The carriage stood unremarkable by the rear garden gate, its plain wood blending into the night. My hood fluttered in the wind, strands of hair escaping like whispers of my unease.
This was no mere midnight stroll—it was my first true step beyond the gilded cage.
Xiao Xuanli waited beside the carriage, her usual playful demeanor replaced by an unnerving stillness. The moonlight caught on the ink-dark tassel at her waist, its sway making her seem like a figure stepped out of an ancient scroll.
"Afraid?" Her voice was soft yet edged, a sheathed dagger in winter's breath.
I shook my head. "Even fear won't stop me now."
Her lips curved—a smile that promised neither safety nor mercy—as she pulled me into the carriage. "Then let's depart before His Highness—"
"Before His Highness what?"
The voice sliced through the night like a blade through silk.
The Crown Prince.
How had he found us so swiftly?
Xuanli shoved me behind her in one fluid motion, her gaze sharp enough to draw blood as the gilded figure emerged from the trees. Moonlight gilded his robes, but his eyes burned with something far colder than winter.
"Running away before your master has dismissed you?" His words dripped venom. "How... ungrateful."
"I'm not running." My voice trembled, but not from fear. "I'm leaving this game of yours."
He laughed—a sound like cracking ice. "The moment you stepped into my palace, you became a piece on my board. Do you truly believe I'd let any pawn escape?"
"If I'm just a pawn," I countered, fury threading through my words, "why not discard me cleanly?"
"Because," he murmured, stepping close enough for his breath to frost my cheek, "I'd rather watch you walk willingly into the abyss I've prepared."
The cruelty in his voice stole my breath.
Xuanli moved between us, her short sword flashing silver in the dark. "She leaves tonight, Your Highness. Unless you wish to test whose blade finds its mark first."
The Prince's smile turned lethal. "You'd draw steel against your sovereign? How very... treasonous of you, Commander Xiao."
Wind howled through the pines as three predators circled—
The game had left the palace.
The true storm was just beginning.
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