Chapter 2

I watched how they do it with excitement and the smell of the roasted meat had watered my mouth as I craved for one. At that point I knew I was hungry because my stomach couldn't stop grumbling, I could have ordered them to give me the ones which were ready and they wouldn't object but somehow like I said, I never really felt like a princess hence giving out orders felt unusual to me. But Lee, it was like he knew what I wanted.

He collected some few pieces of the meat, laced them with a traditional stew which contained salt and pepper. Then, he handed them to me.

  "There you go, princess" He said calmly. 

  "Thank you Lee" I said and I looked at him as he blushed and sat beside me. I took one piece, immersed it inside my mouth and slowly chew it and I swore to gods it was the best roasted meat I had ever eaten, although all we ate everyday was just meat but that morning it was unique.

  "Do you want to try it?" I asked Lee.

  "No princess, thank you."

  "Nonsense, take this one…" I picked up a piece and forced it inside his mouth, he giggled but chew it slowly and he was also amazed at how good it was. Lee was my friend since we were young so there was nothing awkward about two friends trying out meat together, and even though there were other men we still made jokes and laughed as if we were alone.

  "Have you ever wondered what lived outside our empire?" I asked him curiously.

  "No! Have you?"

  "You have never felt maybe there are people out there living in warm lands?"

  "Warm lands? Without cold?" His eyes widened with amazement, I couldn't blame him because all this sounded like a dream. 

  "Yes"

  "Perhaps that could mean magic" He said and laughed at me, I pushed him aside. He didn't take my theory serious, he must've thought I was joking. Well, my idea sounded like a joke and almost unbelievable. But then he looked at me and pulled me over away from others.

  "What is it Lee?" I asked him and he looked around nervously, then he immersed his arm inside his heavy fabric coat and took out a fruit which was purple and it had already decayed. I had never seen such fruit in my whole life, we don't grow that in our cold lands. We had different fruits which weren't tasty and definitely they were all white, because of the deep snow that we lived in.

  "It's from a man who passed through our lands as we were hunting. He looked warm, not a single pale on his face and he couldn't stop complaining about how cold Xinjiang was compared to his home"

  "Where is he?" I asked eager to know where I can find this man. 

  "He was passing through, the warriors made us vow not to tell anyone about him and they said he was a warlock. He looked like a warlock and if we invited him here, he could've cursed us"

I remained silent for a moment digesting all that Lee was telling me as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I held the fruit closely, looking at it and my desire heightened during that particular moment. What could it feel like living in a land which was warm throughout the seasons, there will be no need for heavy fabrics and sleeping beside a fire. Oh, how magical would it feel to be able to wear just my colorful robes without having to cover them because of fear I would freeze to death.

While I was inside my head, making my own scenarios. Two servants who belonged to the Queen, my mother came to fetch me. I left Lee and raced to my mother's cave, I found her sitting while arranging flowers.

  "Sire" I greeted her while bowing and she stood up, embraced me in a hug and kissed me.

  "I heard you were with the warriors, roasting meat" She said smiling at me.

  "Oh, yes…I…"

  "Sit Mingzhu"

I sat down and so did she, I had no idea what was going on but she told me to remove my coat, and then my robe. I only remained with my under garments and even though she was my mother who I was very comfortable around her, there was just something about sitting across her while I was naked, that made me uncomfortable.

  "Are you shy?" She asked me.

  "Yes what are you doing mother? What's all this…?"

  "To prepare you for your wedding"

  "My what!" I exclaimed in shock. 

  "Mingzhu, the prince of Minao is set to make his appearance today, at noon"

I couldn't believe what she just said "What?" I asked my mother unaware of what was going on, nobody had told me about this. 

  "Has no one informed you yet?"

  "No! Mother, I don't want to marry him. I don't want to marry anyone; I want to be alone"

She sighed for a moment, of course she was tired of my indiscretions as so was my father. "Mingzhu you have to for the sake of our empire" she pleaded me and I quickly stood up.

  "I don't want to be a sacrifice for the sake of anyone, what about my happiness Ma? What about what I want?"

  "What do you want?"

  "Freedom to be myself, to explore and learn"

  "Explore? You are a princess, and not a warrior Mingzhu" She shouted at me.

  "I shan't marry a man who I don't know. I will be Queen someday, and I want to rule how I see fit not by giving myself to a stranger"

  "Prince of Minao is not a stranger, you two have been promised to one another since you were infants. I will have no further discussions with you. You are to marry him, end of discussion"

My mother barged outside of her cave leaving me with no choice, I started to cry as I fell down on my knees. That moment was heavy and so was my heart, I felt dizzy. I remember staying inside my mother's cave until I heard drums of celebrations and then heavy thud as the ground shook. I didn't need anyone to tell me that the prince had arrived for he made such an entrance with his companions. I peeped outside and I saw him on a huge elephant dressed in a brown robe made of silk and on top of it he covered himself with fur fabric which glittered as a symbol of royalty. I couldn't see his face no matter how I hard I tried, he had a scarf which covered his face. I thought possibly because he had a girly face. His companions were all on horses and covered themselves with matching outfits. 

Two servants came inside my mother's cave, they bathed me in warm water, had me wear a traditional engagement robe which was red and had some blue flowers as a symbol of fertility and good luck. I frowned most of the time and because my face was hidden, I didn't see a reason to fake a smile. I was then taken outside, my face hidden as I stood between my mother and father ready to welcome the visitors. 

The prince dismounted the elephant with the help of his servants and walked towards us. He was young, just like how I was and if it was true that he couldn't swing a sword then what a waste. "The King Emperor…" He said and curtsied to my father. 

  "Prince Yunshan, Great Imperial Son" My father replied to him and then he bowed. That came as a surprise and it disgusted me, how does a King bow to a prince? I almost said something but managed to keep still. The prince went on to say his greetings to my mother. 

  "I've brought gifts" He said to my mother and turned back to his servants. He ordered them to distribute the meat, rum and flowers among our people and when he came to my side, I didn't know what to do or how to act.

He took out his scarf and revealed his face, I almost laughed underneath my cloth because he did look like a girl. Everything about his face showed no sign of masculinity, even his lips were small but he had a bit of moustache just on his upper lip and somehow that made him a man.

  "Sire…" I greeted him and bowed, but I still didn't take off my cover and he only saw my eyes.

  "Princess Mingzhu, it's an honor" He said and bowed back at me.

  "The honor is all mine, my prince"

  "I've heard you are well with your sword…"

  "Yes, I…" I answered with excitement and eager to tell the prince everything about how well I was with my sword, but my mother intervened "She can also cook and make robes" she said while chuckling softly. 

  "She can sew?" The prince asked my mother.

  "Very well, I taught her myself"

  "I can't wait to wear something that you will make for me princess" He said and then smiled at me. Well, he smiled almost the entire night.

I was exhausted and everyone noticed how disappointed I was at the whole thing, during the sundown I was engaged to the prince. We did a ritual ceremony where my palm and his were cut a bit, and then we joined our hands by blood as others danced surrounding the fire.