Ea had spent the entire morning chatting and sparring with the soldiers of the Summer Isle. Enough time had passed that he silently scolded himself for not spending his remaining time in the Summer Isle with Tah Min. He decided to go in search of her. He wanted to spend his last night, if anything, with her. At the very least, he owed her a goodbye, especially when he didn't know when they'd even be able to see one another again. As he made his way to the tower, he came across a cluster of gossiping guards. The younger guards gathered around their senior curiously.
"Did you hear? Apparently, our Priestess was caught fooling around with General Yiran."
"What? Wasn't he exiled for courting her?"
"Perhaps they couldn't contain themselves after spending so many years apart. He was her first love after all."
"Still...if she really did commit such a blasphemous act...doesn't that mean that she's impure now? I don't think several weeks in the tower of repentance will cut it this time."
"Neither do I. People are saying that she's been different ever since returning from Solaria."
"I can see it. The Priestess I remember would never do such a disgraceful thing. If she was able to do it here, do you think maybe she was already doing such things in Solaria?"
"It would make sense. Why else would she suddenly find the courage to do something so shameful."
"If the Priestess has been corrupted, we would need to take care of that, wouldn't we?"
The guards fell silent. A second later they erupted with laughter.
"About time too. With the way things are looking, she won't last through the night. Someone already went to inform the elders. We should start making preparations for Linci."
"Huh?"
The older guard chuckled. "I suppose you wouldn't know about it, we haven't executed anyone in almost 50 years. The last person we executed was the Priestess' grandmother, so well before your time. Linci is a special method we use on priestesses who have broken their vows. We'd have them tied to a post where we'd remove large chunks of skin from their limbs and chest. Then we'd amputate their limbs one at a time and finish it off with a decapitation. After we kill them we throw their mangled body as well as whatever we cut off into the burial pits where we set it on fire to make sure their corrupted soul can't ascend to the Godhood of a Phoenix."
Ea's blood ran cold and all the colour drained from his face. He couldn't quite process what they were saying. Tah Min was caught fooling around? They were going to execute her? The Tah Min they spoke of sounded nothing like the Tah Min he had gotten to know over the past 6 years. He shook himself from his stupor and quickened his pace.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Asra opened her eyes slowly and hazily. She felt an overwhelming sense of nausea that was worsened by how hot she was. She was sweating uncontrollably. She tried to push herself up, only to find herself unable to properly lift her limbs. Low laughter resounded in the room. A burst of anxiety erupted within her as she struggled to crane her neck in an attempt to see who was in the room with her.
"Careful now. You wouldn't want to faint again," said Gabriel nonchalantly.
"Wha...what happened?" Asra asked with a groan, her tongue felt numb and her words sounded slow and slurred.
"I suppose I should thank you. If it weren't for you, my plan may not have worked so well."
She was just barely able to keep herself together as she spoke, enough to not heave the contents of her stomach all over herself. "What...plan?"
When she finally managed to catch sight of Gabriel, she could tell that something was very much off. She couldn't tell if it was because of the way his cheerful tone had suddenly become stagnant and cold or if it was the way the light in his eyes seemed to no longer exist.
Gabriel glanced out of the window, his smile widening once he saw the soldiers beginning to stir outside. "I guess it's fine to tell you. It's too late to stop it now anyway. The reason I was late for our little date was because I heard a rumour about that Qishan wretch's first love. I took a trip over to the war hall to get a good look at him."
Gabriel pulled out the potion bottle he had in his pocket and held it between his fingers. "I lied when I said this helped with fatigue. It's really a potion that I used to transform myself into that General and you into your beloved Priestess. The food I gave you was laced with an aphrodisiac which worked wonders. Everyone who passed by thought they saw their Priestess and her old lover going at it in broad daylight."
Asra felt the acidic taste of bile begin to rise. She managed to keep it down just long enough to gasp out a distressed "why," that sounded a lot less urgent and a lot more weak and shaky than she had meant for it to.
Gabriel shrugged. "Doesn't concern you. You've served your purpose. Oh! One more thing, you shouldn't try to move around so much." Gabriel placed the bottle back into his pocket and lifted his sleeve to reveal the tattoo of a snake slithering up and down his arm. "While you were asleep I had her inject you with her venom. It's potent enough to drive you insane but don't worry. It can't kill you. It should however, keep you out of commission till long after this all blows over. By the time anyone's able to help you, you may have already lost your mind haha! Even if you manage to push through, I'm sure the paralysis will leave you unable to speak, but you understand right. I can't have you running your mouth but you've been useful so I've decided to spear your life."
He wouldn't say it. He wouldn't admit it, that the real reason he couldn't kill her was because of her resemblance to Avarice. He sighed and let his sleeve fall back down. "Consider it my parting gift to you for being such a good puppet these last couple days!"
Asra's vision blurred the more she tried to move. She could vaguely make out when Gabriel turned and left the room. A typhoon of confusion and aftereffects of the drug consumed her. She couldn't quite understand what he was talking about, much less the reasoning behind his action and he clearly didn't care to explain further either. The impending sense of dread within her told her that she may have just played right into the hands of someone who only wanted to use her as a pawn and the thought did more than just break her heart. It tore her apart, more so because she was left confused and in the dark.
The Gabriel that had stood in front of her and spoke so coldly, was not the same man she first saw when he arrived and all of the loose ends to the situation that she had no clue about haunted her to no end.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
Tah Min was overjoyed to see an old friend again. Yiran took her hands in his and smiled down at her.
"You've become so radiant. I hope you've been well."
Tah Min smiled back. "I have been, thank you. When did you come back?"
"A few days ago. I've been in the ancestral hall paying tribute to Lord Cheng...I regret not being able to attend his funeral. I'm truly sorry I wasn't able to protect him either, I know how much he meant to you."
Tah Min looked down at their hands. "...he meant a lot to both of us...to all of us here."
Yiran gazed warmly at her. "He did indeed."
He pulled her into his arms, an embrace she gladly accepted. As she rested her head on his chest, she felt all the anxieties she had for the past few days melt away and for a brief moment, there was tranquility.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•
He might as well have sprinted to Tah Min's chambers. In his haste, he failed to notice that there was an extra person inside. The second he laid eyes on them, he ducked behind the folding screens and watched closely through the cracks. To his dismay, Tah Min was very clearly being held in the arms of this tall, handsome stranger. Though judging from the way he held her, he was far from just a stranger to her. Ea felt his heart sink into his stomach as he watched them pull apart, only for the man to lean down and place a kiss on her forehead.
"I missed you, Yiran," said Tah Min quietly.
"I missed you too Minny."
Ea felt a plethora of emotions as he observed the fondness in their eyes as they gazed at each other. Confusion, sadness, jealousy, all wreaking havoc in his head. He knew he wouldn't be able to speak to her in such a state but he was also well aware that he didn't have much time to dawdle either. So he walked out into the hall to take a minute to collect himself. Not long after, the man he now knew to be Yiran emerged from her chambers, bowing his head slightly when he noticed Ea.
"You must be Prince Ea. I was informed that you were the one who had been taking care of Tah Min all this time. Thank you for that."
Ea, despite his best efforts, could not help the frown that made its way onto his face.
"I've heard of you too. You were quite close to her in the past no?"
Yiran scratched his cheek timidly. "I suppose you could say that. I'm afraid that, that's all in the past now though."
"Right..."
The awkward tension that hung like a cloud over them was shattered by a clang from within Tah Min's chambers. Yiran, being closer, knocked on the door.
"Minny? Is everything alright?"
When no response came, Ea pushed him aside and tried opening the door. To his horror, it was already locked.
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