Page 38 of Empire's Curse

“You don’t,” a ragged breath said from behind her, “need to do that.”

Daiyu whirled on her feet to find Atreus a few feet away from her, his sword stuck to the ground and his chest heaving up and down. Blood drenched him completely, coating his face, his clothes, and his boots. She stared beyond him, to the corpses littering the campsite. Most of them were missing their hands and chunks of their faces, their blood fresh and appearing black in the dark of night.

Her blood ran cold and she looked back at the young man. She raised her hands slowly, her gaze never leaving his sword. “What do you want?”

She expected him to laugh at her and steal her away, or attack her with his weapon, but he did none of those things. He breathed out deeply, spat a glob of blood onto the ground, and lowered himself into a short bow.

“I’d like to escort you back to His Majesty, my lady.”

Daiyu blinked back, waiting for him to spring forward and slice her neck. Her body was stiff in anticipation of an attack, but it didn’t come. The only noise between them was the buzzing of insects, the chirr of crickets, and his heavy breathing.

“What did you say?” she finally breathed. “You want to take me back to … His Majesty? Do you mean Drakkon Muyang or … or whoever you serve?”

“I serve Drakkon Muyang.” Atreus raised his head, and in the moonlight, his green eyes appeared softer. “I was sent on a mission to investigate a group of thugs working closely with the rebel cause. Never in a million years did I imagine they would try to kidnap one of His Majesty’s women. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you earlier. I was undecided on whether to continue with my mission or abort it. In the end, I couldn’t allow them to harm you.”

“Oh.” All the fight seemed to drain from her body as relief took over. She wanted to sink to the ground and cry, but she instead steadied herself by grabbing onto a nearby tree. Her shoulder sagged against it, and she closed her eyes. “Oh. I see.”

“His Majesty is located farther north, in Fort?—”

“Wait.” She held her hand up. “You want to take me to the emperor?”

He tilted his head to the side. “Well, yes. He is located a week’s ride from here, and it would be faster to go to him than to go back to the palace.”

“No.” Daiyu was already shaking her head. She tried not to look at the dead bodies surrounding them or at the blood staining the grass and trees. “This is the perfect opportunity for me to run as far away as possible from His Majesty and all of his people. Don’t you see? I wouldn’t have been in this mess if I wasn’t associated with him.”

Atreus’s golden brows drew together, a drop of blood sliding down between them. “You wish to … flee? From His Majesty?”

“Tell him I died.” She nodded to thedead, mangled bodies. “That I was killed in the fray. That you—that you trieddesperatelyto save me, but in the end, one of the men took me and killed me before you could do anything?—”

“No.”

“—and that you’re—” She paused, taken aback as the young man stared at her levelly. “No? But, but it doesn’t hurt you to say that you?—”

“That I failed to protect His Majesty’s woman?” he scoffed, his expression pinching together. “I can see no bigger failure than to have you die when you were so close to me. Furthermore, I will not lie to His Majesty.”

Daiyu’s chest constricted once more, and this time with apprehension. “Please, I can’t—I can’t go back to him! It’s better this way; for him to believe that I’m dead. Please, you must tell him?—”

“I will not lie to him.” He straightened, and she inched back at the sight of his full height. This was still a warrior who had killed a dozen men single-handedly, and she had a feeling that it wasn’t in her best interests to argue with him.

“Please,” she begged, tears filling her eyes. “I can’t go back to him.”

“Why? Are you afraid of him?”

She thought of Muyang’s dark eyes, of his wicked beauty, and the way his soft mouth would curve up into a cruel smile. He was terrifying. Not only because he was captivatingly beautiful, but he was too powerful. She could still remember the way he had held a blade to her neck, ready to kill her if she answered incorrectly. Yes, shewasafraid of him.

She shivered to think about what he would do to her once he found out she had almost been used against him. Would he kill her so nobody else could shame him like that?

“He will not harm you,” Atreus said, watching her carefully. He yanked a handkerchief from his pocket and cleaned his blade. Soon, the small cloth was stained with blood. “He will be happy to see that you are safe.”

“Happy?” Her chest rose, and she couldn’t imagine the emperor beinghappyover anything. Certainly not her well-being.

The young man sighed. “My lady, I do not wish to forcefully bring you back to His Majesty. I think that is cruel, especially after what you’ve been through. But it’s my duty to return you to him, so you must comply.”

She couldn’t run from him, not only because he was strong enough to kill so many men, but because he knew she was alive, and she was certain he would tell Muyang even if she did manage to escape from him. She didn’t have much of a choice, she realized with a sinking heart. Not if she wanted to keep her family safe.

More tears threatened to spill down her face, but she quickly pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes and inhaled sharply, trying to calm her erratic breathing. It would be fine, she told herself. She’d find another way.

“We’ll have to take one of the men’s cloaks,” Atreus said, his attention skating to the corpses. “I’ll have to see which one is in better condition?—”

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