I paused thinking of whether or not Ishould give him my name. "You call me Master Hua," I answered jokingly.
"Alright, it is been my fortune to meet you Master Hua," Wu Koe said with a mischievous smirk. I was about to say I wasn't serious when he took a cup of tea and presented it to me as a disciple or a servant would to their master. "I am willing to follow you, Mater Hua," he searched my face as I stayed silent in amusement. "if you'll have me," he added assuming I was some how upset by his request.
"I- I You!..." I stuttered dissolving into my embarrassment because he was taking me seriously.
A sparkle of mischief and a victorious smile spread across his face. "I should take responsibility for my actions and so I should follow you," Wu Koe pressed. I was reeling from this interaction and I wanted to hide. As I was lost in my thoughts Wu Koe had approached me and was hovering over inspecting my face.
In that closeness I finally took a good look at who was in front of me. Wu Koe was tall, taller than me by almost a foot with prominent and high jaw line to sculpt his handsome god like face. His skin was fair and creamy and was silky to the touch. He was so light skinned he was almost as light as my own pale milky skin. His hair was a stark contrast to his skin in the sense that it was the black of a moonless night. His eyes were like drops of dew when he looked me in the eye I realized his eyes were like a deep endless pool that could fill my soul or drain it.
Unconsciously I had reach out to him and brushed a strand of his straight black hair behind his ear touching his smooth face. He took my movement in stride as he brought us together. He kissed me without warning and my body didn't reject him anymore. I told myself many things from how he was a stranger to telling myself he could be a mass murderer with his hands that suggested he wrote a lot.
Unable to get myself under control I began to kiss him back. I wasn't thinking properly anymore and he swing me into his arms. "I'll take this as you have agreed," he said breaking the kiss. "I will serve you, protect you, and marry you. Although I have much to give you, I want you to be my wife in all of our lives in exchange," he settled as he set me down in a room above the tea shop removed the jade pin in his hair and replaced the silver one from my hair with it.
I reached out to stop him as he walked away inspecting my hair pin with a smile on his face. Before I could reach him a servant appeared giving me a few sets of clothes from Sheng and a traditional outfit from Great Chu before closing the door. I sat down at the small table on the bedrooms balcony dumbfounded.
I watched the sun give way to the moon and decided to go back to the inn across the street. I ignored the doors and jumped straight down from the balcony to the path below. The balcony faced the inn luckily so in no time I was back to my room and my belongings.
Once I was back in my room I sat at the small table next to the bed and peered into the mirror. I reached up and stroked the jade hairpin Wu Koe had given me and thought of his ridiculous terms. Afraid of alerting my return to the inn I didn't use a candle but instead used the moon light to inspect my face.
I looked at myself in the mirror. I wasn't short nor was I tall but I was slender and had legs long enough to be considered long. My face was well maintained and my hair was strong but thin and my eyes were a beautiful light blue almost purple during the day but in the moonlight they looked they looked like a soft shade of lavender. My cheek bones weren't so sharp and as well defined as those of my lineage posses, instead I had a soft face with a long slender small nose. I wasn't but I thought myself beautiful.
I had never thought about it but I had a considerable amount of cleavage, even wearing a super tight breast band my chest left my breast still visible. no matter I would hide them better tomorrow I promised myself. I blushed thinking about my own body, I wasn't ashamed of the beauty I was bestowed I rather appreciated my body. I unwinded and went to sleep in comfort.
I dreamt of a pear grove above a mountain. I was dressed in many layers but when I looked into a pond of water located in the grove a different stared back at me sad. Scared I stumbled backwards. In doing so I tripped and fell to the peak of the mountain below the pear grove.
When I fell I landed in my bedroom back in the palace and it was the day the maids told me the old prophecy of me being fated to marry the prince from the rival empire. I hadn't thought about which empire or who and brushed it to the side. When I was leaving a maid said "The Crown Prince of Great Chu is the Princess' match and they would be a perfect couple! The Crown Prince of Chu could tame our warrior Princess and bring harmony to both empires!" the maid whispered excitedly to another maid.
I awoke with a cold sweat and a new determination to go against the blasted prophecy I was haunted by. Maybe I could be freed from the prophecy if I married Wu Koe I told myself in the back of my mind. The thought seeped it's way forward and I thought about the life I could build with him in the future.
I thought about my next destination, I wanted to head to the forest mountains of Hai Jing which where coincidentally located in the coastal area of Sheng and Great Chu. I was well on my into the heart of Tianmin, a small country bestowed upon me by my father, many didn't know I was the countries ruler but I was still treated really well. I decided it would take less than half a month to reach the Hai Jing mountains and less time to get to Sheng from Hai Jing.
A month I told myself, I have a month to figure out who Wu Koe is before I even allow him to think I will be marrying him. I played my cards and made myself a simple plan.
I decided after a while to take a bath and left my room in the early morning rays of sunshine to take a bath in the natural hot spring the inn was built around.
The inn keeper had cleared out the other guest as a thanks for me saving her life so I could enjoy privacy and the inn keeper could return home for a while.
I sat in the spring and enjoyed it for a bit too long. I left the spring happily relaxed and cleaned. I gathered my belongings and returned to the tea shop. Upon my return Wu Koe instantly made his presence known.
"Are you okay?" was his first question. When I answered yes his face turned dark and he questioned me further. "Are you mad? A beautiful woman such as yourself outside at night by herself, your martial skill won't always save you!" Wu Koe threatened backing me against a wall and trapping me with his arms.
I peered into his face full of a sliver of worry and a large trace of anger. I sank into the wall but he pulled me close and kissed me again with no warning. I didn't push him away and my body yearned for his gentle touch. He broke the kiss to lead me to a waiting carriage. I didn't say anything until I realized we were headed in the correct direction of the Hai Jing mountains.
After we spent a day in silence, Wu Koe sprang his notion to me. "I am serious about marrying you, we are going to Sheng to be married. You have come this far with me... it is too late for you to run, I have hired the best as help," Wu Koe explained. "I would rather you came willingly and safely but I had a nightmare you left me and it was killing me to think about my life without you in it." Wu Koe vowed with a face full of complete seriousness and I could somehow feel that hs truly meant it.