Xie Lian dragged his feet in the sand, barely able to keep himself upright while walking. He could almost physically feel the events of the last few days catching up with him, and it left him beyond exhausted; physically as well as mentally.
Just last week his life had been fine, the only worry he had was the fact that he was an omega, and therefore couldn't inherit his father's throne. He never really minded, because he felt his calling was on the battlefield anyway. While it was true that omegas in the military weren't exactly common, it wasn't forbidden for them to join if they had the physical capabilities to keep up.
Xie Lian had trained with the sword since he could remember, and was a natural talent when it came to fighting, no matter if it was hand to hand combat, sword duels, or archery. He was the top fighter and earned himself the title of Senior General when he had been 17, just last year. It put him right at the top, with only his father outranking him. Some older alphas in the military weren't exactly happy about it, but even they had come around and admitted to his genius, not only in fighting capabilities, but also when it came to strategy.
However, his physique as an omega was limited, he wasn't able to become as muscular and bulky as other top fighters in the army were. When he was younger it had frustrated him to tears, though when he got older and earned more experience on the battlefield, he learned how to use it to his advantage, once he'd realised his opponents tended to underestimate him, simply because he was lithe and slim. Xie Lian was definitely not above using deception in a life or death battle, so with time he'd actually become grateful for his deceiving appearance. But even without this advantage, he hadn't lost a fight since he was thirteen, and he'd been exceedingly proud of himself because of that.
Everything had changed last week though. Xian Le had been invaded by the neighboring kingdom of Yong An. There had been no previous indications that war was on the horizon, no political demands, no warnings, no trigger. It was as if the king of Yong An had just suddenly decided he wanted to take over Xian Le, and had invaded on the same day. Xie Lian still didn't understand what the motive was, other than expanding one's own territory. Which could've been discussed about, his parents had always wanted to avoid violent confrontations whenever possible.
No matter how much Xie Lian enjoyed fighting, war was a whole different monster. He never wanted any of the civilians to come to harm; the whole purpose of the army was to protect them after all, and nobody deserved the suffering that war always brought with it, least of all his people.
Yong An hadn't cared about any of that however, and caught Xian Le completely unprepared. His army had done their best to fight back as quickly as possible, but the enemy had already been far into Xian Le's territory by the time the main forces in the capital noticed, and they were fighting a losing battle from the beginning.
During the battles, many of his closest comrades had fallen, and in the end, even his parents hadn't been spared. Xie Lian had tried his best to save them, but he had failed. He'd won every battle he fought for five years straight, and never once lost. But once the stakes had risen, and someone had really depended on him, he'd completely and utterly failed. He had wanted to save everyone, but in reality, he hadn't been able to save anyone at all.
He hadn't even been able to save himself.
After days of fighting, Xie Lian had eventually been overpowered, and taken captive. As an omega, this was his worst nightmare coming to life. Not that he wasn't already living in a nightmare before, but he thought he'd been better off if he'd died as well. Enslaved omegas tended to be used as concubines for breeding, either for one alpha exclusively, or shared by several alphas, depending on the household. If this was what his future was going to be, he'd rather take his own life.
The custom had existed in Xian Le too, until about 50 years before Xie Lian had been born. His ancestors had condemned the practice of enslaving omega's however, and so Xie Lian had never even worried about such a future. Now however… now he didn't know where he was going, what the king of Yong An intended to do with him, and how much longer he'd have to deal with this uncertainty. The only thing Xie Lian wanted right now was some time to mourn his fallen family and friends, to bury them properly and to pray for them. He could only do the latter however, and the thought that wild animals must've already been picking the bodies of his beloved people apart was killing him on the inside.
Xie Lian had tried to escape at first, but the physical exhaustion, and later the dehydration and malnourishment had reigned him in pretty fast, and he didn't have the strength to fight anymore. Really, Xie Lian had never felt so weak and useless in his entire life. What kind of son couldn't even give a proper burial to his parents!?
He bit the inside of his cheek in an effort not to cry at his wandering thoughts. There was no way he was going to show even more weakness.
The track through the desert was harsh. There was scorching heat during the day, the sand burning the soles of Xie Lian's bare feet, and the sun burning the rest of him. During the night it was freezing cold, his inner robes not nearly enough to stop his shivering. He honestly didn't understand how he wasn't dead yet, but his wish to be so was becoming stronger and stronger by the day.
It was another few days later when Xie Lian thought he couldn't hold on any longer, and he was ready to tell the world goodbye, when someone shouted about there being their destination in sight. Hearing this, Xie Lian didn't quite know whether to laugh or cry, so he did neither, and kept staring ahead blankly. He should've known that his luck wouldn't allow him such an early end.
The city they had arrived in was apparently called Banyue.
Xie Lian recalled that name very well, but it didn't make sense to him to hear that this was where they were. Banyue was part of the kingdom of WuYong. And he knew for a fact that they had been attacked by Yong An. It didn't make any sense whatsoever for the king of Yong An to personally head into WuYong territory! Was this king suicidal!?
A cold shiver ran down Xie Lian's spine when another thought occurred to him.
Had Yong An colluded with WuYong? Was there a bigger scheme going on?
It wasn't entirely impossible, Xie Lian thought, but he'd always thought of the current king of WuYong as an honorable man. He never seemed to have any intention of expanding his already massive territory either. He certainly shouldn't be interested in Xian Le if that was the goal either way. Xian Le would barely even be noticeable on a map if added to WuYong.
Just what in the world was going on?!
Exhausted as he was, Xie Lian couldn't make sense of the situation and felt an even more intense headache coming on.
Their caravan was standing in front of the city gates for quite a while, and Xie Lian noticed some of the guards searching through the luggage the king of Yong An had brought along.
So, they hadn't colluded? he wondered absentmindedly. Or maybe the king of WuYong just didn't trust the king of Yong An. Which was smart.
Eventually, they were allowed inside the city, and even led towards the palace directly.
Xie Lian was getting more and more confused, and his head was feeling more and more hazy. He was probably about to collapse. Finally.
Once they'd reached the palace, only a small group of people was allowed to go inside. That group consisted of the king of Yong An himself, three personal guards of the king, and Xie Lian.
As soon as Xie Lian stepped onto the cool stone floor inside the palace, he almost wanted to cry out of sheer relief. His feet were hurting so much, he'd be surprised if they weren't permanently damaged.
However, the cold floor also caused him to sneeze, which was somewhat embarrassing, especially in front of the king of WuYong, but he didn't bother apologising.
The king of Yong An took a deep and proper bow to the king of WuYong, who was positively lounging on his throne. How many times had his parents reprimanded himself when he sat with just a slight slouch, Xie Lian wondered. He was somewhat impressed that the king of WuYong didn't seem to care about his image at all.
The three guards bowed even deeper than their king did, and Xie Lian looked stubbornly onto the floor, not bowing at all. It wasn't even out of spite. It was just that his whole body felt so stiff and rigid, he doubted he could take a proper bow, or get up from a proper bow. He didn't want to show weakness however, and decided that seeming rude and spiteful was still the better option.
It earned him a kick in the side from one of those three guards, and Xie Lian fell over. He couldn't even catch himself to soften the fall because his hands were still tied behind his back. The landing hurt, but it wasn't too bad. He kept lying on the floor anyway.
"Is this supposed to be some messed up form of entertainment?", the deep and somewhat dangerous sounding voice of the king of WuYong resounded in the throne room. He didn't sound amused at all.
"Of course not, Your Majesty. I-"
"Then please, enlighten me. How come a man who's betrayed and murdered his own family in order to ascend to the throne is now standing in my palace and treating the Prince of Xian Le as if he were a mere slave? Surely you didn't do something as unhonourable as a blitz now, did you?"
"Sometimes unhonourable measures are necessary to achieve one's goals."
"I disagree. Well, since we're off to a bad start already, how about we make this quick and you tell me in less than five sentences what the hell you're doing in my territory."
"I'm here to personally inform you that Xian Le has become Yong An territory. I've captured the Prince, because unfortunately the king and queen were killed in the heat of the battle. I hope Your Majesty accepts this omega as a gift to add to your harem. Since we are neighbors now, I want to show my good willed intention to not cause a quarrel at our newly shared borders, and I hope to earn the same good will with this gift from you as well."
"He's supposed to be a gift to earn my good will?", the king of WuYong scoffed.
"… is there something wrong with it?"
"I wasn't aware it's acceptable to give broken gifts to people nowadays. It seems I've been out of touch", the king of WuYong seemed to positively sneer.
"Broken? Your Majesty, I can assure you that his looks are deceiving. He might look weak and scrawny, but-"
"He looks like he's about to die. When was the last time you gave him food and water? Did you have him walk through the desert bare feet? It looks like you tortured this gift of yours all the way here. Isn't it the same as sending me a severely cracked vase? Are you trying to insult me?"
Xie Lian wished he wasn't as amused as he was at witnessing the king of WuYong lecturing the king of Yong An as if he was lecturing a child. Despite his harsh words, the man didn't even sound angry. It was as if he couldn't take the other king seriously at all.
"Nothing could be further from my intention, Your Majesty. I sincerely-"
"Take your sincerity and scram. I don't intend to harm my new neighbors for now. However I might change my mind if the gift turns out to be broken beyond repair. Now get out of my sight."
The king of Yong An did as he was told and turned tail immediately after bowing respectfully again. Xie Lian would have laughed if he had the energy.
As soon as the doors to the throne room were closed again, the king of WuYong got up from his throne, and leisurely walked over to where Xie Lian was still in a heap on the floor.
He hadn't been able to see the king properly before, with his vision being blurry and all, but now that he was crouching down in front of him, Xie Lian could tell that the king was much younger than he had expected, surely not a day older than 20?! He was also exceedingly handsome, his face being all sharp angles and straight lines. His hair was wild, partly loose and partly braided in several strands. His attire was more revealing than Xie Lian was used to, and he was sure he would have blushed at such indecency, had he been less on the verge of fainting.
What surprised Xie Lian the most however, was the fact that the king wore a black eyepatch. He wondered what had happened for a powerful alpha such as him to receive a severe injury like that.
"Can you hear me?", the king asked while untying Xie Lian's hands.
"Yes", he tried to say, but his throat was parched and his voice sounded absolutely horrible. He didn't know if the king had heard him. But it hurt to speak as well, and if he was going to ask more questions, Xie Lian would just refuse to answer. He wasn't scared of punishments.
"Good", the king said, and proceeded to take the shackles off his feet.
"My condolences for what happened to your parents. I can't say I've ever personally met them, but our written correspondences have always been pleasant. They seemed like very sensible and kind people, with good morality. I always admired that."
By the time the king was done talking, Xie Lian had already lost the fight against his tears, which had started as soon as his parents had been mentioned. He hadn't expected such kind words, and, after all that he'd been through during the past week, this was somehow hurting the most. Probably because it drove the fact home that his parents were really and truly gone now. He hadn't given himself time to properly grief during his journey here, and the realisations hit him with full force now.
It was then, with everything having piled on top of each other, the emotional pain of not only losing his parents, but also his country, his friends, his people, his freedom, and the physical pain of his wounds, dehydration, hunger, burns from the sun and the sand, that Xie Lian really couldn't hold on anymore, and the world turned black before his eyes.