Page 73 of Empire's Curse

“Some would argue a woman is just that.”

Her throat tightened and she searched his face for a telltale sign that he viewed her as that—an item—but she found nothing. “Is that … what you think, Your Majesty?”

“I don’t.”

Her lower lip trembled, but she wasn’t sure if it was from anger, relief, or hurt. “Then I would have liked to be a part of the decision about what happens to me.”

“I can’t have you here, Daiyu. There is no discussion to be had.” His dark eyes flicked down to her and for a split second, she spotted a hint of sympathy, but it was gone faster than it had come. “You aren’t safe here. This is a battleground and this place can easily be overrun with enemies. You could be kidnapped again, or make a reckless decision to flee and thrust yourself in even more danger. I can’t have that happen to you.”

“I won’t try to run again?—”

“It’s too dangerous here for you, and I’d rather have you somewhere safe.”

“Like the palace? Where I was poisoned? Where I was kidnapped?” She raised an incredulous brow. The other soldiers surrounding them glanced in their direction from time to time, and she lowered her tone. “I’m not safe there either.”

Muyang frowned, and she could see she had struck a nerve. “The palace is safer than here. I’ll have more protection for you at the palace, where Nikator and Vita will watch over you. Trust me when I say that they are some of my best warriors.” As if to prove a point, he motioned to Nikator and Atreus, who were fighting on equal footing. They exchanged blow after blow, their weapons glinting in the sunlight dangerously as they swiped here and there. “You’ll be protected this time.”

Daiyu didn’t like it one bit. She didn’t want to be thrown aside and forced into the palace once more. She had no allies there—except for perhaps Feiyu—and there was nothing for her to do there but look over her shoulder. There was someone after her. She was certain of that. She had been poisoned, kidnapped, and her family’s rice fields burned—someone was hoping for her downfall and actively attempting it. If she went back to Muyang’s court, there was no telling what would happen to her.

“I don’t like this at all,” she said with a loud sigh. “It wouldn’t kill you to include me in your decision on what to do with me.”

He chuckled, low and soft, and it sent shivers down her spine. He leaned closer to her, and his warm breath tickled her ear. “It wouldn’t kill you to listen either, little fiend.”

“I told you not to call me that.”

“But you seem to like it.” His gaze traveled down her throat, which she was sure was bright red, and then to her flaming cheeks. “You look like a pouting, vermillion dragon. What else shall I call you other than a beautiful fiend?”

“I amnota monster,” she whispered. “And my face is red because you infuriate me.”

That only broadened his wicked grin. “Do you not like the idea of being far from me? Is that perhaps why you’re pouting so much? You can’t deal with the distance between us? Well, worry not, my dear, for when I return from battle, I will wed you and you will have all of me and we’ll have all the time in the world to explore what it means to be married.”

He was teasing her, she knew it, but her stomach coiled together and she forgot whatever retort she was going to make. She dipped her chin, hating that she was still a blushing, red fool. “I have no qualms with distance, Your Majesty.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Oh, positive.” She cleared her throat and stared at him through lowered lashes, keeping her tone as neutral as possible. “We haven’t seen each other in days and I’ve been doing just fine, and even though I’ve been alone in my bedroom—ah,yourbedroom—I’ve quite enjoyed the quietness that comes with being alone. There’s a specific, calmingquality to it.”

“You seem to enjoy being in my bedroom.”

“Alone,” Daiyu added, “I enjoy being in therealone, Your Majesty.”

“So you’ve been fine without me all these days?” She couldn’t read the inflection in his voice, but it was calm enough not to warrant an apology, so she nodded. Muyang only smiled thinly, and she was sure she’d annoyed him with that answer. Surely, he thought she would be pining after him like a lovestruck fool.

“I’ll be fine at the royal palace without you,” she found herself saying, even though it was the opposite of what she wanted. She wanted to spite him, that was all, and yet she felt like she had walked straight into a trap set by him.

Muyang smirked. “Ah, so we’ve come to an agreement.”

“I … I suppose we have.” She had cornered herself. Frowning deeply, Daiyu shook her head and the bells of her hair jewelry tolled softly. “I don’t like the idea of going back to the palace, but it seems as though you’ve made up your mind. And who am I to change it?”

“There are very few people who can influence my mind to change it,” Muyang said with a sweeping glance at the training soldiers, to Nikator and Atreus wrestling on the ground with plumes of dust rising between them, and then down to her. There was something alarmingly cold and distant about his expression, and it made her straighten. “And, as you are right now, Daiyu, you are not one of those people.”

A chill ran down her flesh in waves and she flinched away from him. She hadn’t expected the harshness, and she felt all the more foolish for thinking that things between them were different—that she could voice her opinion and be heard. But this was the crushing reality—he was still Drakkon Muyang, feared emperor of Huo, and she was nothing more than a simple woman he had picked up. He was not her ally.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” she murmured, voice tight. “I understand.”

25

Daiyu was a foolish,foolishfool.

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