“So how did you find the talks, Prince Eric?”
We returned to Eric’s study only to find Johann and Lingsha fretting. They fidgeted and paced about the room, desperate to learn what had transpired during the meeting. Lingsha in particular was eager to know what her brother had to say.
“Well…where do I even begin?” Eric said, unsure how to proceed. I didn’t blame him—Eric was aware that the news would crush Lingsha. Though he was prone to misunderstandings, he was a deeply sympathetic and kind man.
“Eric, don’t worry about my feelings. Just tell me everything, yes?” Lingsha responded. No matter how much trepidation Eric felt, this matter concerned her family directly, so he had to tell her.
“Okay, I’ll start at the beginning. Fang Liu demanded that…”
We told them everything about Liu’s mission to forge an alliance through a political marriage between Lingsha and Eric and his threat to take her back with him if we refused. And we spoke of how Liu tried to intimidate us with the implied threat of war and his aspiration to become the next emperor… We told her everything.
When we finished, Lingsha let her head droop and stammered, “Th-that jerkface, Liu…I can’t believe he actually said that…”
Her hands were balled into fists and shaking. There was not a bit of calm left in her body. She probably had an inkling that this would happen, but the scale of the demand was too much for her to handle.
I’ve never seen Lingsha so shaken up…
She was always so strong, so fearless, that I was somewhat taken aback to see her like this. Only one person in this room was shaken up even more than her—Johann.
“So, what happened?” he demanded. “I hope you didn’t agree to Lady Lin’s extradition!”
Ordinarily, Johann knew Eric would never do such a thing, but seeing Lingsha so emotional must have caused him to snap.
“Of course I didn’t agree to it. But the other side didn’t yield any ground either. The meeting ended in a stalemate.”
“Did it now? Well, I suppose that’s for the best. If you had made such a foolish decision, Your Highness, I would have resented you for the rest of my life.” Johann breathed deeply.
Were Johann and Lingsha together? No, that was a question for another time.
“Johann, what’s come over you?” Eric asked, concern visible on his face. “This isn’t like you. You should know I would never do something like that.”
Johann grunted and looked away uncomfortably. “Forgive me. I know… I know that, Your Highness, but I simply had to make absolutely certain.”
“Well, it’s all right. Just remember, when I agreed to give Lingsha asylum, I promised to take full responsibility for the consequences. And I can say with confidence that not a day has gone by where I’ve forgotten that promise.”
“W-well…”
“You haven’t forgotten that promise either, have you?”
“Of course not, Highness! It was I who brought Lady Lin to the palace!” Johann argued, flustered.
I didn’t know that. So Johann was the one that brought Lingsha here.
“Would you mind telling me more about that?” I said. My curiosity got the better of me. I’d only been living in the palace for a year, and there was still so much I didn’t know about things before my time.
“Yes, you might as well know. If I remember correctly, Johann had that day off, and he was walking around town when he found a carriage carrying refugees. Do I have that right?”
“Yes, Your Highness. I spotted the carriage purely by chance, but I’m grateful. Lady Lin wouldn’t have been rescued otherwise.”
Johann got a dreamy look in his eye as he recalled that day. A carriage with refugees… I had seen them riding through town now and then, carrying refugees looking for a place to live.
Okay, so that’s when Lingsha and Johann met…
“And that day, a gang of masked men attacked the carriage,” Johann continued.
“Yes.”
“The refugees abandoned the carriage and ran, but the masked men chased after them. Then Lady Lin tried to fight them off, but she was greatly outnumbered, and the masked men were all excellent fighters.”
Johann stopped there, his face twisting into a bitter mask. If I was reading between the lines correctly, those were Renese assassins sent to deal with Lingsha. I was shocked to hear they had made it all the way to the royal capital.
“That’s when I stepped in,” Johann said. “She and I fought side by side to send the masked men running. Then I asked Lady Lin who she was and what she was doing here. And she answered—”
“I said I was a Renese princess, in broken Elshaidian. Haha! Johann’s panicked face was so funny, oh yes.”
Eric chuckled, but Johann’s face remained serious. Either he was embarrassed by what had happened that day or embarrassed by his outburst in front of Eric earlier. Either way, I couldn’t help but feel for the guy.
“Johann came to me for help, and I agreed to hide Lingsha from her assassins. I suggested giving her asylum at the palace.”
“So that’s how it happened…”
“Then Lingsha stayed at the palace, learned the language, and earned her place in my royal guard. If Johann hadn’t intervened on the street that day, she wouldn’t be here now. Rescuing refugees on his day off—Johann, you truly are a great man.”
“I am unworthy of such praise, Highness.”
Eric beamed with pride at Johann, who, unable to conceal his joy, blushed crimson.
“Lingsha is forever grateful to Eric and Johann, oh yes. But that’s why I don’t want to burden you. You’re my saviors.”
Lingsha’s voice became dark with remorse as she spoke. The determination in her eyes revealed how worried she was about Johann and Eric.
“That’s why I’ve decided to go back to the Ren Empire. I love you all too much to stay here.”
Her decision took grit. It showed just how the kindhearted Lingsha couldn’t bear to watch us get entangled in her family drama…
But Eric shook his head and said, “No, I can’t let you do that.”
“Why?!”
“Remember what I said? I took full responsibility for you when I gave you asylum. Besides…you’re family to me. It would go against my moral code to send you away.”
“But, Eric?!”
“Of course, if you want to leave, that’s your prerogative, but I won’t let you leave on our account.” His eyes serious, Eric proclaimed, “You’re staying here, no matter what it takes.”
“Your Highness…I feel the same way,” Johann agreed. “You are very important to us, Lady Lin. We cannot let you go without a fight.”
Lingsha’s eyes opened wide in shock.
“Lingsha, I understand that you don’t want to trouble us, but I don’t care,” Eric said. “I can’t let them take you.”
“Eric…” Lingsha’s face was clouded with worry.
Eric cares deeply for Lingsha—that’s why he won’t let up on her.
“Lady Lin, I won’t let you refuse my help,” Johann told her. He smiled softly. “You may burden me to your heart’s content. I will do anything for you. As a man of the sword, I cannot even fathom leaving you behind.”
“Johann…thanks,” Lingsha said. Tears welled in her eyes.
It was clear that she wanted to stay just as badly as we did. But she was from the Ren Empire—that was a fact that could not be changed, and Lingsha knew that the rules would not be bent for her.
But now that I knew her backstory, I couldn’t find any fault in her. I remembered how, when I was struggling with my own family problems, Lingsha had told me that after the harsh life she led in the Ren Empire, she considered Elshaid to be her home now.
In that moment, I understood that she could only say that because of her desperate bravery. It had taken a lot of blood, sweat, and tears for her to call Elshaid her home.
I wanted Lingsha to find happiness in Elshaid. It was an earnest wish for the kind soul who had given me courage when I needed it.
“Okay…I understand. Your Lingsha isn’t giving up. I’m staying in this fight with you, oh yes!”
Lingsha bowed her head, popped back up, and flashed a sunny smile. That she could smile at a time like this was a testament to her strength.
“Good. We’re in this fight together,” Eric said.
“You can come to me for anything, Miss Lin.”
“Sure! Thanks, Leia!” With a smile, Lingsha clasped my hands. Her hands were so small and soft, but they radiated warmth. We stayed like this, smiling at each other.
But everything was still far from settled. In truth, all of our problems had yet to be solved.
“Anyway, no panicking allowed. Got that? If we panic, we’ll lose our composure and invite failure.”
“Quite right, Eric,” I said. “Let’s keep a cool head and take our time to think this through.”
“Yes, I’m sure there’s a way to smooth matters over. Dale is on the case too. So please…just trust us and give us some time.”
Lingsha answered Eric’s gentle smile with a firm nod. Then she and Johann left the study together.
As soon as they were gone, Eric said, “Phew…now what do we do, Leia? When you saw that Liu character, what was your impression of him?”
It was unusual for him to seek my opinion on political matters.
“To be honest, I don’t really get him. He’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. The only impression I have is that he loves to pick fights.”
Eric nodded. “Indeed, there was a wildness, an intensity to him. Now that I say it, he has that in common with Lingsha…”
He paused to gaze out the window. His eyes were shadowed with grief.
What’s Eric’s impression of Liu?
He put on a brave face for Lingsha, but I could tell that Liu frightened him. Liu was just that dangerous and enigmatic.
“However, when Liu got a rise out of me, I managed to learn one fact about him.”
“Hmm? And what’s that?”
“When he was provoking us, it seemed like he was looking for something. My guess is that he wanted to see how we would react.”
“Really?! But what could he possibly hope to learn from that?”
Eric’s theory surprised me because I hadn’t gotten that impression from Liu at all. I thought he simply enjoyed getting a rise out of us, nothing more.
“I’m not sure yet, but whatever it is, it might be the key to a peaceful resolution to our negotiations. Nonetheless, we can’t let our guards drop. We’ll need to be on the highest alert whenever he’s about.”
“I couldn’t agree more, Eric.”
There was no telling what Liu might try to do to us. We needed to be hypervigilant…
“That being said, let’s focus on gathering intel on Liu and his entourage for now. We need to find something we can use during our negotiations.”
“Aye aye!”
And so, we began to scheme. This was shaping up to be another tough fight…