LEGEND OF THE GOLDEN TIGRESS

The Sky Kingdom has entirely different cultures and traditions which were not accepted by the three kingdoms. The Sky Kingdom valued monogamy as an important virtue but the three kingdoms and the fire kingdom followed polygamy. Their beauty standards were also different that fair skinned women were considered beauties in their kingdom and the people in the Sky Kingdom are of varied skin tones and so for them complexion didn"t matter. The sky Kingdom also had very fertile lands and gold... They had a lot of gold!

Xing learned about the Sky Kingdom"s cultures back in the Heavenly Flowers Palace where there were two courtesans from the Sky Kingdom. She learned to speak their language from them too and since they didn"t know how to read or write, she couldn"t learn that.

But she learned about the politics side only recently. The rulers were of the Shy Kingdom were the Inan family. Apparently it was the Arsalan family who held the soverinity over the seas by their Naval fleets. Marvan Arsalan the one who, right to his name was called the "Brave Lion of the seas" was the greatest Admiral the Sky Navy had ever seen who helped them conquer the entire southern kingdoms of the Sky Kingdom. The Lion figurehead on the bow of his fleets inflicted fear on the opposing fleets who"d flee just by the sound of the drums they beat as a call for war...stories said.

Xing was informed that Marvan Arsalan was executed a year back for adultery which is a capital punishable offence in their kingdom which Xing found too excessive. If any man who sleeps with more than one woman is executed in their Wind kingdom, there would be only a handful of men left in their kingdom, Xing knew. Monogamy is a good concept according to Xing but capital punishment for adultery.. A bit too much!

Marvan Arsalan had only two daughters and so the naval fleet was pa.s.sed to his elder son-in-law Jubin who was raised by Marvan as his protégé and heir. But the youngest daughter who was just fifteen at that time vehemently opposed the punishment of her father claiming that he is innocent and led some of his supporters against the Emperor to free her father which failed terribly. It was said that she received the punishment of "Condemnation of Memory" which meant all her records of being alive will be eradicated... A punishment worse than execution according to Xing. At least one"s name would be remembered if they are executed but those who received the punishment of "condemnation of memory" will have nothing of their past left as they will be completely eradicated from history. Those who rallied behind her were executed and peace was preserved and no one has heard of the daughter ever again or knew if she was dead or alive and there is a bounty on her head in their kingdom as they don"t want her alive and she was proclaimed as an enemy of state.

When Xing heard about this story, she really admired that younger daughter who tried to save her father and even got a terrible punishment for it.

But is Maya, the one standing in front of her now, that daughter she greatly admired? If she is, what kind of cruelties did she suffer in the past year living as a nomad, alone, with nothing... Not even a name... It is worse than being an orphan or a b.a.s.t.a.r.d... To have everything that belonged to you getting plucked out of your hands..!

Xing had one good reason to believe that Maya should he the daughter of Marvan Arsalan because she believes it won"t be no coincidence that Seiren was put together with her.

"After your man made this... "message" on me... I was put in this slave Caravan that pa.s.sed through he desert to our Kingdom... One of the slaves was his man... I"ve seen him before and he helped me with medicines for my wound... If my guess is right, those traffickers might be replaced by your man too... " Seiren"s voice brought Xing back from her thoughts.

"She was there among some other women and the moment there were talks that there was a search party for Lord Zhong and he had escaped from captivity, she... She might have figured it out or at least guessed I was him... She started taking good care of me and asked questions about our kingdom... She hates her kingdom... I guessed she might be... You know who... ", Seiren paused and Xing could see the sadness in his eyes.

Well, it"s going to sting that she approached him to be manipulative.

" You think she wants your army to get back at her kingdom who failed her father? ", Xing asked the question even though she knew it would hurt him. Some truths hurt and one must accept them for what it is...

"I"m pretty sure...", he sighed.

Xing knew of Chenglie"s plan now. So he knew we don"t have any navy and he found out about Maya somehow and the slave ring who knew the route through the desert... So he put her on the slave ring or he knew she was caught by them and a high profile individual like Lord Zhong will be searched for sure adamantly and this will expose the slave ring and the travel route can be got from them.

So he put Seiren along with them and hoped this girl who might be h.e.l.l bent on avenging her father"s death will expose herself to him which would enable them to get the Sky Kingdom.

This Chenglei...! My man..! How smart is he? How much connections does he have? How could he plan amazingly and execute it perfectly? If only I had half of his smartness!

While Xing was admiring Chenglei, Seiren was feeling down.

Maya was obviously inexperienced on the art of seduction but she really tried to get his attention. He guessed who she was because she got pretty angry of the Sky Emperor when one of the other captives talked about him and she really looked like someone who had n.o.ble upbringing and she was trained in some martial arts.
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So he played with her for a while... All they did was walk through the desert and there was plenty of time to talk and soon he found himself attracted to her and she looked at him with true affection too.

Seiren could see she is attracted to him truthfully as he has experiences with women and he knew a lot of women and he knows their antics to seduce a man without even liking him. This girl seemed too pure and uncorrupted except when she was thinking about her Emperor. Then her eyes will be filled with rage and hate.

If only she was just a girl, then I would bring her to my home as my wife!

"Should we use her?", Xing asked Seiren to know what he is thinking of her.

"We can!", he said, "We don"t even have to be manipulative. She"d agree to help us if we agree for annihilation of her Emperor. You decide! ", he said. She hated their Emperor to the bones.

Xing sighed seeing Seiren answering as a Zhong would.

If he loves her, he cannot fan the flames of her thoughts of revenge and try to get her change her mind and think of beautiful things, bring her home and make her his wife.

But as a Zhong who looks out for the welfare of the Wind Kingdom, he should be using her hate and make her to cross the desert, since she might still have some secret supporters in their court, they should use them to entirely overthrow that empire before they even try to attack them!

This would lead to a conflict but there is still an easy solution...

They could simply exchange Maya for peace between the two nations, since she is an enemy of their state.... Simple, right?

What a dilemma he is in! And he wants me to take the decision? Dream on!

"You are not going to visit your mother?", Xing changed the topic.

She wasn"t down with the idea of using a little girl that much. She wouldn"t get to that unless they had no other way... As a last resort!

In the end, the life of one girl is worth to be traded for the life of thousands of their people if it could stop the war! And does this girl realise that and that"s why she is refusing to reveal her family name?

"Only after this is all finished. I sent a letter to mother... She"d want me to partic.i.p.ate in the war! ", Seiren said pursing his lips. He really wished Maya would give up on her revenge and come to him but still there are other problems.

Xing understood what he meant and left it to his decision. If there is any man she would trust who could keep his head straight with a woman, it would be Seiren!

Seeing Maya trying hard to understand what they are saying and the look of jealousy in her eyes, Xing decided to clear her relations.h.i.+p with Seiren, "Maya!", she smiled, " I am the Empress of the Wind Kingdom and I"ve known Seiren for years... He is like a brother to me. He told me you took good care of him in the desert. I really appreciate that . So if you have any problems, you can come to me, okay?", she patted her shoulders. She really liked her.

" Empress? ", Maya was surprised and Xing could see her face relaxing knowing she is not a threat to her love. But then she contemplated for a while and asked.,.

"I hear there is a war... Are you going there?", her almond eyes had complicated emotions.

"Yes",Xing answered wondering what she might ask her.

"Can I join you?", she asked, "I want to watch!".

Xing looked at the girl shorter than her who reached only up to her shoulder trying to act like she is not too interested and didn"t know how to react.

"If you want! You could be Seiren"s a.s.sistant and take care of him", she smiled.

"Don"t push her hard on me, milord", Seiren stretched his hands leisurely, "Even if other things are settled, it is hard for me to take her home and make her the Lady of the Zhong family", he said.

Xing knew what he says makes sense. Maya doesn"t look like their people and the other women will be acting bigoted against her for the colour of her skin, her difference in culture and also for her family name. Even if his mother accepted her, Maya will be ostracised by the other n.o.ble ladies in their kingdom and she would be left with no friends.

Huh! Why is Seiren this sensible! Xing sighed.

But those things are for the future and for now the war should be of priority!