by Alice Wilde
“Here, you can wear this,” he says, handing me the clothes.
“Thank you,” I say as I nervously turn away from him and walk to an empty table to place the items on so I can remove my own outfit. I can feel Luo’s eyes on me for a long moment before I hear him turn and walk across the room. Hurriedly, I undress, doing my best to keep myself as covered as possible as I change.
I’m thankful to have something new to sleep in, and the clothing he’s given me is deliciously soft and airy. As I finish tying the robe-like dress around me, I look down at myself. The clothes don’t appear to be see-through, but the fabric almost seems to float around me, and if I hadn’t put it on myself, I wouldn’t have believed I was wearing anything at all. Carefully folding and placing my own clothes on the table, I turn back toward Luo, who is sitting on the bed, soaking his feet in a small tub of hot water.
“Come here,” Luo says, gesturing toward a shelf, “and bring that small box.”
I do as he asks and cross the room to stand beside the bed.
“Open it.”
I lift the lid to reveal the most beautiful silver comb I’ve ever seen.
“Sit,” Luo says, patting the bed next to him.
As I sit, Luo removes his feet from the hot water, pats them dry, and then slides the basin toward me, indicating that I should place my feet in the still steaming water. I lower my feet into the hot water and sigh deeply as I feel my body start to relax.
Luo then shifts further onto the bed, placing himself behind me as he starts to let down my hair. I’m used to my maids helping me with my hair, but never a man. He’s surprisingly gentle, and I shudder with pleasure as he begins to pull the silver comb carefully through my hair.
“Your hair is like golden threads of silk,” Luo murmurs quietly.
I want to laugh at the remark, especially knowing how long it’s been since I’ve been able to give my hair a proper wash, but I remain quiet. Luo finishes combing my hair and gets up to put the comb away. I close my eyes as I let myself enjoy the moment.
I start, my eyes flying open as Luo’s hand closes over my ankle and he begins washing my feet.
“You don’t have to do that,” I say uncomfortably.
“I want to.”
All the relaxation that had been gradually overtaking me is gone as I quietly allow him to finish washing my feet. Luo takes his time, and I can’t help but feel my anxiety grow with each passing moment. Then I see the reason why his actions are making me uncomfortable.
“I’m quite tired,” I say, jerking my feet up and out of his grasp as I shift further backward onto the hard bed.
Luo rises to his feet, making his arousal even more evident. My heart starts beating painfully hard in my chest.
“What’s wrong?” Luo asks, pushing the basin aside as he leans in over me.
“I am afraid I may have given you the wrong impression,” I answer nervously.
Luo grabs me by my foot and pulls me toward the edge of the bed, closer to him.
“I don’t think so,” he says silkily. “It’s natural for a woman to please a man.”
I want to slap him for saying this, but I think better of it and grit my teeth as I try to control my temper.
“Come now,” Luo says. “I’ve never been with a foreign woman, let alone a queen.”
Before I can speak, he takes several of my toes playfully in his mouth, watching as my body involuntarily reacts to the new sensation. Mentally, I am disgusted by the idea of my foot in his mouth, but at the same time amazed by how it’s making the rest of my body tingle with building anticipation.
Luo’s hands wrap around one of my feet, his thumbs pressing into the arch as he continues to suck on my toes. I clutch at the silk bedding beneath me as I try to regain control over the situation, but my body doesn’t comply and my groin begins to ache with desire. I don’t know how much more of this I can bear when Luo’s thumb presses into a point in my foot that sends pain instead of pleasure shooting through me. My mind clears as I react and yank my foot from his grasp and kick him square in the chest with the other. Luo barely moves an inch, but my reaction is enough to stun him.
“Enough,” I snap, relieved from the change in feeling.
Luo’s mouth twitches, but the rest of his face remains motionless as he watches me for a long minute. I can barely breathe as I wait for him to say or do something.
“Fine,” Luo finally says coldly. “Sit over there.”
“What—”
“Just do it,” Luo growls, his eyes flashing warningly.
I quickly remove myself from the bed and sit in one of the chairs on the other side of the room as I wait to see what will happen next.
Luo stalks over to the door and yanks it open. He grabs a small woman who had been standing outside the room by the fabric of her dress, pulling her inside and dragging her to the bed. I watch in wide-eyed horror, my mouth agape and my mind spinning but seemly void of thought.
The commander tosses her onto the bed and I cringe at the painful thud of her landing on the hard surface.
“Please don’t,” I start to say, but Luo gives me a dark look.
“Silence. Do not interfere in matters that don’t concern you. I gave you a chance, now you’ll see the consequences of your actions.”
I look at him in utter disbelief, but shut my mouth as Luo turns his attention back to the woman. Although she doesn’t say anything, I can tell from her face that she’s terrified of Luo, and I soon see why.
Luo may have started gently with me, but gentle would be impossible to describe how he treats this other woman.
I flinch at the sound of fabric tearing as Luo easily rips the woman’s dress from her body. I’m not particularly tall myself, but this woman is even smaller and looks almost doll-like in comparison to this giant beast of a man looming over her. Luo says something, and the woman obediently rolls over onto her stomach before propping herself up on her hands and knees like a small animal, her head now pointed in my direction.
Luo positions himself on the bed behind her and looks over at me, his face hard and betraying his own anger. He doesn’t remove his gaze from me as he frees himself from his pants and reaches forward to grab a large handful of the woman’s hair, forcing her head back toward him. Her face is now openly visible to me, and then he thrusts the entirety of himself into her in a single, vicious movement. The woman’s face contorts in agony, but she somehow manages to remain silent.
I want to tear my eyes away, but all I can do is continue to stare in shock and rage. Luo almost seems to get more violent with each thrust, one hand pinning her to the bed and the other tugging at her hair in a way that makes me want to scream at him not to tear her limb from limb.
My stomach drops as he suddenly freezes and then removes himself from her, shoving her to the side as he continues to watch me. I have to swallow hard to keep my dinner down after the wretchedness I’ve just witnessed.
Luo speaks to the woman in a commanding tone as he turns and walks over to a basin of water to wash his face. The tiny female shakily collects her clothing, wrapping it around herself and bowing out of the room as hurriedly as possible, but not before I notice she’s bleeding and is quietly crying.
“You monster,” I say through tight lips.
Luo leans over the basin of water, his back to me for a long moment before turning to look over his shoulder at me.
“It’s your own fault. Now, get into bed.”
“How are your actions my fault?” I ask with ferocity.
“One way or another, I was going to have my needs satisfied. As you were unwilling, she took your place.”
“You hurt her.”
“She’ll heal. Get into bed.”
“No. I’ll sleep here.”
“I won’t ask again,” Luo growls. “I may not take your body against your will, but I won’t stand for your insolence otherwise.”
“Well, you’ll have to,” I retort. “I’ll sleep here.”
Luo’
s brow furrows in anger, and I know I’ve gone too far. He crosses the room faster than I can react, taking my arm in his grasp and dragging me from the chair to the bed, tossing me onto it just as he had with the other woman. I need to be more careful, although I doubt that I’ll be able to win him to our side after all that’s happened.
“Now, sleep.”
Luo blows out the candles before climbing into bed next to me. He doesn’t touch me, but all the same, I know that I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight.
Three
Roan
“But how do you ken the lass is safe?” I snap at Li.
“He won’t dare risk angering the emperor or a foreign country by hurting her, at least not yet,” Li says. “Besides, she agreed to it.”
“We can barely keep up with their ship, and we won’t be able to for much longer. Not without our current supplies dwindling.”
“That won’t be a problem. It should only be another day or so at most,” Li says calmly.
It’s been a day since Commander Luo took Annalise aboard his ship, but it feels like it’s been far longer. It was easy to feign anger toward her when I knew she was only a few steps away if she needed my help. Now that she’s out of reach, I hate myself for giving her such a hard time. I’d promised her my life, my love, my everything, and all I’ve shown her since I learned about Ero is how much of an arse I can be.
She’s been acting strange ever since we left Scotland, and I still don’t know exactly why, but it probably hasn’t been helped by my own behavior.
I may not be able to change the past, but I can at least work on being a better husband in the future. Screw it, I won’t let Ero be the better companion and lover, not if I can help it. At least I have a leg up on him, seeing how he’s gone and jumped ship.
This isn’t going to be easy, but I will find a way to prove to Annalise that I won’t let anything, or anyone, get in the way of our future together…whatever that may be.
Four
Annalise
The remainder of our journey at sea has felt like an eternity, although in actuality, it has only been a few days. Luo has barely spoken to me since the first night, and I can’t say that it bothers me in the slightest. He has kept the same routine day in and day out. Luo is gone most of the day, but returns to sup with me, a new girl is brought to attend him each evening, and then I have to lay in bed beside him. I detest being cooped up in this room, but I hate being around him even more. I can hardly wait to see Li and Roan—and breathe fresh air once again.
I look through one of the cabin’s windows and my heart nearly jumps out of my chest as I realize we’re nearing port. I wait in pure agony to be let out of confinement.
Heavy footsteps approach and finally stop outside the door. I hold my breath in anticipation as the door swings open and Luo steps inside.
“We’ve reached port,” he says. “My men will escort you off the ship.”
“And my men?”
“They’re sailing in as we speak, but we need to move fast so as not to draw attention. And you’ll need to wear this,” Luo says, placing a set of clothes and a parasol on the table closest to him.
I hurry over and collect the items, looking them over curiously as I try to figure out how to put them on. But before I have time to worry about it, a small woman is standing beside me. She gestures toward me and the clothing and I nod gratefully at what I believe is her attempt to offer assistance.
The little woman dresses me with surprising efficiency, and just like the nightgown I’d been given the first night, this new outfit is stunning, although much heavier. The sleeves nearly drape to the ground, the shape flattering but not overly revealing. I wish I could take a better look at it, but all I really want is to get off this ship. I pull on my soft leather boots and move to collect my other personal items when Luo speaks.
“Leave them, but take the umbrella.”
I start to protest but quickly decide against it, grabbing the parasol from the woman as she holds it out to me and rushing to leave this room in my past.
Luo holds his hand out toward me as I near, signaling me to stop. “As soon as you leave this cabin, you need to open the umbrella.”
“Why?”
“You’ll see,” Luo says, turning and exiting the room.
I follow him, opening the parasol as soon as I’ve left the room. As it springs open, a light but fairly opaque fabric spills out from within and falls in a waterfall around the entire edge.
Luo lifts the fabric and then lets it fall around me as I duck beneath it, now hidden from view of the world.
Two soldiers move into place behind me, and together we follow Luo along the deck and toward the gangway. Many of the men have already started leaving the ship as well, and the port is bustling with activity as merchants enthusiastically shout their wares.
Stepping onto the gangway, I can barely contain my excitement at the prospect of standing on solid ground once again and nearly lose my footing but manage to catch myself before anyone notices. As we near the shore, some of Luo’s men who have already left the ship clear a path for us through the crowd to a small but elegant wooden box that’s not much taller than me.
“Get in,” Luo says in a low voice as he opens a door on the side of the box.
“Where are my men?”
“I’ll have them directed to the palace. Now, get in.”
I hesitate only for a moment before taking a deep breath and stepping into the box, handing Luo my parasol as I do. Seating myself on the small chair inside, Luo quickly hands the closed umbrella back to me and shuts the door. I watch through the latticework as two long poles are threaded through metal rings on each side of the box and then gasp as men gather on each side and I find myself being lifted into the air on their shoulders.
Luo and several of his men step in front as the rest of his men fall behind and we begin our journey through the streets. I can feel my stomach churning as we go, the box rocking back and forth with each step. It had been days since I’d felt sick, not since I’d joined Luo on his ship. I’m unnerved at the thought and make a note to speak with Li about it as soon as I get the chance.
In an effort to distract myself, I focus on the view and am soon caught up in all that I observe. The city is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. There are more people here than I’ve ever even read about living in one place in my entire life, but it’s the architecture that truly has me in awe.
Everything seems to be built in relation to the surrounding bodies of water. Stone paths and covered bridges wind between sprawling white buildings with sloping, tiled rooftops that curve up into little points at each corner. Nearly every window, wall, and surface is detailed with some form of beautiful carving featuring flowers, dragons, and symbols I’ve never seen before. As lovely as they all are, it’s almost as if the city itself is made up of little palaces, and I long to be able to explore it in greater depth.
We continue through the smaller pathways for a time until we step out onto a significantly wider street. Ahead of us, walls tower high above, surrounding a looming, arched gateway. This must be the palace. Guards stand to either side of the massive entrance and several men approach Luo as we get closer.
Their exchange is brief before we’re ushered inside and I can see just how impending the walls really are. The walls are so thick as we pass through them that we become completely enshrouded in shade, and for the next few moments, all I can see are dark shadows. As we step together out into the sunlight once again, I realize I was mistaken in thinking that we’d reached the palace. We only now enter the city proper.
The streets are even more crowded, the buildings even more tightly packed together, and somehow everything seems even more beautiful. We turn onto an even wider street, this one full of two and three-story buildings with merchants calling out their wares and rich scents wafting about. Down the center of the street, large, green trees and flowers bring further life and dimension to the already colorful surroundings.
<
br /> As we near the end of the long stretch of road, I see another set of walls drawing ever nearer. However, these walls aren’t nearly as imposing as the ones surrounding the main city and appear to be more for decorative use than for any military purpose. The large doors are closed, unlike the ones to the city, and guards are positioned at various points for as far as I can see.
Luo speaks to one of the men as we approach, and the guard bows as he answers. After a moment, he turns and slips through the doors, leaving us to wait outside. A small crowd of people has started to gather around us, but none have dared to get too close. Not yet.
I can’t be sure how long we’ve been waiting, but the guard still hasn’t returned when I hear a commotion coming from somewhere behind us and turn to look. Nearly everyone who had been watching us out of curiosity has turned their attention away now, and while I can’t understand what’s being said, their excitement is almost palpable.
I wish I could ask someone what was going on, but only Luo would be able to understand, and asking him right now is out of the question. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait long to find out.
“Annalise?” a familiar voice calls out over the din of the crowd.
Roan.
They’ve made it.
Five
Li
I knew I wouldn’t be able to control Roan, but I had hoped he’d make less of a scene than he is.
As soon as we’d finally sailed into port, we realized that Luo had taken Annalise onward without us. They’d weighed anchor a good half hour before us, but it had taken them longer to leave the ship than it had us. No sooner had the gangway been set then Luo’s men had boarded us once again, informing me that they had gone ahead to see the emperor and that we were to remain on board until we were sent for.
I didn’t like what I was hearing, and I knew Roan would like it even less. I was right. As soon as I relayed the information to him, he’d shoved past me and the men who were stupid enough to get in his way and was down the gangway and charging off through the city before I could say a word to stop him.
