XLIII: The Wrong Side Succeeds?

Judith stood, frozen, paralyzed even. She didn't know exactly how she knew, but she just did. She could feel that this was not the prince, but a being of extraordinary power, a god.

The prince and or Wukong, had kept his gaze on Judith for several seconds, before finally turning to Qui Lin, who as still frozen in place. He had knelt down, so he could relieve himself of the maids he had rescued from the burning building.

After which, he rose, now feeling the need to speak to Qui Lin. He knew everything the prince once knew, so he realized how much Qui Lin meant to the prince…to him now. Which meant, he knew exactly what Qui Lin must have been going through.

Forcing a smile, he stood and looked into Qui Lin's eyes. He meant to speak, when Qui Lin had summoned her purple rings around her arm, then pointed her hands bearing flames toward Wukong.

This had caught him by surprise, as he had suddenly feared if Qui Lin discovered he was an impostor.

Judith, likewise thought the same. She wondered to herself if Qui Lin could feel something was off. But unfortunately for them both, that was not the case.

"Who are you? What did you do with prince Lee?" Qui Lin had asked with a voice that could be compared to breaking glass.

A sudden elation had risen in Judith's heart, as she felt that she was safe. This god that was after her was already stopped before he even began. If all went well, Qui Lin would do away with him right here and now.

Then again, Judith had tampered her expectations, and just watched.

"I don't understand," Wukong said with a calm tone, trying to get the situation under control. "It's me." He had taken a step forward, but Qui Lin had intensified the heat of her flames as he did so, causing him to halt in his tracks.

"Prince Lee, was dead. I checked, found no pulse, no heartbeat. So who are you?" Qui Lin had said, with a voice that was still breaking. She felt her being rending itself by what she was seeing unfold before her very eyes. But as to how to react, she didn't know. She just wanted to act as rationally as she could. But, was what she was doing rational?

Wukong, trying to act as naturally as he could in such a situation, shut his eyes, ducked his head and said nothing for several seconds. Then suddenly, he spoke.

"Remember..." Wukong thought on a memory, a memory only the prince and Qui Lin had known. "What you told me, about my mother?" Wukong had asked, and confusion beget him as he spoke, confusion prompted by the fact that he felt his heart pained by this memory.

Qui Lin's eyes widened as he spoke. But she waited, eager to hear what he had to say, but also fearful.

"You said, that she lost a bet to you." Wukong opened his eyes, then raised his head so he could meet Qui Lin's gaze with a faint smile on his face. "That's why my middle name is Pigu Liefeng."

As soon as these words had sunk into Qui Lin, the purple rings around her arms had disappeared, along with the flames in her hands.

She now stood, frozen and unsure.

"Prince Lee?" She had called his name, as though doing so would instantly discern an impostor from a real person.

Wukong smiled, then he nodded, feeling his heart bleed.

Following his response, Qui Lin had ducked her head, gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Before anyone had known, she walked up to the prince and placed her forehead on his chest, where she began to sob quietly.

Whispers, murmurs and gasps had filled the night's air. But was not loud enough to drown out the churning of the flames. Flames which had only bloomed more as the seconds went by, just like Judith's fear.

Though she didn't expect much, she had hoped somehow the impostor would be revealed, and done away with. Very wishful thinking indeed. Now, she would have to find a way to handle him herself, before he could handle her first.

***

An hour later, the fires had been quelled and the injured had been healed. Judith, Tsai and the other maids had been relocated to a storage building to rest up for the night. Whereas Qui Lin, prince Lee and the rest of the nobles had stayed in some of the Tethereds rooms, leaving them to sleep outside for the time being.

Which was not long because the party would venture back to Qugan in a few hours. That being, before the sun rose, as they didn't want to contend with the heat of the desert during their travels.

As Judith laid on the mat that barely separated the cold of the hard floor from her skin, her thoughts ate at her, not letting her sleep a wink. She thought on the god that had come for her.

If she had remembered correctly, the goddess Sun Qi had said that the god didn't want her to be here. And that if she wavered in her zeal to be here, then he would have what he needed to take her back to her own world.

Which meant, that this god would do anything to make Judith want to leave this place, not ruling torture out of the equation.

This part had made Judith gulp, then turn to her side, and pull her blanket closer.

Judith thought on the numerous options she was left with. If she wanted to get rid of this god, then killing him would be the best option, but that was something Judith didn't know if she wanted to do. Once the word 'Kill' had lingered in her head, a shiver rattled up her spine, when she had remembered the captain.

Judith had thought she had killed the captain, but to her dismay and somewhat relief. A Tethered had found him and healed him. The bastard clung onto life, foolish of him, as he was now at the mercy of Qui Lin.

Feeling relief wash over her, Judith thought on how she felt when she thought she had killed the captain. Memories of her distant past had begun to ring into her head, memories she would have liked more than anything to forget.

Killing a person, was not a nice thing for a anyone to have on their conscious. No matter how justified it was.

Judith thought on this world, and wondered to herself if there would come a time when she would be forced to kill a person, take a life.

As far as she was concerned, she didn't want to have to be put in such a situation, so with all her heart, she wished at this moment, that such a fate would never befall her.

Turning her thoughts away from killing, she turned it back to the impostor, who she wanted to subdue without killing him. But before she could think any further, a purple light had surrounded her and before she knew it, she had fallen into a dark void.