EMPEROR AND I

DURA MOUNTAIN CAMP

Clang!!

Although he was surrounded by loud snoring, he still heard the noise. He groaned. Since when did Dura Mountain have such courageous thieves? Earlier, a bunch of Borderlanders had stolen some water from their well. Surely this had to stop. The water had not been good enough ill-gotten gain it seems, because now they were kow-towing in his food supplies tent.

He unsheathed his sword and stumbled upon the bodies that were sprawled around his mattress. Shen Hong shook his head in disappointment. They were the ones who were supposed to be his eyes and ears, protecting him, but here he was, pledging his life for them instead.

The sun was about to rise, for it was already dawn. He looked around and found the supposed guards rec.u.mbent at the exit of his tent. Both were fast asleep with their swords lying haphazardly on their bellies. He hated laziness, but failure to do one"s job right—he loathed it even more.

"The one who loves sleep must now sleep forever," he muttered, and their heads aimlessly flew into the air, blood splattering all over the place. Shen Hong sighed. After all these years, he thought he would do a clean job this time.

Putting his guard up, he entered the food supplies tent and looked around for the intruder. To his surprise, there was only one.

A woman.

That boggled his mind, but hindmost, it was the fact that she was dressed in white silks. She had to be a n.o.ble woman judging by what she wore. Unless she had stolen that too. In a nervous manner, she inspected their food storage. No, she had to be a n.o.ble woman. The way she touched, walked and stood breathed art. It was too elegant for a slave or a lowborn.

Her movements suddenly changed. They became measured and calculated. She knew she was being watched, he realised. Not sparing him any time to attack her, she spun into the air and s.n.a.t.c.hed the sword from him.

He had not expected such skill from a delicate being like her. It seemed she had also mastered the art of deception. He was a well feared, ruthless and skilled warrior in the battlefield. How had she managed to catch him off guard?

She swerved the sword towards him with much determination, desperate to leave the place alive. With one fluid movement he easily avoided her attack.

He smirked, no fight had ever been this intriguing. She attacked, and he avoided. She pushed forth, he backed down. He wanted this to last long. He was an enticed lion, and she was the prey; when the time came and he desired, he would feed.

Her attacks were too predictable—she kept thinking and processing them before charging forward. She was not fighting with instinct, and on top of that, she showed clear lack of practise. There was no way she could be a match for a beast like him.

This seemed to go on for so long before he started getting bored with the whole game. Deciding to bring it to a halt, he suddenly kicked the sword out of her hand and simply grasped her palm. A pulpous sound eluded from her throat before he momentarily twirled her around and pulled her to his chest. Her hand was twisted in his grip, while his other arm lay beneath her breast, holding her tightly so that she would not be able to escape.

He was breathing hard and so was she. She shifted her back against his groin, and he had to stifle a sound that tried to escape his lips. He caught his breath, trying to gain control of himself.

"I have never lost on the battlefield," he boasted out loud.

"Do battlefields make men reek like s.e.x?" She spat.

He grinned widely, his mind mirroring the expeditions of last night. Any man would have thought he was about to have another, but this was a complicated situation.

"And you smell of lavender—" he nuzzled her neck— "and sweat." Something caught his eye as he looked down at her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. It was red, and it gleamed in the darkness of the room.

When she started struggling to get out of his grip, he simply let her go. She was about to charge forth toward her next escape trial when they heard some footsteps approaching their tent. Quickly, he pushed her against the wall and covered her mouth with his hand. He had expected to feel the tenderness of her lips but instead found that a sheer cloth covered them. Due to the darkness of the room he had not realised that she had one on. Common sense indicted her to be an a.s.sa.s.sin, but she didn"t fit the picture.

"Who is there?" His voice resonated authority.

"General! Two of our guards have been killed." A voice squeaked from outside.

"Then what are you waiting for? Clean up the gore."

"Yes, my Lord." The two feet padded away in a hurry, leaving behind silence to fill the room.

Let her go? Or capture her? His mind battled.

He looked back at the delicate flower that lay hostage before him. Instantly, he was caught in what seemed to be a frenzy. In the darkness of the room, her eyes glistened, carrying tints of gold in the amber orbs. Was she from Furia? But her accent was one of Nevoria.

She elbowed him in the stomach and broke free, making a run for the exit. Too dazed to stop her, he decided to just let her go. Such a beautiful thing must not be restrained. As of yet.

"a.s.sa.s.sin!" Someone screamed from outside. Shen Hong leered. They would not be able to catch her, for if a beast like him could not do it, how would they?

"General!" The guards" captain bowed before him not soon after. Shen Hong now sat on his mattress with his legs crossed.

"Report," he commanded, his voice sounding nonchalant.

"She escaped," the guard said, awaiting his punishment.

"I know." He chuckled, startling the guard. It was so unlike the general to laugh at such matters.

"General, we promise to find her," he said with a convincing determination.

"Do not search for her." Shen Hong resigned, toying around with a pendant that hung in the air while he held the neckchain. Glaring at the ruby stone closely, he noticed that it was indeed a precious jewel and quite rare.

He bit his lip. "She will come back herself."

That, he was sure of.

S.V