Xie Yi-jun

1295 years after The Long Night

Hêi'àn City

After three weeks of not being let outside, having today's lesson on the training ground was a blessing sent from heaven to Xie Yi-jun, who'd started to plan his escape out of his bedroom window again due to boredom.

Now he stood in a row with the other soldiers, except they were all older than him. Yi-jun had always been trained with those above his age level. His mother's instruction.

He watched Jiang Guiying explaining to everyone what the course was, but the young Prince was too busy making lewd and disgusting faces at Su Lan behind their teacher's back to pay any mind.

His friend just smiled and shook his head...

Xie Yi-jun was just itching for his turn to show off, but he had at least three others in front of him. The wait seemed like a life-time and he only started paying attention when it was Su Lan's turn.

The older boy was light on his feet despite being so tall, and was famous among their class for never falling, always landing on his feet. Hence the nickname Leaping Cat. Xie Yi-jun had nicknames too, but none of them were very pleasant.

Studying and admiring the way Su Lan flew through the agility course; climbing up the wall and balancing across the rope twenty feet high, Yi-jun rocked back and forth on his heels in excitement.

At the archery range with moving targets that Jiang Guiying had enchanted, Su Lan did fairly well but his eye-sight wasn't perfect so he missed two. Finally there was a one-on-one sword fight with their instructor, who was never silent about correcting their stances and grips. Yi-jun almost never received such comments, being the best swordsman among the twenty of them at only fifteen...

Su Lan managed to block several of Jiang Guiying's attacks, but was too hesitant when it came to advancing, so he ended up losing the duel quickly.

As his friend hurried back to them, Xie Yi-jun smiled and patted his arm.

"Good job,"

Su Lan glared at him because Yi-jun was covering his laughter with his other hand.

"I'm sure you'll show us all how it's done-"

"We'll see just how good the Little Prince is once I'm finished."

The deep voice from behind them sent chills up Yi-jun's spine. Su Lan arched his brow, crossing his arms and turning to Meng Bai.

"Go on then," Su Lan said, his smile carefully measured.

Xie Yi-jun and him watched as the eldest of their class began the course, completing the climb and rope-walk quickly even though he seemed the opposite of agile.

If Meng Bai had a nickname, Yi-jun hadn't heard it. The boy, nearly a man at the age of nineteen, had what could be considered an even better claim to the title of Prince than Yi-jun did.

His uncle's son, Meng Bai had royal blood on both sides of his lineage whereas Yi-jun did not. It was only because Yi-jun's father had been the eldest brother that now he was next in line.

Xie Meng Bai never treated Yi-jun like a cousin. They rarely spoke. When they did, Meng Bai would always address him as Little Prince, respectfully.Yi-jun would have liked to have an older cousin, but he stayed away from the boy because of his mother's constant warnings not to trust anyone, and it just seemed to him that if anyone might hate him it would be that person...

Xie Yi-jun watched intently as the older boy aced the archery course and then drew his sword. Beside him, Su Lan shivered and glanced away.

"What's wrong?" The Prince whispered.

His friend hissed over his shoulder; "I don't trust his eyes when he's holding that thing. It looks like he wouldn't be able to stop."

Su Lan was right, Meng Bai's expression as he began to fight their teacher was full of unprompted malice and brutality. Each swing of his arm, heavy-handed and more intense than it needed to be. Yi-jun saw something in the boy that he somehow knew he should stay away from. A streak of hatred in his heart that never seemed to be too far away.

Eventually, Jiang Guiying had to call the fight, as Meng Bai wouldn't give an inch. Xie Yi-jun silently hoped that he never had to be the one staring at those eyes with a blade in his hand.

Meng Bai had a near perfect score. But finally, as Yi-jun stepped up to the wall, he felt his adrenaline spike. Years of climbing up and down the side of the castle and into various windows made this seem like a piece of cake.

He gave a little wave to Su Lan and definitely caught the interested stare Meng Bai and the other boys gave him...

Xie Yi-jun took a deep breath. Then jumped-

There were hand and foot-holds scattered across the wall. Yi-jun had launched himself up to one in the middle, swinging himself up several feet at a time and getting to the top in less than three seconds flat.

Ahead of him was the rope that stretched out across the mud-flat towards the other wall. If he fell it would be a bad day, but Yi-jun never fell.

With a giddy laugh, the Prince kicked off his boots, crouching down and then leaping onto the rope. It hardly moved when he touched it, and then on the balls of his feet he ran the length, throwing himself over the adjacent wall and rolling a few times towards the archery course. He was miles ahead of everyone else when it came to time, but now he had to really focus on skill...

Archery hadn't been his thing until he was twelve years old and his instructor made him practice for hours everyday, rain or shine, until the calluses on Yi-jun's fingers got their own calluses.

Now, he picked up the bow with eager hands, watching the hovering targets fly overhead. Grabbing three arrows, he notched them all, already having noticed the pattern and the intersection of several of the flying things. Having studied it during Su Lan and Meng Bai's turns, he didn't waste a second, drawing back on the string and closing one eye.

Aiming at where he knew the targets would be in mere moments, Xie Yi-jun drew in a breath, and as he let it out, he fired-

The three arrows struck every target except one and Yi-jun quickly notched another, pulling the string and releasing it even as he was already turning towards his teacher for the final test...

Behind him he heard the last target disintegrate, and while he discarded the bow, his other hand drew his sword. Heart beating wildly, the hint of a smile on his lips, Xie Yi-jun approached Jiang Guiying and was about to greet him respectfully when the man, sword already drawn, suddenly advanced.

Yi-jun stepped back and blocked the hit, already preparing for his instructor to swing to his left in a moment. The man's feet gave him away. They always did-

Jiang Giuying moved. Yi-jun's sword was already there, blocking and redistributing the force of his opponent's hit, sending his teacher's blade up and loosening his grip. All Yi-jun had to do was send his blade ninety degrees over the top of Jiang Giuyung's and then catch the sword when it fell. As he did so, he could practically feel the stares of the other's on his back...

Xie Yi-jun ended up with both swords in his hand. His normally grumpy and talkative instructor was stunned speechless at his little trick, so much that he simply took his weapon back with no comment. Yi-jun prefered that to the alternative.

Walking barefoot, rather excitedly back to where the others were gawking at him, the young Prince enjoyed the for once good attention.

Su Lan was already waiting to attack him with questions-

"Xie-jun, how on earth did you do all that so fast?! With the arrows, and then the sword? I think I blinked and you were halfway down the course!"

Yi-jun felt heat rising on his face so he just scoffed.

"It's no big deal. I've been practicing as often as I can. Whenever mother lets me leave-"

He stopped talking mid-sentence when he noticed Meng Bai and some of the others were grinning, chuckling and looking sideways at him.

Xie Yi-jun turned red in anger and embarrassment, but Su Lan noticed and took his arm, bringing the boy's flaming eyes up to his and saying quietly; "Hey! Don't worry about it. Fuck them, mmkay?! They're just jealous because they're not as good as you."

Yi-jun hated when he felt like the youngest. Everyone here was his senior by at least three years, and in moments like these, when his fun special privileges as Prince like being under lockdown were whispered about, the boy wanted to beat up the whole world and cry at the same time.

It wasn't his fault he'd been under threat of death since he was born! It wasn't his fault he'd been placed in a class with boys older than him!

Yi-jun released the breath he'd been holding in, realizing Su Lan was right...

It also wasn't his fault that he was better at simply breathing than these good for nothing aristocrats who play at being Kings!

I have more talent in my left pinkie than the lot of you do in your whole body!

Su Lan, seeing that Yi-jun's blush was fading, his embarrassment turning to mere annoyance, smiled brightly.

His friend leaned down and whispered in his ear; "Remember Xie-jun! When you're King, you can make all of them eat dog shit-"

Xie Yi-jun snickered. Of course it wasn't something he'd actually do someday, but when he was angry the thought did make him feel much better. Imagining those idiots bowing to him, calling him My Lord instead of Little Prince...

Power and status weren't things Yi-jun cared much about, though he knew that as someone born into privilege he probably wasn't even aware of all the little stuff he took for granted. That being said, he wondered if Kings ever took their revenge on the people that annoyed them. Probably. When Yi-jun noticed that some of the boys were still laughing, he glared at them, nearly setting fire to their hair-

When I'm King I'll be different. I'll remember them. And they're all going to regret being mean to me after I show them forgiveness.

The Prince frowned. Someday...