Ling slipped back into the palace in the early hours of the morning. He had a few things he had to sort out before leaving to find Lan Fan.
First thing he did was find someone to keep an eye on things while he was away. The last thing he needed was for one of his siblings to take advantage of his absence and take the palace while he was away.
Next thing he wanted to do, was talk to his father. He wasn't entirely sure why he wanted to to be honest. He just felt like he needed a few answers, and possibly, get a bit of aid from his father. He knew his father would find no reason to back him up while he was gone, but it was worth a try. His father had always looked down on him for being weak in his eyes. But he was hoping since the old man was on his death bed, he'd be a bit more personable. He hoped anyway.
The sky was only now taking on a light bluish hue as he slipped into his fathers room. That was the first thing he noticed once he had been named as the next Emperor, the guards were lacking outside his fathers chambers. Either they just didn't care to watch the old man anymore, or they knew no one would try to kill a man who had little purpose now. He assumed it was the latter.
So, needless to say, it was easy to get into his fathers chambers.
He was more surprised though to find his father was wide awake. He had himself propped up with pillows, looking out the window as the sun slowly made it's assent.
"Father?"
The old man slowly turned his head to regard the voice. The room was quite dark so it was hard to see his expression, but Ling was sure that for a moment, he looked confused as to who was talking to him.
After a moment though, he simply turned to face the window again. "Didn't think I'd see you again boy." His father stated, not really sounding surprised but not sounding like he really cared either.
"Just had some things to go over with you."
"Oh, do you now?" He asked as he turned to face him again. "And here I thought you were here to rush my demise."
"If you thought I were capable of that, then you wouldn't have thought me weak all these years and given me a better chance at the throne."
"Fair enough. So what do you want then?"
Ling crossed the still vast distance across the room till he reached his fathers bed. He stared at him for a moment before taking a seat on the bed.
"My guard is gone. I thought you were in on it at first but, I'm pretty sure I was wrong there."
"That female of yours huh? You're right, you were wrong. In my state I could care less how you ruin your life." Again he tuned away from Ling, returning his gaze to the outside world. There was a bit more light now, dim as it was, so his fathers features were much more prominent. In only the short time since he had returned to Xing, his father had aged so much. His hair carried not a single streak of black any longer. All of it was a striking white more than gray. His face was etched with wrinkles, and his eyes were dull. If anyone else looked at him they would think the man was blind, but it was just a further sign of his body failing him. It surely wouldn't be long now.
"...why would mother do it? Why did she send her away? I know she and I didn't get along that well either but, was still far better a relationship then with you."
"You never did understand how palace life worked. You always tried to be so much like the people outside the walls." He turned to regard him again, eyes narrowed. "We are far different then the rest of the world Ling, I was hoping one day you'd understand that."
"No father. We are the same. The days of traditions and calling ourselves gods hand on Earth are far gone now. The rest of the modern world is either laughing at us or looking on us in disgust. It's time to move on father. If we don't change with the rest of the world, then they'll only swallow us up whole."
"You're too young to understand the significance of tradition."
"And you're too old to understand change. But I'll let it slide, cause that's not what I asked you."
He sighed. "She wants you to be cold you know?"
"...what?" Ling tilted his head a bit, lifting a brow. He was caught a bit off guard.
"Your mother. She knew the path you were heading down. The pain you were racing towards. She tried to stop it, but when you grew more and more stubborn, well...guess she found this to be the best course."
"My life is my..."
"Your life is never your own. Do you think you're the only on to feel this way boy? Do you think you're the only royal brat to fall in love? It's happened before and every time, it's ended in pain and blood. It's even happened to me..."
"What do you mean...?"
His father sighed deeply, as if a great burden were about to be lifted from his chest. His gaze now fell to his desk across the room where a lone picture stood amongst various little trinkets. "That picture there, bring it."
Confused, Ling got up and did as he was asked, making his way across the room to the desk. He laid a hand on the picture and hesitated a moment before picking it up. He ran his eyes over it before making his way back to his father.
Probably is a bit hard to see in the dark. Flip a light on and look at it more closely. Again Ling did as he was told, taking a seat on the bed again and flipping the small lamp on. He settled his eyes on the picture again. Two young children were pictured there, maybe about the age of twelve, he couldn't be certain. Royal children tended to not look their age, what with the years of being treated more like an adult than a child, and the constant death threats.
He assumed the boy in the picture was his father. Surprisingly, he looked an awful lot like Ling did at that age. Well, a lot of his siblings probably looked similar for all he knew, he didn't see most of them at that age and if he did, they had a blade to his throat.
The girl though, he had no idea who she was. She seemed to be a bright happy girl, her hair done up in a bun. Her clothes on the other hand were not that of the palace. It was simple commoner dress. Simple brown top with white pants, servant dress now that he looked more at it. He glanced up at his father, his face asking all the questions he couldn't voice.
His father reached a shaky hand up and took the picture from him, staring at it. "This...is your mother."
"...what?"
"That's right. Your mother was a commoner. A servant here. She carried blood from the old line of rulers, in fact...she was the last to carry it. So despite her common blood, she still earned a certain degree of respect, and they allowed her as a concubine later in life. Only problem was...we fell in love."
Ling shifted a bit in his place, both to get a better look at his fathers face to see if he was lying, and because he suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable having this conversation now.
His father only sighed and set the picture down on the other side of him. "That was a long time ago. I was pressured by the council to take other wives from the other houses as well even though I didn't want to. I did eventually to appease them. But doing so changed everything. A man does feel a bit...powerful, having all those women. I won't lie. It changed me, and it changed your mother. I still cared for her more so I made her my Empress, but that was about the extent of it. Didn't take much after you were born to realize you were different. She wanted to keep you from caring so you wouldn't go through the same thing. Being forced by tradition to be someone you didn't want to be, and throw the one you love away. Guess maybe she felt this was a last resort."
"So she sold her to the Black Market? Come on father. If she really cared that was the last thing she'd do to a person."
"Like I said, we both changed. She probably could care less what happens to her. You are her priority."
"My life is mine dammit!" He got up, putting his hand to his chest to emphasize his next points. "I am not about to let anyone else dictate my life! I've been hearing this all my life! Do this, don't do that! Don't slouch, you're a prince not commoner garbage! Well from what you say I am part of that 'commoner garbage'! And you know what? I'm proud of it. Maybe that is why I'm different! I have my own ideas of how I'm running things, and of how I run my life! And all this...is going to end. I'm going to get Lan Fan back, and I'll take my place on the throne. And then...no matter how many people hate what I do next, I'll still do it. I'm saving this country from itself."
His father chuckled a bit, which only caused him to go into a massive coughing fit. He put his hand to his mouth and coughed a bit more, spewing blood all over it. "...well...whatever you do...I won't be here to see it. So at least I don't have to live through the hell you cause..."
"...the hell I cause...and the freedom that eventually comes. Dark and light are not in existence without the other...it'll always shift back and forth. But I'm going to let light win for a while at least." He softened his gaze a bit and grabbed a handkerchief from the bed stand and handed it to his father. "For all you know...when you finally find peace again, might become more your old self. You might even be proud of me."
"Only time can tell Ling. In the meantime, how are you going to do it? The second you're gone the jackals will move in."
"Got that covered already. And to keep my mother out of things, I'm hiding my departure behind going on an excursion to look over the rest of my country."
"Your country? Still mine till I kick it."
"May as well already say you have."
"You pride yourself in not being like the others but you sound like them sometimes."
"Have to wear a mask to survive."
His father only nodded slightly and used the handkerchief to wipe the blood from his face and hand. He looked much paler than only moments before and Ling couldn't help but think he wouldn't last the day even. But even in that, Ling could see a sort of peace cross his face, his eyes even softened a bit as he looked at his son.
"...maybe you can do what I couldn't...I'll have my personal guard help while your away as well. No one will steal the throne from you. But how will you find her?"
"...using some underground sources..." He said as he diverted his gaze a bit.
"Heh. Dance with the demons if that what it takes to get to the devil. Age old tactic. Your best chance is to head to the far North. They have a huge base up that way where they ready 'products' for sale."
"Figured you'd know that..."
His father ignored his comment and kept on. "You should get a hold of Mei before heading up there. She might be able to help you."
"I don't think she still likes Lan Fan all that much..."
"I'm sure things are a bit different now. Besides, you're going to need more at your disposal than just what you have. She may have connections up there, even if she is just a child. Get a hold of her."
"If that's what it takes...then I will. Might have to call in a few more favors as well..."
"Do what you need to. I'll try to keep your mother busy as long as my body holds out. I doubt she'll believe your story, so you best get yourself ready. When are you heading out?"
"This evening. It'd be sooner but, we all need time to get ourselves ready. Not gonna be easy to just walk in and out."
His father nodded slowly and turned back to the window. The sun had finally made it's appearance and the land was being washed with it's glow. "Get going then."
Ling only nodded and, without another word, made his way out of his fathers room.
The palace was starting to come to life and servants were already crawling about everywhere doing their morning tasks.
He could see a group of guards moving towards him and knew full well what was coming next. The questions would come pouring out along with all the false concern for his safety. This was the first time in his life he would actually admit he missed Fu's response of charging up and cuffing him over the head. Days long gone that would never again return.
So instead he let them go on and on as he made his way back to his room. There was no use in making any sort of a defense for himself. He had far more important things to concern himself with.
And that concern sat miles and miles away in a lonely cell. Lan Fan was again curled up in a tight ball, face buried between her knees. Her 'breaking in' sessions had recently begun. She tried her best to stay as stubborn as she was known to be but, even she could already feel her facade cracking. There were others that had gone through that same thing with her that day. All got far less than her for obvious reasons. She tried to stay strong, unmoving in any way. And that action just caused the beatings to be more massive. She had at first thought they'd be more cautious with her. She knew full well what future was meant for her so ruining the merchandise was not an option. But as time went on she knew they would not be gentle in any way. She was a trained killer, they could not afford to be gentle. They had to completely break her. And to do so would include a massive amount of time doing so. And since they had to take all that time, there would still be time for her to heal up before her inevitable sale. Her beatings were far worse compared to the others around her, but they were also getting more permanent injuries compared to her. And more abusive tortures. She could see many around her having their nails ripped off with pliers, some of the males had even been castrated in plain sight. Apparently people still called for Eunuch's in this world, which was surprising because even the palace didn't use them much any more. But through all of this, she could still see people giving her approving looks out of the corners of her eyes. They saw her bravery and commended her for it.
...if they could only see her now, curled up in a dirty ball of blood and various mess from the cell, crying softly to herself.
When she became a guard, she knew full well the types of consequences she would have to face, the various fates that might and probably would befall her. But she never once thought of anything like this. And none of this might have even been possible if she hadn't been considered a threat. It didn't take long to figure out her reasons for being here. Someone in the palace, likely the Emperor or Empress...or both, had clearly seen the very thing she was trying to hide and subsequently decided to get rid of her. And this was the worst possible way to do so, the greatest punishment for not knowing ones place. Her Grandfather had even warned her against it, though she adamantly denied such a thing. Foolish really, she knew her Grandfather of all people could see right through her. Perhaps she really should have done a better job of hiding it.
She pulled her head up a bit and rubbed her eyes. Her faith was slowly ebbing away as she was starting to wonder if Ling would find her. If his parents had done it, there's no way they'd send her where Ling would be able to find her, or at least where he'd be able to find her in time.
She turned a bit and slammed her fist into the wall. On impact she could feel a few of the bones shattering a bit and a loud crack emanated through the cell. She only allowed herself a minor squeak in response as she pulled her hand back and cradled it under one of her legs.
"...yeah, there you go...start damaging yourself now..." She muttered to herself. She grunted a bit, both frustrated at her situation and at herself. She knew regardless of the situation, Ling was going to do everything he could to find her. So for now, she was going to have to hold out as long as she could. She would force herself to keep fighting on to buy him and herself, some time. So she was going to have to suck it up and for all intensive purposes, be a major bitch.
"Hey! Hey, anyone out there!?" The response she got was a kick to the cell door and a gruff, 'shut the fuck up!' But she didn't give up.
"Hey! When do you plan on giving me my water huh? I haven't had any yet today!"
"Shut up! After your little stunt today you think we're giving you any?"
"Well I assume you need me in relatively good condition don't you? And you're going to deny me substinense? How is that productive to you lot!?"
"I said shut up!"
"Do you want me to start drinking my own pee here!? I'm sure that will go over really well for my health!" ...~Did I seriously just say that...?~ She thought to herself.
She could hear another voice on the other side of the door, so there was another guard. Probably a good idea considering their prisoner, and neither of them sounded like that Niu guy so she supposed she should be grateful for that.
"Fine! I'll give you your damn water if you shut up!"
"Thank you!" She grinned to herself. She knew she was going to pay massively for her attitude but she needed to keep it up. Plus she couldn't deny she was having a bit of fun at her tormentors expense.
The door flew open with a bang as it slammed into the back wall. As she assumed the man looked far from amused. He stood there glaring at her a moment, well, with what glaring he could manage with one eye. He had a patch over his left eye and a massive burn mark on that side of his face, which pretty much gave relevance to her assumption that his eye was indeed gone. He was covered from head to toe in all black otherwise, and wisely wore no weapons. But she had no doubt he was dangerous. She'd already proven earlier she was dangerous even with restraints, so there was no way they'd take risks now.
After a bit of a stare down session, he set the bucket he was holding down and slid it across the floor with his foot, not daring to move any closer. She had to catch it with her feet to prevent it from toppling over and spilling it. Yes she had done this to annoy him, but that in no way meant she wasn't extremely thirsty.
"There's your damn water, now shut up!" He turned around and headed back out, slamming the door behind him.
She could hear him cussing to his other buddy and couldn't help but giggle when he said she was as bad as his wife.
She was probably quite insane to be taking this course of action but, after years of guarding a prince that had a tendency not to listen to anyone...anyone would go a bit mad. She used her feet to pull the bucket closer and, with a hiss of pain, grabbed it with her hand and pulled the metal bucket up to take huge gulps from. She stopped just before swallowing at one point and took in what she was holding. Maybe the guy wasn't so smart after all. A metal bucket? Really?
She set it down at her side and looked it over, turning it around a bit and inspecting every inch of it. It was pretty dented up but otherwise intact. She might have been able to do more with it if she had possession of both arms but, that wasn't an option. But she did catch one break. The metal handle was still on the bucket and after yeas of use, it was weak at it's connection points.
She looked up at the door for a moment before faking a coughing fit, moving the bucket back between her feet to hold, while using her hand to yank at the handle till it finally snapped off. She was quick to hide it behind her back before the guard looked in through the barred window.
"Whats wrong with you now?"
"Take it easy, just drank too fast is all."
"Tch. Don't drown yourself you dumb woman."
"...show you dumb once I'm out of here." She mumbled to herself. As he turned away again, she reached behind her and found the bit of metal again. She glanced around the cell and tried to find somewhere in her reach to hide it till she found the right moment to use it. She did manage to find a bit of crumbled block just in her reach at the bottom of the wall and carefully worked it loose, slipping the metal inside. She quickly replaced the block and went back to drinking more water. She needed to bide her time. She still had no clue to the layout of this place so any escape attempt now would be futile. She knew there had to be clues laying about and the next time they took her from her cell, she would take in everything she saw. She had no idea how long it would take Ling, so she had to have this backup plan in mind. Because if he took too long, she would have to act before they moved her. But she just hoped he'd make it in time. Then she'd smack him for being reckless and hug him for coming for her.
Once the sun lowered below the horizon and the world began to be quenched in shadow, Ling slipped out of the palace. It was a huge gamble, leaving like this. He could only hope his men and his fathers could keep things in control till he returned. That's really all he could do on that end.
In the meantime, he had plotted out his route along the information his father had given and sent a message ahead to Mei, asking her to meet him in a village twenty miles South of their apparent destination. He would have chosen closer but their destination was well out of her families range, and he wanted to meet up with her where they could both feel comfortable and a bit safer. Assuming she would show up anyway. Promising to take her family under his wing with the other families in no way meant she had to bend to his every beck and call. But he hoped she would, he needed that extra pull.
He met up with his little group outside The Roc bar and they headed straight out without saying a word. It was better not to talk about anything till they were well outside of the city limits.
But once they were a safe distance away, they stopped to go over what information Ling had managed to get.
"And you came up with this how?" Li asked, quirking a brow. The man was a bit temperamental as he still had a hangover from the previous nights events. So any thing that seemed off was ringing danger bells for him more now then they would have the previous night.
"I managed to find you guys didn't I? Not hard to think I'm pretty good at finding people to dig information out of is it?"
"Is it trustworthy though?" Qiao asked. She in no way had changed and was still considerably weary around Ling. Woman's intuition he assumed. He'd have to be careful around her if he wanted to keep his secret hidden. Or maybe...could she be a chi reader?
Ling looked at her a moment, trying to make it look like he was assessing her trustworthiness as much as she was assessing his. Which wasn't entirely a lie, he was assessing, just assessing if his hand was already blown. But after reading the dragons path a bit, he found no reason to believe she was a chi reader, unless she was good at hiding it. So instead he dropped it.
"You tell me." He said at last. "You would know your own kind best wouldn't you?"
"Do not lump us in with their kind! We use people for gain yes, but not at the expense of their lives!" Qiao bit back. It was now that Ling realized, this woman was made more terrifying by the lack of light. He really didn't like her at all to be honest and only now realized he hadn't really taken the time to look at her much when he was talking to her the night before. She was one of those pretty but tough looking girls. The kind who could flash you a smile one moment and break you in half the next. And he could tell she was very well capable of that. She had muscle to her, not scary muscle, but muscle enough. And when she was angry he swore her eyes glowed more in the dimmed light. Avoid the snapping dragon side, yup, surely noted.
"...right. I won't then. Just don't eat me..." He hesitantly quipped.
"Enough Qiao. He's no one to suspect I guess. He just wants his friend back and if he's digging so far into the underworld, he has to be desperate...and a damn fool. So moving on then, why are we stopping twenty miles before?"
"My little sister lives up that way. Her family would know more about the area than me, and I need to talk to her...if she shows up anyway..."
"Your sister lives that far away from you?" The suspicion was still in Qiao's voice, along with a growl that just screamed death forthcoming.
"Yes. You have heard of families splitting up haven't you? Not at all that uncommon. It was just...that bad of a split that they needed that much space between us." He waited quietly for a moment to see if she'd buy the lie. She only huffed and turned away. About the best yes he was going to get.
Right. So we stop at...Suching then right? Li asked.
"Right. But we have to be there by the end of the week. That's the allotted time I put down."
"You a slave driver or something?" Qiao growled.
Ling flinched at that a bit. He in no way wanted to be associated with such a word even if it may have just been a simple smack at his ego. "No. I just want to find her before it's too late for her. You would have done the same for your friend if you would have gotten the chance wouldn't you have?"
"Don't you dare even speak of her you squinty eyed bastard!"
"That's calling the kettle black isn't it!? Least I can open my eyes!"
"Alright enough! For gods sake for someone who wants to get moving you waste enough time. So how bought for the extent of this journey, you two keep the hell away from each other hm?" Li literally had to get between the two as he was actually quite in fear for Ling's safety. He was sure she could break the beanpole in half pretty easily. If he only knew.
Ling only backed up and started packing his stuff away. "Yeah, you're right. We need to get going. I caused her enough trouble in this life, not gonna cause her this sort of grief."
Li gave him a confused look and was about to ask him how exactly this was his fault, but Ling had already thrown his pack back over his shoulder and was moving away from them.
"...you sure about this bro? What if we're biting off more than we can chew here?"
"No one else deserves this fate. We can work at getting her back, and take the whole damn place down in one massive swoop. We have to try." She nodded in agreement at last as she followed Ling and her brother's little band off into the unknown.