Page 117 of Empire's Curse

Daiyu felt like he had slapped her. He was clearly dismissing her, done with their conversation and not willing to listen to her pleas. He didn’t even want to explain himself.

Her hands shook with fury and she wanted to shout at him. She wanted to cry and scream. She wanted to punch something. But mostly, she just wanted the dread and uncertainty and terror to go away. She wanted him to be okay. She wanted to start their lives together. She wanted to have him by her side. Especially now that she knew she was in love with him.

She opened her mouth to say just that—to tell him she loved him—but something held her back. She couldn’t allow this to be one of the last times they talked to each other. She couldn’t let him go like this.

“I’m going to drag Feiyu back here,” Daiyu said instead, “and then you both are going to explain to me exactly what’s going on. And then you’ll have to stop this nonsense about dying because I’m not going to watch you die here.”

Muyang didn’t open his eyes again. Either he was ignoring her or he had passed out. It only steeled her resolve more and she batted away the remaining tears clinging to her lashes.

She gave him a moment to say something—to even tell her that there was no reason for her to do that—but he didn’t.

“Just you wait,” she said with finality.

Spinning on her heels, she marched out of the room. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to fall apart at the seams, or if she wanted to get into a fight with someone to release all the pent-up tension inside her that had accumulated during this whole conversation.

When the door slid closed behind her, she turned to the restof thePeccataand Bohai in the room. They all watched her with hopeful eyes. Did they think she was enough to save Muyang?

Daiyu blew out air, straightening her stiff shoulders. “Why is he talking like he’s going to die very soon? Do any of you know anything about what’s going on? And why can’t we send in another mage to help?”

“We’ve tried,” Bohai explained, glancing at the others in the room. “But the mages have agreed that something is wrong with his soul and that … he’s dying.”

“Is it magic related?”

“We think so.”

“And Feiyu isn’t willing to help?”

“Not that we know of. He’s disappeared.”

Daiyu chewed on her lower lip and paced the room, choosing to steer clear from thePeccatamembers who were sitting close by the fireplace—she couldn’t remember their names, but it was the young raven-haired man with blue eyes and the bubbly female with the dimpled smile. Minos? Thera? She didn’t even remember or care in that moment.

“What do we even know about Feiyu? And why is he so closely tied with His Majesty?” she asked out loud, turning to the other members. They all seemed to be on friendly terms with the high mage—at least that was the impression she had gotten from Nikator and Vita. But why the mysteries? Why was Feiyu the only one who could help?

“We … don’t really know much about him,” Nikator said slowly, fidgeting with the leather hilt of his dagger—it was a nervous trait of his that Daiyu had picked up on. “He showed up a few weeks after His Majesty took the throne. He’s always worn a mask, so I have no idea what he looks like underneath it. But His Majesty trusts him and we all sort of followed suit.”

“But who is he?” she pressed.

“I don’t know,” Vita said, shifting from her position on the couch.

“So no one really knowsanythingabout him?” Daiyu asked.

Silence fell over the group.

There were so many things that didn’t make sense—like who Feiyu was, how and why he was able to turn into a dragon, the MuRong royal tattoo on his arm, Muyang’s supposed curse and the reason his soul was dying—but it was becoming increasingly clear that she needed to find the high mage and force him to explain himself.

She didn’t know Feiyu very well either, she realized. Sure, he had somehow become her friend and sure, they had spent a good amount of time together in the palace, but she didn’t know his past. She didn’t know his real name. And she didn’t know what he desired, what his goals were—anything, really.

“I’ll … I’ll be right back,” Daiyu finally said, heading toward the door.

Atreus rose from his seat. “Where are you going?”

“To find Feiyu.”

“Let me help?—”

“No, I have a feeling he won’t cooperate if anyone else comes along.” It was a gut feeling of hers. Something that had no teeth and likely was wrong, but she didn’t want to risk it. The impression she had gotten from Feiyu was that he seemed to treat thePeccatalike children, and she wasn’t sure if he was willing to open up if they were present. At least … at least that’s what she suspected.

“Stay here and protect His Majesty,” she said instead. “There might be more rebel forces lingering around in the palace, waiting to strike. Now is the most important time for us to stay vigilant.”

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