The Bells

General Bingwen was at the eastern side of the wall surrounding the Heping Empire. He had already given forty-eight hours to the so-called emperor and he still has not given up his niece, Princess Yingyue. "This is your final warning!" he shouted at the men looking over them with arrows pointed right at his chest. He was not afraid. He knew they were not going to shoot unless they attacked first.

"Give us Princess Yingyue and we will leave your premises at once!" He also knew that the emperor would never hand over the princess. If there was one thing the emperor could say about the matter it would be "over my dead body."

They both had the same idea for the princess. They would use her to gain the army of Shanmai Empire. The princess' emperor brother would have no choice but to also favor the husband of his sister. Bingwen was going to be the one who would win. He knew his niece wanted out of this world.

Who would want to stay in a walled palace anyway? She should go see the whole continent! There was a lot to see than these confining walls.

"Nothing?" he asked the archers on the wall. None answered him. He shrugged. "That settles it then!" he shouted and got back on the top of his horse, pushing down his helmet, and carrying his massive sword. "Men, let's march!" He pointed the tip of his sword in the air, "Onward!"

The echoes of the footsteps of the army all clad in the same armor as him, was like the second beat of a heart. General Bingwen could imagine the people inside the walls. They must be shaking their souls out, hiding in the safe houses that the emperor provided them.

Even the emperor knew there was a way that these walls that he protected himself with would crumble and they would be open to every raid and attack.

This was the day that the Heping Empire would fall.

The first arrow landed in front of him, spooking his horse but he held the reins. It was a warning shot. General Bingwen kept his face neutral as he looked at the archer who gave no emotion in return.

Good soldier, he thought and he smiled to himself. Pity he was going to die.

"Archers!" he screamed and he knew that the men behind him already got into position. "Fire!"

But the command died on his lips as it was swallowed by the ringing of the bells on top of the walls. It clanged and clanged, probably deafning the archers near them.

There was only one reason why the Heping Empire would ring the old bells.

"No!" he screamed. "No!" he threw his helmet down the ground. "No!"

"General, what's wrong?" asked the young soldier from his side. "Are we not going to attack?"

"It's too late." He shook his head. "They already married the princess."

**

It was around lunchtime when Tianshi Xue finally went out. Her bathroom had its fresh pail of water already replenished and she had a nice sponge bath to relieve the heat off her body and clean her face.

"I cannot believe that prince!" she told herself as she squeezed the small towel she had been using. "How dare he embarrass a princess."

"Well, for one," said her consciousness, "you did try to embarrass him first."

"He has no chivalric manners." From her reflection on the water, she found that most of the redness on her face were already gone. Most of the red patches looked like misplaced pink blush all over her body. It was a good thing because her ointment was almost out.

She bundled the shawl and decided to show her face to the world again. It probably missed it. She smiled up the sun and she felt like it was going to be a good day. She was not even going to let her crappy morning ruin the rest of her mood.

Tianshi Xue went straight to the camp and sat down on one of the logs, next to the doctor. Everyone was staring at her face. "I'm pretty, aren't I?"

There was a chorus of "Of course, Your Highness" and bowed heads. She was more than satisfied with that.

She took her plate and gingerly picked on the mush that was now called food. She did not even bother knowing at which tincan this came from but she ate it anyway. One thing was for sure, it was tasty and she was certain they had to cook it first before eating but everyone was already munching it down with gusto.

She pretended like she was not seeing the prince who was at the side tapping his knife against a brown shell. She could not help but be curious with what he was doing. After a few more hard strokes, the top finally came off and clear liquid poured out of it.

The prince's eyes shifted to hers and she nearly jumped at getting caught. She pried her eyes away but sooner than later, the brown shell was at the corner, the doctor was handing it to her.

"What should I do with it?" she asked dumbly.

"You should drink, Your Highness. It's sweet water. Coconut is hard to come by once we're back in our land. You should savor it."

"It's safe?" she pointed at the clear water content.

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, Your Highness. Natural."

It was like everyone was waiting for her to take the coconut from the doctor's hand. She held it in both of hers. She had seen and tasted coconuts for sure but never drank from the shell itself. She pressed her lips on the rim and took a sip.

It was sweet.

She took another gulp and almost smiled. It tasted good.

She placed it down the ground and got back to her food, pretending that her drinking from a coconut was not a big deal. A few minutes later, they were all sipping the same juice.

"This would be really nice with ice," said Bolin. "So refreshing."

Tianshi Xue was trying to savor every gulp she took. She was liking this more than she should. She was only half-way hers and was planning to bring the coconut back in her room.

Feng sighed. "I wish my family could have some of this."

"Any news?" Bolin asked Aiguo who had been standing guard the night before yet again.

Aiguo shook his head. "Whatever's happening in the palace… it should be good. At least we know they are not storming it yet."

It was like Aiguo spoke it to life because just then, the ringing of the bells reached them, continuous, unrelenting, calling them home.

They all turned to the sound.

There was only one reason that the bells would be ringing this loud. It usually marked a royal celebration: coronation, birth, and weddings.

Tianshi Xue's heart dropped to the ground, the coconut slipped from her fingers, spilling the sweet water. Were one of the queens pregnant and gave birth? Was there a coronation at this time? Were there any other marriages scheduled other than Princess Yingyue's and Prince Xiaodan's? 

Wait...

Could it be...

Her head snapped to the prince. She stood up, enraged.  The prince was only calmly drinking from his coconut shell, not looking at her—which only confirmed her suspicion.

"No!" she shouted.

"Not my choice," he told her then his eyes flicked to hers. He swallowed before he delivered the news. "Emperor's Orders. Happy birthday, Princess."

Tianshi Xue wanted to cry.

When she was younger, she wanted to get married to a prince.

But not this prince.

Never this prince.

But it was what fate brought her.

She was going to be the wife of the most hated man in the empire.

The wife of The Conqueror.