A Whore's Daughter

"Mother." A hushed whisper echoed through the night. On the silent unpaved road, the soft feminine voice reached hundreds of soldiers that stood unprotected underneath the vast moonless night.

Predator-like eyes turned soft at the whimpers of the young girl. Tucked in a shabby ball, the lightly dressed girl shivered terribly. Despite the multiple wooden beams that surrounded the cold platform which the girl laid on, all the soldiers could see her pitiful state.

"Let's rest for the night." One man announced. His brown hair reached down to his shoulders, and was tied sloppily into a half bun at the back of his head. Everything about him was extraordinary, other than his military rank. Despite his incomparable skills, he was still an average soldier.

An older man besides him glanced suspiciously at the soldier. His round face was lined with a handsome beard that had never been shaven. Overlooking the fact that he was the oldest one in the unit, he was quite young. The baby fat that remained on his jolly face made it obvious.

"You heard him," he suddenly shouted. His mature voice made all the young soldiers freeze on the spot. It was a deep and raspy voice unlike anything they'd ever heard before. "We're setting up camp." He finished, his owl-like eyes never looking away from the handsome youth leading the abnormally small unit of soldiers. "I didn't think that the famous killer, He Tengfei, was so kind to his hostages." He spoke quietly with a glint in his brown eyes.

The handsome youth glanced at the bearded man besides him. A million thoughts ran in his head as he looked at him. The bearded man was famous throughout the nation. Cui Hong, the ferocious shadow behind the Crown Prince. A man that many presumed undefeatable due to his zero losses in battle, but he had many losses in love.

Only a glance was shared between the two before the youth walked away in silence. He had chosen against replying to Cui Hong's teases, and instead was heading towards the tents the rest of the soldiers were setting up. Which, coincidentally, was placed next to the cage which held their prestigious hostage.

"Sir!" A young boy saluted upon seeing He Tengfei nearing the barracks. His appearance was unruly after walking all day. His short brown hair stuck to his head and was greasy from the accumulated sweat on his large forehead. Black-purple bags were surrounding his hazel round eyes, making him look somewhat like a panda.

"Bobo," Tengfei said with a slight laugh. "Go wash up." He said with a hint of a smile on his unchanging face.

"Yes sir!" Bobo, or Tao Xiaobo, said with a resolute face. Much like Tengfei, the boy rarely showed a smile. Xiaobo seemed to be capable of only expressing three expressions - arrogant, tired, and determined.

"Oh," Tengfei called out as the boy turned to leave. "Also, before you go to bed, could you check on Her Highness, Wang Sinjeong? We don't want her to die before we arrive at the capital now, do we?"

"Her Highness?" Xiaobo repeated. He turned towards the cage shrouded in darkness and stared. "You mean her?" He asked with a genuinely shocked face as he rudely pointed at the lightly dressed teenage girl.

In the dark night, her attire attracted much attention. The white dress she wore was similar to the night clothing that nobility wore where the soldiers were from, except hers was far more thin. The thin silk was loose and was meant to only be worn in one's personal quarters, yet here she was, donning it for nearly a hundred soldiers to openly see. Not that she had a chance to change into something though.

"She's a princess?" Xiaobo asked. Tengfei nodded in response, making Xiaobo frown. "But she's a whore's daughter."

"Go do as your told." He Tengfei said with an unusually stern tone. Xiaobo was stunned at the harshness in his older friend's voice, but he didn't want to linger and find out what had made him raise his voice. He turned around and jogged towards the tent he had been assigned, making sure to glance at the so-called "Princess" on his way.

As Xiaobo jogged away, a brief change of expression could be seen on the aloof He Tengfei's handsome face. An obvious frown formed, ruining his image of perfection. The unusual expression was gone in the blink of an eye, and had disappeared before anyone could realize it had happened.

Hidden in the shadows of the surrounding forest and the darkness of the moonless night, another obvious frown appeared on an unexpecting face. Inside the well-made wooden cage, the small girl's unchanging face began to twitch with annoyance. Sinjeong quickly managed to control her emotions, as soldiers passed by her.

Hour after hour passed, and the girl remained still throughout the night. Her entire body was sore from not moving, and the chances of escaping seemed to be thinning. Finally, as she was about to give up, a small creak echoed through the darkest part of the clearing.

Every muscle inside of her body told her to run. That this was her only chance. But she refused to move. She knew that if she moved now, she would never be able to leave. As she depended solely on her hearing to grasp the perfect timing, she suddenly opened her eyes. Startling the young man besides her, and making him yell out of shock. A factor that she had failed to think of.

Immediately, she realized her mistake. Not moving for hours on end, her body eagerly sprang her up and she soon overtook the young boy thanks to the element of surprise. She threw the blanket he had in his hands and covered his head with it.

It quickly came off as he cast it away, but in the time that he had been blinded she had managed to keep the upper hand. A jade hair piece that had been roughly cut diagonally was poking into his soft neck. Already leaving a trace of blood on his unsuspecting throat.

"You!" He yelled in surprise. Surprised at the fact that he had been bested by a mere girl, and that he could die any moment.

"Hows this for a "whore's" daughter?"