Page 35 of Empire's Curse

In fact, if it wasn’t for Muyang, she wouldn’t evenbein this mess.

The scarred man pointed the end of the dagger at Daiyu, his eyes narrowing to slits. “This ishisdagger, isn’t it?”

“No.” Daiyu leaned into the hay and stared at him levelly. She tried to keep a neutral expression, even as her heart nearly leaped from her chest. “A soldier gave me that dagger.”

“That’s not what your expression is saying.” He waved the dagger closer to her and she turned her face away. “Your face is telling me that this isreallyimportant to you.”

“Careful or you might fall off your horse,” she said as calmly as she could muster, but her voice rose and there was a shrill quality to it, betraying her nervousness.

The man laughed and tucked the blade back into his belt, which carried two swords—one of which was rusted along the edge. “Do you know how I got this scar on my face?”

Daiyu tried not to look at the bumpy, raised scar tissue slicing his face in half. He shouldn’t have even been alive after a wound like that.

“That bastard on the throne did this to me.” His voice came out rough and gravelly, and his knuckles turned white as he held his reins tighter.

A chilling wind ripped through her hair and she shivered against the sudden cold. “His Majesty?”

“Yes,thatbastard.” He tapped the scar, his eyes glazing over and his mouth twitching into a scowl as if he was remembering something unpleasant. “I used to be a respectable soldier in the imperial army for Emperor Yan. And then, that bastard and his armies … destroyed everything I had worked for my entire life. Thatallof us worked for.” He waved to the group of men, most of whom were too focused on moving forward to look at them. “And now that he’s the emperor, we’re all enemies of the empire! Can you believe that? I’ve worked my whole life to protect this empire, and now … now I’mnothing.”

Daiyu eyed his worn weapons with renewed interest; that still didn’t explain why he was now dressed like a bandit, with rusted weapons and a crude demeanor. Unless he had turned to thievery since he wasn’t a soldier anymore. In that case, his intentions in the army were likely not honorable in the first place.

“My fiancé also served in the Emperor Yan’s imperial army,” she said slowly, hoping to draw some sympathy from him. “He died fighting against Drakkon Muyang, so I understand some of your frustrations.”

He turned to her sharply. “Oh? But look at you now—cozying up to the same man who killed your fiancé.”

“I don’t have a choice.” Daiyu pursed her lips together, sweat rolling down between her shoulder blades. “How can a lone woman defy the emperor after he’s chosen her to be his? Women are no more than tools and pretty dolls in a man’s world. I have no say in what I want. Capturing me will bring you nothing but?—”

“And you’ll be a tool for us too.” A sinister grin curved his lips and caused the scar on his face to lift in a way that made her flinch back. “A symbol to prove to the world that we’ve taken from the emperor. He might not care for you as a person, but he chose you as his woman, and we’ve stolen from him. The act of taking what belongs to him is what will anger him, pretty lady.”

“You … you monster!” She wanted to scurry farther into the wagon, to be away from him and his ominous cackles, but the manure-smelling hay created a barrier between her and the railings of the wagon. There was no talking sense into this man or garnering sympathy. They would use her however they saw fit.

The man sniggered, and soon, the rest of the men joined him, their guffaws booming across the fields of swaying grass.

14

The partyfinally stopped for a break during the evening. They tied their horses to the trees and made a campfire in the middle of the woods. Daiyu was still stuck in the wagon, her wrists bound but her ankles free. She watched the men as they ate dried meat from their sacks and drank water from sheep-skin cannisters. Nobody but Qian, the scarred man, seemed to be watching her.

Daiyu’s stomach growled and she bit her bottom lip to keep from salivating. According to Qian and his goons, she had been unconscious for three days, so it was only natural that she felt like she hadn’t eaten in years. She stared at the men who drank and ate happily, and her stomach continued to shrivel within itself, rumbling louder and louder.

Finally, when she couldn’t take it anymore, she inched closer to the door of the wagon. “I’d like to eat and drink a little,” she asked the closest man. “I’ll starve at this rate.”

The man glanced at her and then at Qian. “Well? I’m not giving my share to her.”

“Let her starve,” Bao said bitterly, glaring at her from his spot against a tree. “It’ll teach her a lesson.”

Some of the men snickered, and Daiyu’s faceflushed with embarrassment. “That’s not fair,” she said, searching the scruffy faces for someone kind. “If you truly intend to use me as a symbol, then I hardly see why I have to be half-dead for your goal.”

One of the horses stretched its legs and began to pee where it stood, and that caused Bao’s face to twist into a grin as he jerked a thumb at it. “Why not give her some horse piss?”

“Excuse me?” Daiyu reeled back, her face paling.

Qian chuckled at Bao and chewed the end of his beef jerky. “You sure are bitter, huh?”

“I really don’t feel that it’s necessary or appropriate to let her starve,” a cold voice broke through the sniggers and cruel laughs sent in her direction.

Qian turned to the young man who had spoken. He sharpened his sword against a smaller blade, his back pressed against a tree and an expressionless look on his face. He had a shock of dark gold hair that he cropped short, which was unlike the fashion in Huo, where everyone kept their hair long. His eyes were a vibrant green, and his skin was tanned to a deep honey-gold. Almost immediately, Daiyu recognized him as a foreigner—either Kadian or Sanguine. She was surprised she hadn’t noticed him before, but it could have been because he seemed to keep himself distant from the others.

“If we’re to sell her to General Keung, then it won’t do to have her starved and dying,” the young man continued. His small blade slid across the edge of his already sharpened sword, and the metal ground against the other with a screech. He met Qian’s stare evenly. “It might lower her cost. Furthermore, how will he believe she’s truly Drakkon’s bride-to-be if she looks like a common, starved peasant?”

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