RIN

"I'm glad you made it back safely." His arms tightened around her.

Rin let out a soft laugh. "It was only one day."

"Another day to the many others apart from you." He muttered.

Smiling helplessly, she turned to the emperor. He was watching the two of them, a strange ripple within his face.

"Your Majesty?" Rin broke him from his trance.

"Ah. How was your journey?" His words came out stiffly.

"Governor Chi accepted." She said, sparing the minor details of his refusal. "It would be best to send a group of troops to help them evacuate as soon as possible."

"Right, yes." The emperor nodded his head and waved a hand to deliver the order.

Saying all there was to about their journey, Rin went to prepare for dinner. Sometime later, she ventured her way to the great hall, and as usual, sat at the table with the others.

During her leave, she learned of Fan Mingli's plans to dispatch scouts in the woods to watch for suspicious activity. She also came to find he had given numerous orders to the troops, helping them through their training. When she praised him, the young man burned red, earning a slap on the back from Yin Changpu.

And so, they ate, drank, and chatted amongst themselves like normal.

An Sun had just finished his cup of wine when a faint voice spoke from behind. "Sir Sun?"

He turned to find a soldier standing stiffly among the tables, a parchment in his hand.

"What is it?"

"It's a letter. For you." The soldier thrust the parchment forward. It was tightly rolled and sealed with a button of hard red wax.

Everyone at the table fell silent. An Sun set down his cup, took the letter, and cracked the seal. When he saw the signature, his heart seemed to stop for a moment.

An Ruo, Lord of the An Clan, it read, in large, spiky writing. The brown ink came away in flakes when he brushed it with his thumb.

"What does it say?" Fan Mingli peered with his dim, small eyes.

"It's from An Ruo." An Sun's fingers closed around the parchment. "He wants to meet with me...and discuss terms of surrender."

"What?" Rin was taken back. "You're not going, are you? It could be a trap like last time."

On the side, Manchu nodded his head. "The little strategist is right. Sun, it's too dangerous for you to go. After the last time, you two met…he'll stop at nothing to kill you."

"I know that." The words were knives. "I haven't agreed just yet."

"Still…" Manchu spoke again.

An Sun slammed down his cup, and the dregs of his wine erupted across the tablecloth. "We'll discuss it later."

Another silence fell over the table. Tenser than the last. For the remainder of the meal, everyone ate just like that. In silence.

It was some of the men, still drinking and carrying about.

Passing by a row of pillars giving view to the imperial garden, Rin's steps came to a halt. A figure stood there, bathing in the dark's cold. The light of the moon was in his hair, his black hair kissed by darkness.

"Sun? What are you doing here?" Rin stalked across the yard, stepping out into the night.

He turned to her, eyes deep. "I just need a breath of air." He said, moving his gaze back to the breeze.

The sky was full of stars, and the wind was gusting along with the trees. Even the moon looked cold; there were goosebumps all across its face. Rin was by his side, feeling the warmth of his shoulders next to her.

"Are you thinking about going?" She asked, noticing his jaw clench.

"I don't know." His voice was stiff.

Pursing her lips, Rin was silent for a moment. "I don't think you should go."

Her words startled him, causing him to turn his entire body toward her. "Why?"

"It's too much of a risk for you to go." She said, clenching her fists. "For all we know, his term of agreements could be your head!"

He made a noise in his throat. "If it comes to that, then clearly I won't accept. But that doesn't mean I should decline him so quickly. I can reason with—"

"Sun." Rin's eyes were pale, her mouth stern, her voice a whip. She cracked it now. "After everything he has done, there is no hope for him anymore. He has made his choice. All we can do now is fight."

There was a silence among them. The two stared at each other, neither finding the words that could reach them. Perhaps there was none.

An Sun sighed heavily. "I know... I know it's too late for hope. However, I'm not going because I believe in him…I'm going because there could be a chance to end this. No matter how small it is. If he had asked for you, would you have gone?"

Rin stiffened from his words and shifted her gaze away, hands clenched by her sides. His words were true. If she had the chance…then she would take it. It was this very similarity between the two of them that she hated most.

Why couldn't he be more selfish?

Despite that, she still…

Rin closed her eyes and took a deep breath. After calming down, she blinked at him and then said very seriously, "All right. But I'm going with you."

"No!" The fierceness in his tone shocked her. An Sun's face was stiff with tension. "You're staying here."

Rin made a face, as if she had tasted something sour.

"Why? If you're going, then I should go too." She said stubbornly.

"Rin." The word was sharp, as he had never spoken it. His eyes bore down on her, his voice like a crack of thunder. "You will stay here. If it is a trap, then I don't want to worry about protecting you."

"Protecting me?" Every word stung, only fueling the fire that burned inside of her.

"No. That's not—damn it!" An Sun growled and ran a hand through his hair, taking a step away from her. He thought she might try to run, but she only stood there, waiting, looking at him.

"Rin…" His voice called out to her. It sounded hoarse.

He stepped closer, but she was already walking backward. She was staring at the grass as if she could not hear him. With her head lowered, he couldn't read her expression at all. Finally, Rin released a sigh and looked up again.

"If you think it's right, then do what you have to do. But please…please think of yourself first. And if not you...then me."

An Sun met her eyes and had no words. The look she gave him, it was distant. Filled with unknown sorrow.

"Make sure to inform the emperor. And bring guards with you." She reminded him before walking out of the yard.

He reached a hand out, to grab her, hold her in his embrace, but his fingers failed to grasp anything but cold air. They froze and fell back to his side. His eyes were shadowed beneath his heavy brow; jaw clenched as he watched her leave.

A light wind combed past his black hair, strands stroking his face. For a moment, he stared down at his hands helplessly.

The idea of hope slowly became less and less appealing.

…

The next morning, An Sun, and three other guards dispatched to meet An Ruo. The sun did offer its beams of warmth. Rather, it hid behind the mounds of black, billowing clouds.

The scent of heady rain pervaded the air, and the faltering light flickered against An Sun's eyes. His hands were steady on the reigns, and the men's horses cantered through the grassy hills. They slowed to a stop in the middle of the field, the breeze faintly cold on his cheeks.

An Sun and the guards were still, and his eyes narrowed at the sound of distant hooves against earth and stone. An Rou and his men drew near across from them as they approached. He had the faintest tilt on his lips.

"Brother, I can't deny I'm surprised you agreed to meet me."

An Sun did not reply, he simply stared and waited. An Rou just sighed.

"Since you've come all this way, I'll get straight to the point." He said as if he were offering a blessing.

"In return for my surrender on the Western Empire...I want your strategist."

The words leaving his lips left a cold and forbidding weight on An Sun's heart. For the first time in his life, he wanted to slaughter the man before him in an instant.