3 Aftermath

The healing spell used by Xian needed less than five seconds, that was quite fast for him. After completion, Xian closed his eyes and clapped his hands twice. This was his own ritual to make the spell work, he didn't know whether it was useful or not, it was just like a wish or a humble prayer for a successful magic spell. Thankfully, he made no error in his chanting. He did feel slightly nervous and uneasy even if he knew it was no use feeling insecure in the current perilous situation.

Magic was not his forte but his remarkable physical strength was currently useless to help Soon-Yi. Only healing magic could do it. However, his knowledge and control of his own magic powers were seriously lacking. Every time he was forced to use them, he couldn't help but worry. He sighed, he really did his best but the wounds were very frightening, almost deadly. He felt drained with just this simple spell, breathing hard to shake off the dizziness. Immediately, his fingertips started to tingle. He didn't dare to have a look and just hid his hands in his pockets. This spell was not enough for the disease to spread further, even Soon-Yi, when teaching him, found this kind of backlash off-putting. Most of all, he should not touch anyone before the tingling sensation disappeared.

When he opened his eyes again, he saw a stunned Lady Wei looking straight ahead, her raised hands even bloodier than before. She wasn't hurt but she didn't move at all and didn't seem to notice the fresh blood everywhere around her or the glistening tears that left traces on the indescribable grime and dirt covering her beautiful face. She didn't hear the wails of the injured or the noises of the fight. She was in a trance, kneeling on the gory pavement at the exact place where Soon-Yi was lying a few moments before, heavily injured by the treacherous maid. Xian followed her gaze and almost jumped out of his skin with fright.

Even though the alley was dimly lit at the beginning of the attack, the current brightness was dazzling. However, the light was not only due to the burning carriage, Soon-Yi's body was the main source of the blinding radiance. The Great Mage was standing close to the fire but the glow around her outshone everything else. She was radiating a white, cold and almost holy light. For an instant, everybody was shocked and mesmerized but both friends and foes shivered uncontrollably with fear.

Her face didn't show any sign of pain, only anger and hatred. Her dress was red and sticky with her own blood but, fortunately, the bleeding had stopped thanks to Xian's healing spell and she didn't even feel any weakness due to blood loss. She felt very comfortable, as if she didn't have her abdomen slashed a few minutes ago, as if her guts were still obediently inside her body and not hanging from her open – and coruscating – wound.

The organs that were dangling from her injury were also white and shining with the holy light and they were slowly moving up, back to their original place. The process seemed excruciatingly slow to the onlooker but it was still visible to the naked eye and Xian was sure a lot of people were itching to grab the bowels and shove them back in a hurry. This rather horrifying view was causing a couple additional maids to faint but nobody seemed to notice.

Soon-Yi herself was oblivious to the state of her body. She was simply standing and using the flames to send waves after waves of fireballs. Her gaze never left her hidden enemies, the fireballs always hit their marks. Even though she specialized in water magic and was skilled in ice magic, which derived from water magic, she was after all a Great Mage and could manipulate other elements provided that they were already present. She couldn't summon fire elements as her affinity was low but controlling them was easy for her. This showed how high her mastery and comprehension of arcane magic were compared to other magic users. Xian, among others, could only dream of wielding such power.

With his enhanced eyesight, Xian could barely discern the archers but Soon-Yi wiped them all out with her fire balls or with sharp ice shards flying from every directions. Even Xian, who knew her well, thought that she looked really scary at that time. Fire was already spreading in the upper floors of the buildings and the arrows were now directed toward the dangerous and powerful Great Mage Soon-Yi, allowing the remaining guards to regroup in a safer position. These men were soldiers, they knew how to take advantage of a life-saving opportunity without asking any question.

All guards aside, Lady Wei was unexpectedly the first to regain her senses. She started shouting orders like an efficient general and Xian and the maids hurriedly cleared the scene, carrying the injured or fainted ones as fast as possible, with the help of the men. Xian had always been proud of her and this time was no exception as she showed how capable, level-headed and strong-willed she was. No open assault, no scheming plot, no political conspiracy could completely faze her. If her backup – the royal family of her mother country – hadn't collapsed or if she was half as gifted with magic as Soon-Yi, Xian wouldn't worry so much.

Once everyone was out of danger, the enemy archers and soldiers quickly withdrew. Their ambush failed and they suffered a heavy loss, they didn't want to add more injuries and deaths for nothing.

With but a sign from his foster mother, Xian grabbed a sword, a helmet and a piece of armor from a fallen enemy and, hiding in the shadows, hurried after the retreating assassins. If he could infiltrate the group, take a look at their hideout or catch a glimpse of their leaders, their employers or their backers, this would be valuable information for Lady Wei's protection.

Xian's motivation was strong and always the same. His dedication to Lady Wei was ever so annoyingly close to his being a siscon – after all, they were blood-related and the only survivors of Aliker Kingdom's royal family. Moreover, he never hesitated to put his life at stake just to snatch a useful hint. He was such a single-minded fool that even Soon-Yi couldn't help but find him irritating. Even though he was a skilled spy and had a number of successful missions, he could sometimes be so rash and reckless that she just couldn't bring herself to send him too far away, out of her sight or out of her reach. And each time she had to let him go, she was worried sick and would lose both appetite and sleep. Of course, she would never admit it willingly. He was such a frustrating son !

When she took him in and decided to turn him into a spy, she never thought that she would become such a worrywart and such an unsightly overprotective foster mother. However, before actually raising a child, one couldn't really imagine that some rules had to be amended, some personal principle had to be adapted. And above all else, the cold, haughty, calm and collected Soon-Yi never suspected that feelings would be of utmost importance in her tie toward Xian and that they, more often than not, would throw her whole life in disarray.

As Xian disappeared from view, both Soon-Yi and Lady Wei secretly wished in their hearts that he would come back safely and as soon as possible.

The First Prince Zhou Xi had just joined them. He had to deal with the aftermath of the fight as he issued orders to notify the healers and the soldiers in the Orchid Palace to come and get the injured or dispose of the dead. He was, after all, the highest ranking officer in this troop, since as a Prince, he was also a general of the Selnan army.

Unfortunately, there was no prisoners to interrogate. The corpses of the guards would be sent back to their families for burial, whereas the bodies of the enemy warriors would be brought back in order to search their belongings for any clues regarding the foe. The deceased maids, alas, were already turned to ashes.

In Zhou Xi's mind, there was no doubt that these enemy warriors were soldiers from a powerful force, either a noble from Selnan or an enemy from a foreign country. They were not some mere mercenaries or hired assassins. He hoped that some mark or object could give him a hint at finding the culprit and he was looking forward to hearing the report of the captain of the guard later on.

Whether the target of this assassination attempt was his own wife, pregnant with his first child, or the Great Mage, a friend of the emperor's and the most powerful mage protecting the empire, as a prince, he couldn't let this pass. Should he fail to retaliate, his loss would be huge, both for his cherished and close ones and for his status and prestige. His numerous enemies never granted him any respite, he would certainly not let them off the hook that easily ! Maybe the victims, his wife or Soon-Yi, knew or saw something ? Should he investigate on the spot or let them rest ?

Seeing both women stare in the empty shadows, it was easy for him to guess who left them, even more so because earlier he caught a glimpse of golden hair while he was trying to come and rescue the victims from the burning carriage. He was both grateful towards these unknown enemies for forcing Xian to reveal himself and resentful because they hindered him and prevented him from meeting the sneaky boy who always gave him the slip.

Shaking his head slowly, Zhou Xi heaved a sigh. He really wanted to be friend and get along with Xian. They'd known each others for years but the boy was still reluctant to approach him so what could he possibly do ? Was it because of his status as a prince of Selnan ? He heard from the Great Mage Soon-Yi that Xian was born abroad, in Aliker. Or was it because he was Lady Wei's husband ?

The First Prince smiled wryly. There was really nothing he could do, even with his status and power. He should just give up but he couldn't. He had never been so persistent about something or someone and he didn't know why. It couldn't be helped, Xian himself was a total mystery.

Zhou Xi walked towards the two women. Soon-Yi's injuries were mostly healed – and she didn't glow anymore – and the street was empty again, exactly in the same state as before except for the destroyed carriage and all the blood covering the pavement, making it slippery.

A new carriage, small and swift, had arrived from the Orchid Palace, so Zhou Xi could escort the ladies back. In this situation, they couldn't possibly attend the party tonight. When the three of them had settled in the carriage and numerous guards were ready to escort them, they went back as quickly as possible.

During the return trip, Zhou Xi tried to ask as many questions as possible to get information while the memories of the two ladies were still fresh but the events still looked somewhat confused. The only sure thing was that Xian played an important role in the rescue, freeing the victims from their bounds and from the burning carriage, healing Soon-Yi with a powerful magic spell that rendered even the Great Mage speechless.

The other interesting lead was the treacherous maid who was inside the carriage. In the first moments of the fight, when everything was still chaotic and the maids accompanying the ladies were frantic and scared, the traitor lunged at Lady Wei with a dagger. Soon-Yi only had time to throw herself in the path of the blade.

Nobody else could react, they were stunned as nobody thought there would be danger inside as well as outside. As for Soon-Yi, a magic spell would have been too slow, she could only use her body to block the attack. In these circumstances, Xian's speed and knives would have been helpful. With Soon-Yi heavily injured, she was too weak to cast any spell and nobody was able to heal her so the fear and panic increased inside the carriage allowing the assassin to escape.

Indeed, even though Soon-Yi was not the target of the assassination attempt, her abdomen was slashed open and she then realized that the blade was coated in poison, paralyzing her in a matter of seconds. But, of course, even Zhou Xi hearing the ladies recounting the event was hard-pressed to understand how they all had their hands tied in the short time between the assault with the dagger and the escape. The only possible explanation would be that the assassin had one or several accomplices among the other maids who went unnoticed as they bound the other ones (and themselves to avoid being discovered).

Zhou Xi, thus, made a mental note to detain and interrogate all the maids that were in the carriage. Another question remained unanswered but his wife and Soon-Yi could probably be of no help in this case : that is who decided to change the route without notifying the captain of the guard, thus putting the escort in disarray. Zhou Xi was really ill at ease since it was necessarily one of his other wives that were in the first carriage to meet up with him. Moreover, they tried to divert his attention to delay his troop. Maybe several of his wives were involved, since he knew that they were jealous of Lady Wei's pregnancy, and most of them had powerful families backing them up.

The First Prince Zhou Xi really hated harem infighting, it was a real source of headache !

Hopefully, Xian would provide him with the truth. Even though the young boy was troublesome, he was truly skilled. Thanks to him, the previous assassination attempts were avoided and the perpetrators were caught – even if they couldn't reach the actual and powerful culprit – and Zhou Xi didn't have to lift a finger, just pass judgment and show an outward appearance of authority. The prince hoped that this time again, Xian would bring an easy solution for him to resolve this mess.