Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4-7 2019 | Page 206

The days passed peacefully as the treasure fleet sailed to Malacca, Aru, Semudera, Lambri and finally reached
Ceylon.
“Hua, I have this bad feeling ...” Before I could finish my sentence, the door was slammed open and a
rough voice sounded, “Hua, YueXin, get ready to present yourselves to the local king Vira Alakesvara. You
have five minutes to dress and pack things up, get on with it.”
Then, the door slammed shut again. We glanced at each other, our hearts filled with dread. Silently, we
moved about the room and packed up our belongings.
“The King of Gampola will see you now.”
“Your Majesty, it is an honour to be allowed into your homeland. We are the ambassadors of China and we
are hoping to establish a friendship between our two countries. To show our sincerity, we have prepared
some gifts for you!” Admiral Zheng He straightened from his bow and waved his men who were carrying
cargoes of gold and silk over.
“Your Majesty, we also offer you one of the most beautiful creatures in our land. Hua has the fairest skin in
our land, with hair as black as midnight and a voice as sweet as a nightingale. YueXin has the most alluring
eyes you’ll ever find and can dance to any music provided. Please pick whom you wish to acquire.” Then,
the men behind us pushed us upfront and all eyes were on us.
I stifled my anger with a deep breath. What were we, animals? Creature this and creature that, and who
gave him the permission to ‘acquire’ us? We aren’t objects for sale!
The king’s face seemed to light up as he looked at us from head to toe. I couldn’t help but fidget under his
unnerving gaze.
“That one is very pleasing to the eye. Come here. Yes, you. Stand in front of me.” The king ordered. Hua
looked at me, confused, before walking towards the King and curtesied.
“Hua, was it? Come closer, good.”
Hua stood just two feet away from the king and suddenly, with frightening speed and force, the king closed
the gap between them, grabbed Hua’s neck and dangled her in the air.
“You think that you can trick me into believing with all these gifts and whatnot? I’ll show you what I think
of you...” The king threw Hua at the wall and a loud crack followed by a scream was heard.
“Let me go! I have to get to Hua!” I struggled to leave the men’s grasp but it was futile. Didn’t they care
that Hua was bleeding out right in front of them?
“Your majesty, what is the meaning of this?” Admiral Zheng He stepped up angrily.
“I know how things work. You’re going to trick me into receiving all these gifts so I will have to repay you
later on. I’m not going to pay any tribute to your King so you can leave now or I’ll kill you all. Gampola
doesn’t need allies, we are strong and independent! You are insulting our strength.” The king snarled and
ordered his guards to ‘escort’ us back to our ship.
“You two, take her back to the ship. Go quickly!” Admiral Zheng He commanded.
“And the rest of you, let us show what a wrong choice it was to disrespect our king.” The men cheered and
readied their weapons to face the Gampola. Soon, the room was filled with the stench of blood and screams
of murder.
“Hey, we are trying to protect you. Your friend is likely already dead. If you rush into the battlefield now,
you’ll be dead in less than a second.” One of the men of Admiral Zheng He tugged at my wrist harshly and
tears rolled down my face as the gruesome scene replayed in my head over and over again.