“So this is the boy.”

“Yes my Khan.”

Yixing and Senayt knelt in front of Suho while the younger emperor stood in front of them looking around the dim room in a mix of fear and awe. Senayt felt her heart beating harder than a drum in her chest. She wasn’t sure why she felt so nervous for the young boy. It had nothing to do with her. She had absolutely no reason to involve herself with him and what happens to him.

“And you lost the woman who was protecting him,” His words would have been seen as a question had it not come from the Khan.

Yixing responded again, “Yes my Khan.”

“Senayt.” His booming voice startled her and she jumped in her spot.

“Yes my Khan?”

“What did you see. Tell me.”

She looked up from the ground to glance at the boy and then at the Khan before lowering her gaze once again. “A woman left the cabin after having slaughtered all of your men. I did not get the chance to get a good look at her. As soon as she was through the door I blinked and then she vanished into the night. When I…went in we found the young emperor and escaped into the forest with no more trouble.”

He grunted at her recollection and his eyes fell on the last Chinese emperor. “You, boy are small and weak. You are supposed to be the Chinese emperor?”

“I am the Chinese emperor,” came his response.

Suho let out a boisterous laugh at the proud response that came from the tiny boy. “Quite a mouth on you isn’t there?”

Senayt felt her heart ease at the sound of his laughter. The words did not fit the tone of his voice. The Khan was clearly amused by the child. She would take that as a good sign. Daring to peek, she looked up to catch the expression on the prince’s face.

His chubby cheeks were scarlet with embarrassment at having been laughed at, but his eyes did not move away from the Khan’s face.

A grunt came from the Khan. “Do you know that your father’s army has killed hundreds of my men?” he asked the boy. No answer came. “Do you know that my men have also killed hundreds of your father’s men?” The room was silent of anything but the sounds of the crackling fires in the room. “It would make many people happy if I were to kill you right this moment,” the Khan mused aloud.

Senayt could feel the air leaving her lungs in horror. That’s the voice he takes on when he is truly considering something. She didn’t know why she did what she did, but she couldn’t leave Khan Suho to kill the child when she had promised he would live.

“My Khan if I may speak?!” she asked from her crouched position.

“What is it,” he asked her, lacking any emotion in his voice.

She gathered her courage and raised up from her position to look at the Khan so that he would understand her sincerity. “I believe that the young emperor would be of more value to you alive than he would as just another corpse.”

“My Khan please excuse her-”

Suho raised his hand to cut Yixing off. His eyes narrowed at the girl before him. “No, let her speak. I want to hear why she is defending the boy.”

She looked over at the boy, who had started shaking in fear at the thought of his own death, to see him staring at her with tear-filled eyes and quivering lips.

“Go on.”

“The…the young emperor can be an asset to you. If word gets to southern China that you have killed their future emperor, then they will come to fight us. They will no longer be willing to discuss the formation of a greater kingdom under you. However, if he lives then we have something to barter with. It will show our good will. With him alive they will hesitate to initiate any attacks, and we will have the upper hand at any future discussions of combining into one land under your rule,” her chest rose nervously. “That’s why I believe you should keep him alive.” Her final words left her lips in a whisper. With a bow she lowered herself back to her knees beside her master who she could feel radiating disappointment at her outburst.

“I see…” came the Khan’s response. “Senayt, how old are you now?”

“13 my Khan.”

“13…and yet you seem well educated in the politics of my council. I’m impressed.” Senayt heard the air escape from Yixing beside her in relief. Her own shoulders relaxed. “I will spare the boy. This time. Yixing, you stay here so that we can discuss what to do about the woman you all let get away.”

“Yes my Khan.”

“Senayt,” she swallowed and nodded her head. “Since you are so fond of the boy, for the time being take the young emperor to your room. Until I decide what to do with him, he is under your care. Do you understand me?” she nodded vigorously and looked up at the Khan with wide eyes.

“Yes my Khan. I’ll watch after him.”

“If anything happens to him, or he manages to escape, you will be held responsible.” A shiver ran down her spine.

“Y-yes my Khan.” Suho waved her off and watched as she all but scrambled to the Oh boy to pick him up off the ground and ran from the room. He chuckled fondly at their retreating figures.

“She is growing up to be quite a young woman isn’t she?”

“Thanks to you. She continues to work hard to prove herself as both a warrior and as a future diplomat. She refuses to accept any position solely within your harem,” Yixing affirmed with a grin of his own.

“As she should…remind me to keep an eye on her. If she continues to be this strong willed, then she just may be a good match as one of Jongdae’s future wives.”

**

“Hey, hey now. Stop crying! You are okay!” She sat the boy on her unkempt bed trying to soothe his cries. As soon as they had left the main hall he burst into tears. She could not say that she was in the least surprised by the reaction.

Suho can be quite frightening when he wants to be.

She knelt down in front of the young emperor and grabbed his wrists to pull them away from his eyes. “Hey,” she tried. “Sehun. Sehun, look at me.” At the sound of his name he reacted. His eyes opened but the tears did not stop falling. She tried smiling, but the worry in her chest came through and made the smile less reassuring than she’d intended. “Your name is Sehun right? I’m Senayt. You…I am sure that you know that, but I wanted to tell you it myself.” Talking to him casually seemed to be working as he began to regain his composure. “How old are you Sehun?”

“I-I’m eight,” he whimpered.

“Eight? Whoa you’re so mature for a five-year-old.” She knew his age. She knew all of his most important facts really. His blood type. His birthday. She’d been briefed before they went looking for him. She probably knew more about him than he even knew about himself. “What do you like to eat Sehun? I’m sure you must be hungry; I can get us food if you want.”

“I…I’m not hungry,” he whispered. She frowned slightly. He had to be hungry. It’d been almost a week and all they’d had to eat was bread and a few dried meats. If he didn’t eat soon then he just might faint. He was small and she knew that he was accustomed to being fed well.

She lowered his wrists down to his lap and hummed in thought. “Not hungry? Alright, well I’ll go grab myself something to eat, and if you get hungry you can eat off my plate. How does that sound?” she stood up to take her leave, but the feeling of his small hand on the side of her shirt kept her from walking away.

“No! I don’t…you should stay here. Don’t leave.”

“You don’t want me to leave?”

“Mm.” The determined frown on his face made her smile.

“So, I can’t leave and we can’t eat?” she asked teasingly.

“Mm,” he pouted even harder.

She clicked her tongue and lowered herself in front of him once more. “I save your life and now you want to keep me trapped in here so that we both starve to death? Wow I can’t believe it,” she shook her head and managed to place a hand on her heart in feigned hurt.

“No!” his hands smacked against her cheeks as he tried to make her stop shaking her head. “You can’t die!”

“I can’t die?”

“No!”

“But you can?” she asked him softly. His angry frown at the thought of her dying melted away as he considered himself dying instead.

“Yes,” he answered finally.

Senayt scrunched her face up. “Why can you die, but I can’t?”

“Because…because you are nice to me, and I don’t want you to die.”

“But you are nice too. I don’t want you to die either.” The simple statement sent the small boy deep into thought. Senayt took the opportunity to remove his hands from her face.

His tears long forgotten, he pouted once again. Now at a loss for what to say to the older girl who was looking at him expectantly. “How about…we both stay alive? Mm? I won’t die because you don’t want me to, and you can’t die because I don’t want you to. Okay?”

Sehun nodded at the compromise. Both of them would not die. He would make sure of it. Senayt stood and hugged Sehun close to her chest. “You are too cute. Now that we have decided that we are going to stay alive, how about we both go out and get some water and food?”

She stood on her feet once more and held out her hand. He grabbed on to it without a second thought.

God it has been years since i even THOUGHT about this story but i had a second chapter that i forgot to upload so here it is. This story is officially on HIATUS bc i have no idea where i was going with this but i still liked the idea so i might come back to it one day!