It doesn't exactly answer a particular prompt for LingFan week... but I've had this piece sitting on my files half finished forever.
He stuck her across the face again.
Lan Fan hissed a breath in through her nose sharply.
"Where will he be?"
She didn't answer.
"Answer me!"
She didn't say anything once again, and for half a minute there was only the sound of her raged breaths.
"It will only make things smoother," another voice far more oily than the first said. They had been trying that for a day now. One man would beat her and demand answers and then the other would try being kind. "Even if you don't tell us we'll use you as all the leverage we need. We'll find out the information one way or another. If you tell us, you don't have to suffer any longer."
This time she did respond.
She responded by spitting blood in front of the oily man.
The violent one growled and threw her head back. It could have broken her neck, but luckily did not.
She had been here for three days now.
Three days of near constant beatings and torture. She didn't recognize her captors as direct enemies of the Emperor. She suspected that all of the men she had had direct contact with had been contracted by the true enemy.
They had no doubt expected her to have cracked by now.
She smiled with her swelling lips and the man snapped at her about what she was smiling about.
She had some surprises for them.
For one, they didn't seem to have realized the full implications of her automail. Most of the country knew that the Emperor's wife had a metal arm, it had been a frequent topic of discussion nearly country wide. What most of the country did not know was that she had a retractable knife installed in the elbow, spikes on her knuckles, and, if completely necessary, a cyanide pill in her shoulder. Nor were they aware of her nearly 15 years of intensive training.
That would be because they were indeed unaware they had managed to capture the Emperor's personal bodyguard.
It was completely purposeful. When her and Ling's engagement was announced, they were very careful to keep all connections between his soon to be bride and faithful bodyguard buried as deep as possible. There were several members of the court themselves who had no clue who she was beyond a peasant from the Yao clan the Emperor had known for several years. If no one knew that she was his guard, no one would know to target her. She could remain by his side without anyone questioning their Empress throwing herself in the line of danger for him. They would also underestimate the protection he was under while alone with his wife. It also meant that on the occasions they were separated for Imperial duties, a guard could be by his side dressed as her and no one would know he wasn't being guarded by the best guard in the country.
That had been the situation three days ago, and Lan Fan was furious with herself, really, allowing herself to be captured. But unfortunately that was what the situation had called for. It had been one of her few (few for this exact reason!) forays into public view as the Empress. She had been the target, which had initially surprised her since all of her years of training pointed to protecting the target rather than being it herself. The situation had escalated before she had truly had time to comprehend that fact, and by the time she had realized it she had also realized that the easiest way to keep danger away from Ling was to give them exactly what they wanted – her. It would also give her the advantage of figuring out more about the men, where they came from, and what they wanted.
The level of information they already had was made clear almost immediately in their questions. They weren't terribly informed. Since she suspected that these men had been hired by the real threat, she didn't know whether their employers were likewise uninformed (and therefore of a lower status) or if they simply hadn't seen fit to give their employees valuable information.
Like the fact that she could tear their esophagus's out their mouths.
"We're not getting anywhere with her," the violent man growled when she didn't tell them why she was smiling. "Let's just kill her."
"She just needs a bit more persuasion," the other man said. Lan Fan fought the urge to smirk. She could see the look in his beady eyes, he wanted to kill her just as much as the other man. But he alone seemed to be the one that realized they couldn't kill her. Even if she didn't say a single word, she was far too valuable as a bargaining chip than anything else. If they were to kill her, she would become a martyr and bring the full wrath of the Xingese Empire down upon their heads.
"He told us to have the information by today or he'd have our heads."
Someone important enough that they were scared of him, then. Also, male. You never knew in the Xingese court, there were several female nobles that were far more cutthroat and bloodthirsty than the males.
"If he were to understand the circumstances…"
"Do you want to try to explain to him?" the first man asked, disgust clear. "By all means, be my guest. Maybe he'll only kill you."
"You're not helping, Hyuan."
If Lan Fan had been any inch less professional, she might have let out a crow of triumph at the name. He had given her his name. They didn't seem to realize what they had done either.
"Nor are you. We were told to break her, and she hasn't even flinched at anything we've done. She hasn't said a single word. He chooses his pretty toys carefully, that's for sure."
"Why are you so loyal to him?" the oily man said, getting closer to her than he had the entire time they'd been questioning her. The other man, Hyuan growled through gritted teeth, grabbing her hair and using it to pull her head backwards. His face was right by her head so it loomed in the peripheral vision of her left eye while the still unnamed man took up the majority of her central vision. "What has he ever done for you?"
She didn't answer, instead glared at him.
He seemed to look at her differently though for some reason and then his eyebrows rose. "You don't…" Then he laughed. "She loves him. She actually loves him."
"What?"
"You can see it in her eyes. She actually loves him."
"Truly?"
There was a nod and Hyuan chuckled, giving her hair a tug and pulling her back towards him again. "I have a newsflash for you, sweetie. He doesn't love you. It's all politics. If rumors have it right, he loves his own bodyguard more than you. How do you know what he's up to when he's all alone with his protection? He's never loved you."
Lan Fan smiled.
That incited the man to continue, snarling as he did. "You were chosen to gain support from the people. Marrying a little peasant girl… how long do you think that will be able to satisfy him? He's the Emperor of Xing! Why would he choose you when you there are so many other women more worthy of him? And why are you still smiling?"
For the first time since she'd been captured, she actually answered him. "You didn't check your ropes."
"What—" Then the automail knife in her elbow carved up through his chest. She ripped the knife out of him before standing up and spinning around in time to see him collapse on the ground bleeding and twitching slightly. The man from the other side of the room, the oily one, roared in anger and came charging at her. She ducked under him as he ran at her and slammed her flesh elbow at the base of his skull. He faltered, but spun, right in time to meet her blade at his throat.
"Now it's your turn. Are you working for the Hans or the Mings."
The man's mouth slammed shut, and Lan Fan pushed her blade further into the skin of his neck.
"I'll find out either way, but this way you won't have to suffer."
He gulped.
Lan Fan didn't think she had ever caused more of a stir at court than when she walked in in the middle of a session bruised, bloody, and bleeding. Her dress was ripped, filthy, and bloody. Almost the entire left arm was the brownish color of dried blood from when she had used her blade (thankfully once again safe in her arm. It would have looked far worse had it been extended).
Almost everyone stood on their feet when she entered and several of them started crying out and started to whisper amongst themselves. Lan Fan only had eyes for the Emperor at the end of the hall though. He had shot to his feet as well and was standing there clutching his throne as if for support. She finished walking the length of the hall and then fell to one knee in front of him.
"Your Majesty. I humbly request the arrest of Liwon Ming for the kidnap of Her Majesty the Empress and conspiracy to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor."
There were general outcries, but Ling didn't even blink, simply motioning to the guards, who jumped into action, surrounding the courtier who started yelling about how his daughter deserved to be Empress, not a street rat like her.
"You are all dismissed," he said loudly when the guards had finally disappeared. There was more whispering and voices calling out in annoyance, but they all eventually filed out of the room while Lan Fan stayed there on her knee.
The moment they all disappeared, his careful court face fell apart. "You're alive."
"Yes…"
"You're alive," he breathed again before pulling her up from her kneeling position and into a hug.
"I was told something rather alarming, Young Lord."
He pulled away and stared at her. "More alarming than a plot to kill me? What?"
"Apparently you love your guard more than me. How do I know what you two do behind locked doors?"
He blinked at her before smiling slightly.
"Well, Feyan is a rather attractive man…" She laughed weakly and he pulled her into another hug that she let herself sink into.