《《蛮族之花》 Flower of Wilderness》Yina_bubbles

35、第 35 章 The d

　　Chapter 36 — The Dead Princess

　　The story travelled faster than any messenger could, the Younis palace had burned, the Khan was dead. The princess who had been chosen as a bride had disappeared in the flames. No body had been found but among the tribes, that was enough. Xian Suyuan was presumed dead. Khasar received the news in silence, he stood outside the Kharun camp, staring toward the distant mountains while the messenger repeated what little he knew.

　　"The Younis say no one could have survived." Khasar's jaw tightened.
　　"Did they find her body?"
　　"No."
　　"Then she's not confirmed dead."
　　The messenger lowered his eyes.
　　"Prince, the palace was destroyed. Everyone believes—"
　　"I asked if they found her."
　　The messenger hesitated.
　　"No."

　　Khasar said nothing more ,nearby, Tarkan stood beneath the shadow of a tent, listening. He had not slept properly since hearing about the fire. He wanted to believe Suyuan was alive but there was nothing left for him to hold onto except uncertainty and uncertainty was sometimes worse than grief. Neither of them knew that, far beyond the border, Suyuan was slowly opening her eyes.

　　---

　　Several days later, Suyuan finally managed to leave her bed, she lasted exactly thirty steps. On the thirty-first, she stopped beside a wooden fence and stared at it as though it had personally offended her. Ayao, who had been following behind her, immediately burst out laughing.
　　"You look angry at the fence."
　　"I'm not."
　　"You've been staring at it for half a minute."
　　"I was thinking."
　　"About the fence?"

　　Suyuan gave her a tired look.
　　Ayao grinned. For the first time since the palace burned, there was something almost normal between them.
　　The border barracks were nothing like the Khan's palace. There were no silk curtains or enormous halls. The place was built for soldiers, not comfort—wooden buildings, storage sheds, horse pens, watchtowers, training grounds, and rows of tents stretching toward the hills.

　　Suyuan had been forbidden from wandering too far so naturally, she had already started wandering. She wanted to see where she had been brought. She wanted to know the people who had rescued her and perhaps, most importantly, she wanted to know what kind of man General Su Xie Zheng really was. Everywhere she went, soldiers noticed her. Some bowed awkwardly while others pretended not to stare.

　　Her silver-white hair made her impossible to overlook but Suyuan ignored them. She stopped near the training yard and watched the soldiers practicing with wooden weapons. One young soldier missed his opponent's strike and stumbled. "Again!" shouted the instructor and the soldier groaned. Suyuan almost smiled.

　　Then—
　　A horn sounded from the western watchtower, the entire yard changed. Soldiers dropped their casual expressions.
　　Men grabbed weapons and rushed toward the wall. Ayao's smile disappeared. "What happened?"
　　Suyuan looked toward the distant hills while Xie Zheng came running from the command tent, already fastening his armor.
　　A scout appeared at the gate.
　　"General! Smoke has been spotted beyond the western ridge!
　　"Younis?"
　　"No."
　　The scout shook his head. "They're not tribal riders."
　　Xie Zheng's expression became colder.
　　"How many?"
　　"We don't know. But they're attacking the border settlements."

　　Suyuan's eyes narrowed, the border had suddenly become very quiet. Then, from far away, another horn sounded.
　　This time, it wasn't the warning of approaching tribes, it was the signal that someone had already crossed the border. Xie Zheng mounted his horse. "Seal the western road. Send twenty riders with me." All the soldiers moved immediately.

　　Ayao looked at Suyuan. "Who would attack Xian while everyone is watching Younis?" Suyuan didn't answer.
　　Her eyes remained fixed on the smoke rising beyond the hills , a strange thought had already entered her mind.
　　Maybe the war everyone feared wasn't coming from the direction they expected,Xie Zheng suddenly turned his horse toward her.
　　"Princess, return to the infirmary."
　　Suyuan raised an eyebrow.
　　"I can walk."
　　"You nearly lost a battle against a fence."
　　Ayao snorted.
　　Suyuan glared at her.

　　Xie Zheng almost smiled, then his expression became serious again. "Stay inside the barracks, no matter what is happening out there may not be an ordinary border raid." Suyuan watched him ride away with the soldiers, the western gate opened. Horse after horse disappeared into the smoke and she stood there for several moments.
　　Then she looked toward the command tent, something was wrong.

　　She had a feeling her mother's map had only shown them the beginning.

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