Chapter 1 (1/2)

Chapter 1: Country and Home Are Lost

Western Que, the royal palace.

Soldiers and weapons clashed fiercely as danger crept in on all sides.

”Royal mother, I'm not going! I want to be with you and royal father! I'm not going!” Jun Huang's tears trickled down her face like pearls from a broken necklace. The palace gates had been broken through and Western Que was facing its doom. Far more than the cursed invaders, the one she hated the most was herself. Her helplessness. That she would be forced to cling to survival in the shadows.

”I'm not going either!” Jun Hao was only six and didn't understand much of the world yet, but he too maintained a death grip on the hem of his mother's clothes.

”Hao’er, be good. Go with your sister.” Tears sparkled in their mother's eyes as she picked up Jun Hao's little hand to place it in Jun Huang's. ”Huang’er, Hao’er is still young. If not for yourself, you must leave for him. You must make it out.”

”Royal mother! Royal mother!” Jun Huang shook her head fiercely, but her throat constricted in grief. She couldn't squeeze any more words out.

”My love, take Huang’er and Hao’er and quickly leave through the hidden tunnel!” A man who exuded killing aura strode into the room. He was the emperor of Western Que, Jun Hongmo. Even the blood that matted his face couldn't conceal the weariness between his brows, but his tone brooked no opposition. ”Yinyun!” he roared out in stern command. ”Protect the empress, prince, and princess in their escape!”

”Understood!” Yinyun growled, voice as hard as flint.

”Huang’er, you will always be a princess of Western Que.” Her mother kissed Jun Huang's forehead, sorrow suffusing her gentle eyes. ”Go! Live!”

”Royal mother!” Jun Huang clenched her fists tightly, her nails biting deep into her flesh and carving out trails of blood. Bam! She dropped to the floor and kowtowed heavily thrice towards her mother and Jun Hongmo. She enunciated each word with painstaking clarity, as if swearing a vow, ”Royal father, royal mother, Huang’er will protect her little brother well!”

Jun Hongmo turned the dragon throne around to reveal a concealed pa.s.sage, a flicker of emotion causing a ripple across his resolute face. A final word escaped his lips, just loud enough for her to hear. ”Live!”

Jun Huang grasped Jun Hao's hand tightly and walked into the tunnel without another glance back. She couldn't look back; she had to stay alive with Jun Hao.

Clang! She heard the doors to the hall being smashed open. The armies of Eastern Wu had arrived, but her mother and father were still inside the hall! She whipped her head back only to see, in the last moment before the door closed, her fifth royal brother Jun Yu leering as he plucked out the tendons in her father's hands and feet. She also saw her mother draw a longsword and take her life in front of the throne, her blood drawing a long arc through the air.

”Father! Mother!” She screamed her life out in the tunnel, her tears reddening with blood. Father and mother are dead, Western Que has fallen.

”Your Highness, the Eastern Wu armies will soon be upon us; we must flee!” Yinyun had to hold Jun Huang back with all his might. Right, she had to make it out! She had to live! It was the only way she could make those people who'd destroyed her family and home pay in blood!