Page 91 of Empire's Curse

“You’ll be married in a week,” Feiyu said. “And then a week after that is the Autumn Festival. Maybe you can make a statement then? You’ll be newly married, glowing, and happy—and His Majesty will likely be the same. I’m sure you can make a show of how much you’ve got the emperor wrapped around your finger.”

Daiyu scoffed, rolling her eyes even as a blush clawed up her throat. “Very funny, but I don’t have anyone madly in love with me like that.”

“Hm.” Feiyu closed his eyes and she could make out a faint scar running vertically down his right eyelid and under the eye. His dark gaze flicked over to the window and his voice grew soft. “I wonder about that.”

“I’ll probably meet her at the wedding,” she mused. “Along with her family. The Wang family has mages, right? So it’s highly likely that they’re the ones who burned down my family’s rice paddies?”

“Practically every noble family has their own personal mages and the Wang family is no exception. So yes, it’s wholly possible.”

“All the more reason why I need to make an example out of her.” She pursed her lips together and bit back the urge to releasea string of curses upon Wang Yanlin and the entire Wang family. It was one thing to go after her life, but another to go after her family. There was no way she was going to sit here and do nothing now that she had a name. But she couldn’t think ofwhatto do. She didn’t want to resort to Yanlin’s methods—poison, kidnapping, and burning of someone’s livelihood—but she couldn’t think of anything that would send a clear message for others to back off.

“You could ask His Majesty for help?—”

“Out of the question.” She reclined in her seat. “The emperor doesn’t concern himself in the matters of his women, according to a few noble ladies I talked to earlier. It’ll only make me look weak, too, if I run to him anytime I’m in trouble. I need to figure this out myself.”

“Good luck, then.”

“You have such high faith in me,” she grumbled. “Anyway, what are you looking into?”

“Oh,this?” He motioned to the scrolls haphazardly sprawled on the table. “Research.”

Daiyu didn’t prod into what research he was doing—frankly, she didn’t really care what magical things the mage was looking into—and picked at the gold embroidered threads of her sleeve forming tiny lotuses. “Feiyu, why are you helping me?”

“We have a deal, remember?”

“I remember.” She gave him a long, hard look. “But you haven’t asked for anything back.”

“In due time, Daiyu. In due time.”

“You’re not going to ask for something outrageous, are you? Like my firstborn? Or like, I have to become your slave for eternity?”

Feiyu laughed, loud and rich and full of cheer, and crossed his arms behind his neck casually. “What do you take me for? A mage from an old folktale?”

“I don’t know—” The words died on her lips when his sleeve slipped down to his elbow, revealing a black tattoo of a serpentcoiled around the moon—the symbol of the MuRong dynasty—etched into his lean forearm. Just as quickly as she saw it, he dropped his arms back down to his sides.

An awkward silence stretched between them, with Feiyu staring at her with unreadable eyes, and Daiyu gaping at him like she had seen a ghost. She had seen the serpent and moon royal tattoo, hadn’t she? But then that meant … Feiyu was somehow related to the MuRongs? Was he one of the princes? One of the far relatives no one knew about? Was he supposed to be dead? A million ideas ran through her mind, but a singular thought threaded them all together: Did Muyang know?

“Feiyu, why do you have that …mark?” She leaned against the table until she was closer to him and her voice was barely a whisper. “The remnants of theyou-know-whatfamily aren’t allowed to use magic. So how?—”

“Daiyu.” There was a warning in his tone, a tightness there that she hadn’t heard from him before. “Please don’t ask.”

“But—”

“Daiyu.”

She couldn’t ignore the desperation in his strained voice, but she sighed and fell back against her chair. “I won’t ask,” she said. “But I hope you know that if you need my help in any way, I’d be more than happy to provide it to you. I’m indebted to you, with or without our deal.”

He stared at her unblinkingly and gave a quick nod. “Right. Anyway. Let’s talk about something else, yes?” He pointed to the bookshelves. “How about you pick a scroll or book that interests you and we can begin your reading lesson?”

“Sure.” Daiyu heaved herself to her feet and lingered at the table with the mage for a moment, wanting to ask him more but unable to form the words. Finally, she left to the shelves and began perusing. Feiyu did the same, but more quietly than her.

She pulled out various scrolls—mostly because of the colorful rods or fanciful ones—opened them, scanned the contents of inky writing, and shoved them back where she found them. Shewanted to find something that wasn’t so complicated, maybe with a lot of drawings to help her visualize what was happening in it. But mostly, she was letting her mind travel as she carelessly checked the scrolls and put them back in place.

The morning light filtered through the metal windows, casting dragon-like shadows against the shelves. Daiyu breathed in the scent of old parchment, her finger dragging over the old ledges. It was still bizarre to her that she was inside the royal palace, reading from scrolls that only royalty and royal personnel were allowed to see, and now she would somehow be a part of this all.

She paused in her search when she came across a particularly fancy scroll shoved at the very top shelf. The rods were painted a fresh, bright, vermillion color that instantly caught her eye. Climbing up to her tiptoes and grasping one of the ledges for support, she reached for the scroll in vain, her fingers barely brushing against the shelf it was on. She grunted, trying to pull herself taller to grab it.

Right when she thought it would be futile, a hand snuck up behind hers and plucked the scroll out. Daiyu turned her head just in time to meet Muyang’s glittering black eyes. A gasp escaped her mouth and she fell back against his lean, muscular chest. His other hand went straight to her hip, securing her in place. A flush spread over her face, warming her down to her toes.

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