The palace was lit with thousands of lanterns, music blaring from all directions as the celebrations continued. Today, the kingdom of Zhao and Wei celebrate their union with the marriage of their wards, Zhao Fei and Wei Lan.
The princess, decorated in a red silk robe, sat in her chambers away from the celebrations. Today, she was not a woman, but a pawn tossed onto the board. A feeling of uneasiness washed over her. She had sworn never to have a political marriage.
Her maid fidgeted beside her, careful about what to say. 'They say your husband is a kind man,' she said nervously.
'Kindness does not turn a cage into a palace,' she told the girl. But she had other plans for being in this place.
Suddenly, the drumming stopped, and silence fell over the Zhao palace. An arrow flew into the room, piercing through the paper window and to the table in front of her. Silence. Then the world exploded. Soldiers fell like straw on the field.
'It's an attack!' she exclaimed as she attempted to escape, but what met her at the door was a man, towering over her. He had a wolf-shaped silver mask over his face, but she didn't need to see him to know how terrifying he was. His presence was like a cold winter- commanding and absolute.
Before she could resist, his hand caught her wrist. She twisted, attempting to strike at his throat with the precision of someone who knew more than embroidery.
'You fight?' she could hear the amusement in his voice.
'I think you'll find more than that.'
'Good. Then you'll survive what comes next,' he carried her over his shoulder as the ceiling gave way and the last thing she could see, just as the world went blank, was the palace engulfed in flames. And what she thought to be her new home was swept by bloodshed.
That, she thought, was satisfying.
***
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in an empty room, and the smell of pine and smoke filled her lungs. The air was as cold as ice on her skin. She felt tired, defeated, but alive. She peered through the window at the world below her.
This mansion was set on a hill, carved with stone and silence. She could hear men, guards behind her door, all doing their due diligence. If this mansion was indeed in the middle of nowhere, then it belonged to no other than the rumored Alpha of the North.
Wang Xu.
He was said to command the strongest army of the region. Although a few years back, he was betrayed by a friendly nation, the Wei kingdom, when he sought help to fight off the southern nations, and he was defeated in battle. His brother, who was the leader, was killed in the process. But Xu single-handedly brought glory back to the land, collecting what was stolen from them.
But that didn't mean he had forgotten what the Wei kingdom did to him.
Before she could think of a smart way to escape, the door flung open, and there he was, this time, without a mask to cover his face. Fear would do nothing for her in this situation. She straightened. Behind him, a maid came in, carrying a tray of meat cuisine and a hot cup of liquid, nothing more.
'I trust you are more alive than yesterday when I saved you from that horrendous circus,' he said flatly.
'Then I will only need more saving from this boorish cage,' she told him, 'so much effort for a ransom.'
'I do not need money nor favours.'
'Then why am I here?'
'Revenge,' he told her.
She laughed softly, 'How noble. Does kidnapping an unarmed woman satisfy your honor?'
His gaze flickered, the faintest crack in the ice, 'You are your father's daughter.'
She walked up to the table and took a sip from the liquid. It warmed her, but it sent a shocking pang to her mouth. She shivered, 'whatever my father did to you is none of my business, as you can see, I am not my father.'
'Rightly so,' he stepped closer to her, 'I will only use you to destroy what he has built.'
'I will sooner die,' she scoffed.
He turned to go, then eat up. It's a long journey to the afterlife.'
He was gone, and she was alone once more. Now, she knew her enemy; next was to find her way out of there. But to where? Back to her father's palace, and she was going to wipe everything that her father owned into her pearly, fragile hands. If she were pushed on the chessboard, she might as well be a queen.
Wei Lan narrowed her eyes, examining the room for an escape; the window, the hinges, the small iron latch. She was no damsel in distress. If he thought she would sit around and wait for fate to happen, he was wrong.
She took off her crimson wedding dress, leaving her with a white garment underneath. She began shredding it into long pieces, and soon enough, she had a rope long enough to climb out through the vent above.
Not giving a reason to time, soon, the princess was gone with the wind. And by the time the wolf returned that night, what was left of her was the echo of her laughter.