Page 71 of Empire's Curse

“Who is that?” Daiyu whispered, watching in awe as he moved with such speed against his opponent. He was unnaturally lithe and moved like flowing water—beautiful to watch, but deadly at the same time.

She hadn’t realized Atreus had come to stand next to her until he spoke. “My brother.”

“Yourbrother?” She whipped her head in his direction to find him smiling wryly at the foreign young man. Although Atreus and the other man—who, upon closer inspection, couldn’t have been older than eighteen—both looked different than her own people, she could see that they were clearly from two different regions. This man was pale, red-haired, and blue-eyed, while Atreus was painted in shades of dark gold.

“We do not share any blood, but we grew up together under His Majesty.”

“He is a member of … thePeccata?” The word rolled off her tongue strangely and she wondered if she was saying it correctly—the name of the group of special soldiers under Muyang.

“Yes. Nikator.” The corner of Atreus’s mouth curved as the red-haired youth skillfully jumped from a lethal jab—causing a wave ofoohsandaahsand cheers from the crowd. “He was supposed to come to the fortress in a few days, but he perhaps finished his assignment earlier than expected.”

Daiyu watched as Nikator carried out a string of kicks and punches against the soldier, all of them meeting their target. The rest of the fight lasted less than a minute, and Nikator had the soldier pinned to the ground with a dagger hanging inches away from the man’s heart. The whole time, his grin didn’t disappear.

Daiyu clapped when the foreign youth extended his hand to the fallen soldier and helped him to his feet. Atreus rolled his eyes when Nikator flipped his daggers in the air, spun them against his knuckles, and strapped them to his waist in one fluid, flashy move.

“Impressive as usual,” a velvety smooth, familiar voice called. All the hairs on Daiyu’s arm rose up in anticipation and she swiveled to the side to see Muyang standing a few feet away from her at the lip of the circle. She had been so entranced in the fight that she hadn’t noticed him slink by. And judging by the gasps from the soldiers—all of whom quickly lowered themselves in a bow in waves surrounding him—neither did anyone else.

Nikator’s face lit up and he lowered himself briefly in a quick bow, jumped to his feet, and stopped in front of him. “Your Majesty! How long were you standing there? Did you see the whole thing?”

“Most of it.” Muyang rested a hand on the younger man’s shoulder and Daiyu could have sworn she noticed a hint of a smile on his lips. “You’ve improved.”

“Naturally.” His smirk grew, and his teeth glimmered pearl white in the sunlight.

Daiyu’s heart thumped in her chest wildly as the two exchanged a few more words. She barely heard any of it, her brain stuttering for a good response. Was Muyang …ignoringher? What other explanation was there if he had, seemingly, gone out of his way to avoid her, and then sprang up here without even speaking to her? Her mood soured instantly, even as her curiosity for the other member of thePeccatarose.

Her messy, bitter feelings were made all the more tangled by the fact that Muyang appeared stunning in his dark leathers, the maroon-colored cross-collared tunic he wore beneath the scaly armor, and the glimmering silver hair crown that pulled his inky hair away from his face. He was nothing like the jaded and lonely emperor she hoped he would be in her absence.

Just as she was thinking those things, another voice piped in, “You both look like jealous lovers.”

She blinked over at Bohai, who was beside Muyang, and whom she hadn’t noticed at all. His light brown hair was slicked back and he had an amused smirk on his lips that she didn’t appreciate. It took her a second to realize he was talking to her and Atreus.

Muyang glanced over at them, as did Nikator. Daiyu’s face instantly flushed with warmth and she sputtered, “E-excuse me?”

Atreus glowered at Bohai. “Don’t joke with us like that, Bohai?—”

“CommanderYao Bohai,” Nikator chimed in with a snicker.

Bohai waved to the other soldiers, which they all seemed to understand since they all scattered across the courtyard and continued with their training. He ruffled Atreus’s hair, much to the youth’s chagrin. Almost immediately, Daiyu could feel the shift in the air between the group—they all seemed comfortable with one another.

Atreus swatted Bohai’s hand away. “Forgive me,Commander.” He said the last part with a sarcastic scoff and Daiyu could only stare at him in shock.

Nikator rocked on the back of his heels and slipped histhumbs into the pockets of his tunic, his expression ever-so-cheery. “Been a while, Atreus. I figured you were still stuck being a worm-brained bandit, so I didn’t bother sending you a letter or notice.”

“I waspretendingto be a bandit,” Atreus said with a scowl. “Pretending.”

“I didn’t stutter, did I?”

“You—”

Bohai clapped the two young men on their backs, breaking their conversation. “You both can bicker and banter all you want later, but first, you should introduce yourself to Lady Daiyu, don’t you think, Nikator?”

Daiyu looked between Nikator, Atreus, Bohai, and then spared a quick peek at Muyang, whose gaze was glued onto her. She fought the embarrassment warming her face and turned toward the red-haired youth. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said, all too aware of Muyang’s eyes traveling down the length of her dress.

“The pleasure is all mine.” Nikator placed a hand on his chest and lowered his head in a sign of respect. There was a charming twinkle in his sapphire eyes that went along with his mischievous, lighthearted grin. “My name is Nikator. I see you’ve been acquainted with my brother Atreus, so I assume you’ve heard great things about me?”

Atreus rolled his eyes yet again and Daiyu released a sheepish laugh. “I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard much?—”

“What!” He shot Atreus a playful, mock-hurt expression. “Atreus. I’m wounded to think that you didn’t indulge Lady Daiyu in my greatness?—”

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