"Find her and kill her!", the angry King ordered his guards and other warriors. One of his concubines, Sabina, had just escaped from the palace which was an offense punishable by death.
Sabina was the only woman that he had loved so much that he forcefully made her his even though she belonged to another man. Now she had escaped from the palace, from him and he was determined to make her pay for it.
"Yes. your majesty!", the royal guards chorused as they turned around and ran out of the royal court in search of Sabina.
The King started to pace around, gritting his teeth and clenching his fist out of anger. He was going to make Sabina his Queen because he loved her so much yet she made a fool out of him by running away.
He was still furious about the situation when he heard the mischievious laughter of a woman entering the royal court where he was.
She was dressed in a red embroided robe with golden phoenix patterns on it which was only worn by members of the royal family. Her hair was tied up in a bun with a golden hairpin in it which only a Queen was allowed to wear.
The King angrily panned his head in the direction where the laughter came from.
It was the Queen Dowager, his mother.
"Mother!", the King exclaimed angrily, glaring at her.
The angry and bitter expression in the King's eyes made the Queen Dowager burst into another fit of laughter. Her continous laughter only infuiated the King and he moved closer to her.
Flashing his angry eyes at her, he spat out "Are you happy?"
"Of course, I am!", the Queen Dowager replied scornfully.
"You finally became the King after killing your brother and getting rid of all his supporters. Now you have all the power but you couldn't get the one thing you've always wanted - Sabina's heart. You forcefully made her your concubine even though she was married to Harold, the former general. And now? She's running back into the arms of the man she was married to, the man she truly loves. You have failed Zhao! So, of course, I am happy.", the Queen Dowager sneered coldly.
Enraged by her words, the King grabbed the Queen Dowager by her shoulder roughly and yelled "I didn't kill the late King, my brother. He died on his own!"
"Of poison!", the Queen Dowager yelled back almost immediately.
"And I caught the attendant who poisoned him.", the King said with a wicked smile forming on his face.
"You may fool everyone but not me!", the Queen Dowager yelled.
"You killed your brother and made an innocent attendant take the blame. Then you forced a false confession out of the attendant to get rid your late brother's supporters. Just for the throne!", the Queen Dowager cried.
"I know everything you did."
The King loosened his grip on her, took a few steps back and he burst into laughter.
"You knew all about it, yet you stayed silent?" he asked mockingly.
The Queen Dowager was silent.
"Of course, you could not do anything. You are just a powerless old woman who is only alive because of my mercy. You're like a lion without it's claws and teeth. So, you better stay silent like you have been and crawl back into your quarters quietly. If you continue to annoy me like you did today, I might not be so forgiving. I might even forget that you are my mother."
"And as for Sabina, if I can't have her then no one else can - not even the man she was married to. I would rather have her dead than let her have her happy ending with him!", the King said as he stormed out of the royal court.
******
The panting continued as Sabina ran through the forest. Her throat was burning as her legs were getting tired but she continued running as tears filled her eyes.
She knew that if she stopped running, the guards were going to catch up with her and she was going to die.
While she was running, an arrow whistled at her ear as it hit the tree in front of her.
"Oh no!" The guards were right behind her. Her heart started to beat faster and it felt as if it was going to burst out of her chest.
She quickened her pace as she could feel the guards getting close but it was difficult for her to keep running. She could barely see where she was going as it was dark and the ground was uneven.
"I'm going to die.", she whispered under her breath as tears started to fill her eyes started to fill her eyes and the arrows continued to whistle at her ears as they hit the trees.
All of a sudden, she hits her left foot against a log of wood on the ground which made her fall to the ground. Sabina struggled to get up as she was already very weak.
When she finally managed to get on her feet and proceed to run, she saw that she was at the edge of a steep hill.
"No...no!", she cried as she looked around to see if she could find another path.
"I can't give up now. Harold and Kayla are waiting for me.", she thought to herself.
When she finally noticed a path that she could run through, the guards had already caught up with her.
"You should give up now, Royal Concubine Sabina.", Captain Gao sneered behind as he sat calmly on his horse.
His words sent shivers down Sabina's spine but she wasn't one to give up. She proceeded to run but Captain Goa swiftly drew his bow and shot Sabina.
The arrow pierces Sabina's chest, slowly staining her robe with blood. It dealt enough damage as Sabina staggered backwards and tumbled down the hill.
Unable to ride down the steep hill, Captain Gao declared to the rest of the guards that Sabina was dead and they should return to the palace.
"But Captain...we should make sure she is dead. She could still be alive.", one guard countered.
Hearing this, Captain Gao's eyes flashed with anger. He got down from his horse and moved closer to the guard, unsheathed his sword and slit the guard's throat.
The other guards watched in horror and fear as the guard fell from his horse and slowly died in a gush of blood.
"No one dares question me!", he yelled. "She is dead. I shot her with my own arrow. Does anyone have anything else to say about that?"
"No.", the other guards chorused.
"Good!", he said as he mounted his horse and headed to the palace.
Down the hill, Sabina groaned in pain as she thought of her husband and daughter. In her heart, she knew she wasn't going to make it. "Harold...Kayla, I'm sorry.", she cried as she slowly closed her eyes and let out a heavy exhale.