Page 84 of Empire's Curse

“Yes, you mentioned that.”

“You don’t sound concerned.” She pinned him with an accusatory glare, but he continued to read from the scroll and didn’t bother meeting her gaze.

“Daiyu, I work for His Majesty, whose life is always in danger. I’m quite accustomed to threats and danger.”

Nikator raised his head from sharpening his blades. “His Majesty will probably be able to investigate once he returns.”

She wrung her hands together and continued to walk in circles around her room. She didn’t like the idea of relying on Muyang to help her, especially when there was no guarantee that he would care. She was becoming more and more uncertain about this whole marriage in the first place—was all of this hassle worth it? Would she and her family forever be in danger so long as she was married to Muyang?

“You’re safe here,” Feiyu assured. “Nikator is a great guard and Vita will be here shortly, so you’ll be even safer. If I had to make a bet on who’s a better warrior, I’d put my money on Vita—” Feiyu raised his hand just in time as Nikator’s dagger flung toward him and stopped it midair, inches away from his dragonoid mask. “Now that’s not very nice, Nik.”

“I knew you’d catch it.” He snatched the dagger away and began sharpening it once more, his scowl ever present. “Vita isnotbetter than me.”

Daiyu sighed and flopped down on the couch beside Nikator. She had grown accustomed to the thorny banter between Feiyu and Nikator and the various attempts from both parties to attack the other—though, it seemed to be in jest, much to her horror the first time around.

“You both love to talk about random nothings, but when it comes to actually pressing matters, you have nothing to say.” She gave them both a pointed stare and covered her eyes with her arm. “Someone is after me. Someone tried to assassinate me. Does that not matter to you both? Or are you so used to the people around you being attacked that this is nothing special?”

“I think the latter sums up our reaction.” Feiyu’s tone was cheery and she chucked an ornamental pillow his way, which he—as she had annoyingly expected—dodged with a short laugh.

“You’re safe within these palace walls.” Nikator eyed the fallen pillow. “Even in the gardens, I protected you, and when Vita comes over, you’ll be even more protected.”

“That’s all well and dandy, Nikator, and I’m grateful you were there to help me, but just being within these palace walls isn’t enough to protect me. Need I remind you that I was kidnapped during my stay here?”

Feiyu unraveled his scroll further, the crinkling of the parchment filling the sudden silence in the room. “About that, the guards that were guarding your room that night were interrogated, and they were actually drugged with magic before the attack happened. What that tells me is that this was definitely planned and whoever is after you has a mage on their side and is probably the same mage who burned your family’s rice paddies.”

“Do you think they’re also the same person who employed that assassin?”

“Maybe?” Feiyu lifted his head from his reading. “Lei Sheng assassins are some of the best—if not the best—assassin groups out there, and to pay for their services, one must be wealthy.Especiallyif it’s an assassination attempt that requires sneaking into the royal palace.”

“So whoever is after me is probably a noble,” Daiyu said with a long sigh. They had expected that much, since mages only worked under affluent patrons. She still guessed that whoever was after her was a bitter, jealous noblewoman—or her family—who had wanted to marry the emperor.

“Probably.” Nikator began sharpening his blades once more, the sound of the two blades smoothly grinding against one another filling the air. “But I really don’t see what they would gain going after you.”

“This is the world of politics,” Daiyu grumbled, pushing herself onto her elbows. “There could be hundreds of women who want to kill me so they can be thefirstto marry the emperor.”

“I don’t see why it matters who the first is.”

“Well, I don’t know either, but I doubt it’s someone from my hometown going through all this trouble to off me.”

Feiyu chuckled softly. “Can you imagine that? Old farmer Chen is actually behind all of this.”

Daiyu made a very unladylike snort. “That would be hilarious. And horrible. I actually like everyone back home.”

“Nowthat’shilarious.” Feiyu snickered.

“Everyone?” Nikator added.

“Yes, everyone.” She rolled her eyes and sat upright. “Unlike the circles here, in smaller, rural villages, everyone is sort of friends with each other. You kind of have to be, since we all have to have each other’s backs when things get rough. Like if there’s a storm and you need to shelter somewhere. Or when you run out of eggs, who else do you go to? Or when you have too many carrots in your garden, who else do you trade with? Life ismuchsimpler back home.”

“Do you prefer it there than here?” Nikator lifted one of his daggers and inspected the edge of it. It gleamed menacingly and even she could tell that it was deadly sharp. “I can see the appeal if you do.”

“At times.”

“Do you still want to go back home?”

“Sometimes,” she murmured, her gaze flicking over to the window.

For a moment, they all remained silent. Feiyu undid and wrapped his scroll, and Nikator continued sharpening his blades, thezingof the blades joining the crinkling of aged paper. Daiyu breathed out deeply, hating the sudden spike of anxiety churning in her stomach, making her want to vomit.

---