Jade paced up and down in the office, her mind fixated on the actions of the mercenary earlier. She was still fuming from what had happened, yet her mind was in turmoil.
What in the world just happened?She rubbed her temple and stared up at the rafters above her.“Senior Jade, are you fine?” A junior officer passing by inquired. She faced him for a bit, smiling pretentiously. Her cherry lips and rosy cheeks distracted him for a moment.“I’m okay. I just need a break from things.”He appeared concerned. “Was it that man earlier? I heard things were getting out of hand.”She felt a blush coming over her cheeks. It was the first time a man had come so close to touching her, but she detested the man with all her heart! Still, he was the only one who had defeated her, though it made her embarrassed, and she had such use for his skills. The mission they would head out on wasn’t a normal one.“I don’t wish to talk about it,” she turned away so that her junior wouldn’t notice the flush on her cheeks. She took a deep breath and inhaled and exhaled a few times, rubbing her face until she knew the redness on her face was gone.Jade, you got this; she told herself a few times. Stop thinking about that idiot.“Senior, if he bullied you, I can get the others to teach him a lesson.”The younger man was so adamant about getting back to the unknown man, but knowing how adept the man was, it was futile. Jade shook him off firmly.“I said I’m fine. Listen to my words. Go back to your work.”The young man reluctantly obeyed and exited from the main door, leaving Jade alone in the office. She couldn’t fathom what was going on in her head right now. She assembled herself and shouted as loudly as she could.She would never, in this lifetime, have feelings for the man, she swore. She reminded herself that she became a guard for a purpose. And that was to prove her worth and, as her childhood friend King Greyson said, to give her a whiff of the matters on the island. Greyson had believed that doing so, would enable her to understand further what an Advisor’s role was about.She was still inexperienced, after all.But to endure the ordeal of being stuck with that idiotic Chad throughout the trip? How could she even handle it? Even if his skills were what she needed.King Greyson had given her the task in secret. Hence, the details of the expedition were to be kept as confidential as possible. She was to hire the most exceptional mercenaries possible because he needed her alive.Because of this, he had insisted on this requirement. It made total sense to her. If any harm came to her, who was going to be the future advisor?And then, there was that other reason she couldn’t allow herself to have feelings for anyone. She had a betrothal to another man on the island, Levi Stanson, the son of a minister. She hadn’t met him apart from a brief encounter when they were children, and she barely remembered how he looked now. But that wasn’t her primary focus.Greyson had said that the mission was highly essential. When Xima cursed the island, she had spread her lackeys around the island, in fifteen different territories, with one in each. These demons, made of her blood and spiritual energy, threatened travellers on the roads, causing fear to whoever passed by. Greyson wanted her to exterminate them.The demons wouldn’t go down easily without normal weapons. He had rewarded her with two unique weapons: the Demon-Flail and the Mystic Dagger. They created the flail from the bark of a tree that had sprouted from the grave of a holy man that had passed away some decades ago.Greyson had the dagger commissioned from a sword that was used by a retired swordsman who had once encountered a demon and survived. They believed that the fallen demon’s blood strengthened the weapon.As for the mercenaries, Greyson had prepared ammunition and weapons, enhanced with ‘holy’ water. This holy water was water used for prayers by the religious folk of the island. Every morning, these people, commonly women, would make obeisance to the gods by dressing in plain white clothes and offering water and fruits.After the prayers, they would distribute the fruits among the residents of the island city. They used the water to bless items or even for drinking as they believed it to have miraculous properties. The water used for prayers originated from a clear stream far from the village. According to a myth passed down from generation to generation, the water had healing and blessing properties, also clean from any impurities.Whether the myths were true, she just needed to come back from the mission victorious.………………………………………………………………………The day she dreaded eventually came. She was so occupied with training the juniors that she hadn’t realised how three days had just gone by like that. The next thing was, a junior guard announced that the two men had arrived an hour before the arranged time.Hmm, so the man had heeded her words. Clearing her throat, she asked them to come in.Chad looked charismatic in a dark-looking suit and trousers. Just as he had been the other day, he was calm and composed. As seeing him would only irritate her further, she directed her attention to his companion.“Miss Gold, I, Chad, am here as promised,” the man bowed politely. “And this is my friend and sworn brother Sky.”Sky bowed after him. His eyes seemed to light up like he had seen something that excited him. But then he remained silent, so she thought little of it.Walking towards the large entrance, she made sure nobody was around to hear their conversation, then she bolted shut the main door and the back exit as well. Then she moved back to face the two men, appearing as authoritative as she could while announcing in a solemn voice.“The reason you are here is that this is a very important mission. Listen up, because the mission is also perilous. I can’t predict what will happen on the journey, or whether we will end up coming back alive and in one piece because there has been no one alive to tell of their experiences. So, are you in or not? I don’t want cowards following me and running off halfway.”She didn’t see the need to explain further unless they acknowledged their interest. It was a matter of whether they were willing parties. But judging by Chad’s character, he did not seem the sort who would leave his comfortable life to encounter risks out there in the wild. She, even with her high caste, had a strict upbringing. From a tender age, her father had raised her in such a manner. That was another reason she disliked Chad. He seemed to have his life so easy.She paused. Were they going to decline the offer?“We are in,” they answered in unison, astonishing her. Were they sure?“You still have the last chance to decide whether to take this mission before I explain to you what it is all about. But once you have an idea about what it entails, I cannot let you leave.”Chad coolly moved closer till he and Jade were just an inch apart.“Miss Gold, I’m all ears. You can trust me. I’ll do a good job. After all, it’s a man’s part to keep his woman safe.”She just wanted to kill him right now.Jade finished demonstrating the details of the trip, pointing to the map unrolled before them. She paid extreme attention to the details, not missing every one of the fifteen territories where the civilians had noticed a demonic presence in the area. She had noted down the behaviours and tendencies of these creatures, plus the measures that they needed to take.The way Chad was acting when faced with the information she just presented irked her even more. He sat down on the floor, coolly watching her, without a single tinge of seriousness on his visage. But getting furious at him was meaningless. He would end up infuriating her with something new.She turned to Sky instead and questioned him.“Are you clear about what we have to do?”Sky smiled foolishly. “As my brother said, we will keep you safe, Madame!”Jade glared daggers at him for a few seconds before walking away and heading into a room. She seized a porcelain cup lying on a table nearby, accompanied by a teapot and poured her
Chad sat on the stiff bed in the mercenaries’ quarters, huddled under a blanket in the chilly night. Even after two nights had passed, he couldn’t erase that image of Sky and Jade in the flower garden from his mind.After leaving the palace, he had to put up with the living conditions of a beggar and the fact that his savings wouldn’t last them a long time. For Sky, he was indifferent, and obviously, he had encountered exposure to living in worse conditions. But for Chad, this was the cost of his freedom. Such conditions didn’t improve since they arrived at the island city. Aside from what remained of his savings, he had his boat. But even with that, what could he do? He couldn’t use it for sleep or to fill his stomach. When their stored food was depleted, the only resort was for them to find a job outside.The harsh working conditions didn’t bother Sky, but it was him, as a prince, that struggled with working like a commoner. He realised how spoiled he had been, and compared his bud
Jade Gold closed the door after her, trying not to be daunted by the pounding in her chest. This man she claimed to detest so much turned out to have that impact on her. But why him?Sitting cross-legged on her wooden bed, she calmed herself and attempted to sift through the confusing emotions in her mind. She was Jade Gold, future Imperial Advisor and currently the only female Imperial Guard.She couldn’t allow her emotions to take over her like that! He was that boorish mercenary Roc Chadwick! Even when Jade encountered colleagues of the opposite sex daily, to the extent that she went through some accidental touching, she hadn’t reacted like that!The problem probably lay in Roc Chadwick. And after the mission, she had to get him out of her life, or he would mess it up! ‘Jade, don’t fret. You have your engagement with Levi Stanson,’ she reminded herself. This Levi was indeed a mystery. She hoped he was how she had imagined him to be: sexy, muscular and appetising to the eye. They w
No, she yelled in her mind. She couldn’t meet with her doom just yet, for she was just nineteen! She still had a lot to achieve in her life, and she couldn’t die just like that. ‘Please, almighty goddess Miyu, please, let me escape this,’ she prayed silently.In answer to her prayers, two hands appeared in front of her eyes, and Jade thought she was seeing things. She sensed someone lifting her to safety and passed out, dazed. Unlike anyone else, Jade didn’t fall into a deep slumber even when she was out cold. She saw images that were part of her life or her so-called past life. Visions even came to her out of the blue, sometimes at night, when she was supposedly sleeping, or randomly, like how she had just seen when she was drifting in the water earlier.This was a part of her that nobody else could fathom, so she quit telling anyone else, lest it frightened them like how it petrified that maid in her home during her childhood days. The maid had even fled the night after that. Sh
The morning was there before they knew it. Chad dressed in the mercenary robes that the Guard had presented them with, a splendidly tailored outer robe of the darkest brocade. Sky’s robe was no inferior: he wore a suit of dark blue, looking just as magnificent. Compared to the farmhand he was before, he appeared to shine.Chad washed his face with a basin of hot water as he contemplated what had happened the night before. As a prince with many consorts and a concubine he had never met, he had many women at his service, a different one in his bed every night, but he had heeded none of them any special attention like he did with Jade Gold.He couldn’t forget the fragrance on her slim body, nor her petite waist as he held her that night, almost having her for himself. He had been so close.What had happened to her for her to forget him? Had he never had that big an impression on her? He was sure she would have at least remembered his face when they spent a night of intimacy at the rapist
The rest of the day passed smoothly, and the two friends listened to an account of the island’s history directly from King Greyson, most of which Chad was not oblivious to, and Sky was finding difficulty understanding because of his dense nature. Jade involuntarily stared towards Chad’s way, but inhibited herself from further stares when Chad became aware.It didn’t occur to her why Chad’s eyes were a little downcast, though he appeared normal this morning when he arrived at the meeting hall. Jade decided it wasn’t her concern, and she had more worries on her mind to fret about. Greyson had cleared those doubts in her mind and, like he said, it was up to her to decide about her marriage and her discomfort about going on the mission.Other than her, Greyson had nobody he could trust and was capable enough to go on the mission. Because Xima’s eyes and ears were all over the island, he had no choice but to entrust such a severe task to his old friend, and he believed in her. Greyson also
Two days laterJade looked back at the Guard's office as it gradually vanished from sight. She and Chad were in a horse carriage, where Sky, sitting outside on the horse, manoeuvred through the thick woods. The city, also named Tribute, was in the island's heart.Their first destination was Faepool, a village closest to the city. It would take about five days for them to reach Faepool, and in between points of travel, they had to recuperate as much as they could.Before this, Jade had thought of her task as just exterminating evil. But it was her first time encountering these demons which the Shaman had defined as 'hideous creatures of a foreign race, with different colours'. It brought up her memory of the vision she had seen just before she almost drowned in the bath chamber. The Shaman had, like Greyson, kept everything for the last before coming clean to her.A part of her felt betrayed. But she understood they had their reasons for their actions. She had considered Greyson her co
The carriage stopped at an inn located just before the border of Tribute and Faepool, where they stayed for the night, resuming their road trip the next day.It was the first time Jade had stayed at such places even though she had travelled before, but seeing that Chad and Sky had experienced such stays before, she allowed them to make the choice of their rooms.Chad took the lead and selected two spacious rooms on the top floor of the inn. Over the last two days, he took over driving the carriage to allow for some private time between his sworn brother and Jade. He hardened his feelings, recalling the overheard conversation that other day between Jade and the king.It baffled him how she was engaged to someone and had no intention of breaking the arrangement.Her concern that she might not keep herself pure for him, did it mean she had someone on her mind? Was that someone, him or Sky? Although he had that encounter in the bath chamber with her, Jade did also have a heart-to-heart wi