"What do you mean she's gone? She can't be gone!" Shoya shouted.

He had found Ru Fei and the rest of the confused-looking Firebrands back at the Gi army encampment—without Yuehwa—and for the first time, he was genuinely scared. According to the commander, he had gone back to the cave that Shoya had spoke of, but there was no sign of Yuehwa anywhere. There were also no other signs of footprints or human disturbance in the vicinity, only a peaceful, serene patch of forest. As if the princess had never been there at all.

"I thought you said she had gone to investigate a suspicious sighting," Ru Fei asked, narrowing his eyes warily.

Shoya ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "There was no suspicious sighting. I knocked her out and placed her in the cave because I thought the witch would do her harm. I thought she would be safe there," he said.

He wasn't upset with Ru Fei and the Firebrands. He was upset with himself for being so naïve. How could he have let himself walk straight into a trap and left Yuehwa alone, and unconscious, for the enemy to steal her away? It was clear now that it had all been a ploy to separate him and Yuehwa, and they had succeeded.

"What did you say? What's happened to Yuehwa?"

Baixun marched over, his previously gleaming armour and sword now stained with blood and dust. There was a temporary ceasefire because the Dahai army chose to withdraw—likely because the dark magic used to sustain its undead troops had been depleted.

"They took her," Shoya replied flatly. He hated to admit that he had made a mistake, especially not to Baixun, but it was the truth. He had misjudged the situation, thinking that he was keeping her safe. Instead, he had delivered her to the enemy.

"How did that happen!" Baixun grabbed Shoya by the collar, pointing the tip of his sword at the latter's jugular. "How could you let them take her away?"

"Prince Baixun, please. This is not the time to come to blows with each other," Ru Fei intervened. "If the enemy does have the princess, then our priority should be to locate her and bring her back. The longer we dally, the more danger she will be in."

Baixun glared at Shoya, nostrils flaring, but eventually he lowered his sword and let go. Ripping off his helmet, he threw it onto the ground with a roar of rage.

Shoya closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, trying to calm his own tangled mind. Ru Fei was right. His priority should be to find Yuehwa and bring her back. That was the best way to atone for his mistake.

"Lady Kang tricked us with a diversion," he explained. "We saw her carriage head towards the mountains and gave chase, but it was only a projection. Her physical body was not actually there. While we were engaged with her, they took the opportunity to kidnap Yuehwa."

"Also, the woman poisoned the mountain stream. I've already sent someone to warn the reinforcement army about it," Ru Fei added.

Baixun paced up and down, his brows furrowed deep in thought. "It makes sense for them to want to poison our water source, but what does she want with Yuehwa? If she was unconscious," his eyes shot daggers at Shoya again, "then they could have just killed her there and then, but they didn't. Or at least, we don't think they did... am I right?"

Shoya knew what he was thinking. They hadn't found any signs of struggle, or blood, or worse—a dead body—in the cave and its vicinity, so that would suggest that they had taken Yuehwa alive. But there was another possibility. That they could still have killed her and then taken the body away.

He pushed the thought out of his head.

"No," he said. "She's still alive." Now that he knew that the feud between them and the dark magician spanned the centuries, he was certain that they would not let Yuehwa die so easily. The woman had something else up her sleeve. Something that she thought would cause them even more pain and devastation.

Ru Fei nodded in agreement. "If they had killed the princess, we would already know. Knowing the princess is dead would shatter the confidence of our army," he said. So far, they had not heard anything from the Dahai camp since the ceasefire. No news was good news.

Shoya looked up, watching as the sun slipped behind the mountains and dusk set in. "I'll sneak into the Dahai camp tonight and see if I can locate her. If they've taken her then she must be there."

"I'll go with you," Baixun said.

"No. You need to stay here with the army in case they launch another attack."

Thanks to the lead-tipped weapons, Baixun's army had not suffered substantial losses. However, their supply of arrows had almost been depleted and there would be an even tougher fight coming up, if the reinforcements did not arrive soon. The last thing the army needed was for their commander-in-chief to leave the camp at this juncture.

"What if it's another trap? They must expect that we'll try to search the Dahai camp for the princess's whereabouts," Ru Fei said.

"Even if it's a trap, I have to go." He owed her that much.

And if she didn't make it, then he would not live either.

#

The first thing Yuehwa noticed when she regained consciousness was the sickly sweet smell that tickled her nose. It hung thick in the air, making her feel as if she had been doused in a pot of honey and jujubes.

"You're awake," a melodic voice floated into her ears.

"Where am I?" she croaked. Her throat felt parched and her head was splitting.

She was lying beneath the white canopy of a tent, on a thick bed of layered rugs. There was only one other person with her—the woman who had spoken—sitting by a circular tea table with a porcelain tea cup in her hand.

The woman was beautiful. Extremely beautiful, with silky hair the shade of midnight pinned to the back of her head with ruby-encrused hairpins, and skin that almost seemed to glow. Upon her shoulders hung a luxurious fur coat of flaming red, that made it look like she was being embraced by fire. Despite her beauty, there was something about her that made Yuehwa uncomfortable. Something that made her want to claw back that façade to see what was hiding behind it.

"The Dahai military encampment of course. Where else would you be, darling?" the lady replied with a tinkling laugh. It sounded almost mocking.

"The Dahai camp... Why can't I remember? Who are you? And who am I?"

Something about those words sounded familiar, but her mind simply could not recall the memory.

"The physicians said that you might find some difficulty remembering things when you woke, poor child. I am your father's concubine, Lady Kang, and you, my dear, are Naying, Princess of Dahai." The woman set down her tea cup and walked over to Yuehwa, settling herself down beside the latter. She raised one hand and gently stroked Yuehwa's cheek with her cold fingers. "It's okay. You're safe now. They can't hurt you anymore."

Naying? A princess?

She tried to search her mind for something—anything—but it was futile reaching into the haze.

"Hurt me? Who?"

"Your father's enemies." A soft sigh escaped from the woman's dark red lips. With the tip of her index finger, she lifted Yuehwa's chin. "Come, let me show you."

#

The king's tent was dimly lit by only a few measly candles in their bronze candle stand. Shadows danced eerily against the white walls, and the same unbearably sweet stench filled the interior. Yuehwa followed Lady Kang to the king's bedside, her gaze settling upon the frail figure lying there.

His cheeks were gaunt and his frame emaciated, with an unnatural shade of grey painting his wrinkled skin. For a moment she wondered if he was already dead, but the erratic rise and fall of his chest told her otherwise.

"You are the princess of Dahai, child, and this is your father the king. He would be glad to know that you are safe, and that you have returned to us," Lady Kang explained.

The princess of Dahai?

She let the title roll back and forth in her mind, but somehow it didn't seem to fit.

"What happened to him? To me?"

"We are at war, and the other kingdoms have turned their backs on us. If we lose, Dahai shall fall into the hands of those who wish to steal our riches and our land. They have poisoned your father in an attempt to debstabilise our army, and they tried to hold you hostage too. Now that you have returned, we are depending on you to lead us to victory. The time has come to make our final stand, Your Highness."

Yuehwa sat down beside the old man—her father—and took his bony hand in hers. Was this her father? How had things become this way? Why could she not remember? The more she tried to recall past events, the worse her headache became.

"Why can't I remember any of this?"

"They have a master of poisons among them. The White Scorpion. Ask anyone, and they will tell you how cruel and bloodthirsty he can be. He is the one responsible for your condition, and the king's too."

"The... White Scorpion..."

Her heart trembled. A slight fluttering, barely noticeable, but there nonetheless. She recognised that name. A hazy silhouette formed in her mind—a man, with robes of flowing white—but she simply could not make out the features of his face.

"He also has a second identity. Hwang Minjun, crown prince of Feng."

"Feng... They are the ones who are leading this offensive against us?"

"Not only them. Feng, Hwa and Gi have banded together. They hanker after the wealth that the ports of Dahai provide. They want to divide up our kingdom like a slab of meat. We cannot allow that to happen. You cannot allow that to happen." The lady walked up to her and placed a heavy stone seal in her hands, carved out of red coral. "This is the royal seal of Dahai. Before he lost consciousness, your father wanted you to have this." She knelt before Yuehwa, bowing her head in deference. "The survival of our kingdom depends on you, Your Highness."

Yuehwa wrapped her fingers around the smooth surface of the steal, staring down at the dragon carved on top, riding upon turbulent waves. There was an inexplicable anger that was rising up inside her, one that she could not put a finger on.

Feng. Hwa. Gi.

Hwang Minjun.

Hot tears began to well in her eyes. Frustration at not being able to remember. Helplessness at not knowing what she was supposed to do.

Lady Kang wrapped an arm around her in a comforting embrace. The lady's perfume, a subtle fragrance of orchids, calmed her nerves and made them settle back down. Like a sedative. The anger and confusion she had been feeling subsided back into the fog.

"Hush darling, it's alright. Everything will come full circle. We shall get our revenge..."

She closed her eyes, drifting back into a restless slumber.

#

In the depths of night, Shoya slipped unnoticed past the weary Dahai guards and into the enemy camp. He did a quick survey of the surroundings, trying to determine where they might be keeping Yuehwa.

The candles had been put out in the king's tent, as well as in Lady Kang's, as if they had retired for the night. Shoya lifted the tent flap to the lady's tent, eyeing the silhouette that lay beneath the blankets. Her maidservant was sitting by the bedside, head lolling sideways as she dozed. His fingers tightened over the hilt of his sword. It would be only too easy to sneak in and put a blade through the woman's heart, but his common sense warned him against it. He had already fallen into her trap once, he could not risk it again.

He lowered the flap, moving towards the storage tents, where they were more likely to keep prisoners.

"Where are you heading to in such a hurry?"

"It's the princess. She's burning up again. I have to get a fresh basin of water for her."

Shoya paused. The voices belonged to two palace servants who had crossed paths, with the latter anxiously clutching on to a bronze basin.

Princess?

Dahai only had one princess, and that princess was now in the Gi army camp, so why else would there be a princess here?

Sensing something amiss, Shoya followed behind the maidservant as she filled a fresh basin of water from a large clay jar and hurried back towards a non-descript tent, not far from where the king's tent was located. There were six guards standing watch outside the entrance, more than any other tent he had passed along the way—including the king's.

Yuehwa.

She had to be inside.

Crouched in the shadows behind a pile of hay, he waited until the soldiers from the camp's regular patrol went by. Then, he took out a small bamboo cylinder from his waistband and raised it to his lips. Six slender needles flew out from the barrel in quick succession, lodging themselves precisely at the sides of the guards' necks. One by one, they fell to the ground, unconscious.

He quickly stole into the tent.

The servant girl who had gone to fetch water spun around, eyes widening in shock when she saw him there. She opened her mouth to scream, but he quickly knocked her out with a clean stroke to the back of her neck.

A figure stirred beneath a thick woven blanket. She was facing away from him, towards the back of the tent, but he didn't need to see her face to know that it was her. He would have been able to recognise her silhouette anywhere.

"Yuehwa?" he called out.

He rushed to the bedside, relief flooding through him. She was safe. She was here.

He reached towards her, but before his fingers could even come in touch with her shoulder, she flipped herself around. The cold, sharp tip of a dagger's blade pointed straight at his neck. He froze.

"Yuehwa, it's me. It's Shoya."

He could see her clearly now—his Yuehwa. Her familiar brows, eyes, the curve of her nose and lips. But he immediately knew that something was wrong.

The blade was not lowered. On the contrary, its pressure against his skin increased.

"What are you doing? Don't you recognise me?"

"Of course I recognise you. The White Scorpion, am I right?"

Yuehwa sat up, her eyes flashing dangerously as she stared him down. There was something unfamiliar in her gaze, as if she had been possessed by someone else entirely.

"We don't have time. We have to go now, before they realise I'm here. Come, Yuehwa, come with me and once we're out of here I'll explain everything," he said, keeping an eye towards the entrance. The dark magician had done something to Yuehwa, he was certain of it, but he needed to get her out of here before he could figure out what exactly had happened.

"Do you think I'm foolish enough to follow you, after what you did to me? To my father?" she scoffed. "Now that you've delivered yourself to our doorstep, don't think of leaving here alive."

"What are you talking about? What father?"

Yuehwa did not allow him to ask any more questions. Her dagger jabbed towards him, going for the kill. He leapt backwards, narrowly escaping. Yuehwa continued stabbing in his direction, each move carrying her usual incisiveness and deadly precision. Had he been someone else, that person would already be dead.

"Yuehwa, stop this! Listen to me. They've tricked you. This is not who you are. Everything that they've told you is a lie," he said, in between fending off her attacks. He spun behind her and grabbed her arm and shoulder, forcing her to drop the dagger.

The blade clanged to the ground.

"Please, just come with me. I can undo whatever she's done to you," he begged.

If only he could get her back to the Gi camp, then perhaps they could use the same remedy with the golden chrysanthemums to cure her of the effects of Lady Kang's dark magic, the same way they had rescued Baixun.

"I'm not going anywhere with you," Yuehwa spat. "If you want to take me away from here, then you'll have to take my dead body."

"Yuehwa!"

He turned her around, thinking to drag her forcibly out with him, but then he saw the look in her eyes.

The hate in her eyes.

Even after everything that had happened between him and Yuehwa, all the misunderstandings and unhappiness, the disappointment and heartache, he had never seen her look at him this way. He had never entertained the thought that one day, she might come to hate him, that there might be a chance he would lose her for good.

A fear that he had never known before gripped his heart.

In his hesitation, Yuehwa twisted her body sideways and slipped away from him. She reached for a bell that was hanging from one corner of the tent and rang it loudly.

Shoya jolted back to reality. The footsteps of approaching patrol soldiers could be heard on the outside. He glanced towards Yuehwa, only managing to catch a short glimpse of her before she disappeared through the entrance flap of the tent.

Clenching his fists, he lingered for a moment more, then he swiftly retreated into the night.