Page 41 of Empire's Curse

“I was on my mission like you told me to, but … while I was there, Lady Daiyu was taken by the group, and so I decided to abandon my mission and rescue her instead.” He said it all in one breath, like he was scared to take too many pauses. Like he wanted to get this conversation over with as soon as possible.

The air in the room seemed to shift, thicken, and turn colder. Daiyu spared a glance at Muyang and wished she hadn’t—she had never seen such a look of cold fury on someone’s face. He looked ready to murder someone, and she wasn’t sure who his wrath was pointed to.

The scroll in his hand cracked, and he dropped it on his desk the next second. “Who did this to her? I want them alldead.”

“Already done,” Atreus said, his voice quiet. “I would never let them live.”

Bohai didn’t seem as petrified as Daiyu or as anxious as Atreus, and waved his hand dismissively. “Come on, Muyang. You know Atreus; he wouldn’t let anyone who slighted you escape with their life,” he said casually. “And besides, she got caught in the middle of this mess because she’syourbride.”

“They were planning on selling her to General Keung,” Atreus continued.

“That bastard,” Muyang growled, his black eyes flashing with something sinister. A promise of death, Daiyu surmised.

She remained on the floor, her legs growing numb and apprehension taking hold of her. A million thoughts raced through her mind—all of them ending in her demise. She felt nauseous, her mouth dry and sandy.

“Atreus, go get yourself cleaned up,” Muyang finallysaid after a moment of silence. “You smell like blood and horseshit. And, Bohai, you’re dismissed too.”

The two men shuffled out of the room in the next second, neither of them seeming keen on lingering with Muyang’s displeasure written all over his face. Daiyu wiped her sweaty palms on her dress, unable to meet Muyang’s gaze—even as it remained on her.

He stepped closer, and she still couldn’t look at him. It wasn’t until he stopped in front of her, his black leather boots mere inches from her knees, that she dared to peer up at him. His beautiful face was carved from stone—callous and indifferent—as he kneeled in front of her.

“Did they hurt you?” Muyang’s voice came out smooth and calm, but Daiyu flinched nonetheless and averted her gaze. He placed a gentle, cold hand on her cheek, and a shiver ran down her spine. “Look at me.”

Daiyu complied, all the blood rushing to her ears and face as she met his obsidian-colored eyes. There was a coldness about him that put winter to shame, but the darkness that usually swamped his expression was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she found a tenderness she had never seen before.

“Did they hurt you?” he repeated, retracting his hand.

She wanted to lean into his touch and close her eyes; to breathe in the smell of jasmine and sandalwood. But then the imagery of a dagger pressed to her neck reemerged, and she couldn’t forget that he was just as deadly as those bandits were.

“Daiyu.”

Her hands grew clammy again and she finally shook her head. “A little, but nothing I can’t handle.”

Muyang scrutinized her slowly, and she could have sworn she saw something dark flash over his face. “A little?”

“Your Majesty,” she said, licking her dry lips, “I am well, if that is what you’re asking. Nobody touched me and I’m unsullied.”

She didn’t want him to kill her because he thought she had been soiled by the men, and she certainly didn’t want him tothink of her as someone who would sully his reputation. She was supposed to be safe within these walls with Muyang, and yet she felt trapped once more. Like a cornered animal waiting to be slaughtered.

As if reading her mind, he slowly asked, “Did you think I would think less of you if thosefiendsattacked you?”

She raised her head to find his lips pursed together in anger. He leaned forward and suddenly took her face in his hands. She inhaled sharply, her eyes widening as he stared at her, searching for something. His eyes narrowed as he spoke, each word coming out rough. “Those bastards don’t deserve to even look at you, much less breathe the same air that you breathe. Do you understand me, Daiyu?”

She didn’t understand a thing. All she knew was that he was holding her gently, and warmth was pooling in her stomach. His touch was electrical, and she felt intoxicated by it.

“Your Majesty, unhand me,” she whispered.

“Not until you tell me that you understand.”

“I …” She swallowed down the thickness in her throat. His face was only a few inches away from her, and his breath was fanning across her lips enticingly. She wanted to keep breathing in his warm scent of spices and jasmine. She wanted to lean closer and press her mouth against his, just to figure out what he tasted like. To understand what sweet, sweet, wicked beauty felt like. “What do you want me to understand?”

“That you are worth too much for those bastards. That you are above everyone else in this empire, and that anybody who dares look at what is mine without asking for permission should die where they stand.” He inched closer to her, and her chest rose in anticipation. His black gaze seared into her. “Do you understand now?”

Daiyu’s face flushed with warmth, and she hated the effect he had on her. “I understand, Your Majesty.”

He released her and finally stepped away. The warmth of his presence felt like a cold slap, and she nearly fell forward, hersweaty hands cupping her knees like that was all that was holding her together. He was still peering down at her, and she didn’t know what to make of his expression—it was a mixture of wild rage and barely contained desire, and something else. Something that was far more dangerous. Something that told her he cared, in some twisted way, about her.

Her pulse quickened, and she forced herself to remember that he was the evil emperor. That he would kill her if she stopped serving his purpose—whatever that purpose was—and that she was just a tool for him, a bride he could easily replace. She forced herself to remember how he had humiliated her at the pond, just to test his own power and how he had placed his dagger to her throat.Hewas the reason she had been kidnapped, and he didn’t even have the gall to apologize to her for it.

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