Chapter 14 - Keep Trying

Yiming marched towards a weapon rack and pulled out a wooden sword. "Let's see if you can even hold a weapon." He tossed the wooden sword towards me, and I think he intended for me to catch it. I didn't catch it though.

Xiaodao snorted, and Weixian rolled his eyes and slapped his palm against his forehead. "There isn't even an ounce of potential in her," he said to Lingyue. She slapped him on his shoulder, and told him, "Hey. Have patience. All of us have to start somewhere."

I smiled at Lingyue in gratitude, and picked up the sword from the ground. It was much heavier than I thought. I held it in my hands like I saw in movies. Yiming sighed, and Weixian left.

"You won't even be able to hurt a fly with that stance. You'll topple over as soon as you make your first swing," Yiming explained. He stood near me and demonstrated with his own body how I should be standing. "Spread your feet apart - try to match the distance between them with the width of your shoulders. Then bend your knees a bit."

I did as he asked and then he nodded. "That's okay. Not bad. It needs more work though. But let's practice a few sword techniques."

We practiced all day, until late in the afternoon. The others had long since left to do their jobs for the emperor, but Yiming continued to guide me through my training. By the end of it every muscle in my body ached.

"Okay, that's enough for today," Yiming announced. I was heaving and my knees were wobbly, but he looked like he didn't even bat an eyelash the entire day. He patted me on the shoulder, "Don't worry, it gets better."

"It does? Really? I don't believe you," I responded while trying to catch my breath.

Yiming was a good instructor. His explanations was very easy to understand, and whenever I did something wrong or fell down, he would help me up and encourage me to go on. Since I met him yesterday, I thought he was a clown - always making jokes and taking nothing seriously. But today I got a glimpse of Yiming as a person who can be serious and who is a really good leader. I understood why Lijun chose him to be his righthand man and the captain of the attendants.

"Come, the emperor wants to see you," Yiming said, leading the way.

"How do you know?" I asked, confused. Yiming was with me the whole day, and no one came to deliver a message that the emperor wanted to see me, so how did he know?

Yiming tapped his forefinger against his head, "He told me so."

"Through your mind???"

"Yep. He has the ability to talk to people in their minds," Yiming said. "But he can get quite annoying sometimes, so I have to block him." Who would have the audacity to block an emperor? No one other than Yiming.

"And I'm guessing you can block him because you're special?" I asked, and Yiming nodded, looking smug.

I wondered why the emperor didn't just tell me directly that he wanted to see me then. But I figured he must have his reasons. Plus, it would have freaked me out.

We went back to the Emperor's Chambers, but this time we went to what looked like a giant office. There were bookshelves decorating the walls, and they were all filled with scrolls and wooden books. Most of them seemed to be about strategy and war.

In the middle of the room stood a large desk, and behind it sat Lijun, writing something on a scroll. He was dressed in yellow silk with golden dragons embroidered into it. It looked too fancy to be office-wear.

It made me think of the outfits that he wore when he was in my world. The clothes that he wore here were in stark contrast to the black hoodie and black jeans he wore each time that he saved me in my world. I wondered how he got the hoodie and jeans.

Lijun put down his brush and looked up at me and Yiming. When I saw his face, I could see that he was tired. His eyes were more hooded than usual and had a shadow beneath them.

"How did the first day of training go?" Lijun asked me.

I scratched my head then awkwardly wiped the sweat on my forehead. "Well..."

"She has a long way to go," Yiming interjected. "And when I say 'long' way, I mean loooooooong way."

So much for all the encouragement.

Lijun's gaze travelled to me. "Is it too hard? To learn to fight, I mean."

I thought about it for a minute. I mean, it definitely isn't easy. My arms ached from swinging that sword around, and it wasn't even a real sword. I couldn't try any of the other weapons though, and a part of me wanted to know if I'd be better at one of those. Or maybe I just wasn't meant for it at all.

But something in me said that I needed to keep on trying. I needed to learn to protect myself. I didn't have my knight anymore. But even if Kai WAS here... I wouldn't want him to rescue me anymore. I needed to become strong on my own.

"No," I finally answered to Lijun's question. "I want to keep going."

Lijun smiled almost proudly, and Yiming lightly punched my shoulder, "That's my girl!"

"Yiming, go get us a pot of tea and have the chefs bring dinner to my dining quarters," Lijun commanded, to which Yiming scoffed. "Do I look like your chamber maid?! Do it yourself."

Lijun rubbed his temples, "Now, Yiming."

Yiming sighed heavily, dragging it on before saying, "Fine!" Then he stomped out of the room, mumbling something about always being ordered around and being treated like shit.

Lijun got up and walked towards the door, "Come."

I followed him out of his office and down the hallway. He was silent and the only sound that echoed was our footsteps.

I decided to break the silence first. "Hey, uhm, your Majesty... Are you okay? You look exhausted."

"I am alright. I just have a slight migraine," he responded. I wondered if it was still the lingering effects of the mass enchantment that he did the previous night.

Before I could ask anything else, he changed the subject. "Are you getting along with the other attendants?"

"I am, actually. They're all very friendly. Well, everyone except Attendant Weixian." Even just saying his name made my blood boil.

Lijun chuckled, "Ah, yes. Attendant Weixian has a rather... tough personality. But he is loyal beyond compare. Once you make a friend in him, he will fight to the death to protect you."

I wondered what one even had to do to become friends with that prick. Whatever it was, I didn't care. Who wanted to be friends with a jerk like him anyway?

"He values hard work above anything else. Besides his sister, that is. They are like two sides of a coin, and will never let anyone seperate them," Lijun continued. "His exterior seems very harsh, but inside he is soft like the inside of a steamed bun," Lijun leaned closer to me to whisper in my ear, "He even enjoys reading romance novels. In fact, it's his favorite genre."

I raised my eyebrows and I turned to Lijun, our faces were inches apart. "Really?!"

Lijun smiled and put his index finger to his lips, "Yes, but I am the only one that knows that. It's a secret. Do not tell anyone else."

"I won't." Yet. But if he decides to be a jerk to me, I might just think of broadcasting it to the entire palace.

"Do you know this because you... you know... read his mind?" I asked. We entered a dining room which were suprisingly smaller than I thought it would be. I guess Lijun didn't like to entertain many people over his private dinner.

"Yes. I like to... 'check up' on the attendants every so often to see if they are doing alright." Lijun sat down at the head of the table and told me to sit down near him.

It seems that Lijun cared deeply for his attendants.

I wondered if he ever read my mind?

I avoided eye contact and carefully asked him, "Did you ever read my mind?"

"No."

I looked up at him and met his eyes, "Why not?"

Lijun glanced at my fidgeting hands and smiled weakly, "I simply cannot."

He couldn't read my mind? Was it because I was from another world? Or was I 'special' like Yiming?

"Is it because I'm from another world?"

Lijun shook his head, "No. While I was in your world, I could read everyone's minds except yours."

That was strange. But I'm actually glad that he could not read my mind. I had my thoughts to myself, at least.

"But, believe me if I say," Lijun said while his eyes travelled up from my hands and met my own with a kind of desperation in them, "I wish I could read your mind."