Page 72 of Empire's Curse

“I spared her the boredom.”

“Well, I certainly have heard many great things about you,” Nikator said to Daiyu with another teasing smile, one that made him appear all the more chipper. “It’s the reason I rushed over here after hearing wind of your troubles.”

Daiyu blinked back at him. What troubles was he talkingabout? There were a million things he could have been referring to—her family problems with the burned rice fields, her running away from Muyang, being kidnapped a few weeks ago.

Muyang didn’t offer any explanation as he watched her with an unreadable, calm look that gave away nothing of what he was thinking. In the morning light, his black eyes appeared even more like two pits of midnight.

Upon seeing her expression, Nikator raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t heard? I’m supposed to escort you back to the royal palace.”

“What?” She turned sharply to Muyang. She hadn’t heard anything about this. Was that why he was avoiding her? Because he didn’t want to tell her that he was going to ship her back to the palace, where she had even less freedom than she did here? At least in this fortress, she could walk and go as she pleased. The palace was no such place.

“Ah, wasIsupposed to tell her?” Bohai rested a gentle, gloved hand against his chest and quirked his bronze brows. “I hadn’t received any orders, so I just assumed you told her, Your Majesty.”

“I planned to tell you later tonight,” Muyang said smoothly, unperturbed while Daiyu could only sputter in front of him like a blubbering fool. His dark eyes cut over to her and she couldn’t stop the burning in her chest at how unbothered he appeared. Like it was so easy to toss her aside in the palace. Like she was an inconvenience. Like it was so easy to forget to tell her something as important as where she would be staying.

“I’m flattered you even thought to tell me,” she gritted out through clenched teeth and shifted her attention to the others in the courtyard.

An awkwardness hung in the air for a few moments, interrupted only by Bohai’s cough. “Well, how about you two spar with each other since it’s been so long?” he said.

“I would never dream of sparring with His Majesty,” Daiyu retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. It would have been a funny sight to watch—her and Muyang dueling one anotherwhen it was obvious who would be the victor. She almost snorted at how ridiculous it seemed.

“Ah. No, I meant Nikator and Atreus. Not …” Bohai burst into a fit of laughter, coughed to conceal it, but couldn’t wipe his grin off. Daiyu’s face warmed with mortification and even Atreus’s lips twitched in an almost-smile. “Not you and His Majesty.”

She clamped her mouth shut, the heat clawing up her throat. Muyang’s soft mouth curved at the corners and she wanted to sink into the ground at that very moment. Thankfully, Nikator and Atreus began a short conversation and moved farther into the courtyard to begin their fight. Bohai trailed farther away as well, giving Muyang and Daiyu privacy as he corrected other soldiers on their form.

Even though they were amidst the crowded courtyard, it seemed like there were only the two of them. Daiyu was hyper aware of Muyang’s presence, just a foot away from her, and everything in her surroundings seemed to blur into nothingness. She didn’t want to meet his gaze so she stared at a particular barren tree in the courtyard, at the swaying of its branches with every mild gust. She could feel Muyang’s eyes on her, boring into the side of her face. But she didn’t want to be the first to speak—not when she had this stinging in her chest.

“Daiyu, you appear to be displeased about something.” He inched closer to her, and the intoxicating, warm smell of jasmine and orange blossoms made her swallow.

“I haven’t the faintest idea of what you mean.” Still, she didn’t look at him. A dark feathered bird landed on one of the branches of the tree and she examined its tiny, toothpick-like legs as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Far more intriguing than the emperor by her side.

“Liar.”

“That is a big accusation to make, Your Majesty.”

“Are you displeased that we can’t spar together?” There was a teasing quality in his voice that made her blush, further exacerbatedwhen he continued, “We can spar once we’re married. I plan to do it very often.”

“I amnotupset about that.” Daiyu still didn’t look at him, but this time out of embarrassment more than spite.

“Then?”

“Nothing, Your Majesty.”

“Nothing?”

“Yes,nothing.”

He touched her chin ever so gently—so lightly that she almost felt like she had dreamed it—and she lurched back in surprise, her wide eyes flying over to him. But his hands were clasped behind his back, out of reach, and a tendril of smoke disappeared right before her eyes. She would have thought it was the wind itself, but the air smelled different and she could have sworn she had seen a shadow.

Daiyu narrowed her eyes at him. “Did you … did you just use your magic?”

“You’re finally looking at me now.” Muyang smiled as if he had won, and yet it only infuriated her further.

She huffed loudly and turned away from him. “Are you really atwo-step forward, one-step backwardkind of guy? And don’t tell me you have no idea what I’m talking about because I know you do. What’s this about me being sent back to the royal palace?” This time, she pinned him with a dark glower that she wouldn’t have been confident giving him over a week ago—but times were different now. They would wed each other, and she had seen an inkling of vulnerability in him earlier. This was one of the liberties she could take now, or at least she was testing it. “You didn’t even ask me if I wanted to go back to the palace.”

“I didn’t,” he agreed, nodding slowly and watching her with those unreadable, shuttered eyes that gave way to no soul. “But since when did I need to tell you anything?”

“Ah, yes, you’re the emperor. You can say and do whatever you please, Your Majesty,” she said carefully, keeping her tone sharp but without too much edge, “but I would appreciate if youdivulged information when it concerns me. I would have appreciated to give some input about where I go. I’m not an item to be shipped to and fro without opinion.”

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