Lin Xueyo/Shen Yichen
Lin Xueyo's mind was in disarray.
Another attack in less than twenty four hours! No one deserves to be targeted this much! Not even a tyrant—okay maybe a tyrant deserves it.
But this tyrant was her beloved tyrant!
He couldn't die. Not before he got to acknowledge her and fall in love with her too!
The Emperor was calm, even though blood dripped steadily down his ear and onto the collar of his robes. Another arrow shot past them, and he merely dodged it by moving his head away, meanwhile Lin Xueyo screamed and crouched down on her horse, her hands covering her head.
"Your Majesty!" She cried out, her voice trembling with genuine worry for him. "Please!"
At that moment, something happened that Lin Xueyo had no explanation for.
A door opened in her head, and she got a quick flash of Shen Yichen's combat prowess and skills. A razor sharp instinct and intuition, and reflexes faster than a lightning strike. She spotted the direction of the next arrow and in seconds she knew exactly where it was going to land.
The Emperor's heart.
Without thinking, she moved. She jumped off her horse and grabbed the Emperor, shielding him with her body, in the process exposing her back to the arrow.
"What are you—"
"Ahhh!" She screamed as the metal arrowhead tore through her shoulder blade, coming out in the front.
Just as the door to Shen Yichen's memories opened, it slammed shut.
Pain wracked through Lin Xueyo. Her shoulder burned and blood flowed down the wound, soaking her robes. The Emperor lost his balance and both of them fell off the horse, tangled together.
It would have been a hilarious situation, one to make Lin Xueyo sigh and swoon, for what was more romantic than tumbling in the dirt with the man you loved.
It would have been hilarious if she wasn't close to tears from the pain.
The Emperor stared at her with an indescribable look. "You have lost your mind indeed," he said, but his voice was nothing like the angry tone he'd used earlier at the village. He sounded shocked and pleasantly surprised.
Lin Xueyo managed a laugh. "I—I would lay down my life for you, Your Majesty."
"It was a poison arrow," he cut her off, his eyes moving to the arrow stuck in her shoulder. "You're an idiot for taking the hit."
"But you got hit too!"
The Emperor got to his feet and pulled her up. "You've forgotten that too?" He snapped.
Oh. He must have poison resistance….
The moment the realization sank in, the wound erupted into a fresh burn. Lin Xueyo's knees buckled as a pain unlike anything she'd ever felt before rammed into her shoulder. Her screams mixed with the shouts of the soldiers and the nervous whining of the horses.
Hot tears burned in her eyes and she thrashed about, screaming for the pain to stop.
She felt like cutting off her entire shoulder just for the pain to stop.
Suddenly her body went still. Her eyes widened, before they dimmed and fluttered shut. The Emperor caught her limp body, holding her pressed to his side.
"Your Majesty," one of the soldiers hurried up to them and bowed. "We have apprehended the attacker. He appears to be a survivor from the bandits."
The Emperor couldn't take his eyes off Shen Yichen's face. Shen Yichen's skin was pale, a side effect of the poison, and his lips tinted blue. If the antidote wasn't administered soon….
"Bring him to the imperial city." The Emperor ordered as he hoisted Shen Yichen's unconscious form over his horse and mounted too.
"A captive?" The soldier asked. It was common knowledge that the Emperor didn't take prisoners. If he did, it was because they did something very terrible. And when that happened, whatever was waiting for the prisoner would make them wish for death by a thousand cuts.
The Emperor shot him a glare so cold it could freeze milk. "Yes your majesty!" The soldier bowed and ran off to relay the information.
"Hold on, Yichen," the Emperor said, his voice barely above a whisper. "If you die, I'll head to hell and bring you back myself."
****
Three hours later, Shen Yichen was receiving treatment from the royal physician. The Emperor, without his guards this time, stood behind the old man. His presence was so menacing that the physician couldn't concentrate and had dropped his tools ten times in the span of two minutes.
"How is he?" The Emperor questioned.
The physician jerked, fright zapping through his muscles. Laid on the bed, with thick blood spotted bandages wrapped around his shoulder, was Shen Yichen.
The young male's face was full of pain, pale, and his smooth forehead dotted with cold sweat. He laid still, but would twitch from time to time, his brows tightening as though he was in pain. His chest rose and fell in irregular bursts, and his fingers gripped the sheets and let them go.
"This is bad, your majesty," the physician said. "Master Shen had barely recovered from his mysterious illness. His constitution is still weak. And now he's been poisoned with Bane Leaf. I advised against him going to the—"
"Pick your next words carefully. I asked, how is he?"
"H-he will be better."
"When?"
"I cannot say for sure. I have cleansed the poison as much as I can. You brought him in early, he should make a speedy recovery with a lot of rest and minor training."
The Emperor's hands balled into fists behind him. If only Yichen hadn't taken that stupid arrow. Why did he always feel the need to demonstrate his stupid chivalrous pride?
The Emperor was far from helpless. He was the tyrant of the dragon throne. A mere poisoned arrow wasn't going to do him in. So many people have tried with worse and failed.
But Shen Yichen didn't know that.
Or he knew and chose not to care about it.
"So stupid." the Emperor muttered in anger.
The physician thought he was the recipient of the insult and bristled. "How about you, Your Majesty?" He chose to start. "Are you well?"
"Yes."
"Is there anything else you would like me to do?"
"Get out."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Once the man was gone, the Emperor sighed. He walked over to Shen Yichen's bedside, watching the male closely. He reached out, aiming to brush off a strand of hair that cling to Shen Yichen's forehead when a knock sounded on the door.
"Your majesty," a respectable voice called from outside followed by another series of four quick knocks. Only one person knocked that way.
The Emperor stepped back from the bedside and turned his attention to the window. "Come in."
The door opened and Zhou Mingye, the emperor's trusted right hand man, walked in the room. The first thing he did was spot Shen Yichen. Then his eyes fell on the emperor before he did a sweep of the entire room twice. Once he was sure he'd found no threats, he relaxed and walked up to the Emperor.
"Welcome back, your Majesty. Tales of your victory have reached every part of the empire."
The emperor could care less for tales of his victory. Right now Shen Yichen was poisoned, all that mattered was him waking up.
"How were things in my absence?"
"Splendid. I have the full report ready and will hand it over by the end of today."
"Good." The Emperor said and turned to leave. But as he got to the door, a tiny, breathless voice called out.
"Don't go…" it was soft, he almost didn't catch it.
Then he heard it again.
"Don't go…please. Don't leave me…"