The sun was leaning toward the horizon,
when Prince Tai Lan agreed to stop for a moment of rest
before continuing the journey back to the palace.
The prince's convoy stopped in front of a small inn
that overlooked the heart of the city near Narik,
and Tai Lan dismounted his horse slowly,
his hands still pressing against the wound in his side.
The pain had intensified, and he was on the verge of losing his balance.
He leaned against his horse for a few moments,
trying to gather his strength and breathe calmly...
until one of the soldiers approached him,
his face etched with worry, and said:
"Your Highness… are you alright?"
Tai Lan nodded, then opened his eyes,
and walked steadily toward the carriage where Lorian had been placed.
—
He opened the door...
and his eyes fell on her still body, like a doll,
for she was still unconscious.
Tai Lan gently bent down and removed the knife she had been carrying,
then carried her in his arms...
and headed toward the inn,
followed by his soldiers in silence, astonishment drawn across their faces.
None of them knew…
who this girl was?
What was her connection to the prince?
And why was he carrying her himself, as if she mattered to him?
Tai Lan ascended to the room prepared for him with steady steps,
carrying Lorian in his arms.
He laid her gently on the bed,
then pulled the blanket to cover her body before turning to the soldier standing at the door—
—
And said in a firm, commanding tone:
"Find a doctor."
The soldier nodded quickly,
bowed respectfully,
then rushed down the stairs without a word.
Tai Lan returned inside the room,
and sat on the wooden chair,
staring at the pale walls in heavy silence...
His eyes remained fixed on the void,
until the soldier returned with the doctor.
The soldier thought the doctor had been brought for the prince's wound,
but was surprised when Tai Lan gestured toward the bed,
and said in a low voice:
"Her first."
—
The doctor approached Lorian,
and began examining her,
then looked up at the prince and said:
"She's fine… just exhaustion."
Then the doctor approached the prince
and started removing the robe from his shoulders,
revealing the inflamed wound, with a bluish tint...
as if the blade that stabbed him was still lodged inside.
The doctor quickly removed the old bandages and cleaned the wound,
and every touch sent waves of pain
that made Tai Lan's limbs tremble,
but he remained calm, silent,
as though pain was part of his being.
Until the doctor finished,
and advised him to rest,
warning him of a possible fever in the coming hours.
Then he left, leaving the room drowning in a heavy silence,
broken only by Tai Lan's labored breaths.
The prince quietly closed his clothes,
returned to the chair,
and relaxed his exhausted body upon it,
his eyelids growing heavier...
He hadn't tasted sleep in the past three days...
and now, only fatigue
was stronger than everything else.
Until night cast its veil over the small town,
and the cold slipped softly into the room,
snuffing out the dim candlelight on the table.
Inside, on the bed, Lorian lay
her body still except for faint breaths,
until her eyelids slowly parted, as if emerging from a deep well of darkness.
She looked around nervously, not knowing where she was
or how she got to this place.
But something suddenly caught her attention—
There was someone sitting nearby on a chair, his head tilted to the side, his features shadowed in the dark.
Lorian crept toward him with hesitant steps, and as she moved closer, his features began to emerge...
Tai Lan?!
She gasped silently and quickly retreated to the edge of the bed.
She almost screamed, but the sound stuck in her throat out of fear of waking him.
Many questions rushed into her mind, igniting a fire in her chest...
Why isn't he dead yet?!
And why hasn't he killed me?
Does he intend to torture me to death and make me an example for all?
Then she looked at herself… no chains, no prison…
Why did he leave me unchained outside of a cell?
Am I in his room? Is he perverted?
—
Did he dare touch me!!?
Her eyes kept shifting between shock and terror, searching for an answer in his face hidden in darkness.
But then she suddenly noticed—
her knife was no longer with her.
She rose lightly to her feet and crept silently toward the window,
but as soon as she looked down, she froze.
The height was deadly... one jump, and death would swallow her without mercy.
She bit her lip and began thinking of another way to escape after killing him.
And started searching for any weapon... to help her.
But there was nothing in the room except... a chair, a bed, and a table with a bowl that still emitted steam and the scent of hot porridge.
Lorian approached the table and lifted the bowl,
then turned and stood facing the body slumped on the chair,
and raised the bowl high above her head, her fingers tightening around it as if drawing strength from it, preparing to kill him and buy herself a chance to escape.
Her eyes stayed fixed on that body—
which in that moment seemed fragile,
weak,
breakable, just as it had been the last time.
She stepped closer... then raised the bowl higher and closed her eyes... preparing to strike.
But suddenly—
The door burst open violently.
And a soldier entered, panting, his voice loud:
"Your Highness! Someone tried to sneak into—"
The soldier stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widened at the scene before him, and he froze without a word.
And in that moment...
Tai Lan's shadowed eyes opened, and he slowly lifted his head, his gaze wandering across the room…
He saw the soldier standing at the door, his face horrified.
Then his eyes shifted slightly, and he saw Lorian standing directly in front of him, holding a bowl over his head.
He didn't say a word… he just looked at her,
until she slowly lowered the bowl and placed it back on the table with an artificially calm movement.
She adjusted her hair strands,
then said in an unnaturally calm voice:
"I thought the prince might need to eat something... he looked pale."
The soldier said hesitantly,
"I apologize, Your Highness… I didn't mean to intrude. Should… I return later?"
Tai Lan stood, moved away from Lorian, then said to the soldier in a weak but firm voice:
"Speak… what did you want?"
"Sir, someone tried to sneak into the inn a short while ago, and when we caught him, he resisted violently and
said he came to kill you."
Lorian froze in place, then turned toward him and asked sharply:
"Was the intruder… from Narik?"
The soldier nodded slowly, his eyes shifting between the prince and Lorian, then said:
"Yes, the tribal mark was clear on his shoulder. And he wasn't alone... but he's the only one we caught."
Tai Lan asked in a dry tone, "And where is he now?"
The soldier quickly replied:
"Downstairs, under heavy guard. Awaiting your orders..."
But before he could finish his words... Lorian burst out of the room.
She ran through the corridors,
rushed down the stairs,
and made her way through the soldiers
until she stood before the man kneeling on the ground, hands tied, his face bloodied.
She stared at him…
her eyes widened:
She looked at him...
Her eyes widened,
"Xian…!"
The man lifted his head and smiled at her
and said in a hoarse voice:
"Lorian..."
As if his entire survival depended on her.
She knelt before him, placed her hand on his trembling face:
—
"What did you do?... Why did you come...?"
Xian didn't answer her questions,
and kept staring at her
as if seeing her was his final wish in this world.
—
During this, Tai Lan was standing at the top of the stairs,
watching the scene before him in silence,
the fever still burning his body,
but his heart burned even more...
Yet he turned to the soldier standing nearby and ordered that neither of them be allowed to leave the inn,
then withdrew to his room.
...As Lorian knelt before Xian, her eyes never left his tortured features...
but something else suddenly caught her attention.
She lifted her head toward the stairs and stared harder… at Tai Lan, who was busy speaking to the soldiers.
And she was stunned—
his hair had lost all its whiteness, unlike how she had seen him the first time.
His hair was now jet black, as if the night had begun swallowing its whiteness slowly.
She blinked several times and whispered, not believing her eyes:
"His hair…? When did it change? And how?"