Empire’s Curse (Drakkon #1)

Chapter 5

When Daiyu arrived in Lanfen’s room, she couldn’t stop trembling. Lanfen rubbed her back and had asked her several times what had happened, but Daiyu couldn’t utter a word. She kept replaying the conversation she had with the man in the bathing chambers and couldn’t shake her unease. If he truly was the emperor, she could easily be executed for speaking to him so rudely, so casually. Not to mention she had invaded his privacy.

“Daiyu—” Lanfen began for the dozenth time.

The door to Lanfen’s room slid open with a loud crack. The woman barely looked at them as she glanced down the hallway, her expression panicked. “Come to the waiting room. Now.”

“Why?” Lanfen rose to her feet.

“Everyone is to report there!” The woman’s eyebrows came together when she finally took notice of Daiyu. “Who are you?” A commotion in the hallway grabbed her attention and she waved at them. “Well, never mind that! Come now!”

Lanfen and Daiyu were ushered into the room with the couches. About fifty or so women were rounded up and filled the room. The smell of perfumes pervaded the air and Daiyu wanted to stick her head outside a window to just breathe properly.

“Ladies!” An older women waved the stragglers from the hallways into the main room. “Come now! His Majesty is coming this way!”

All the color drained from Daiyu’s face just as an excited murmur filled the room. It couldn’t be, could it?

Was he coming all this way to drag her out of here and kill her?

Her gaze flicked over at the glass bead curtains sectioning off the interconnected room. No one seemed to be going there, so if she had to guess, the emperor would remain in the main room.

Daiyu gave Lanfen’s hand a squeeze and leaned close to her ear. “I’ll be in the next room, all right?”

“What, why?” Lanfen’s eyes were wide as saucers and despite the heavy, mature makeup, she looked so young. “You’re going to leave me alone here?”

“Come with me too, then.” They both headed toward the glass beaded curtain with a swirling dragon design.

A hand grasped Daiyu’s shoulder and a stern voice asked, “Where do you both think you’re going?”

The older lady in charge gave them both a once-over, her mouth parting as she took in Daiyu’s outfit—she never did get the chance to change out of her clothes.

“Who are you?” the woman demanded, tightening her hold on her shoulder.

“Sh-She’s new!” Lanfen said, but the woman wasn’t buying it.

The other women in the room giggled, lost in their own chatters about the emperor visiting, and their voices increased in volume. Daiyu shot a glance at the entrance. Was the emperor almost here?

“Well? The woman dug her fingernails so deep in her shoulder that Daiyu flinched.

“Please don’t hold me like that.” Daiyu wrenched her arm from the woman’s grasp and rubbed where the woman had held her. “I’m not supposed to be here?—”

“I can see that!” The woman’s attention turned to the doorway and she quickly shooed Daiyu. “Go to that room! I’ll deal with you after His Majesty leaves! And don’t you dare show your face in front of him! I’ll not have him think that I rounded up a”—she looked Daiyu up and down with distaste—“a dusty, country bumpkin as his potential concubine. Now go!”

Daiyu and Lanfen turned back to the curtains, but the woman pulled Lanfen back.

“Not you.”

Daiyu reached forward to grab Lanfen, but the other woman was already dragging her toward the mass. For a moment, Daiyu was torn on whether she should take her sister back, or run behind to the next room. But the crowd hushed to silence and she chose the latter. She barely ducked through the curtains before she heard a chorus of, “Good afternoon, Your Majesty.”

Daiyu’s heart was pounding, adrenaline coursing through her flesh. She flicked one of the beaded threads of the curtain and peeked into the room. All the women were kneeling in front of a man dressed in heavily embroidered clothes and a gold threaded headdress. Three guards accompanied him, but Daiyu barely noticed them. Her entire attention was on the man. The air around him rippled, and even with her minimal experience with magic, she could feel the heaviness of it in the air. He demanded the attention of the room with a single glance.

Her throat dried up as she recognized the man from the bath.

Drakkon Muyang took a seat on one of the couches, his gaze drifting over the women, black eyes narrowed.

Daiyu swallowed. Had he really come here for her?

“Is this it?” Muyang frowned, looking at the women once more.

The woman in charge raised her head. “Your Majesty, these are all the women we’ve gathered from the nearby villages and cities.”

Muyang leaned against the cushioned seat and propped his elbow on the armrest casually. “Is that so?” He waved a free hand at the crowd of kneeling women. “Raise your heads, all of you.”

They all obliged. Daiyu couldn’t see the expressions on the women’s faces from her position, but she could clearly see the dissatisfaction on the emperor’s face.

One of the men by the emperor’s side leaned down to whisper something in his ear, and Daiyu’s mouth dropped open as she recognized the brown-haired man from earlier. He was the one who led her into the emperor’s bathing chambers! If he knew the emperor well enough to be by his side, shouldn’t he have known where the emperor’s personal chambers were at? And so … how could he have led Daiyu there? It was no mistake, she realized with mounting horror.

Muyang pointed to one of the women. “You. How old are you?”

“Fourteen, Your Majesty.” She lowered her head.

The emperor made a face. “You are a child.”

“I became a woman last year when my cycle began,” she squeaked.

“A child pretending to be a woman,” he said with a frown. He rested his chin on his fist and leaned into his seat casually. “These are truly all the women you’ve gathered?”

The woman in charge nodded. “Y-Yes, Your Majesty. Is something wrong?”

Daiyu felt bad for the woman, who seemed to be trembling in his presence. Everyone could probably tell that he was displeased, and she wondered how it must have felt to be in their shoes, bowing down in front of a man who barely looked at them and who was clearly unsatisfied with them. And they were all such beautiful women! Did he think he was better than them? Did he think they weren’t good enough?

The emperor’s attention turned to the curtains and Daiyu froze as his dark gaze landed on her. She didn’t release the beaded thread—for that would give her away for sure—but her heart couldn’t stop beating frantically. He shouldn’t have been able to see her. Maybe he was just admiring the dragon design painted on these beads? That had to be it.

A slow smile curved over his soft mouth. A dark delight.

“Ah, I see.” He turned to one of the women. “You, woman. Why do you wish to be my concubine?”

“Um, well,” the woman stuttered. “It would be an honor.”

“And how old are you?”

“Twenty-one.”

“What is your father’s occupation?”

“He is a government worker. He, um, collects taxes in our city.”

“A respectable career.” He drummed his fingers over the armrest and pointed to another woman. “And you? Why do you wish to be my concubine?”

The woman stammered a response while Daiyu remained petrified on her spot. Surely, the emperor couldn’t have seen her? But then why did he smile like that? Like he had found something amusing?

Drakkon Muyang sat and listened for a bit as the women spoke about their reasoning to marry him, all the while he appeared disconnected from whatever they were saying. From time to time, his gaze flicked to the curtains. Daiyu was just about to step away when he pointed directly at her.

“You can come out now.”

She froze.

“Yes, you.” He flexed his finger forward. “Little rabbit, come out now.”

Little rabbit? She made a face. She didn’t like that nickname at all.

Daiyu stepped into the room slowly. Everyone turned to watch her. The woman in charge had her eyes so wide open that Daiyu was afraid they would pop out of her sockets.

“Y-Your Majesty! Please forgive me, but she isn’t supposed to be here—” the woman began.

Muyang raised his hand, stopping the woman from speaking, and smiled. It sent a chill down Daiyu’s back. He didn’t look at the older woman. “Silence.”

The woman clammed up while Daiyu stopped in front of him. She dropped to a kneel, her hands trembling as they touched the polished floorboards.

“Greetings,” Daiyu said. Your Majesty or Your Highness, which was more appropriate? Which was proper? She couldn’t remember, so she decided on the latter. “Your High-jesty.”

Her eyes widened at the mistake.

She wanted to bang her head on the floor.

What the hell, Daiyu?

A murmur of giggles filled the room and Daiyu wanted to sink into the wood fibers. When she peeked at the emperor, his lips were twisted into a smirk. She quickly looked away.

“Raise your head.”

She obliged and peered up at him.

“Your name?” he asked. “And don’t say you don’t have one.”

She cringed. “Yin Daiyu.”

“Daiyu,” he said with a nod. “Why do you wish to be my concubine?”

She didn’t. Not at all. So the question threw her off because she hadn’t thought in a million years that anyone would ask her such a thing. Her mind came to an abrupt halt as she stared at the man. The silence stretched, and she could feel the heat clawing up her neck as everyone stared at her, waiting, watching. Probably hoping she would fail in some way.

“Because—” She needed to come up with something. “Because I like”—her gaze skated to the room and then back at him—“the palace.”

He blinked, opened his mouth, and closed it again.

Once more, she wanted to hit her head on the floors.

What was she even saying?

Was it her nerves that were making her blurt out unintelligent, clearly not well-thought-out answers? Or was she truly as stupid as she sounded?

She decided to just go with it. “The palace is beautiful,” she continued, her face flushing with heat. “It’s so large and, and … majestic. I’ve been lost so many times and it’s only my first day, so that truly is a testament to how large the place is. So yes, that is my reason.”

The brown-haired man coughed, and it sounded all too much like a strangled laugh.

Muyang stared at her. “You wish to be my concubine because”—he gestured to one of the walls—“the palace is large?”

“Yes.” She had never heard such a confident yes to such a stupid lie, but she nodded like she meant it.

It was better than telling him the truth. She could imagine that going down very well: Actually, Your Highness, I don’t want to be your concubine. In fact, I’m here to save my sister from you because I really, really don’t want her to be your concubine either.

She was sure if she told the truth, she’d be executed. Along with Lanfen.

The emperor covered his face with his hand and Daiyu noticed that his chest was shaking ever so slightly. Was he … laughing?

Finally, he removed his hand to reveal a large grin. A grin that looked too sinister. Uneasiness washed over her.

“You,” he said, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his knees to better stare at her, “I want to make you my wife.”

Gasps filled the air.

Muyang rose to his seat. “It’s decided then. Yin Daiyu, you will be my wife.”