Page 119 of Empire's Curse

“Feiyu!” Daiyu nearly tripped and stumbled toward him, her eyes misting with tears once again. There was no mistaking it. This was Feiyu, the dragon she had seen on the last day of the festival. She stopped a few feet away from him. “Feiyu!”

Slowly, he opened his black eyes and they landed on her instantly.

“Feiyu.” Her hands trembled and she sank to the ground, more tears streaming down her face. “It’s you, isn’t it? Please, I need …”

The words were stuck in her throat. She was always running over to him whenever she needed help. Whenever there was something she needed.

“Muyang needs you,” she whispered, searching his dragonface. He had to understand her. He had to listen. He had toexplainhimself.

His eyes closed once more.

“Feiyu? Feiyu!” Daiyu clambered to her sore, achy feet and hesitantly touched his face. His scales were smooth like marble and cold to the touch. “Please, wake up. I need to talk to you.”

His eyes opened again and this time, she flinched back at the darkness she found in his gaze. He stared at her unblinkingly and then opened his mouth. His voice rumbled out of him unfamiliarly. “I am tired, Daiyu. Leave me to my fate here.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Her hands shook and she rubbed them against the back of her thighs. She didn’t even know where to begin. What to start talking about. Not when there was so much she didn’t understand. “Feiyu, what’s happening? Why did you say goodbye to me like you did? Why … are you a dragon?”

“Daiyu, I am tired,” he repeated. “Go home. Live your life somewhere far, far away from here and the capital.”

Something snapped within her at hearing those words—words that echoed hauntingly similar to Muyang’s. “Why is everyone so hell-bent on sending me away?” She bunched her fists together just as a gust of wind howled above her head as if agreeing with her. “I came here to find you, Feiyu. I know what I’m doing. I didn’t stumble here by accident. I need your help—I … I know it sounds bad because I always seem to need your help, but it’s not for me. Muyangneedsyou. He’s—” Her voice thickened. “He’s dying.”

If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. His eyes fluttered shut.

“Feiyu? Did you hear me?” She touched his head and tried to shake him, but he was too heavy, too grand. “Feiyu, Muyang isdying.”

“I know.”

Her eyebrows pulled together. “Aren’t you going to do something?”

“No.”

“Why?” Anger surged through her. “Aren’t you loyal to him?”

“Muyang is a curse upon these lands,” he said. “It’s better for him to die. It’s better for you and for this empire. Embrace it and run far away from here, for his enemies will look for you to parade around as a trophy. A relic of his abominable reign.”

She couldn’t believe his words, nor the way he delivered them so nonchalantly.

“Why are you saying that?” A steel edge entered her tone. “Muyang isn’t a curse. You’re supposed to help him. You’re his high mage and he’s your emperor. Commander Yao told me that his soul is dying and it’s magic related; he said you could help! You’re the only one I can turn to right now.”

Another strong gale raged against them. This time chillier than before. It made her teeth rattle and her body ache.

“Feiyu,please.” She inhaled sharply and continued quickly, “I’ll do anything you want, but please, please save Muyang. I need him alive. You don’t seem to understand the severity of the situation. He isdying, Feiyu. If you don’t do something to help his soul, he willdie. And I can’t allow that to happen. No matter what, I won’t let my husband die.” Her throat closed up and she choked out, “I won’t let the man I love die in front of me, so please, I’m begging you, please save Muyang. I’ll do whatever you want. If you want to bind me into some sort of contract, I’ll do it. Just … just save him.”

Feiyu watched her with midnight eyes that seemed to blend into the night itself. “Four years ago, he made his decision to take the throne and curse himself. He knew this day would come eventually. Leave him to his fate, Daiyu.”

“I can’t and I won’t!” she shouted, her voice echoing through the mountains. She breathed out deeply and her hair whipped around violently in tune with the winds. “Feiyu, what is going on? Why are you allowing Muyang to suffer like this? What do you have over him? And what do you have against him?”

“There’s nothing I can do.”

“Why? Why is Muyang’s soul dying?”

“He chose this.”

“Butwhy?”

He said nothing and her fury swelled once more, fueled by her inability to do anything. She clenched and unclenched her fists. She hated that she didn’t know what was happening and she hated that both Feiyu and Muyang were keeping her in the dark.

“Feiyu! Look, you’re a high mage. You know a lot when it comes to magic. If you’re not willing to help Muyang yourself, then fine. But please, can you at least tell me what I can do to save him? I absolutely can’t let him die. I won’t … I just won’t.” She blinked away the burning of her eyes. “Feiyu,please!”

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