《《蛮族之花》 Flower of Wilderness》Yina_bubbles

26、第 26 章 The f

　　Chapter 26 — The Feast of the Younis

　　The Khan's palace was overflowing with celebration. Nearly every member of the household had gathered in the great hall. Clan leaders sat beside the Khan, his sons occupied the places of honour, and his daughters and consorts filled the tables behind them. Musicians played beneath the hanging banners while servants carried roasted meat, bread, fruit, and wine between the crowded tables.
　　Everyone was in high spirits.

　　After all, Suyuan was gone. The Khan believed his troublesome daughter had already begun her journey to Kharun to become Prince Khasar's bride. There was no reason to think of her tonight. They were celebrating a successful alliance. They were celebrating peace yet they didn't know they were celebrating a future that would never come.
　　Suyuan stood quietly near the entrance.Nobody noticed her at first.

　　She watched them laugh, watched them raise their cups. She watched the people who had once ignored her mother sit comfortably beneath warm firelight while Shuran's courtyard had barely been given enough coal to survive winter. A faint smile touched Suyuan's lips then, she walked into the center of the hall.
　　One of the Khan's daughters noticed her first.“Why is she here?”
　　The music continued for another few moments before the Khan finally turned.
　　His expression changed.
　　“Suyuan?”
　　She stopped.
　　“Father.”
　　The Khan stared at her.
　　“I thought you had already left.”
　　“I was supposed to but guess what? I'm not.”

　　Her answer made several people exchange confused looks. Before anyone could question her further, a cup slipped from someone's hand. It struck the table then, to the floor. The man beside it suddenly slumped against the table.
　　The music stopped.
　　“What happened?”
　　Another person stumbled backward. A servant dropped an entire tray.
　　Panic spread rapidly through the hall. People began calling for physicians. Guards rushed between the tables. Some tried to leave, only to find themselves surrounded by the confusion.
　　Suyuan remained where she was.
　　Calm.
　　Almost eerily so.
　　The Khan looked around the hall, then back at her.
　　His face hardened.
　　“You.”
　　Suyuan smiled.
　　“What have you done?”
　　She tilted her head.
　　“Nothing you haven't done yourself.”
　　The Khan surged toward her.
　　A guard tried to intercept him, but he shoved the man aside and seized Suyuan by the collar.
　　“You dare bring this into my house?”
　　His grip tightened.
　　Suyuan struggled for breath, but she still managed to look directly at him.
　　“You called it a house?”
　　The Khan's eyes burned with fury.
　　“This is your mother's fault. She—”
　　“Don't.”
　　Her voice was strained, but suddenly sharp.
　　“Don't speak about her.”

　　The Khan tightened his grip again. Suyuan's hands caught his wrist. For the first time, the calm expression disappeared from her face.
　　“You had years to remember her,” she said. “You had years to ask why she was sick. Years to notice that she was starving in a courtyard you abandoned.”
　　Suyuan shouted at him.
　　But before he could say more, someone behind him collapsed.
　　He turned instinctively.
　　Another person had fallen.
　　Then another.

　　The hall had become almost unrecognizable . Tables were overturned, cups lay scattered across the floor. Servants ran in every direction while guards shouted orders nobody could properly hear. The Khan looked back at Suyuan.
　　His anger had finally been replaced by something else.
　　Fear.
　　Suyuan saw it.
　　And for the first time that night, she laughed.
　　It was the sound of someone who had carried a wound for so long that eventually even fear had become meaningless.

　　“You're afraid now?”
　　The Khan stared at her.
　　Suyuan's eyes were cold.
　　“So was my mother.”
　　His grip slowly loosened.
　　Suyuan stepped away from him.
　　Around them, the celebration had disappeared completely.
　　The music was silent.
　　The laughter was gone.
　　The banners still hung above them, but the hall no longer looked like a place celebrating an alliance.
　　It looked like the end of something.
　　Suyuan looked toward the doors......

　　Far away, beyond the walls of Younis, riders were already moving toward the capital and somewhere on the road, General Xie Zheng was riding toward a disaster he still believed he might be able to prevent.But inside the Khan's hall, Suyuan already knew there was no turning back.

　　The Khan was the last one still standing.
　　For a few moments, he remained upright in the middle of the ruined hall, one hand gripping the edge of the table.
　　His face had lost its colour. He looked at Suyuan as though he were trying to understand how the quiet, sickly girl he had ignored for eighteen years had become the person standing before him now.
　　“Suyuan…”
　　His voice was barely audible.
　　She stared back at him.
　　Then his knees gave way.
　　He collapsed onto the floor.
　　The hall fell strangely quiet.
　　Suyuan did not move.
　　She looked at him for a long moment.
　　There should have been satisfaction.
　　There should have been triumph.
　　Instead, something inside her cracked.

　　A sob escaped her then another. Suyuan covered her mouth, but the tears were already falling.
　　“You should have remembered her…”
　　Her voice broke.
　　“You should have remembered my mother.”
　　She sank to her knees.

　　For months, she had imagined this moment. She had imagined standing among the ruins of everything that had hurt Shuran and feeling nothing. But now that it had happened, all she could think about was the woman who would never see it. Her mother would never know.
　　She would never hear Suyuan tell her that she had finally done something.

　　Suyuan began to cry harder. All the restraint she had carried since childhood seemed to disappear at once.
　　“You left her there.”She struck the floor with her palm.“You left her alone.”Her voice echoed through the hall.
　　“She was your wife.”
　　No one answered.
　　“ Why do you have to take her beautiful life from her.”
　　Another sob tore through her.
　　“And you never care.”

　　Suyuan stumbled to her feet then her eyes landed on the wooden pillars, the banners, the tables where they had celebrated that night. The palace suddenly felt unbearable so she grabbed a burning torch from beside a brazier.
　　For a moment, she simply stared at the flame, then she threw it.
　　Fire caught on the hanging cloth.

　　Suyuan turned away.
　　Another flame spread across the hall.
　　Then another.
　　The dry timber began to crack as smoke rolled through the great hall.
　　Suyuan walked through the chaos, tears still streaming down her face.
　　She knocked over another burning brazier.
　　Flames climbed the wooden pillars.
　　The banners that had once represented the Younis clans began to disappear behind fire.
　　She laughed through her tears.
　　“Burn.”
　　Her voice trembled.
　　“Burn everything.”
　　She slowly walked to the entrance.Behind her, the palace was beginning to disappear into flames. The spread everywhere and the night sky turned orange. Suyuan stood alone in the courtyard, watching the place that had been her home become swallowed by fire.
　　For a long time, she said nothing.
　　Then she slowly lowered herself onto the cold ground.
　　Her hands trembled.
　　Her shoulders shook.
　　She stared at the burning palace until her eyes blurred.
　　“I did it, Mother.”
　　Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
　　“I came back for you.”
　　She wiped her tears, but the more she wiped, the more fell."
　　“I didn't forget mother, I just can't let go.”
　　The flames rose higher.
　　Suyuan finally stopped fighting the tears.
　　She simply sat there.
　　Small beneath the enormous burning palace.
　　And for the first time since her mother died, she allowed herself to grieve

作者有话说

She won at last. But some victories cost far more than they're worth....
Well don't play with fire