He hadn’t even taken a single breath, when VinWei1Literally vin (hard) + wei (crystal) fell on her knees right in front of him, making him jump on his seat.
“I am so very, extremely sorry for my rudeness! We’ve been terribly impolite and inconsiderate! If there’s anything I can do to make up for our offense,” she practically begged, the words flowing urgently out of her mouth, and Snow did his best to keep his gaze downcast, wishing someone would help him out of that predicament.
“Now you’re being ridiculous, Vin! Get up!” ZenTar2Literally zen (silent) + tar (wind) scolded her and, like before, her tone immediately changed as she snapped back at him.
“And you’re as ill-mannered as always! It’s a wonder ZaiWin3Literally zai (blade) + win (chaos). turned out as educated as he is, being raised by the likes of you! You’re in the presence of a Tien’Elhar4Literally tien (Heaven) + el (supreme) + har (girl child). The Heavenly Beings also known as Celestials in the common language.! You should be scrubbing the floor with your forehead!”
“I’ve been in the presence of your precious Tien’Elhar for the past month! And weren’t you the one happily interpreting her daitai5Literally dai (light) + tai (mark), or Holly Markings, considered Heavenly Blessings. They’re the source of power. as if they were some rare painting just a moments ago?”
“And that’s exactly why I’m apologizing!” she immediately countered. “At least I know how to admit my mistakes, unlike others who only know how to cowardly run away!” she sneered and ZenTar seemed momentarily speechless.
“I am truly sorry,” she went on on a much softer tone, turning to Snow again. “I do tend to get a bit carried away and forget my manners, once I start talking about something I’m truly passionate about. And you!” she turned to ZaiWin with a scowl. “You should have told me who she was right from the start!”
“So that you could fill my ears about all those useless formalities and directives on how a Tien’Elhar is supposed to be treated?”
“Those useless formalities exist for a reason! All Tien’Elhar are sacred beings! We should always treat them with the utmost respect,” she declared, turning her adoring eyes to Snow, and he lowered his head even more, making sure his face remained hidden. “But please don’t worry. Now that you’re here I’ll make sure you’re well cared for and that all your needs are fulfilled.”
“Not going to happen,” ZaiWin simply stated.
VinWei’s purplish eyes turned angrily at him.
“What do you mean? Haven’t you heard a word I said? It is the Temple’s duty to look after all Tien’Elhar! Taking into account her age, unless you tell me she’s El’Lin6Literally el (supreme) + lin (silver). Name given to the female children of the Emperor. Could be translated into princess in the common language. Wen7Literally wen (sun). Name of one of the three Empires, Wen, Ran and Sen. (Sun, Moon and Star). Also used as surname by the members of the Imperial Family with ascending rights to the throne LinWan8Literally lin (silver) + wan (fire)’s or El'Gin9Literally el (supreme) + gin (gold). Name given to the male children of the Emperor. Could be translated into prince in the common language. Wen GinWan's Tien’Elhar, she can only be an unregistered and unbound Tien’Elhar! Which is the reason why you smuggled her in here in the first place, and asked all those questions! Since that’s the case, it is only natural that the Temple should take custody of her! We’re the only ones who can care for her needs and make sure she’s well protected until her first Haehir10Literally hae (blessed / sacred) + hir (ceremony / ritual). Blessing Ceremony held so that Tien’Elhar may find their Chosen One.! Wouldn’t you like that as well?” she softly asked Snow. “I’m sure it must have been hard, being completely alone and lost in the world. But I am certain that there’s someone wonderful out there, waiting to become your Chosen One. Won’t you stay with us?”
“It’s no use. She won’t answer you,” ZaiWin replied instead of him, which earned him another disapproving glare from VinWei. “And as I’ve told you, not going to happen.”
“And why is this your decision to make?”
“I found her. I’m responsible for her,” he retorted dryly. “Besides, you say it is your duty to do this and to do that. But in reality what will happen is that you’ll simply ship her off to the Palace’s Temple, right?”
VinWei frowned in annoyance but didn’t deny it.
“I may trust that you wouldn’t do anything to harm a Celestial. But I’ll be dead before I trust the Temple as a whole, much less the Palace’s Temple!” he declared and her angry expression immediately softened.
“Surely you don’t believe one of the Jundai11Literally jun (work / worker) + dai (light). Or Workers of Light, or in service of the Light. Name given to the priests and priestesses of the Temple. would be capable of such a thing. We only hold two missions in our lives, and those are to help the people feel closer to the Heavens through their prayers, and to care for the Tien’Elhar that bless our land!”
“Not even you believe that shit.”
“Sure, the Temple has its rotten apples like any other institution. But to harm a Tien’Elhar … it’s a mortal sin!”
“We still don’t know enough about her,” ZenTar sighed. “Even though you say Tien’Elhar are holy, heaven-sent beings, we common mortals still dared compile a list of attributes a Celestial is supposed to have, and went as far as deem those writings sacred. What do you think they’ll do if they find out that there’s a Celestial who doesn’t comply with their holy list, after they’ve been preaching it for hundreds of years as an unbendable truth?”
VinWei’s eyes turned to Snow again and he couldn’t help clench his fists beneath his cloak.
“Especially if the Tien’Elhar we’re talking about is, like you said, is unregistered and unbound. Making one insignificant kid disappear is much easier than having to explain to thousands of people how the Temple and the Imperial Family have been misleading everyone since the Empire’s foundation.”
VinWei took a deep breath, all enthusiasm gone from her.
“I wish I could affirm with all my heart that you’re wrong! That no matter what, a Tien’Elhar’s life is more precious than any belief, scripture or writing.”
“But you know that this entire land is full of shit, and that it will soon drown in its own filth,” ZaiWin completed, using her own words, and she sighed deeply.
“And so you’re trying to track down her origins? Then what?”
“It depends on what we find.”
“You know that you’ll hang for this, if they find out you’ve been hiding a Tien’Elhar when you should have delivered her to the Temple.”
Snow shuddered at her words, but ZaiWin simply shrugged, apparently unconcerned.
“Even if I were to deliver her to the Temple they’d hang me anyways, just to cover it all up.”
“And you’re okay with this?”
Snow’s heart jumped a beat when he noticed she’d spoken to him. The monster had specifically told him not to answer any of her questions, but he figured that simply nodding couldn’t do any harm.
VinWei released another deep breath and finally stood up, turning to ZaiWin with a stern expression on her face, finally allowing Snow to lift his head a bit and look up at her.
“Fine. I will trust that you will do the right thing!”
A soft knock on the door interrupted their conversation and, after VinWei had granted permission, the same man from before appeared at the entrance, bowing respectfully.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, but a young man claiming be one of your guests’ companions is requesting to see you.”
VinWei turned to the two of them with an inquisitive expression and ZenTar sighed.
“Probably my brother. I told him to meet us here once he was done with his task.”
“MenMen came with you?” she asked, all excited again, and quickly turned to the man at the door. “Please bring him in!”
It didn’t take long before her request was fulfilled. And the moment MenTar12Literally men (lake) + tar (wind) appeared at the door, she ran to him, hugging him just like she’d done with ZaiWin, forcing him to take a couple of steps back.
“VinWei! You should behave according to your position, you know?” he chided her, sounding more than a bit flustered, and she leaned back to look at him, a bright smile on her face.
“MenMen, you look exactly the same! And you look really good! Unlike your decrepit brother,” she added with a tinge of scorn that had MenTar laughing in no time.
“I see that tongue of yours is still as sharp as ever!”
“More like poisonous,” ZenTar snorted but she ignored him.
“Of course! Did you think that becoming a Jundai would change who I am?”
“Nope. I most certainly did not. Not even a hurricane could change you,” MenTar replied, which clearly made her very happy, and ZaiWin cleared his throat, trying to lead the conversation back to more important matters.
“And? Has he agreed to see us?”
“He did. First thing in the morning. We were even invited to spend the night at the mansion,” MenTar confirmed in a more serious tone, and VinWei looked from one to the other with an inquisitive expression.
“Who are you talking about?”
“Your father,” ZenTar provided and she looked at ZaiWin for confirmation.
“I have some business to take care of, with the Nai Calzai13Literally nai (transparent / translucent) plus cal (bright) + zai (blade), or Blade of Light. It can be translated in common language as Invisible General, one of military leaders of the Empire. Each Province has it’s own Calzai. To distinguish them they were giver different colors..”
“I see …” she breathed, finally releasing MenTar from her embrace. “But you must spend the night here!” ZaiWin frowned, ready to contest, but she raised one hand to stop him. “It’s my one condition! If you go to the mansion now I know I’ll never see you again! Every time you have one of these business meetings with father you lock yourselves inside his office for hours! And then I’m sure LanWei will monopolize the rest of your time! So tonight you’re all mine!” she argued in one breath and ZaiWin released a deep sigh of resignation.
“Fine. We’ll stay,” he agreed, restoring VinWei’s smile to her face.
Author-tan, I started reading another web novel to curb my reader's hunger (since I'm close to catching up to your current update), and I noticed... Why do they all have so many comments, when I can see tumbleweeds on your posts?? You deserve more comments! You deserve more readers! You post every day! Freaking every day!! When I first saw that in the description of the web novel I was like, "pffft, yeah right that'll last. Either that, or the chapters are like three paragraphs each". But then, to my shock and horror, I started reading, and I noticed the logs. Dear god girl, you have two jobs!!! DX< Maybe it's because your profile pic is so cute, but seeing the crickets chirp in the comments section makes me want to grow mushrooms in a corner while making voodoo dolls of your readers!
Noup
--> Nope
businesses meetings
--> business meetings
lol. My profile pic is the closest to reality it can get most days - me dying over my writings already half-asleep. But I can always change it to a bloody mess ehehehe
Anyways, now I have lots of comments, thanks to you ^_^ And not just encouraging comments. They're amazingly useful too. So I'm pretty happy right now. You've really boosted my desire to keep working on this novel. :)
As for the daily updates, I do try my best, although I occasional miss one or two. If it ever comes to the point when I can't keep up with it I'll change the initial notes ^_^ Which probably won't happen any time soon. I have lots of content written ahead. When I started this story I spent an entire month writing non-stop (or as much as my free time permitted). I didn't upload it anywhere. By the end of the month I had a 400 pages manuscript -_-; And I'm still writing new content almost every day. The hardest part is, some times, having to move back and forward in the story. Especially on weekends, when I have more time to write. I get so into it that I hate having to stop to go back in time :) I guess that's the problem with serialized webnovels. I had never written one before (only full, complete manuscripts) so this is kind of a new experience for me.
@Silvareiel An absolute beast. 400 pages DX!!!! Please tell me it was double spaced. I’m really good at editing content and writing vivid, well-spoken scenes, but the process is slow for a perfectionist! Even when I write like a madwoman I can’t do that! (I also enjoy reading too much to sacrifice it to my writing time). Us readers can just get over it if you miss a day here and there. You have a life!
I see what you mean about webnovels. Inspiration comes to me very sporadically, so writing chronology is a major challenge. Did you have a complete outline before you started the series?
@LiquidCeil No, they were actually 400 pages all in one go. No double spaces or formatting of any kind. Just paragraphs to separate different scenes. My hands almost fell off lol.
I didn't and still don't have a complete outline of the story -_-
I have 5 YA manuscripts already completed, and was reviewing them and uploading them, and I got tired of going through the same things I had already written 4 years ago. I really wanted to get into something new. I had already planned a few BL novels inside the my other world but I wanted something bigger. And then idea just popped lol. And I started writing. And then I had to stop because I was getting utterly and completely lost inside my own world -_- People's ages, families, language, geography (which means how long people take to get from A to B). I had to actually sit down and plan it all. The problem is when I start planning these things I always add something else. And well ... though I now have a map, a family tree and a timeline that gives me headaches every time I look at it, I still feel like I might lose myself at any moment, and I'm always afraid I might forget something. I even considered covering my bedroom walls with post stickers like they do in criminal investigations lol.
I can see the near future of the story. I have a glimpse of what will happen a bit further ahead. I more or less know how it ends? though it may still change until then. But there are lots of huge empty areas between here and there. Which is fine. Though I love writing, I'm also a huge bookworm. And I do enjoy the mystery and suspense of not knowing where my own novel goes. Crazy right? ^_^ But when I know every little thing that will happen I just lose the motivation to spend so much time writing it. :)
@Silvareiel That is a patently absurd level of passion.
I wish I had it.
@LiquidCeil That's insanity, I tell you. I was going to work with panda eyes for a whole month.