“Let him go.”

Her voice was calmer than she felt.

Her boy stopped struggling while the man looked at her. He took neither her nor her son seriously. That was good. Being underestimated was an advantage, a weapon. The man sneered down at her and opened his mouth to speak, most probably something that would infuriate her.

But before he could say anything, Han Qin spoke from behind her. “Put him down, Song Yuan. That’s the Prince you’re holding,”

Manu only looked between all of them in confusion as the man put him down with a disgruntled expression. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Manu almost blurred as he ran as fast as he could behind her. She quickly held him and turned so that he was facing all of the men with Manu firmly protected behind her.

Han Qin sighed. “You do not need to be so defensive, my lady,” he said, ignoring her murmur of ‘I'm not a lady.’ “We are not here to harm you. We are only here to escort you.”

“Escort us?” She raised an eyebrow,

“Yes. You and your son have been summoned by the Emperor.”

Fuck. Off.

“What is going on?!” The frustrated cry of her son made her pause. In the flurry of things, she hadn’t even thought about how confused and worried her son must feel.

She didn’t take her eyes off the men in front of her as she spoke. “These gentlemen here are claiming that you are the son of the Emperor. And that we have been summoned to the Palace.”

“We are not claiming,” One of the young men behind Han Qin spoke up. He reached into his robes, and Samaya tensed. But what he brought out was not any weapon, but rather a scroll. “This is the Imperial Edict summoning the two of you to the court. You must come. Disobeying the Imperial Edict equals disobeying the Emperor and that is punished with execution.”

There was an almost inaudible gasp from behind her. “Ex-execution?” Came the following whisper.

If looks could kill, that big-mouthed man would be ashes right now. Samaya had already thrown all acts of meekness and looked ready to kill and escape.

Han Qin seemed to realize they were going about this the wrong way. He raised a hand placatingly as he spoke, “No. You will not be harmed. The Emperor only wishes to see his son and the woman who gave birth to him. If you present yourselves to His Majesty, he might instate your son as the Prince, maybe even the Heir. And you might even become a concubine.”

Her lips curled up in a smile sweet enough to kill. “Do I look like someone who wants to be confined in that miserable place to be a sex slave of a man?” She asked through the smile because as far as she was concerned, that was all being a concubine was.

They all flinched, and the Rock Wannabe growled, turning red. “Listen here, you impudent girl….”

“If I refuse?” She asked, interrupting the man and looking at Han Qin, who paused and frowned at the question. She scoffed. “Let me guess. You’ll either kill me or drag me away somewhere while you take my son forcefully to the Palace, right?”

Han Qin shifted uncomfortably. She hit the nail on the head.

“Mama?” The soft voice from behind her made her flinch. Damnit. Before she could say anything, he turned towards the men. “Is that true, Mister?” Samaya turned around to see that her son had her eyes fixed on Han Qin.

After a moment of silence and hesitation, Han Qin replied. “Yes.” He said softly. “Your mother…. Will not be killed if she refuses. But you will never see her again. But if you both come, your mother and you will be able to lead a good life together. A Prince’s life is very luxurious.”

“And also very dangerous,” Samaya retorted. “Do not try to mislead my son, General,” she spat out the word like an insult.

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“But mama….”

Alright, enough. She finally turned completely around and knelt in front of her.

“Listen to me, Manu.” She said firmly. “What is important right now is your safety and your happiness. Nothing else matters. Do you hear me? Nothing else. You do not have to do anything they say if you don’t want to. In fact, I don’t want you to listen to them at all. What did I say about strangers offering good things?”

“If it sounds too good to be true, it is.”

She smiled. “Good. Now listen to me. I know this might be a chance for you to find your father and your identity. But I want you to think carefully …. Because you might have to give up a lot in your life for this. Being a Prince… or even the son of someone wealthy and influential is dangerous. You could be in danger.”

Manu shook his head. “I …. I don’t care about that. They … said you could lead a good life. We could lead a good life together. And that…. That we would be separated if we refuse…. I don't want that! I want you to be with me. I want you to live a happy life with me!”

Oh her pure, precious boy. He was tearing up.

She sighed softly and flicked his forehead. "Didn't I tell you? What matters is what you want. If you want to go, we will go. If you don't want to go, we will disappear together and they won't be able to find us even if they scoured the entire earth," she whispered to him but she was sure these people with keen sense heard her. She didn't care. All that mattered was her baby. If he wanted to disappear with her, she would and there was not a single thing they could do about it.

"But the Imperial Edict…"Manu started.

"The Imperial Edict can go to hell," She snapped, ignoring the outraged gasps and growls behind her. "Do you trust Mama?" She asked softly.

Manu nodded.

"Then trust me. We will do what you want. And nothing else."

He bit his lip and looked between the men and herself. There was… hesitance in his eyes. And then they turned resolute. Samaya's heart sank. She had a feeling she knew what her son decided.

"Can we go, Mama?" The boy asked, confirming her fears. "I want to go. I want to see the man who is supposed to be my father. If… if I don't like it there… We can just come back. We … We can do that, right, Mama?"

She closed her eyes and let out a soft sigh before opening them and pulling her son into a tight hug. "Yes, yes, we can, sweetheart."

She held him for a long moment before she let go and stood, turning to face the men before her.

"Well, you heard him. Now get out."

One of the men - other than the one holding the Imperial Edict - frowned. "But he just said-"

"I know what he said," She interrupted. "We need a day to prepare ourselves."

Han Qin nodded immediately, though the others looked ready to protest. "Okay. We leave tomorrow morning."

She gave a small nod before frowning. "Take your lackeys with you. Don’t hide them around my house either."

She looked him straight in the eye. These bastards have been following her constantly for the past week. It was getting annoying. Even now, there were some hidden in the shadows. Those were the professionals that had been following her, she could tell. She narrowed her eyes as the man opened his mouth to speak, probably to deny what she said.

"I don't want to hear it," She spoke before he could. "I want one night of solace with my son before we have to suffer in your company again. Leave and take your men with you."

He didn't seem like he wanted to agree but nodded nonetheless, letting out a soft sigh. "Alright. We will come tomorrow, a few hours after dawn."

She nodded in return. "We will be here."

It wasn't long before the men filed out one by one. She closed the door behind them immediately. She felt the presence around her house leaving as well. But… there were at least two people in the woods. They did not move. She had expected that. They would not leave them completely unwatched. Not when there was a possibility of them escaping. It was enough that those immediately surrounding her house left, enough for her to communicate with certain people.

"Mama?" Manu broke her out of her thoughts. She looked at the still nervous and frustrated look on his face. He was probably thinking that she was angry at her. She smiled and ruffled his hair.

"It's fine, dear," She leaned down to kiss his forehead. "No matter what you do, mama will always be with you."

He slumped at those words, the tension seeping out of him. She smiled. "Now, why don't we make dinner together, hm?"

She watched as the boy immediately nodded excitedly and bounced into the kitchen. She shook her head and followed him. The next few hours passed in a blur as they made dinner, ate, and then packed their things. The whole time, Manu spoke excitedly about seeing the Capital and she listened with a fond smile.

It was only when her son fell asleep that she wiped the smile from her face and got to work. She had loose ends to tie, preparations to make, and messages to send, and very, very little time to do all of it.