Page 36 of Empire's Curse

“Atreus,” Qian said with a pointed look. “You’re not the leader of this group. I will do as I see fit.”

“I’m only advising you.” The foreigner gave Daiyu a once-over and rose to his feet; it was then that she realized he was tall—maybe as tall as Muyang. He slid his swords into the baldric acrosshis back and looked down at Qian with a distasteful sneer. “What you do with her is of no interest to me.”

Daiyu watched as the young man spun around and walked over to his horse, which he began to brush with his palms. Qian spat in his direction, his own mouth twisted into a scowl. “Little bastard thinks he can order me around?”

“He did make a good point,” one of the men murmured, his antsy gaze flicking from Daiyu and then to the scarred man. “What if we don’t get a fair share because she’s in bad condition?”

“I agree too … to some extent,” Bao grumbled, touching his bandages again. “It’ll all be to waste if we don’t get a good price.”

Qian blew out air and waved to one of the men. “Fine. Give her the meat and some water.”

Daiyu straightened where she sat. Her stomach continued to growl as one of the men approached her with slices of dried meat in his grimy hands. He crossed his forearms on the railing of the wagon and grinned at her.

“You sure are pretty.” He held the meat a few inches from her face. “I want to see that mouth of yours work.”

“E-Excuse me?” Daiyu pulled her legs in front of her to create more distance between herself and the man. The shadows of the night cast shadows across his gruff face, warping his leering expression into something more menacing. “Stop with your jokes and untie me.” Her voice came out small and squeaky, and she hated the weakness in it.

“We can’t untie you, so eat out of my hands,my lady.” He said the last part with a mocking lilt in his voice.

Daiyu licked her lips and shot a glance at the other men, but they weren’t paying her any attention, and by the way they all acted, she doubted they cared. She had no savior here. Not even the foreigner who had helped her case was stepping forward to aid her.

The man waved the meat and raised his eyebrows. “You don’t want to eat?”

“You can place it on the floor of the wagon,” she said uneasily.

“Where’s the fun in that?” He held a water cannister in his other hand and held it up for her. “Or would you rather drink first?”

As if on cue, her stomach rumbled again. She pressed her lips together. Never in her life had she been so humiliated—even the pond incident with Muyang hadn’t beenthisbad.

“Well?”

Daiyu leaned forward and took a slice of dried meat into her mouth. The man’s lips curved into a grin. She barely tasted the salted food. The back of her eyes stung with mortification and she hated the way the man was staring down at her. Like he was imagining something much different.

After she ate the last of the food, he grabbed her mouth roughly and teased it open with his fingers. “The things I would—” he began.

She bit down—hard. Metallic blood filled her mouth and the man screamed, yanking his hand back, but not before she scraped a layer of his skin off with her bare teeth. He dropped the cannister of water on the floor of the wagon, so while he wailed and cursed, she spat out the blood, dropped forward and took the rim of the cannister with her mouth. She tried to drink from it and bit back a scream when the man grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back.

His face was purple with rage, and the veins on his throat and forehead bulged. “Youbitch.”

He slapped her and she slammed into the railing of the wagon, her head cracking against the uneven wood. Her vision darkened and she licked the inside of her cheek, where she could taste her own iron blood.

“Let hergo,” he growled.

Qian held the man’s wrist, halting him from attacking her further. “I never said you could hit her. We need her in good condition.”

“The bitch almost bit my finger off!”

“Then let this be a lesson not to get sodamn close,” the scarred man snapped, releasing the other man. “If you want to hit her, hit her body,notthe face.”

The man cradled his wounded hand close to his chest and shot her a dirty look before scampering away. Qian watched him, his lips flattened into a firm line. When he turned to her, there was a warning on his face. “Don’t attack my men. Next time you do, I’ll have you strung naked in the back of this wagon. Do you understand?”

Daiyu swallowed, her mouth and throat dry.

He leaned against the railing, the wood groaning beneath his weight. “Do you understand?”

“Y-yes.”

“Good.”

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