Chapter 10

In the royal palace. Lu walked out the crystal doors to the small garden situated outside her room. Her hand maid had already gone to bed and she was alone. Everyone in the palace were asleep except the guards loitering in all the corridors of the palace. The garden was very beautiful in the moonlight. The exotic flowers grown there especially for her made the garden look like one out of a fairy tale. The silver bells, lillies, the orchids among the other flowers and the majestic clear pool in the centre all sparkled with a silvery glow. The king and the Prince Jin had specially arranged it for her. But seeing these exotic flowers made her miss the natural traditional flowers which she had grown in her garden back in her father's palace.

Thanks father for selling me here, she thought dryly. Now she was in the hands of a snake. She was not just a guest here, she was a hostage. And in the future she was to marry the snake, the prince. She slowly walked to the pool. She was not yet sleepy. She had come out to clear her mind. She had yet to meet the king and the queen. And tomorrow she was to have dinner along with them and the prince. She already met the Prince and she remembered that she had to go with him for the hunting party the next week. Forcing herself to forget that, she thought about the matters in her hand. First she had the gain the trust of the royal family. Then she would find a way to gain permission to leave the palace. She could not defeat the royal family on her own. She could not turn to her family for help too. They were the cowards who sold her away for an alliance. Her only hope was...

"The rebellion..." , she said aloud. She covered her mouth. If anyone heard her then saying the most forbidden word in the palace, she would have her tongue cut out. She looked around and she relaxed. There were no one around and she was alone.

She looked at the water once more and stripped her clothes off. She slowly entered the cold water. Water always relaxed her. Even though she had taken a bath already, she dipped herself into the water and lay there. The water was very cold, but she did not mind. She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind off any thoughts. She did not want to think of anything. Her life has changed drastically. It was not in her hands, as it was when she was young and in her father's palace. Now, she was just a puppet in others hands. She had grasped the reality of her life completely and she felt hollow inside. For the first time after leaving her father's palace, tears dropped from her eyes. She angrily wiped them away. She had to be strong. She opened the eyes and looked at the full moon. The moon soothed her as she could see the same moon as she saw in her home. A clock bell struck somewhere. It was midnight. A day had begun.

"Your birthday is over, you are now eighteen." , she said to herself. She slowly got up from the pool and wrapped a bathrobe around herself went straight to her room.

Just before going to sleep, she thought about her first adventure after coming here. She smiled at herself coldly. She kept remembering the merchant's daughter's wedding. She sneaked out of the palace. But what troubled her was the boy. The boy whom she met there..whom she had saved from the guards. Who was he? She had a weird feeling that she was going to meet him again. Too tired to get up and turn off the lamp, she clapped once. The room become dark instantly. Lu smiled for the second time that night. Of course, how could she forget? She had a weapon which others would never have. In fact she herself was that weapon.

.....

A little distance away, a snake smiled cruelly. He had been looking out of the window when he saw somebody walking in that woman's garden. Hurriedly he took out his gold rimmed telescope. He adjusted the telescope and watched the person. It was that woman. He licked his lips and continued watching her. He saw her look around and strip her clothes. He was extremely pleased with what he saw. She was the most beautiful woman he had seen. As he saw, she slowly dipped into the water and lay there with her head outside the pool. Water dropped from her hair onto her fair long neck and shoulders. It excited him. He badly wanted to possess her. If course she was his. "Just you wait woman, I always get what I need", he said. He had to wait. He would wait for the few months it would take for her to be his. Or he had another option he could persuade his parents to let him marry her as soon as possible. He saw her wiping her tears. It made him more happier.

He enjoyed the sufferings of others the most. But the happiness of seeing this woman suffer was like nectar to him. He wanted to see her cry. He wanted to break that headstrong spirit of that woman into pieces. He would do that. Once he was married to her, he would make her scream in pain everyday. Just imagining that made him more happy. He kept away his telescope. He could not bear to watch more. He entered his room.and rang the bell for a maid. As soon as she came, he dragged her into his bed. Soon he would not need other women, that one woman would be enough.