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A long line of audience seekers stretched along the outer wall of the viceroy's palace.
Akame and Mei To came straight to the main outer gate of the castle.
The head guard stopped her and with a sullen nod of his head asked wordlessly.
-- Princess Akame Mei Li, I come on business concerning my fief.
The guard immediately gave her access.
-- You are a princess," Mei Li asked stupefied.
-- It is an honorary title, nothing more," Akame said as she climbed the monumental stairs leading to the viceroy's throne.
A warrior at the foot of the throne asked.
-- Does anyone have business?
-- I have business," said Akame, bowing.
-- Name and rank," the guard indicated.
-- To the viceroy I report. I am Akame Mei Li, princess of the Blue River fief, betrothed to the lord of Qiang. I speak through her voice.
-- A princess who speaks for her betrothed is dignified for posterity," said the viceroy, from his hieratic posture.
-- I raise a protest against the Lord Count of Hang Hing.
-- Prince," corrected the viceroy.
-- That has not been proved," said Akame, lowering his eyes.
-- What is the protest?
-- The lord of Hang Hing is harassing Count Qiang's fief.
-- The lord of Qiang shows great nobility in relying on justice. He has a right to defend his views by arms," the man replied from his throne.
-- It is a divine right of the viceroy to benefit his subjects.
-- My verdict is to the contrary. The prince of Hang Hing has already raised a protest which was accepted. The Lord of Qiang made an illegal toll, the Lord Prince Hang Hing balanced it on the field of arms. The Lord of Qiang should not set up roadblocks and I do not accept any insinuations against the Prince of Hang Hing. Other business?
-- I have business," said Mei To.
-- Name and rank.
-- Mei To from the senior class of High School 59 of District 6 of the New Territories.
A stony silence fell in the castle.
-- Is she in this province? Is she related to Princess Akame? They share a surname," asked the viceroy.
-- I imagine so.
-- What's his business?
-- That guy defiled my body.
-- What's that? The viceroy asked.
-- That Hang Hing. I was coming from my high school. Some thugs took me, put me in a Faw Honqi H7 and took me to their territory in Yau Tsim Mong and sold me to Hang Hing, who had his fill of me.
-- Did he make a promise of marriage?
-- No.
-- Did he pay?
-- Yes. He gave me three pieces of feng shui.
-- One piece per hole. No affront.
-- Hey. I'm not an animal-- Mei To said indignantly in a broken voice.
-- I'll talk to Hang Hing and make an offer of concubinage...
----Noooo.
Akame grabbed her arm and forced her to bend down.
-- You cannot refuse the viceroy's offer. You would be elevated in rank. It's a magnificent "Bao er nai."
Akame touched her with his finger, leaving Mei To paralyzed; she sat up and said.
-- She accepts the offer to be a concubine.
The viceroy clapped his hands.
-- Sign," he said, extending his fingernail.
A servant knelt down, presenting scrolls...
2--
During the return trip Akame was tormented by Mei To's screams, moans, shrieks, cries.
-- I am in love. You can't just hand me over to a man like a sack of potatoes.
-- What's "potatoes"?" asked Akame in annoyance.
-- Whatever. I'm going to suffer horribly.
-- We women must be content with our fate.
-- Not me. I don't like BTS, the "Rebel Princess" series, hip hop dancing, clubbing, the return of Spiderman, and listening to Zendaya, playing video games and shopping for clothes. Not to live on this earth. Let alone be the object of pleasure of a monster.
-- How big is it?
-- Immense and brutal. I'm a teenager. I want gentleness and tenderness.
-- You really say some things... You haven't been trained. I must teach you.
-- To what?
-- To satisfy and give pleasure.
-- In my land I have rights; women are independent, professional, we go where we want. We are not an object.
-- Yet it was in your land that you knew the power of a man. You are very lucky. You came from a nobleman. It is an opportunity that not everyone has...
III
-- That's not going to happen,' Thomas said to Mei To, whose voice was gone and whose eyes were swollen and red from crying.
-- I'm sorry I came here...
-- I am here. I must take Kathy and you will come with me. Let's leave everything up to here.
- Writer
