Disclaimers apply

Chapter 14: Withdrawal

"Nearly all men die of their remedies, and not of their illnesses."-Moliere

Liu Bei had come to the decision that taking Zhou Yu's gamble was the best decision. It was not a sign of trust. But he trusted the man less when he resided in his own walls than if he were out there, somewhere, causing havoc. And so the following morning, Guan Yu escorted Zhou Yu out into the compound to meet with Liu Bei. Guan Ping was standing next his lord, holding the reigns of two horses. Guan Ping's injuries were almost healed, but he had a bloodied bandage over his left eye. It was obvious he held some sort of fear for Zhou Yu as his gaze remained on the ground.

"It was nothing personal," Zhou Yu said softly to the young man, and still Guan Ping didn't look him in the eye.

"Chin up, boy," Guan Yu barked at his son. "Never reveal fear to an animal."

Zhou Yu could've laughed. So that's how they saw him. As an animal. Perhaps he was, but he was an animal who could bite, and bite hard.

Liu Bei held his arms behind his back, "Guan Ping will go with you. It has been his father's wish. This is to make sure you don't do anything shifty. Guan Ping will not assault you, but he will ride to us at the first sign of a problem. We will take care of you from there. You have five days as you had said, but to be honest, I have a feeling we will be holding up your head. Your parameters are next to impossible, I hope you realize."

Zhou Yu smirked a little, "We won't realize until we see."

With that he mounted the horse and Guan Ping followed suit, his hand holding his blade tightly.

Guan Yu motioned to the guards to open the gates and he and Liu Bei watched the two young men trot out of the compound.

"Aren't you the least bit worried about Guan Ping?" Liu Bei asked not taking his eyes off the retreating horsemen.

Guan Yu nodded, "I am, but I have confidence he can take care of himself. He won't make the same mistake twice."

"They won't make it in five days," Liu Bei said after a heavy pause, not sure how he felt about the situation. He didn't relish taking Zhou Yu's head, and it would probably anger the Wu, but those were the strategist's own stipulations.

As they drew further away from the compound, Guan Ping found that they were heading west. West? Wasn't Wu to the east? Guan Ping gripped his sword even tighter. This wasn't good.

"Where are we heading to? Isn't Wu in the opposite direction?"

"I said I would get soldiers, I never said they'd be from Wu," Zhou Yu responded not taking his eyes from the trail.

Suddenly he pulled back on the reigns, stopping his horse. Confused Guan Ping stopped his own horse, "What?"

"Shh!" Zhou Yu hissed silencing him, "Listen."

Guan Ping turned his ear, trying to pick up whatever Zhou Yu was hearing.

"I don't hear anything…"

"Someone's watching us. You'd better stick close."

A little concerned, he drew his horse closer to Zhou Yu. Guan Ping dropped his vigilant sight on Zhou Yu and his exposed eye was now flitting about, trying to find the danger Zhou Yu was talking about.

Suddenly he felt blinding pressure at the back of his head, and his vision went dark.

Zhou Yu put his staff at the rest after knocking out Guan Ping, pulling him straight on the horse and taking the other horse's reigns.

"Sorry kid, your paranoia would only slow me down," he mumbled before guiding the two horses down the path at a faster rate.

The woes of an empty bed were not unknown to Zhen Ji, but she didn't complain much. Still, Cao Pi entered their bedchamber, sighing, "Sorry I'm late, darling. Sima Yi had me out late and would not shut up."

"Oh if it's with your other wife I don't mind," her voiced dripped with subtle venom, but she played it off like it didn't matter much to her.

"Zhen Ji," he said scratching his head, "Am I a bad husband?"

"Yes."

Cao Pi blinked, "How can you answer that so quickly?"

"Because when you left your dirty shoes on the floor, I remember thinking 'Bad husband! Bad husband!'"

So Zhen Ji did have a sense of humor. He didn't find it very funny though, "I ran into Cao Ren. He was worried about dad's prisoner. He said in so many terms that she's pining for her husband and it's causing her condition to worsen."

Zhen Ji didn't look like she much cared, "Are you sure it's not because he's worried your dad's going to use her as another vessel to produce another step-sibling for you."

"Dad's not using her for that!"

"Cao Pi, you have 30 brothers and sisters. You just happen to be his eldest. You have to honestly be at least a little worried."

Cao Pi continued retreating behind a partition to change into his bedclothes.

"It's not about that…I just was thinking that instead of going to Guan Du, I would stay with you."

"Sap," Zhen Ji smirked but her face straightened when her husband peered from behind the partition with a disdainful glare.

"Do you always have to be such a bitch?" Cao Pi strode over to the bed and lay down next to his beautiful wife. Zhen Ji, rather than being insulted, laughed.

"You are pretty much the only good thing about this place," Cao Pi murmured. "If you weren't here, I probably couldn't stand Zhang He's and Sima Yi's presence as much as I do."

Zhen Ji didn't say anything, but let Cao Pi rant about those two misfits. Meanwhile, she tried garner his attention by pressing her lips to his neck. He didn't seem to be responding.

Cao Pi shifted, "You know what I don't get?"

With a disappointed huff, Zhen Ji sat back against the bed, "That when I'm kissing your neck I'm not checking for ticks."

"I don't get why dad wants to pick fights with both the Shu and the Yuans. It's almost ridiculous and he's getting dangerously close to having the Wu angry with him."

"You have met your father, haven't you?" Zhen Ji sarcastically asked.

Cao Pi was about to open his mouth but he was silenced by a powerful kiss and Zhen Ji pounced on top of him.

Sighing, Cao Ren replaced the wet cloth back on the girl's forhead. She had gotten worse. Now, she was barely conscious, sweating profusely, breathing heavily. She could barely open her eyes.

The nursemaid lit some medicinal incense and began using a fan so the fumes would reach the girl. Cao Ren was thankful that she didn't stare at him with uncertainty and fear anymore, although it was quite possible that she just didn't have the energy to even express her fear.

As he looked down on her miserable face, he felt a pang of nostalgia. He shouldn't be feeling like this towards a prisoner, but he was brought back to the days when he would take of his own sickly daughter. Just the memories tugged at his heart.

"Will she make it?"

The nursemaid shrugged, "It's hard to say, my lord. Her condition is taking much of the energy from her body. Now her body cannot stop the fever."

"We need her alive. Cao Cao orders it."

"I understand, my lord. I shall do my best."

Xiao could hear them. She slowly began to trust them, but she was afraid. She wasn't afraid of Cao Ren, nor was she afraid for her own life but rather…

Tears fell from the corners of her eyes, the thought too painful.

A/N: Sorry it took so long, and that this is soo short. I haven't been getting reviews to motivate me. *hint hint*
Review Pls.