Chapter 4 of My Poisonous Kiss
Enjoy!
Adrenaline surged through his veins, granting him that high he was so used to feeling. His mind was only focused on one thing: to kill. He sucked in a deep breath and tasted all the scents in the air, but there was only one he was focusing on. Hers.
His grip on his knife hardened as he kept breathing everything in. Filling all his lung capacity with that enchanting scent that was only hers. He felt his animalistic instincts start to kick in as he allowed them to take over his body, pushing the human limitations aside and letting the thrill of the hunt take him over completely.
His eyes shot open, revealing that they were a different tone than when they had closed earlier. They were wild and fanatic.
He shot off down the corridor, having only one goal in mind. One he would relish in doing. He turned down one corridor, then another, all the while going undetected. He seemed to blend in with the background. Or maybe he was too fast to be seen.
He came to a halt at a corner, and slowly stole a peek around it to see her walking away from him. He nearly sighed with contentment.
"My prey…"
Thunder rolled up ahead and made a deafening clash as forces in the sky fought. Even the people in the basement weren't fully away from the thunder's deafening powers as they all covered their ears to keep the worse of it out. Vibrations sunk even to the basement, making people wonder if it was safe, underground as it was.
Da walked down the hallway to join everyone for dinner. She was just a few minutes behind Sun Ce and there were still other maids coming so she knew the serving hadn't started yet.
She couldn't believe what she had nearly done, but her reasoning was back and it wouldn't happen again. This she knew for a fact.
Thunder rolled overhead, but it hardly disturbed Da as she walked down the corridor. She walked with the mysterious grace that usually adorned her steps. Though her thoughts were occupied with her earlier screw up, she was very much aware of her surroundings.
And also the fact that she was being followed.
She knew she wasn't just being followed, she was being watched as well.
The eerie feeling sent a chill down her spine, but she kept walking, relying on her instincts to tell her when, or if, the person came near. She slowed down the slightest degree and let her senses branch out to find what they may. She could definitely feel a presence besides the ones of the maids that seemed to hustle about. This one felt… odd.
She couldn't hear the person but she knew they were there. She walked the rest of the corridor and turned the corner…
When someone jumped out.
Da struck out with a punch, but the person dodged it by a last minute turn, coming around to Da's side. Da jumped back and began to lunge again.
Then the person started yelling.
"Da! It's me!" Xiao squealed.
Da stopped and dropped her next attack. "Oh, Xiao! I'm so sorry!" Da pulled her into a hug and whispered tons of apologies. "I'm so sorry, Xiao! I didn't know!"
"Why did you attack me?' Xiao asked, pulling away to look at Da with a puzzled expression.
"I had the strangest feeling I was being watched and-"
"And I jumped out at you." Xiao said with a giggle. "I'm sorry. But why do you think you're being watched, sis?" Xiao said and looked around Da to see if anyone was behind her.
"It's just the storm, little sister." Da said as she pulled a loose hair out of Xiao's face and tucked it behind her ear.
Xiao was about to protest but Da cut her off. "Why aren't you with Lord Zhou Yu?"
"I came to find you! Lord Sun Ce came in with his brother and that pirate but you weren't in sight. I snuck out to find you. The serving's about to start and the last thing I wanted to happen was the headmistress coming to look for you. I didn't know if you were doing something important." Xiao smiled, making Da catch her meaning.
Da smiled. "I haven't done anything like that yet. Come, we need to get there."
As Da pushed Xiao towards the serving hall, she stole a look back down the corridor.
She shook her head when she saw nothing.
Zhou Yu could tell there was something wrong with Sun Ce. His jaws were constantly being clenched and unclenched, and he wasn't really participating in any kind of talk, which was unlike him. Sun Ce loved to banter back and forth with any willing participant.
Zhou Yu also knew there was something wrong because Sun Quan and Gan Ning were constantly throwing glances at Sun Ce's direction. Zhou Yu could only imagine what kind of calamity that Ning and Quan witnessed.
Especially if there was a certain maid involved.
Zhou Yu waited till after the meal was served before he leaned forward to get to the bottom of his friend's sour mood.
"Is everything ok, Ce?" Yu asked, wondering if he had asked the wrong question.
"Fine." Ce said as he focused on his food more than normally.
Wrong question. He had to try a different route.
"Did something happen?" He asked, still trying to be casual.
"What makes you say that?" Ce asked.
Zhou Yu knew he his the mark. Ce was being evasive.
"Just the fact that your brother and Gan Ning are staring at you."
"I had another 'collision', as you put it, in the hallway with Selene. They appeared at the end of it." Ce finally confessed.
Yu raised his eyebrows. "By collision you mean…"
Ce was still focusing on the food in front of him. "She ran, I followed, we tussled in the hallway."
Yu looked at Quan and Ning who weren't looking at the moment. "And what exactly did they see?"
"Nothing really. I just wish they would stop staring. Mom and Pop are already uptight about things. If they notice them staring, they will know there's something up."
"Your father was talking to me about doubling your personal guard." Sun Ce looked at Yu with a look of horror on his face. Zhou Yu smiled. "Don't worry. I told him you were perfectly capable of handling yourself." Yu said with a smile.
Ce finally smiled for the first time. "Thanks."
"Did she accompany you on your walk over here?" Yu asked as he started eating.
"Nah. I left her in the hallway. We, kinda needed the distance, ya know?" Ce said with another cryptic smile.
"Hmm. I will try to empathize."
"So how's everything going with your maid? Aurora? That's her name right? We've been talking about mine we haven't talked about yours." Ce said as ate another bite.
"Everything's going fine." Zhou Yu said as he focused on his food.
Ce immediately looked up from his food and slurped a noodle into his mouth. He sat back and crossed his arms while he stared at his friend. He swallowed his food before grunting.
Yu looked up at the sound. "What?" he asked.
"She's gotten to you too, huh?"
Zhou Yu looked shocked. "What are you talking about?"
"You know very well what I'm talking about, buddy. I'm a tortured soul myself. I think I can witness it in others." Ce said with a sly grin on his face.
"What are you talking about? Me? Are you insinuating that I have the same cravings for Aurora as you do her sister?"
Ce just grinned as he chewed on the end of a chopstick.
"Sun Ce that is utterly preposterous! I cannot say that the girl isn't blessed but by all means I am not attracted to her on that level." Yu said in a hushed outrage.
"But you are attracted to her." Ce said, his grin getting bigger as he knew he had his friend.
"Bah!" Yu cried out, knowing he was cornered.
Ce leaned over and slapped his sworn brother on his shoulder, "Don't worry, buddy. It happens to all of us."
Ce laughed as Yu shot him a glare.
"What do you think they're talking about?" Xiao asked as Da set an empty pitcher on the counter to get refilled.
"Who?" Da asked with a sigh, pulling hair out from in front of her face.
"Zhou Yu and Sun Ce. They seem very into their conversation. I think they are talking about you." Xiao observed as she was leaning up against the wall. She was concentrating on the lip movements of Ce due to the fact Yu's back was to her.
"If you keep staring they will be onto us." Da said with a hard look. "And if you are so interested in what they are saying, why don't you go ask?" Da said sarcastically.
Xiao bounced. "That's a great idea, sis!" she picked up a pitcher and quickly made her way over.
"Aurora! I didn't mean- oh, dear!" Da said as she quickly grabbed a pitcher and took off for the table before Xiao actually did ask. Ce was already onto her enough as is, she didn't need Xiao going and asking, especially if it was about her. If Xiao asked… she didn't want to think about the calamity that would ensue.
Xiao, to her credit, started at the end of the table, which made Da pleased because if she walked straight up to them, it would be obvious. She was also pleased that she started at the long end of the table. If she herself started at the smaller end, she would get to Ce and Yu before Xiao did.
Unfortunately, someone brought the conversation of her up before Xiao could.
"So, Ce," the pirate who had come at the end of her and Ce's tangle started, "how have you been sleeping since the attempt on your life?"
Da nearly chocked but tried to keep a poker face as she started refilling glasses. She prayed to every god that Ce didn't expose her.
Ce didn't look at Da, knowing that that was probably what they were baiting him to do. Also, he think he had done enough staring at her tonight anyway.
He grinned a grin that seemed confident. "Like a baby." He said, causing some of the other generals present to chuckle.
Da looked up to compare her position to Xiao's and realized Xiao was gaining ground, fast.
"How do you feel about the fact that it was a woman?" someone else asked.
Da was carefully leaning over people to refill and keeping watch on Xiao's position.
Ce shrugged. "I still think it was Shang Xiang trying to kill me." He said as he looked at his sister.
"Trust me, brother, if I wanted to kill you, I would have succeeded. Not tried." came the Princess's smart retort.
Da was happy that she was now refilling the person beside Ce but she panicked when she saw Xiao smile at Yu and pick up his glass.
"I don't understand why you didn't just seduce her, my lord." some other general that Da didn't know said. Da moved and leaned over Ce to get his glass, trying to ignore the closeness of the situation.
And that last remark.
Every one of Sun Ce's nerves were on edge as she leaned over him to get his cup, but he casually leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, a trademark grin on his face. "Unfortunately, Huang Gai, I think this was a woman who would rather kill me than kiss me."
The hall erupted into laughter at Sun Ce's last remark.
Xiao Qiao leaned down and placed Zhou Yu's cup in front of him, marveling at his laugh. It was a deep laugh, one that seemed to vibrate through the air and settle in her chest.
He looked at her with a smile, and she smiled back. She opened her mouth, about to ask him if he needed anything else, when the doors to the hall were burst open.
"My lord! A maid, in the other section! She has been murdered!" The guard shouted as he fell to the floor, obviously out of breath.
Xiao Qiao put a hand to her mouth to keep the gasp from escaping. She quickly looked at Da, who was also looking at her, in a questioning manner.
They both shook their heads in the slightest degree, saying they didn't do it.
Xiao's blood went cold. If they didn't do it, then who did?
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu both looked at each other at the same time. One look and they knew they were both thinking the same thing.
There was a hush among the hall as Sun Jian stood up. He didn't think he heard him right, and wanted to walk up to the guard and ask him if this wasn't some kind of joke. But the look in the guards eyes already confirmed his worse fear.
"Everyone evacuate but the generals." Sun Jian's voice was calm, but it rang out loud in the now silent hall.
All the maids in the hall set the things they had in their hands at that moment in random places. Some even on the floor due to no nearby surface to put it on.
Xiao Qiao walked out with the rest of the maids, Da silently walking by her side. She felt someone's eyes on her, and she turned around to see Sun Ce and Zhou Yu looking at her and her sister. Xiao wasn't overly concerned about the way Sun Ce was looking at Da Qiao, but was confused by the way Zhou Yu was staring at her.
He seemed like a man in conflict with his emotions, like he didn't want to believe but had no choice in not to.
It was turning out to be a very weird night…
"The roommate to the maid had woken up and noticed her gone. She had gotten up to look for her, and had found her in a nearby closet. The screams are what alerted the guard." The Guard said as he filled them all in on the situation.
"Do they know when this happened?" Sun Jian asked.
"The wounds are fresh. It couldn't have been too long ago, my lord." the Guard informed them.
Sun Ce looked at Zhou Yu with an eyebrow raised. He did leave Selene alone for a little while…
"Have they identified who's maid it was?" Zhou Yu asked as an idea suddenly came to him.
"Yes, they have, my lord. It was a maid under Lady Sun Shang Xiang's services."
Shang gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Sun Ce moved over to her and engulfed her in a brotherly embrace. He couldn't stop the fury from coming up. It was one thing to threaten his life or wellbeing. But to go and threaten his family? Especially Shang Xiang? That was overdoing it.
He would deal with Selene tonight.
"How could someone get by the gates?" Zhou Yu asked. "Aren't they locked? Guarded?"
"I did not see about the gates, my lord. I came to inform our lord as soon as I could." the guard said with a bow.
"Where have you put her?" Shang asked, her eyes closed.
"She has been placed in a room, my lady. They thought you may have wanted to see her…" The guard didn't finish. He felt bad for the princess.
"And the room it happened in?" Sun Jian asked, careful of his choice of words around his daughter.
"They have tried to keep it the way it was, your majesty. Just in case you had wanted to look at it. But with the guards coming in and out, it's a mess."
Sun Jian nodded. "Sun Ce, you, Zhou Yu, and I will go see about the room. Quan, you and Lu Xun go see about the gates." he looked at Shang Xiang before placing a hand on her head. "My daughter, you may go visit her if you like, but do not disturb her. We will need to look at her wounds to see if we can get any answers from her.
"Huang Gai, I need you and the other generals to assemble a unit each and patrol the halls. I want it reported to me or my sons immediately if something is suspicious. Also, make sure my wife is secured."
"I will go with our daughter, my love." Lady Sun said as she came and replaced Ce's place at comforting Shang Xiang.
Sun Jian nodded. "Very well. Take Zhou Tai with you, seeing as Quan is with Lu Xun."
"My lord," the guard said with a bow. "There is one more thing."
Sun Jian raised an eyebrow. "Go on."
"The maid that found the body, she is in shock. But she told the guard that first came in that she saw a black figure running from the room. She couldn't tell much. Only that it was a man."
"A man clothed in black?" Sun Jian asked.
"Yes, my lord."
Sun Ce and Zhou Yu looked at each other, both with a puzzled expression.
The maids were walking down the hallway, tons of whispering was going on about the newest shock.
Xiao and Da walked side by side, Xiao whispering excitedly. "If you didn't do it, and I didn't do it, do you know what this means?"
Silence.
"It means that there's another assassin!" Xiao said with her hands in the air.
"Xiao, some people kill other people out of spite. This means that when someone is murdered, it's not because an assassin is behind it every time." Da said in a scolding tone.
Xiao started to protest but someone interrupted her by screaming.
"WE'RE NEXT!"
Everyone turned around to see a maid coming from the dining hall area obviously hysterical.
"A black figure is what they said! A man! We were deceived! It was no woman who came after Lord Sun Ce that night! But a man! He killed a guard and tried to kill Lord Sun Ce! But he failed in that so now he's out to kill us!"
There were shocked gasps and frantic whispers heard from the crowd of maids.
"We are next! We will be killed just like-"
A ringing slap echoed through the corridor as the maid who was hysterically speaking was slapped by the headmistress. The mistress then picked her up and threw her to the crowd of maids who caught her.
"Return to your rooms! All of you! If any more wild rants like this happen, you will all be severely punished!" Her voice echoed through the hall. "Scatter!"
The maids began to walk again, all hushed and not saying anything.
Xiao, however, leaned over to Da and said, "I wonder how they would act if they knew Lord Sun Ce's intended killer was right here? Let alone two fully trained assassins?"
Da shot her a glare that silenced Xiao.
"Xiao, if it is another assassin, then please be careful. And if you ever get in a situation you can't handle, send out the signal. I don't care who hears."
Da looked at her.
"I'm serious, Xiao Qiao. Please, be safe."
"There are only two gates that lead to the maid's section, and neither were opened since lock down." Ce said with a sigh as he and Zhou Yu walked back to the room after talking with Sun Quan and Lu Xun.
"Do you know what that means, Ce?" Zhou Yu prompted as they turned another corner.
"Yeah. The killer was already in there before lock down." Ce said grimly.
"Precisely. That means there is no way Aurora or Selene could have done it. Aurora was in my room and you were having a collision with Selene." Yu said with a hint of a smile.
Ce ignored the joke Yu was making. "I got that. Wanna know what I don't get?"
"What's that?" Yu asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Why a maid? And why Shang Xiang's maid?" Ce shook his head.
There was silence in their walking as they both pondered these questions.
"Perhaps he wasn't really targeting any particular maid. Maybe he needed a distraction." Yu said, his thoughts running.
"Distraction? Distraction for what? To get through the gates?" Ce asked, not getting Zhou Yu's point.
"Exactly!" Zhou Yu stopped when an idea hit him.
"What?" Ce asked, studying Zhou Yu's expression.
"Think, Ce! Why would he go to the maid's section during lock down? Knowing the doors would be shut?" Zhou Yu prompted once more.
"Because he thought the person he was after was going to be over there." Ce said, finally getting it.
"Exactly. But when he realized that they weren't he knew he needed to get to the other side."
"The distraction." Ce finished.
"Precisely." Yu said grimly.
"That means that it's a stay maid." Ce concluded.
"But a stay maid to a person who doesn't have a primary maid. Otherwise, the person would know they would be on this side."
"Who all doesn't have a primary maid?"
"Only a handful that I know of. I really don't keep up." Zhou Yu admitted.
"And us." Ce said with his eyebrows raised.
Zhou Yu and he stared at each other for a moment before Zhou Yu shook his head. "You don't think…"
"No." Sun Ce agreed. "I mean, why would an assassin come after another?"
"Perhaps because she failed in her duties?" Zhou Yu suggested with an eyebrow raised.
"Failed her duties? You mean her not killing me that night?" Ce asked.
"I don't know about their punishments, Ce. But it can't be good. They make their living off of succeeding."
"Do you think that's why she brought Aurora with her? Because she knew she would be traced here?" Ce asked, and idea forming.
"I can't really say. But I have to say I am confused. Why didn't she kill you that night, Ce? She would've gotten away with it. Could this connection, as you put it, be the reason she did not?" Zhou Yu asked as he studied his friend's face.
"I don't know. But I don't like the thought of her having to pay for not taking my life." Ce said, his voice hard.
"Agreed. But, perhaps, if we are correct, we should not leave them alone for a long period of time." Yu said with an eyebrow raised.
Ce nodded, getting Zhou Yu's hint. "Let's go talk to Pop."
The assassin was aggravated. He had misjudged where his prey was going to be. To add to it, the constant patrolling was slowing him down, and it was near impossible for him to move around. Finding the room his prey would be in was hard enough. There was no way he could move through these narrow halls, dressed as he was.
Which is why he was now dressed in his disguise, walking irritatingly slow so as not to draw attention.
He bowed down to a unit that passed him, one of them nodding at him before he passed. The assassin sneered as he raised up. He had half a mind to say screw it all and go home.
But the pay was just too good to pass up. He would complete this mission, he said to himself, then return home a very rich man.
Besides, he thought as he continued his walk. He was going to enjoy this…
"Your father is skeptical, Ce. He thinks we know more than we are letting on." Zhou Yu said as they walked briskly back to their quarters.
"He's right." Came Sun Ce's only reply.
"Do you think it is wise not to tell your father about this?" Zhou Yu asked.
"What's to tell?" Ce was being dismissive again.
"Sun Ce, they will all find out one day." Zhou Yu said with a sigh.
"We have bigger things to worry about right now, Yu." Ce said as he finally looked over at his oath brother.
Then suddenly stopped walking.
He and Zhou Yu looked at their feet, then the ground they were standing on, then back at each other.
"Do you feel that?" Ce asked.
"Yes. That vibration." He looked at the ground again. "It must be from the storm."
There was an ear piercing sound of thunder and they both looked up, then at each other.
"I don't like this storm, Ce." Zhou Yu said grimly. "It's not like Wu to have this type of weather this time of year."
"It's not like Wu to have this kind of weather, ever, buddy." Ce said as he looked at him. "Could this be a bad omen?"
Zhou Yu nodded. "The question is, of what?"
"I'd rather not wait around to find out." Ce said as he turned and started to his quarters at an even faster walk, Zhou Yu right behind him.
Storms. Da hated storms. She detested them, and had from a very early age. A few thunder sounds here and there were okay for her to handle. But this? This storm that shook the very ground beneath her feet? It terrified her.
She paced another time in Sun Ce's room, her glowing eyes seeming troubled. If the storm didn't let up, she didn't know what she was going to do.
She felt a presence and listened as the door to the chambers opened. She heard footsteps coming closer and looked up to see Sun Ce in the door way, looking at her.
He looked her from head to toe, whether from admiring her or making sure she was ok, she couldn't tell.
Da bowed, praying he couldn't see her blush, something he seemed to be able to do without any kind of effort.
He finally spoke, his voice ringing through the room. "I'm glad to see that the storm has not bothered you overly much. Are you ok?"
Da couldn't meet his eyes. Whether she was scared of what her reaction would be or scared of what the look in his eyes would tell, she didn't know. But she answered him, nonetheless.
"I am not… overly fond of storms, my lord." she said quietly.
Sun Ce studied her for another moment before moving over to the other side of the room to take his shirt off. Da turned and busied herself with finding him another, mostly because she didn't want to look and remember what they had done just a little while ago.
Sun Ce studied her again as she looked, watching the graceful, fluid movements she displayed while doing any mundane task.
"Is the killing of a maid tonight the work of one of your friends, Selene?" He asked.
"I don't know what you are talking about, my lord." Came her reply. One he had heard before.
Thunder rolled overhead.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. Will you deny this the same way you deny your presence in my room that night?" He asked, making her wince at the double meaning of that statement.
"My lord, it was not me." She said again.
"Why do you insist on lying to me?"
"Why do you insist that it was me?" she countered.
Thunder sounded again.
Sun Ce bounced of the wall and walked over to her. He slowly started to circle her, and she slowly raised up, highly aware of his presence. He circled her a few times, looking at her up and down, all the while never stopping his slow, deliberate pace.
He slowed down behind her and leaned in close to her ear, "Because it was you, Selene."
Da nearly gasped when he spoke. She was so concentrated on his movements that she had forgotten that they were having another argument.
"Everything about you, calls to me." He said as he started to rotate around her again. "Your body, your eyes, your voice, your scent." he stopped his rotating in front of her at that last comment.
"Gods, your scent." He said barely above a whisper as he leaned in and inhaled her scent as he did not too long before.
Da couldn't breath with him that close. It was the most oddest sensation she had ever felt in her life. She didn't know how she kept standing there, with him so close and her knees like jelly.
The candlelight seemed to drape the entire room in a seductive embrace, and danced on Sun Ce's skin like little nymphs baiting her to touch it.
He leaned back, Da feeling an unwelcoming disappointment when he did, then walked the few steps that separated them until was only a few inches, and looked directly into her eyes.
"We both had a connection that night, Selene." He said, his gaze intense.
Da felt a blush creep up, and she hurriedly turned away, his shirt in her clenched hand.
"I don't know what you are talking about. I feel nothing towards you." she said, lying, her voice curt.
"Is that why you leaned into my hand that night? Is that why you left me alive? You felt nothing?" She heard Sun Ce say as he came closer to her back.
She whirled on him, half from not wanting him to touch her, and another half from her temper sparking.
The man seemed to have a gift for starting her temper. "How can I feel anything when this night you speak of does not exist?"
"Is that what you are going to keep telling yourself, Selene?" Ce asked as he advanced on her. "It never happened?"
"I am not the assassin!" she said again, backing up away from him and feeling like they have argued this many times already.
"Bullshit." he said again.
"Ugh!" Da threw her hands up, one still clutching the shirt, then turned and walked out of the room.
"Selene!" He said to her again and followed her out.
Da kept walking down the hallway, not wanting to face the man who infuriated her so much.
"Selene." He said again, before he grabbed her arm to spin her around.
Da Qiao turned to him, and was about to demand he tell her what he wanted from her, when vibrations from the floor caught her attention.
She looked down at her feet then remembered the storm.
A sudden wave of fear came and she looked up, just as an ear piercing sound of thunder sounded, making her gasp and grab the wall behind her.
Sun Ce saw her gasp, her glowing eyes widen, and back up to the wall, her face full of terror. He was shocked by this reaction from her, never expecting this.
Another loud sound of thunder came and she cringed with another gasp.
Any anger that Sun Ce might have had, disappeared as he crossed over to her and took her into his arms as another violent sound of thunder came through, the vibrations getting stronger.
Something off a nearby shelf fell off and splattered to the floor, shattering into a million pieces.
Ce felt Da grab onto his arms tighter, and cling to him at the sound of the glass breaking. He knew he had to get her out of the hallway.
"Come on, Selene. We need to get out of here." He said but another crashing sound of thunder happened and she gasped again, too frightened to do much of anything but be encompassed by her own fear.
Sun Ce, taking charge of the situation, picked her up in his arms, and debated where exactly to go with her while they waited out the storm. Making up his mind, he ran hurriedly to his room where he paused by his bed long enough to pull the covers down, and he placed her on there.
She looked up at him, confused momentarily at his choice of placement before another peal of thunder sounded and she buried her head in a pillow.
Soon, she felt his strong arms encompass her, and she gladly welcomed the safe haven they promised as another peal of thunder sounded. She soon felt one of his arms leave and she was about to protest when she saw him just pull the covers up to where they nearly covered her entirely before he replaced his arms around her.
And she seemed to lose all track of how long she stayed there.
Another loud sound of thunder roared, and she grabbed his arms harder, sinking deeper into the covers while trying to keep her fear from swallowing her whole.
"Shh. Don't be afraid. You're safe now." She heard Sun Ce say above her as his hold around her tightened.
She knew she shouldn't have felt safe. She knew that she should jump out of the bed, and yell at him for touching her, or at least run. She should jump from the bed and find Xiao if she really needed someone to help her cope with her fear.
But she realized that, even though she didn't trust this man, and despite the fact that she was assigned to kill him, she had never felt more safe in her life.
She absentmindedly started to trace the contours of his muscles, each a story of it's own. She felt him tense as she did so, not expecting this from her. She felt his heartbeat pound strongly in him, reminding her of his strong personality. She saw a gold band around one of his arms and moved one of her hands from his chest and she slowly felt it.
It was an heir's band. Worn by the future ruler of a kingdom. Feeling of it was the last thing she remembered before she relaxed her head and went into a merciful, dreamless slumber.
Sun Ce couldn't help but remember the last time he had her in his arms. That night. That one night that had suddenly changed his world. He just hoped that she didn't end this hold as she had done the previous one. He felt her settle closer to him and start to feel of his band. He wondered what her fascination with it was, when her movements gradually stopped and her hand slowly fell from his arm.
A sound of thunder echoed, but she did not stir nor cringe as he expected her to. Another one came, and then another, and still no reaction out of her.
Sun Ce looked down to see her head nestled against his chest, and her eyes closed in a dreamless repose. He was stunned. How could she fall asleep like that? Did she really trust him that much? He was shocked again to find himself wanting her to. Why? He could not say. Only that it created this weird feeling in his heart.
He quickly regained his composure and studied her features. She was beautiful, mesmerizing even. Her features were almost perfect, but then again, so was his. He stayed there, perfection looking into its equal, for awhile. This was his match, probably the only person who could rival him in anything, and she was asleep, so vulnerable, yet a volcano, ready to explode at a moments notice.
He could kill her. End it all, this weird dream, in one instant. And yet, as the thought crossed his mind, he realized that he couldnt. If what he and Zhou Yu suspected was right, then she had potentionally given up her life for his. Besides, could he kill someone who looked so innocent while they slept?
He studied her face a little longer before he laid his head down as sleep came over him also. The first time he had felt like sleeping in days. But he couldn't help but wonder...
Could the person sent to steal his life from him, steal his heart too?
Xiao Qiao ran into Zhou Yu's study at the sound of something falling. She soon located the sound and stared at the book that had fallen on its side. She slowly moved across the room, uneasy with the vibrations from the floor, and put the book back into position with a glare.
Vibrations struck again and something behind her fell. She whirled around only to find several books falling from shelves and tables alike. She looked up at the ceiling, eyes wide and started to back away, feeling terrible dread at the storm that let out an ear piercing crackle overhead.
Her retreat backwards to the wall ended abruptly as she stepped on a lone candle stick, one that had fallen from a table close to her, and it slipped from under her weight, sending her crashing into a table then onto the floor. Her collision with the table caused a vase of roses to wobble.
Xiao looked up in time to see the vase fall from the table and she cringed with her eyes shut. The vase hit the floor with a sickening sound as it shattered into a million pieces.
Xiao cried out as a few pieces of glass lodged into her hand. She looked at it and blood was already starting to flow from the open wounds.
Another thing fell from another shelf and she knew she had to get off the floor. However, when she tried to put weight on her hand to get up, a pain shot up her arm and she fell again.
She was about to try to get up again, but strong arms came around her. One under her knees and another on her back, and they lifted her off the floor with simplifying ease. She looked up to see that it was Zhou Yu carrying her, and she stared at his face for the few seconds he carried her before he put her into a chair by the fireplace.
"Are you alright?" he said as he knelt in front of her. "Is this all that is hurt?" He asked, looking at her hand.
Xiao was so shocked by the look in his eyes, a look of deep concern, that all she could do was look in his eyes and nod.
"Okay. Let me get some stuff to take care of that." He said before leaving the room.
Xiao stared at the door, not knowing what to think. Why hadn't she heard him come through or at least felt his presence? Why did she feel weird while he was carrying her? And why was he so concerned about her when he only wanted to keep an eye on her?
Zhou Yu hurried back into the room, a kit in his hands.
"How do you feel?" He asked, looking at her face.
"I'm fine." Xiao said with a smile. Then looked at his robe. "I got blood on you." She said with a hint of disappointment.
"Do not worry about it. I am more concerned for your safety than I am for my garment." He said as he pulled out the necessary tools needed to help her.
"Let me see it." He commanded and Xiao held out her hand. He looked at it for a moment before picking up a tool to get the glass out. "This may hurt."
Xiao smiled. "I'm not fragile."
Zhou Yu wondered what exactly she had meant by that, but didn't ask. He slowly rotated her hand before choosing a starting place. He looked into her eyes, hers staring at him and his work, before pulling the first one out.
Xiao cringed at the rush of pain that flooded through her hand, but never muttered a sigh of protest. She had felt worse pain in her life. This was a piece of cake compared to torture rituals used by enemies.
She knew she had to get her mind off the pain, so she looked around the room while he worked on her hand. She saw the many shelves of books and started to identify the subject they contained, but none of it held her attention. She started to look back at him, knowing he himself was distraction enough, but her eyes fell on a poetry book on his desk.
"Do you like poetry?" she blurted out. She hadn't thought of him as the type… But once she thought about it, it seemed very befitting of his charming personality.
"Immensely." He answered with a glance to her face only to see she was smiling that beautiful smile again.
He suddenly realized he had stopped his work, and he shook his head and got back to it.
"I met a man one time. A very old one, who enjoyed poetry. He would constantly quote it with ease and would make it fit into any conversation." She said wistfully, recalling the memory. "His favorite poems were about rivers."
She looked at him suddenly, stars in her eyes. "Do you have a favorite poem?"
"I enjoy all kinds of poetry. As long as it is well written." He said, trying his best not to look at her, and keep his mind focused on fixing her hand.
"I like ones about roses." She said, causing him to look up, a cryptic grin on her face.
"Roses?" He asked.
"Mhmm."
Zhou Yu smiled before returning to his work. He could feel her gaze on him, and he slowly started going though his collection of memorized poems before he picked out one that he thought she might like.
"In my autumn garden I was fain to mourn among my scattered roses." He found himself repeating, his voice vibrating through the tense silence.
"Alas for that last rosebud which uncloses. To Autumn's languid sun and rain. When all the world is on the wane." He had finished pulling out all the glass, and started putting salve on it before starting to wrap it.
His voice vibrated through Xiao, capturing her, entrancing her till nothing else existed except him. She felt herself holding her breath as he talked, not even wanting her breath to interrupt him as he spoke.
"Which has not felt the sweet constraint of June, nor heard the nightingale in tune." He stopped for a second and ripped the cloth he was wrapping her hand with before securing it.
"Broad-faced asters by my garden walk, you are but coarse compared to roses." He started closing his kit, the job on her hand done.
He suddenly looked at her, an intensity that usually didn't adorn his eyes suddenly there, making her catch her already ragged breath.
"More choice," his eyes never left hers, but his hand reached for her injured one and began to bring it to his lips. "more dear," He lightly kissed her hand, making her heart skip a beat. "Than that last rosebud which uncloses.
He got up, taking the kit with him, and crossed the room to set it on the table that the rose vase had fell from. "Faint-scented, pinched, upon its stalk."
Xiao watched his every move as if her life depended on it. She couldn't seem to help it. His voice, along with his body language and his eyes, totally hypnotized.
"Though least and last," he turned from the table and back to her, his eyes immediately capturing hers. "which cold winds balk."
He slowly stepped toward her, keeping a mesmerizing eye contact with her while he spoke, his voice dripping with a magnetism that commanded her attention.
"A rose it is, though least and last of all."
Zhou Yu slowly knelt in front of her, keeping his penetrating stare, making Xiao have chills from her head to her toes, also making her dizzy.
He slowly, so painstakingly slowly, reached out with his hand, moving to touch her face.
Xiao held her breath as his hand made way to touch her, she slowly closed her eyes as the sensation of a soft touch graced the side of her face. She knew, however, it wasn't his hand that touched her but something else. Something soft, and fragrant.
She felt the touch go from her temple, all the way down to her jaw, then disappear. She opened her eyes to see a rose held in front of her face. She looked up at his eyes, and didn't understand the feeling that suddenly came over her at the look she found in his eyes.
He spoke again, his voice vibrated through her entire body, through her veins and all the way to her heart where it seemed to stay, making it beat dangerously fast, and an electric jolt covered her from head to toe.
"A rose to me, though at the fall."
It took Xiao a moment to breath and another moment to gain her wits enough to know she needed to take the rose from him. She slowly felt her uninjured hand move on its own accord and take the rose, but she couldn't take her eyes from his. Even when the ground vibrated beneath them. Or was that just her dreaming? She couldn't tell with the way he was looking at her.
His hand closed over the one holding the rose, and Xiao reveled in the contact of their skin. But she didn't have time to think about this, as he slowly pulled her down toward him. Xiao knew, through some absurd thought, that he was going to kiss her.
Her breath caught, her eyes widened, but she didn't pull away. She willingly let herself be dragged down slowly, utterly hypnotized by his dark eyes.
"Zhou Yu?"
Knock. Knock.
The contact immediately broke: the spell shattered. Zhou Yu and Xiao both looked at the doorway that lead to the entrance to the chamber.
Xiao immediately jumped up and ran out of the room, rushing to get the door. She opened it and bowed to the gentleman there.
The man looked at her a moment before speaking. "Where is Lord Zhou Yu?"
"I am here, Lord Quan." Zhou Yu emerged from the back. Xiao noticed that he did not bow to him, though. She left their presence, but stayed in earshot. No matter how her nerves were, and they were shot, her years of training couldn't be taken out of her head that easily.
"Father wishes to speak with you. He is concerned about whether this killing could be related to the attempt on Ce's life. He wants you to rethink your decision and agree to doubling Ce's personal guard." Quan said.
"Has Sun Ce been notified?"
Quan shook his head. "Father does not wish to disturb him on this matter. Do you think I should notify him anyway?"
Zhou Yu thought for a moment. Sun Ce was currently alone with a potentional assassin in his room. It would be justified to enter his room, but Sun Ce probably wouldn't want another interruption if they were having another... "collision". "No, Sun Ce will just object to anything we say. It's better not to bother him. Please, tell your father I will be there shortly."
Sun Quan walked away, his eyes slanted into suspicion. Something wasn't right...
Zhou Yu shut the door and made his way back to the study where he figured that Aurora would be. But he was shocked to see the room empty, the glass on the floor from the roses still untouched.
He kept looking around, thinking maybe he had impossibly overlooked her, but picked up his cape and and left the room.
Xiao Qiao leaned her ear up against her closed bedroom door, and let out an audible, relieved flush of air as she heard the door to his quarters open and shut. She turned and leaned her back to the door. She couldn't believe what had happened. She really couldn't believe what had nearly happened.
He had nearly kissed her! And she had nearly let him! Xiao Qiao let out a long breath as she slid quickly to the floor and landed on her bottom. A little pout was on her face as she knew all the rules she had just broken.
What would Da think? She would be so disappointed in her. She knew better. Why had she set herself up for that? She absently stared at the flower in her hand. He was so cool. So different. Xiao tossed the rose on her bed. She had to stop thinking about him. It just wasn't right.
The ground vibrated again, making Xiao sigh. She got up and opened her door and made her way to the study. While she cleaned the glass from the vase, she named evey reason they couldn't be together.
And everyone of them kept getting more and more painful to her heart.
The assassin stood in the shadows seething. He watched the procession as the gates once again to let in people and let other people out. He couldn't believe that he was really waiting for someone, anyone, to walk through those gates that he knew could lead him to his prey. It was demeaning, really. He was reduced to this.
But the patrolling units and the constant guard was getting on his nerves. He sat back for awhile, and learned when they came down which corridor at what time, but if he didn't know what room his prey was in, what did it matter?
The assassin lifted his head with excitement as someone caught his eye. He watched as a general moved toward the gate and it opened to him. He knew this general. He was close to his prey. Not as close as he would normally want, but he would make do.
The assassin smiled cryptically. He would just have to wait a little longer for him to come back through again. After that, it would all fall into place on his sinister puzzle of death.
You're bad for me, I clearly get it.
I don't see how something good could come from loving you.
The death of me, must be your mission,
because with every hug and kiss you're snatching every bit of strength
That I'm going to need to fight of the inevitable.
And it's a heartbreaking situation. I'm up in but I can't control.
...Am I just another victim of an assassin that broke my heart down?
Ahhh. An update. Closing lyrics, can anyone guess? It's Beyonce "Poison". You will probably see more lyrics from this song later on. Anyways, as usual, FanFiction messed me up. I had half of this written and was super tired so i decided to go to bed. I had saved it, but had the utter surprise to find that the some 4,000 words I had were now reduced to 68. FanFiction had deleted half of my work. Needless to say, I was mad. And also, it took out my drive to write for awhile.
However, I pulled through. Obviously. So, the usual, reviews and comments are always appreciated. But also, does anyone other than me rush to see if they can get to their category before the ad pops up? I find myself doing that a lot lately and I was wondering if I am the only one who races that infuriating thing lol!
Oh, and I guess I turned the fire from Da and Ce to Xiao and Yu, huh? Do realize I have very good plans for our kick-ass assassin Qiaos. It's not everyday that we can see them as threats, but I do intend for you to see it now. Especially Xiao. I think I'm going to have too much fun with her beating people up...
As always,
ShadowingPassion9532