The Dragon Prince's Warrior

Prince Jin's Dilemma

Another agonizing early morning was unfolding in the Forbidden City palace; another one filled with insomnia and despair. Healers were doing everything in their power to revive Prince Shun, who, after waking up, had a severe crisis that prevented him from breathing. His vital signs were too weak for him to rest. It was a constant battle between life and death.

Prince Jin and Emperor Heng anxiously awaited the chief physician's verdict on whether there was a chance for Shun to survive or if they should brace themselves for the worst. Father and son sat in silence, and Jin had a terrible urge to smoke a cigarette to calm himself, but he knew he shouldn't out of respect for his father.

Jin sighed deeply, his mind a mess and hiding the fact that he still felt the effects of the battle against that enraged dragon. He still couldn't bring himself to discuss this with his father, but he knew that commoners had told him something, so it seemed that he didn't want to discuss the issue of those beasts that had attacked the royalty directly either.

It was more than evident that the main topic was Shun. First, the death of his mother, then Yun's disappearance, and now everything pointed to the high likelihood of losing Shun, the crown prince. Chaos didn't seem to want to leave them in peace at any moment.

"Father..." Jin dared to speak with his gaze fixed on the wall in front of them.

"Yes?" Heng didn't seem to want to engage in conversation, but that had become a habit in recent weeks.

"What if Shun doesn't make it?" he asked, swallowing hard after saying it because he knew how complicated communication had become.

Heng closed his eyes and sighed, trying to calm his already chronically frayed nerves.

"I don't even want to think that it might happen; I refuse to lose my firstborn," the Emperor said, rising up, clearly frustrated with his son Jin's question.

"But, Father... We need to be prepared for the worst, or the chain of chaos won't leave us in peace," Jin replied with a lump in his throat.

"And what do you think will happen if Shun dies? Do you want to hear that you will be the new crown prince?" he questioned in frustration while still facing away from Jin.

"Well... quite the opposite, Father. The mere idea of thinking about becoming the future Emperor of China conflicts me; it's something that..." he sighed before continuing, "I wouldn't want to happen."

Heng turned to look at Jin with a disapproving expression.

"Then I haven't raised you well, my son. Where did I go wrong for you to be so rebellious? I don't understand, I've treated all three of you the same way," he replied with a choked voice.

"But, Father, understand. I never imagined anything like this in my life. You assigned us different roles from childhood, and... I had a different idea about my future," Jin swallowed hard. He didn't know how to present his ideas to his father without offending him in the process.

"Just as I assigned you different roles, as you say, I expected you to learn from each other. Shun has been training for this explicitly, but... by the looks of it, you do an excellent job as Emperor. You've shown me that these days. You just need a little more guidance, and you could do it efficiently if Shun were to be absent," Heng replied before sitting back down beside Jin.

The prince carefully considered each word his father had spoken, and a grimace of disgust formed on his lips.

"So you're saying that I would be just a substitute every time something goes wrong in the kingdom?" The idea hurt the young prince. "Would that be my only purpose in life? To be a stand-in for the crown prince, not because I truly deserve that position. And then what? Do I not have the option to choose something else for my life?"

"I didn't mean that, Jin..." Heng fell silent, sighed, and rubbed his temples.

Jin turned to his father to evaluate how he was taking his words, but he noticed indifference and a certain coldness. His breathing increased as he received no response.

"Answer me, Father. I need to know I'm not wrong about this because I've always felt this way, without cause, without a real purpose. I love serving the people, but I can see you're not thrilled when I give more for them, to be honest," Jin said, his frustration causing his brow to furrow. "Father, answer."

"Jin, that's enough. I don't want to discuss this now. Your brother is injured, and that's all we should think about: him recovering, and then we can lay our cards on the table if you want."

Heng turned to look at his son and was slightly taken aback by the fiery redness in his eyes. The Emperor had to admit that this had frightened him greatly, but he didn't want to show it too much.

"I can't stay here any longer. I'm leaving, Father..." he snapped and made a slight bow without making eye contact. Then he turned and quickly left his father's side.

Jin felt furious and found it hard to deal with the turmoil churning in his stomach, rising up his throat and throbbing in his head. He grunted in anger, rose from his seat, and left without saying another word.

Meanwhile, Heng was scared. What was happening with his children? The commoners and advisers had told him how he had saved the people from that beast. The armor that both Jin and Shun wore was no illusion; indeed, both sets were stored in the respective princes' chambers.

He had gone to verify their authenticity, not to mention the weapons each of them possessed. As soon as he received Shun's diagnosis, he would have to speak with his son because what had happened was far from normal in any sense, and it was clear that communication between them was deteriorating.

The Emperor watched his son walk away and disappear into the main garden. He rested his head on his chair and closed his eyes, longing for An to be there to advise him about Jin. She surely knew how to talk to their three sons, but her absence hurt, and at least for him, it would hurt forever.

Meanwhile, Jin plunged into a vortex of inner conflicts. He couldn't stand the idea that his father took him so lightly. He had always felt this way, but since his mother was no longer there, that feeling weighed even heavier on his shoulders.

His mind brought up the image of his friend Lin. She was always ready to listen, and he knew he could tell her anything; she would listen without question. Why couldn't he invite her to the palace? Yes... she was a commoner, and his father wouldn't accept her in the palace. He cursed the silly rules of royalty once again and continued walking.

The middle prince sat on one of the benches that adorned the garden, patting his pocket. He did indeed have a pack of cigarettes. He put his hand in to pull out just one, but he sighed and found himself unable to do it, so he simply let out a sigh of frustration, sadness, and other negative emotions welling up in his heart.

"Mother... I wish you were here. You don't know how much I need your words. The family is falling apart more and more, and doubts consume me. Answer me... Will Shun recover? And will we have news of Yun?" he thought, and tears welled up in his eyes, but they refused to come out to relieve him.

He once again held back his tears and remained brooding in his sorrows, thinking that it would start getting light at any moment, and he could only hope that things would get better for everyone.

Suddenly, a glimmer caught his eye from the corner, right near the main palace gate. He frowned, as he had already seen this light once before, which had caused problems with his father not believing him or Shun. What did this strange presence want? It was one of the things he most wished to know in life.

"Maybe..." he couldn't finish thinking that, he got up and headed to the gate, hearing the sound of horses. He arched an eyebrow because they weren't expecting any visitors at this hour, but the sound was getting closer at full speed.

Someone seemed to halt the horses, and an unfamiliar voice was saying unintelligible things.

"I bring good news for the Emperor! Open the gates!" the male voice exclaimed.

Jin arrived where the guards were and signaled them not to open immediately, as he would take care of it his own way.

"Is it possible?" Jin thought, but he didn't open the gates. Instead, he scaled the enormous wall leading to the palace exit. His dark clothing and climbing skills allowed him to blend in enough so he couldn't be seen from where he was. "To hell with hiding, I better see for myself what they want."