The Five Nations Part 1

Li Li stared at the young girl next to her. She had fallen asleep almost instantly, she imagined it had been a long time since she was able to sleep well. She sighed and turned away. Her finger lifted the curtain just enough to see the light from outside. She felt the breeze whip into the carriage cooling it down almost instantly. She imagined the girl would be able to sleep better if she stayed cool and comfortable.

How many times had it been since she thought of Xiaodan? How often had she imagined him to be some wealthy merchant, or the head slave of an important household. Once she had seen him as a great general leading his country to victory. To see him there, living such a life.....she put her hand to her mouth forcing herself to keep quiet. She couldn't stop the tears though, they would come no matter how hard she tried to stop them.

There was little she could do for Fen Hua, but she felt she owed it to her to offer her a decent life. She knew the woman who had been bidding against her was a prostitute, she would have bought Fen Hua for the same purpose. To think that her own child, her own flesh and blood, the hope she thought of at night, was the reason this girl could have ended up with such a life was overwhelming.

No, there wasn't much she could do for this child, but she would do all that she could whenever she could.

Fen Hua woke up with hunger pains. Her neck was sore from the way she had been sleeping and her legs were cramped and uncomfortable. It took her a moment to remember where she was. When she did she turned to Li Li.

"Don't stare, it's not polite," she said to Fen Hua.

"Sorry," Fen Hua said. She really didn't want to get on anyone's bad side. She needed as much help as she could right now. "I didn't mean to. I just forgot where I was for a second." Fen Hua saw the woman's eyes flash for a moment, a look of guilt, that Fen Hua didn't understand. She imagined that she didn't like having to buy slaves. This thought actually consoled her. "Where are we going?" She asked.

"We are heading to the Great Nation of Jin Ping," Li Li answered. "But don't get your hopes up. We won't be going to the Great City, only to the border city of Shangong."

Since Fen Hua had no idea about The Nation of Jin Ping, The Great City, or the border town of Shangong. This answer did not give her any idea of where she was going.

"How far away is that?" She asked, amending the question.

"At least five weeks," she glanced at Fen Hua just in time to see the look of relief on her face.

Fen Hua eased back against the carriage back. It wasn't so much that she liked the idea of traveling for so long, it had more to do with the fact that she would have at least five weeks until she was officially a slave to this household. It reminded her how it felt when she had time off from school as Li Shen.

As she thought of the time it would take to get there, she realized that she had also traveled at least two months to get to this place. Why did they have to travel so far just to sale or get a slave? She mulled over the question for a few minutes before deciding it was safe to ask.

"Why was I brought all the way to the Neutral Territory to be sold? It seems like a lot of extra work to me."

"No one has ever spoken to you about the history of our empire?" Li Li asked. She was only slightly surprised. Fen Hua had intelligent soulful eyes and for some reason she felt that she had a wealth of knowledge. But the fact that she was a slave, it only made sense no one had taught her anything.

Fen Hua shook her head. She hoped Li Li would expand, but didn't want to seem to eager. Luckily she didn't have to.

"Once many years ago, our world was one. Each tribe worked together for the greater good. Our Empire thrived, earning respect and authority across the entire world. The outer nations, the ones that didn't belong to our Empire, fought amongst themselves wrecking and destroying their cities. Famine and disease riddled these countries. Soon they turned to our Empire for help. This is when the great divide happened." She gave Fen Hua a glance making sure she was paying attention. "How could one Empire help heal an entire world? It wasn't possible. But there were some who wanted to help, who fought against the reigning kings, there were five at that time. Clans rose up from all over the empire, and the kings began to divide amongst themselves as well."

She took a deep breath and lifted the edge of the curtain again. The breeze cooled the space down, but a blast of dust was brought in as well making the two of them cough for a moment. Li Li reached out in front of her opening a chest and pulling out a skin of water, and a loaf of bread. She split the bread and gave half to Fen Hua, They took turns drinking from the skin. When both felt the tickle from the dust leave their throats, Li Li put the water back.

She nibbled on her bread as she continued her story.

"It had been rumored, long before any of this happened that the kings were able to keep peace because their father had blessed them with gifts. No one understood what these gifts were. Some believed it was gold and treasure, other's believed it was power and strength, the ability to wield a sword or shoot a bow. No one really knew what the gift was, until the divide you see." She brushed some crumbs from her lap, and set the bread down turning to Fen Hua.