Chapter Two
Yihui expected to die today. Or perhaps she hoped for such an end because concubine to a white king was not the life she wanted.
After her failed escape yesterday, she knew Lao Gu would find a way to punish her.
She knew, even if they did not, that the English were not as stupid as the Chinese generally believed.
Even the English captain had doubts that this scheme would succeed, but Lao Gu was determined to use her to flatter the king.
Then he expected to embed himself in the English court as the concubine’s master.
She thought it ridiculous, but what did she know of the plans of men? Nothing. And so she had tried to escape last night and failed. Then they had broken her feet, fed her opium for the pain, and she had willingly embraced it.
When a woman had no future, she would take whatever escape she could.
Then an Englishman dared break her from her daze.
His voice caught her first. There was a richness to how he spoke, low and yet still compelling. Like a drumbeat calling her forth. She couldn’t understand why she responded. Yet come forth she did, her gaze focusing on his blue eyes.
“Stay still,” he said. She understood him perfectly but was not predisposed to any man commanding such a thing. Nevertheless, she obeyed merely to gain time. She had to know what was happening around her.
She replayed in her thoughts what had been no more than a slipping of time in a wash of pain. But now she knew, she felt, and she accepted her coming death. Hadn’t that been her preference? And yet the feel of the sword at her throat made the reality of it all too much.
She began to panic.
“Don’t move. I’ll get you free.”
Free? He would free her? No man promised such a thing, but what else could she do? Her captors would not help her. This man with blue eyes spoke with a voice that called her to awareness. What choice did she have but to hope?
But the blade was there pressed against her throat. She dared not breathe, not swallow, not totter on her throbbing feet.
The Englishman turned his face from her, robbing her of the steadiness of his gaze. She wanted to reach for him, but her body was heavy and slow.
“She is indeed lovely,” he said.
“Doesn’t mean I can marry her!” the English king retorted.
“As to that…” he began, then he shoved her.
His push landed hard, right in the center of her chest. While she flew backwards, he chopped down on the wrist holding the sword. It was hard to see with the beads clattering in front of her eyes, but as soon as she could focus, she saw him standing with the sword against…too many others.
He had gotten her a reprieve, but it was short-lived. The others were coming for him with swords drawn. He adjusted. Indeed, he’d leaped to a position in front of her, half standing over her legs. At his back was the palanquin, so at least there was defense on one side, but it would not last.
Meanwhile, the fat king was clapping his hands as if this were a performance.
“Good show, Max! Good show!”
“I’m afraid I can’t maintain it, Your Royal Highness. Not three against one. You’ll need to find another solution. Quickly, if possible.”
Yihui looked around, trying to find a way to escape. The blue-eyed man had provided the distraction. All she needed to do was crawl away. But she was surrounded on all sides as the ship captain started pleading with the king.
“If you would just accept the present, then that will be all that is required. Bring her into your household for a time. You don’t have to marry her. The Wongs have to go back to China eventually.”
There was panic in the man’s voice and a desperation that Yihui would find satisfying if she had enough attention to spare. As it was, she could only cower behind the blue-eyed man and hope he found an answer.
Meanwhile the English leader grunted in obvious disgust. “As if I didn’t already think of that. I can’t be seen to take a Chinese woman as my wife by anyone. Even in pretense. It makes me a liar, and I won’t have it.”
“But Your Royal Highness—”
The English king stood up. Thanks to the raised dais, he towered over the captain and even Yihui could see his irritated expression.
“Why can’t people think?” He looked at her blue-eyed protector.
“Thankfully, we have another solution. Max isn’t married.
He already offered to help. Got a sword for it and everything.
Max, you take the girl, and honor is satisfied.
Then it’s your fault if the hippo isn’t satisfied. ”
Yihui sorted through the people. The blue-eyed man was named Max. And his ruler had just commanded him to marry her?
“I can’t marry her!” Max snapped. “I’m going to marry Lady Kimberly of Tillgrave.”
The prince took a step down from the dais. “Have you offered for her yet?”
“No, not exactly, but—”
“It’s a royal command. She’ll understand.”
Like bloody hell she would. He’d already mistreated Kim, starting from when he’d been thirteen and bragging about things he had no business saying. And had never done either. There was no way she’d understand this!
“Besides,” continued Prinny, “you’ve always been interested in China. And someone in your family works with the East India Company, yes?”
Yes. And Max had peppered his uncle with a million questions over the years, but none of what he’d learned would help now. “That doesn’t mean—”
“Figure it out.” Prinny waved to the captain. “Tell him that his lordship, the Earl of Artanges, future Duke of Fernbury, will accept the girl on my behalf. Honor is satisfied.” The leader grinned, then burped. “So that’s done,” he said as he started to turn away.
“Your Highness!” Max called as the guards began to advance on him again. “This isn’t going to work.”
“It’s an excellent solution. Captain, tell them before Max gets skewered.”
Yihui heard the panicked back and forth between the ship captain and Lao Gu.
They both realized that there would be no royal favor for either of them unless they could force it on the blue-eyed Max.
She wanted to warn him of their plans, but she knew better than to speak up.
Her only hope was to remain quiet and slip away while the men argued.
But where could she go? Ru and Yan—the captors she’d nicknamed Pervert and Weed—stood just beyond the circle of Max’s reach, each smacking his lips at the possibility of gutting the barbarian.
She knew how cruel they were. If she made it to their side, they wouldn’t help her.
She, on the other hand, would be happy to kill them if she got hold of a weapon.
And then she ran out of time. Lao Gu called off his men while the captain smiled at Max.
“They’ve accepted your terms, my lord,” the captain said with clear relief in his voice. “Provided that they are able to see to the girl’s proper accommodations.”
The king stopped halfway out the door. “Well of course they’ll be proper. Max, you have enough room in your house, don’t you?”
“What? But—”
The English leader was losing patience. His voice was hard. “You don’t have to get a priest today. Look into the hippo thing. There’s no need to rush until you know it’s important.” He grinned as if he were a boy playing a mischievous prank. “No one will be upset. It’s a royal edict.
“To marry?” Max let his sword arm drop far enough to look less aggressive. Then he addressed the captain. “Is there any way to refuse this gift?”
The man shook his head. “You can, but they’ll kill her.
It’s their way of showing that they mean business.
She’s a bribe. And if you refuse their terms, they won’t think twice about murdering her and me.
” Yihui knew his worry was about himself.
Their whole scheme had been idiocy from the beginning.
“It can be a lawless land, my lord. I wouldn’t want to make it more dangerous for us. ”
The king shook his head. “Barbarians! Very well. Max will marry her.”
“But—”
The protest was left dangling as the prince departed with a wave, the onlookers chuckled with grand amusement, all while Max slowly lowered his sword.
She could see the dawning realization on his face.
Was his life a joke to them? Yes, it was.
Did his wishes mean nothing? Correct. How would he live now that he knew he was insignificant?
As she did, with fury and the sweet dream of revenge.
He looked to her, his eyes wide with shock, and she felt a connection with him. Women, at least, were accustomed to being used in men’s games. Obviously, this was new to him, and he seemed like a child whipped for the first time.
The impression didn’t last long. A moment later he gathered his dignity. He straightened his shoulders, tightened his jaw, and headed straight to her.
“Are you all right?” he asked. “Do you speak English?”
“Do not touch her!” Pervert barked in Chinese, but his meaning was clear, and Max stilled before reaching her.
His blue gaze was shrewd as he took in Pervert’s measure.
The guard might take great pleasure in harming a weak woman, but he would not fare so well beneath the white man’s withering glare.
Better yet, if Max were a typical man, he would take out his anger on the guard, and Yihui could not wait to see it.
Except this white man was not typical. He dismissed Pervert with a disdainful curl of his lip as he addressed her. “I should like to take you to my home now,” he said, his words slow. “We can sort this whole thing out better there. Do you understand?”
She nodded. Her command of English was adequate before she’d left China. Then she’d spent every moment of the six-month trip learning the language, so now she could understand nearly everything.
She opened her mouth to respond, but Lao Go blustered forward, stepping between her and the Englishman.
“No touch!” he barked in English. “No touch!”