Chapter 3 of My Poisonous Kiss
Enjoy!
Lightening cracked a clear path into the sky. The night was silent, an eerie one. It was unusual for Wu to have this type of weather at this time of year…perhaps this was a bad omen?
His muscles contracted as he scaled the mighty building, one destination is his calculatingly calm eyes. He ran atop the roof, keeping his steps so light he was more silent than the night itself it seemed. The wind swept at his hair as he turned and slid down the roof, catching himself on the railing before falling down to the ground without a thud.
He was cocky. A slight smirk had painted itself on his features as he had done all this, the proof that he thought he had remained undetected through it all.
He stayed close to the wall as he made his way out of the gardens and into the open corridor. Stopping close to the doorway, he flattened himself against the wall and listened for sounds he had come to know as danger in his experience.
As the assassin neither heard nor saw any, he made his way silently to the doorway and slipped in with a movement close to a snake. He kept his movements in a singular style of grace as he moved almost wind like through the halls.
His arrogance was profound and he wore it as he made every step closer to his intended destination. Confident in his movements and his skill.
He went down the flight of stairs, through many corridors, and into a whole other part of the castle, without making a single curtain, rug, or blazer stir.
He walked into the corridors of his intended destination with a wolflike grin on his face.
His prey was near.
He slowly slinked through the hallways until the assassin found the one he needed.
"Come…"
The assassin stopped in his tracks. The voice was feminine and challenging, but also very enchanting, and it ran his conscious to no end to want to find the voice that had just beckoned him.
He started down the hallway once again, another smile on his face. He stopped, wondering which door to choose when the one next to him slowly cracked open.
"Come." The sultry voice once again called to him, but this time with a demanding finalization.
The assassin hesitated for a moment, knowing he was walking into a trap, but he was indeed cocky, and trusted in his abilities to get him out of anything the woman threw at him.
He opened up the door and stepped in…
There was a captivating figure standing in front of the only window in the room, the lightening cracking on her back so he could not see her face, but he could see her other features. A detailed outline of a stunning silhouette.
Her eyes glowed unnaturally green.
The lightening caressed her body almost fondly, showing off her curves. Her hip was cocked to one side, her legs spread apart. One hand he could not see, in the other he saw a wicked dagger, small but effective in its throwing properties.
"Do you intend to kill me with that?" he asked with a whisper.
The figure's unseen arm moved from the shadowy body and twirled between her fingers was a long, wicked sword, curved and expertly deadly. Lightening cracked overhead.
"Oh, that." He said.
The figure said nothing but continued to twirl the sword in her fingers.
The assassin slowly started to make his way over to her, baby steps at a time.
The sword suddenly was at his throat, the tip of it barely staying out of his throat with her careful restraint.
"Speak, assassin." She commanded, her voice all the more enchanting when she made a command. "My time is precious."
"Your father wishes to change your assignment, Lady Da." He said. He felt her stiffen but she narrowed her glowing green eyes, the sword in her hand turned slightly, almost nicking him in his throat.
"Explain." She commanded once again.
"Instead of your last assignment you and your sister have a new one. You are to spy on the Sun family and find out their secrets and plans for war if they have one."
"Why?"
"Lord Cao Cao thinks that Wu is becoming a threat to Wei. If you find anything threatening you and the Deceiving Rose are to kill the entire Sun family with Lady Sun as an optional." He said, using Xiao's guild name to refer to her.
Da's eyes stayed narrowed. "Why would my father trust this to a runner? Why not in a letter?"
"He was not sure that a letter could get to you, so he sent me. Wu is highly conscious of what comes in and out of their estate. And having the letter sent here, it will be read before it got to you. We could not take the chance."
Lightening cracked again.
Da dropped the sword from his throat, her glowing eyes no longer narrowed. "Very well, go back to my father and collect your reward. You have done well, runner."
He smiled, "You are welcome, Goddess."
He turned around and nearly ran into Xiao, this was when he notice the door he had entered had been closed for some time.
Xiao smiled as he made his way around her. She joined her sister's side at the window, lightening coming in from time to time.
He stopped at the door and turned to them, they were a beautiful sight to see, standing together as they were. "May the shadow treat you well." He said then vanished out the door.
"Well," Xiao said as she turned to her sister, twin blades in her hands. "that was boring. So what do we do now?"
Da turned and looked out the window. Another lightening strike, only this time followed by a cracking thunder. Da sighed.
There would be no moon out tonight.
Sun Jian sat on his throne, surrounded by his family and Zhou Yu while they all listened to the report of the incoming storm. Huang Gai stood close to his lord, guarding him faithfully as always. Guards shifted uneasily as the scout reported his findings.
"My lord, the upcoming storm is one of the worst this land has seen in many years." Said a scout. "The rain will come with harsh force, not to mention the winds will be harsh enough to blow a child away. The people must take cover, my lord."
Sun Jian sat silently as he pondered what he wanted done. "Very well. Tell the citizens to keep indoors. If they have nowhere to go tell them to come here to the castle and we will house them. Tell them underground settlings are preferred. Have this done."
Sun Jian turned to Lady Sun, "My wife, I need you to direct the servants in getting the castle's basement quarters ready for the generals and the servants to be housed there. Open up all the servant's quarters for the people that we may have to house here. Make sure that we have enough provisions under there for two weeks worth of meals.
"Ce, Quan, I need you two to go and distribute guards who are going to be stationed with us while we are down there, and make sure the army is housed right. Only keep the soldiers without families here. Let the others join their families.
"Zhou Yu, I need you and Lu Xun to help the scouts in directing the people in their houses and bringing them here if their houses aren't safe enough or they have no places to go. Close all three of the gates tightly when you are done.
"Sun Shang Xiang, I need you to alert the generals that they are to come here immediately, no matter what job I have them on already. I also need you to go to the coast and tell Gan Ning to tie his ships down as much as he can but not to dally on them, we can replace them if they are damaged. Make sure his crew is safely housed.
"Everyone has five hours to do this. At that time I do expect the storm to start acting up. Everyone is to be here by that time, no later or I will have my guard come and get you. Now go everyone."
Every one filed out of the throne room with the exception of Huang Gai, who never shifted or blinked during the whole ordeal.
Sun Jian stood up and walked quietly over to a window, "Aye, Huang Gai, there is a storm coming. And it looks beastly."
Huang Gai laughed, "At least this time we are on land and not on sea."
Jian laughed, "Yes that is helpful." He turned to his bodyguard, "Do you need to pack?"
"I can pack quicker than your family can, my lord. I'll be ready when the time comes."
"Good, I just hope this isn't a bad omen." He said grimly as he looked out at the gray mass approaching his castle.
A dark figure stood at the doorway, and laughter sounded.
"At lease this time we are on land and not on sea."
More laughter...
"Yes that is helpful. Do you need to pack?"
"I can pack quicker than your family can, my lord. I'll be ready when the time comes."
"Good, I just hope this isn't a bad omen."
Bad omen indeed... thought the figure as he walked silently down the hallway, a sword in his hand. This night was going to be interesting indeed...
Da packed another trunk hurriedly and handed it off to a manservant who carried it outside the door to a cart to be delivered to the basement chambers and started on a new one to put Lord Sun Ce's clothing in.
"Oh, my!" Mei Mei said as she came and started to help. "A storm big enough to make the entire castle evacuate into the basement! Why, this hasn't happened in years!" she said nervously.
"That's enough, ladies! Let's go." The headmistress said as she went down the halls around all the maids.
Da shut the chest and handed it to the manservant then went out into the hallway herself. She was nervous. Storms weren't really a big strong point of hers and she didn't like the noise of the thunder.
"Hiya, sis!" Xiao said as she bounced up beside Da. "Lovely weather we are having, huh?" she said and then giggled.
Da looked at the glowing eyes of her sister. "Oh yes, very nice. Perhaps you would like to sleep outside to enjoy it tonight rather than in the basement?"
"I'll pass." Xiao said with a smile. "But isn't this exciting? It's almost like a sleepover!" she said as she clapped her hands together.
Da smiled.
"Maybe we could play a prank on the headmistress! Like we could put snakes in her bed while she slept! Or move her bed to the roof of the castle! Or stick needles in her pillow and all over her bed! Oh, what do you think, sis?" Xiao asked Da.
There was no response. Xiao looked at her sister and waved a hand in front of her face.
"Earth to sis." She toned out.
"Who is that woman?" Da asked Xiao with a weird expression.
Xiao followed her gaze and saw a hauntingly beautiful woman standing beside the headmistress. Her hair was jet black with parts put up and others hanging down all the way to her waist. She wore a deep crimson with gold trimmings and tiger fur stitched in here and there. Her eyes were a deep green and seemed to miss nothing as the woman watched the proceedings with a trained eye.
"I don't know." Xiao said as she put a finger on her mouth. "She looks familiar."
"She has Sun Ce's eyes." Da said, not talking to anyone in particular.
"Actually, Sun Ce has her eyes." Ty Lee said as she came up with Mei Mei.
"That's Lady Sun, Lord Sun Ce's, and Lord Quan's mother and Lord Sun Jian's wife. Isn't she beautiful?" Mei Mei asked.
"Hmm, yes." Da said as she studied her. Sun Ce did seem to favor his mother a lot.
"Is she mean?" Xiao asked.
Ty Lee giggled. "She does look like she would be, right? But no she's not. She's quite nice but expects her orders carried out."
Mei Mei looked at her companions, "Does anyone know who the stay maids are supposed to be?"
"Stay maids?" Da asked, finally drawing her attention from Ce's mother.
"Maids that stay with the lords during the night." Ty Lee explained. "Since the maid's quarters are on another section of the basement, and the gate that separates them is closed at night, one maid from each lord stays with the lord during the night. It's usually the primary maid but Lord Zhou Yu nor Lord Sun Ce have chosen a primary maid so one of us will have to stay, but no, they haven't announced who yet."
"Do the maids get their own beds?" Xiao asked
"Well, yes of course." Mei Mei said with a giggle.
"Oh, I hope it's not me." Da said.
The maids continued to chatter but Da didn't notice because at that moment Lady Sun looked directly at her. The lady's gaze wasn't one of hate but it wasn't one of approval either. The woman looked Da up from toe to head, looked back into Da's eyes for a split second before looking away.
Da was thankful she looked away, but couldn't shake the feeling she would encounter the lady again later on during her mission.
"Ladies!" the headmistress yelled, "Help the men unload these carts!"
Sun Ce and Sun Quan rode in silence toward the village where Zhou Yu and Lu Xun were preparing the people for the storm. They had finished their duties earlier and were on their way to help direct the people on what to do.
Sun Ce stared out at the horizon, lost in thought about his new maid. She confused him, that was for sure. But just as she confused him about her motives, she intrigued him also. Sometimes at night her eyes would glow like green fire, and sometimes when she looked at him he thought she was looking straight into his soul.
As if reading his thoughts, Quan spoke.
"How have you been sleeping, brother?" he asked with a smile.
"Good, I guess. Why do you ask?" Ce turned to Quan with his eyebrows furrowed.
"With the recent attack on your life I wondered how you slept." Quan said with a shrug.
Ce laughed. "Oh! Well surely you, brother, understand that one attempt on my life will not faze me."
Quan smiled and nodded. "Yes, this I know. I thought maybe the questions mother and father pile on you may, though. They seem persistent for answers."
Sun Ce looked at the ground, "I told them everything that happened that night. From me waking up, her being there, and everything that happened after that."
Her green eyes... His hand reaching out and her leaning towards it…
"You know what I don't get though?" Quan asked as he carefully looked at his brother.
"What's that?" Ce asked as he kept looking towards the horizon.
"The fact you can't remember any details." Quan said and noticed Ce didn't look at him and kept silent. "I mean, when we were hunting, you could tell where a deer went without looking at the ground for long and you could tell how many there were. And I know getting hit in the groin area isn't the best feeling but you can still see where she went off to and in what direction.
"And how could you wrestle with her in the woods and not see her face with a full moon out?"
Ce turned to him, expressionless. "What's your point, Quan?"
"My point is that you have never flunked something that bad to where you had no lead to go on. You have always found something." Quan said, meeting his stare evenly.
Ce turned back toward the horizon, and the gray mass floating there. "Even the best fall, brother."
"Yes, and even the best lie to protect." Quan said.
Ce turned to ask him what he meant by that, but was interrupted.
"My lord."
Sun Ce turned to see Zhou Yu ride up to him and bowed.
"Are you finished with the guard?" Yu asked as he joined beside Ce.
"Yeah, it wasn't that hard." Ce said with a shrug. "What about the people? Are they set?"
"Everything is in order but the gates, which I have left up to Lu Xun. He can handle that. I was coming back to the castle to report to your father."
"Sounds good. We better get up there anyway 'cause I know the old man is impatient."
They all rode in a comfortable silence until they neared the castle and passed the harem, which was being packed up and moved to the castle so the women would be safe. Outside the harem, the concubines looked at the lords and called out to them with their eyes.
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu passed them without noticing them but Quan turned his horse toward them.
Ce rolled his eyes. "You don't have much time."
Quan waved him off. "I'll be there soon."
"Don't take too much time." Ce said.
"Yeah, sure." Quan said, not really listening as he went towards a woman.
Ce and Yu rode on ahead and Zhou Yu, feeling the tension vibrating off from Ce, turned to him and raised an eyebrow.
"You seem pensive, Ce. Is something troubling you?" he asked carefully, knowing full well that if Ce didn't want to talk, Ce wasn't going to talk.
Ce turned from the horizon with a sigh. "I think Quan knows that I know more than I'm letting on."
Yu's brows came together, "How so?"
"He let a hint slip before you joined us. He said some people lie to protect."
Yu nodded. "Hmm. Indeed. Your brother is no idiot, Ce."
Ce smiled ruefully, "Yeah, I got that."
"So what do you intend to do?"
Ce looked at him with his eyebrows raised. "Shouldn't you be tellin' me that?"
Yu shrugged, "You won't listen to me. You will do what you want. So I'll save my breath if you don't mind."
"Well, Quan can just be kept in the dark about all of this. And as for Selene… I'm gonna make her the maid that stay with me through the night."
Yu whirled to Ce. "Have you taken leave of you senses?!? She would have closer quarters to yours and not to mention have access to anything of yours to poison!"
Ce met his eyes, "But if she makes a move during the night I'll know it."
Zhou Yu just stared at him but eventually sighed, shoulders dropping. "Just do me a favor, Ce."
Ce smiled, pleased that he got his way. "What?"
"Kill me before your mother finds out about me knowing and not doing anything about this." He begged.
Ce threw his head back and laughed while lightening cracked overhead.
"He did what?" Da whirled to meet the headmistress's gaze. "No, there must be some mistake."
The woman shook her head. "Lord Sun Ce came to me directly and voiced that he wanted you as his stay maid. No mistake could've been made.
"Oddly enough, Lord Yu has chosen your sister, Aurora, for his maid. You two certainly have made an impression."
Xiao, shocked just as much as Da, spoke up, "I'm his stay maid?"
The headmistress rolled her eyes, "Yes, you both were chosen for stay maids. Your quarters are connected to the lord's main chambers. You saw them when you cleaned them out. Now, if there aren't anymore questions, please leave."
Xiao and Da left the mistress's temporary office and started to walk towards their rooms to gather their things.
"I don't get it. I thought they were suspicious and onto us." Xiao said.
"They are doing it to keep an eye on us, Xiao." Da said, now a little angry at a certain prince.
"Aw darn. I thought our charm finally won them over." Xiao said with an exaggerated sigh. "Isn't it just or luck that when we get the perfect opportunity to kill the prince, we can't do it?"
Da giggled, "Yes, I guess that is our luck."
"So why haven't you put the poison in his bath water yet? I figured you would've done that a long time ago." Xiao said as and Da turned a corner.
"Because the poison has to be ingested somehow, little sister. Otherwise it will just give him a rash." Da informed her.
Xiao laughed, "And you being his stay maid will have to rub cream all over him and see him with his clothes off " Xiao suddenly stopped talking and walking, making Da stop and listen, thinking someone was in earshot.
"What?" Da asked.
"Umm," Xiao said as she pulled her hands behind her back and started scraping her toe on the floor. "Can I borrow some of that poison?"
Da's eyebrow came together in confusion, "Why?"
"Cause I, uh, wanna put some… in Zhou Yu's bathwater?" Xiao said and finally made eye contact with Da.
Da just stared at her.
"What?!" Xiao asked defensively.
"You're not even his head maid!"
'So? I'll just kill all the other maids till I'm all he's got!"
Da's jaw fell, "Xiao!"
Xiao rolled her eyes and put one hand n the air. "It was just a suggestion! Jeez! Calm down."
Da shook her head and was going to start walking again when she noticed Xiao's eyes begin to significantly dull, and a familiar awareness come over her. Xiao blinked and the glow in her eyes stopped.
Xiao smiled, looking into her sister's now glowing eyes. "It's nighttime."
Her remark was followed by a loud crash of thunder, making both girls jump and stare at the roof above their heads.
"And the storm has started." Da said and sighed. "I suppose we need to get to Lord Sun Ce and Zhou Yu before dinner."
They continued walking up the corridor, returning to their lord's chambers.
"So can I have some?" Xiao asked hopefully.
"No!"
The basement was officially on lockdown. The gate that led up to the castle was sealed shut tightly with barriers to make sure it stayed closed. The gate that separated the lords from the servants was sealed shut also: everything in preparation for the worst of the storm.
Xiao walked up to Zhou Yu's chambers with one of his trunks that got misplaced during the packing process. Suddenly, she got the prickling feeling that someone was following her. She turned around and saw nothing but the feeling was still there, and she was taught that her instincts were to be her guide.
She walked down the remaining corridor without a glance back until she turned a corner and snuck a peek... and saw nothing. She sighed and continued her way to Yu's chambers, trying to rationalize with herself.
She walked up to his double doors which were guarded by two guards and smiled as they noticed her.
"Hi, I'm Aurora. I'm Lord Zhou Yu's stay maid. Can you-"
One of the guards stepped forward. "Let me carry that in for you, miss." And took the trunk off of her.
"Thanks." She smiled, surprised.
The other opened the door, "Here, let me hold the door open for you."
Xiao just smiled and let the man with the trunk go in first, then proceeded to follow but, being her usual Xiao self, tripped. The guard who was holding the door out for her, caught her and pulled her to him in order to help her get her balance back.
Zhou Yu walked around the corner, his mind on various affairs, when he looked up and saw his stay maid in the arms of one of his guard, and stopped dead in his tracks, fury beyond compare flaring up through his body.
Aurora giggled at something the guard said as she stood up and Zhou Yu knew his face was going red as he felt his temperature rise. He should be the one making her laugh like that! Aurora tried to move away from the guard's grasp but the guard held on and Zhou Yu started seeing red.
"Excuse. Me." He said with careful restraint.
The guard immediately let go of Aurora, and she looked at Yu and smiled.
"M-my lord!" the guard stammered. "I-I was just helping her."
Xiao looked at the guard, confused at his nervousness. She turned and looked at Zhou Yu closer and noticed his face was an unusual shade of red and he looked extremely annoyed at something.
Thunder rumbled overhead.
"There you go miss!" the guard came out of the room wiping his hands like he had done some big deed. "The trunk is in there. If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know."
The guard didn't get a reaction out of Xiao and looked to see what it was she was studying so hard and turned to see Lord Yu with a look of murder in his eyes directed towards him.
The guard swallowed loudly and bowed. "My l-lord."
Zhou Yu walked passed all of them and into his room. "Come, Aurora."
Xiao followed, still confused about what just happened. She followed him through the many rooms until he went into one. She went in after him and her jaw dropped at the amount of books on the walls. They totally surrounded the whole room. Even as a temporary living arrangement, Xiao had no doubt that he came down here often.
Thwack!
Xiao nearly jumped as Zhou Yu put his papers and books on his desk. Well, threw them down really. He reached behind him and noisily slid the chair into place and sat in it with apparent aggression not usually used to sit in a chair.
Xiao just watched him with fascination while he did this, and wondered whether she should leave the room.
"My lord," she said. Zhou Yu didn't even look at her. "Do you wish me to leave?"
"No." he said curtly.
Xiao raised an eyebrow. It was rare for someone to use an angry tone with her, and she wasn't sure she liked it. She walked over to the fireplace and gazed into the fire, drawn to the bewitching glow of it and how embers seemed to be shot from it like rebellious sparks trying to make it on their own only to burn out.
She was so engrossed in watching the unique flicker of the flame that she didn't notice that her master stopped his aggravated paper shuffling and began to stare at her.
Zhou Yu unconsciously put the paper he was holding close to the candle down and started to study her. In the firelight, she looked absolutely enchanting. The aura around her was incredible as her whole being seemed to glow. Her eyes looked like fine crystals with hints of mischief and sparks of intelligence behind them. Her whole body looked small and fragile, but as he looked closer, he noticed that she was finely toned. Her hands, small and delicate as they were, looked like dormant volcanoes, ready to jump and explode at a moments notice.
The thunder continued its loud rumbles.
Xiao felt a tingling sensation and knew her master was staring at her. She turned and looked at him and saw his eyes were still holding traces of anger in them, but totally directed toward her. He put the paper he had aside and sat back in his chair.
Xiao looked at him for a minute before looking away. She couldn't meet his gaze the way he was staring at her. She heard him thump his fingers twice before bouncing up out of the chair, walked swiftly out of the room, then out the chamber doors.
Shocked at his swift departure, Xiao slowly began to pace the room, wondering what she had done wrong. By the time she was about to pace the room a second time, he came back in. He immediately started arranging the papers on his desk.
Xiao finally asked him, "My lord, are you angry with me?"
Yu sighed, "No, Aurora. I am not angry with you, but I am angry at my guard."
"Why?" Xiao asked without thinking.
Zhou Yu stopped arranging papers. "I saw one holding you in his arms." He looked at her, meeting her gaze with a penetrating stare. "I didn't like it."
Xiao's eyes widened in shock. "Oh…I'm sorry." She said on instinct.
Zhou Yu drew in a breath. "No matter. We are to attend dinner now, so come." He said and walked out of the room.
Xiao followed in his wake, but as they exited out of the room, she noticed the guards wouldn't even look at her. She thought this as odd, but was more shocked when Zhou Yu turned and offered his arm to her.
Aurora smiled and Zhou Yu felt captivated by how beautiful it was, and she took his arm. He cast a look at his guard, feeling smug.
Xiao walked with Yu wondering the whole way what had the guard acting as weird as they did.
Sun Ce entered his room and went straight to the bedroom, intent on changing before dinner. He looked for a sign to see if Selene was present but found none, but then again, did assassins ever leave signs?
He reached his bedroom and still didn't see her, and then wondered if the headmistress even told her. He pulled his shirt over his head to take it off.
Da entered the bedroom where she had heard Sun Ce stop and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw his upper torso naked once again. Her breathing quickening, she looked at it from beginning to end, admiring the build and cut of it. She had a thought of going over there and running her hands and nails over it but blushed and swallowed and looked away, eyes closed.
Ce pulled the shirt fully off and saw Selene standing in the doorway, her eyes closed and head turned.
"Oh, good! I was beginning to wonder if the headmistress told you or not." He said, totally misinterpreting her blush.
Da turned to him but didn't look at him, but instead focused on the floor. "Yes, my lord, she told me."
"I must be an idiot, huh? Making you, the person I suspect wants to kill me, one of my closest maids." He asked her.
Da remained silent.
He looked at her, "We both know it was you that night, Selene. I got a good enough look at you."
"I don't know what you are talking about, my lord." She said quietly.
"Oh, don't give me that." Ce said as he turned to her, "We both know it was you because we both felt a connection that night."
"My lord, I wasn't the assassin that tried to take your life!" Da said, her temper starting to show.
"Bullshit." He said as he slammed a trunk.
Da tried to suppress her anger. "If you trust me so little, then why make me your stay maid?"
Ce looked at her. She was pissed off there was no doubt about that. But what really captured him was the unnatural fire in her eyes. She was angry, adrenaline driven, and totally dangerous.
Just what he liked.
He went to her and stopped just a foot away from her. "Easy." He said casually, then took a step to close the gap between them. "Friends close, enemies closer."
Da's eyes exploded with anger. "Fine then, my lord," she spat, "I will personally get you a little maid you can trust!"
She whirled and ran out of the room.
"Selene!" Ce shouted, surprised.
Da ran through the many chambers, not thinking straight enough to know which way was the damn door so she took off in the most logical way. She heard Sun Ce running and she started to gain up her speed. Suddenly he popped out of a room ahead of her and started running at her.
Experienced in running from guards, men, women, and all sorts of animals, Da easily dove under his arm and spun out of his reach when he reached back for her, and continued running.
"Selene!" he roared out after her.
Da turned a corner, his shout only making her run faster. She saw the double doors and instantly ran out of them and out into the hall. She turned another corner. Lord Sun Ce was faster than her but if she kept turning corners she could probably outrun him that way.
Gate. Gate. She thought as she ran, trying to find the huge gate that separated the servants from the lords. She had no idea what she intended to do once she got there but that was her destination.
She turned a corner and continued to run but saw two lords who, at her fast approach, stared at her.
"What the-" one of them said as she ran by.
She still heard Ce running behind her.
"Ce!"
"Brother!"
They yelled at her master but Da turned a corner and then another and could barely hear Ce's steps. Soon, she could only hear her own as she slowed but still jogged down the corridors.
She found herself going down a darkened hallway. There were no blazers down the hall and no windows so she stepped into it, the shadowy darkness a long missed comfort of hers. As soon as she felt encompassed by it she stopped in the middle and thought about all the hallways she passed while she ran, trying to think of another way to go, and if she should go back and kill the prince now or wait or find Xiao…
The feeling that she was being watched swept over her like an icy chill, stopping her thoughts instantly. She felt eyes stabbing into her from behind her, and started to turn to look while she quickly tried to flatten herself against the wall but wasn't quick enough.
Jumping out like a tiger, Lord Sun Ce grabbed her at her hips and pushed her against the wall. She began to fight him, but he grabbed her hands and held them over her head onto the wall behind her and crushed her against the wall with his weight.
"I am not going to have this fight with you again, Selene." Ce said as he looked into her glowing eyes, but her scent hit him and he immediately tensed up, finally realizing their position together.
Da felt him tense above her and she looked up to see him with his eyes closed and his jaw set. Then, he released one of her hands and moved his hand to her waist and slowly leaned down toward her.
For a breathtaking minute, Da thought he was going to kiss her but instead he leaned down, eyes still closed and inhaled close to her neck.
There was something erotic about one's scent being inhaled, Da thought as she closed then opened her eyes. She slowly looked at Ce and his impressive physique as he leaned in toward her, every muscle within touching distance for her liking, and every muscle was a story of its own.
The man radiated power. There was no doubt about that, and Da felt it in every one of her molecules. His neck pulsed strongly and showed muscles brought on by hard work and intensive training. His arms were strong and looked as if they could hurt her permanently if he so wished. Even his hands, which were gentle at her waist and wrists, were a hidden wonder in themselves.
She dropped her gaze lower and saw his exposed abdomen once again and her breathing quickened. She moved her free hand over to them and finally gave into the urge to run her nails down them.
Ce's eyes shot open at her action. He felt spell cast as she made her way down and her scent filled every inch of his lungs. His thoughts were scattered as she did this. Once where he had control, he had no more as he finally said hell to it all.
She stopped her motion and Ce wrapped his arm around her waist and dropped her wrist in order to put his hand behind her neck, and he crushed her to him as he slowly leaned down.
Da saw him leaning down to kiss her, but instead of fear she felt want and gave in. Her eyes slowly fluttered shut and she parted her mouth slightly, a small sigh escaping her lips while her eyes fully closed as he leaned closer, his lips so close to hers…
No! Da's mind screamed and her eyes shot open.
Years of training, self-discipline, and strategy flooded her head as she realized she was breaking protocol. And not just any protocol, the biggest one of them all: Getting emotionally involved in an assignment.
Her eyes turned hard as her mind raced with amazing speed and analyzed both their stances. Using his weight against him would be his downfall. In under a second she had done all her thinking, and she moved her hand back and grabbed his wrist…
Sun Ce didn't know what had happened. She was in his arms and then she grappled his wrist, and with amazing speed that he had never seen used, she had gone around him and used his weight to send him flying into the wall and onto the floor. He stayed put for a second, trying to comprehend what had just happened. He then stood up and turned to look at her.
She was close to the wall on the opposite side of the hallway, her stance showing she was ready for him to pounce on her. He looked up into her glowing green eyes, more alluring than ever in the darkened hallway, and saw the cold, calculating calm in them and noticed that every mental block she could manage was now up.
She was sexy. She was dangerous. She was enslaving. She was poisonous. She was utterly spellbinding. And she was lethal.
"Ce! What the heck was up with all that…running."
Da turned so see two men standing at the entrance of the hallway. The one who spoke had white spiky hair, and carried himself like an arrogant pirate. The other looked similar to Sun Ce and Sun Jian.
The two men were looking first at Da then back to Ce.
"Um… are we interrupting anything?" the man spoke again.
"No." Ce said and Da turned and saw him staring at her. "We were just talking."
Da couldn't help but wonder how in the world he got that they were talking when they hadn't said a word the last few moments.
"Brother," the other one spoke up for the first time and Da realized why the two looked so similar: they were brothers. "We were just on our way to dinner. Would you like to join us?" he asked cautiously. Quan wasn't a fool. He knew something was going on between the two.
Ce's eyes never left Da's. "If you will walk with me to my quarters to get a shirt, yes."
"Sure, no problem." The pirate said cautiously as he too noticed the tension.
"Goodbye, Selene." Ce said as he turned and walked away from her and joined the two men, all the while never looking back. The two other men though studied her and her unusually glowing green eyes until they began to follow Ce, never saying a word but their eyes said that they had many questions.
Only when they were out of sight and she could hear them no longer, did Da lean back against the wall behind her and let her legs turn jellylike as she slid down the wall.
No. She couldn't do this. It was against protocol to get emotionally involved in an assignment. No matter what her feelings were towards the prince, she had a job to do. One she did very well in the past. Killing was her life. Her passion. It was what she was a master at. Besides, he was just a man. She didn't need him. She had all the riches she could ask for, and even a castle of her own: gift to her by her father when she had successfully completed her first mission. Though it was weird for girls to have castles, her father thought it weird for them not to have one, and Xiao even had one, though it was being renovated to fit all of her animals.
This was just another assignment. One she would complete, report to her father, then take a week off of assignments to pamper herself at her own castle. In their profession, you needed some time off to yourself.
But she still had the rest of the night to go through, and she wondered which one of them would survive it.
And who, exactly, was after whom.
The door creaked open and the woman awoke. Curious as to what had opened her quarter door, she moved from her safeplace of a bed and went to investigate. Just outside her door, she saw a trail of water leading off in the direction of the kitchen. She followed it till it lead to a closet, and without thinking twice, she went in.
In the middle of the closet was a puddle of water. She slowly approached it and stared at it as if trying to figure out where it had come from, when a droplet fell from the ceiling. She looked up and a black figure decended upon her.
The crash of thunder covered her screams...
Tell me who you are, I am spellbound
You cannot have this control on me
Everywhere I go, I am spellbound
I will break this spell you put on me...
The closing lyrics to this is "Spellbound" by lacuna coil, an awesome song to me, but maybe not to you. My friends always tell me I have the wierdest taste in music. I've had this chapter halfway done for awhile, just never had the inspiration to continue it until something happened today that gave me a writing spurt. As always, reviews are appreciated and of course, criticism. But not flames... unless u absolutely want to. I might learn from your opinion or have an interesting review for my review page lol!
ShadowingPassion9532