Chapter 6
Daiyu paced in circles around the room, her mind growing more tangled with every stride. Lanfen sat on the cushioned couch in the center of the room, her hands distractedly dancing over the intricate carvings of a slithering dragon on the armrest. She had been silent the entire time.
Wife. Wife? Wife!?
Daiyu must have heard wrong because there was no way Drakkon Muyang had said she was to be his wife.
She didn’t even want to be here, much less be anything to the emperor.
But when she was whisked away into these fancy chambers with sprawling rooms divided by glass curtains, windows covered in aquamarine shaded paper screens—she came to the realization that the emperor did, in fact, choose her.
It was impossible. She didn’t fit the beauty standard with the nobility—not with her tanned skin, which clearly showed her commoner status. Nor did she have any backing from an affluent and influential family.
Daiyu leaned against one of the jade-lacquered pillars in the room and ran a hand over the silk dress she wore. Lotuses were embroidered all along the dark green skirts, traveling up to the sapphire-colored sash, and even across the right lapel of her tunic. The one thing she truly couldn’t complain about was the lavish dresses she had been given. She had never worn something so fancy.
She also couldn’t complain about the food, or the constant scented baths, or the lack of work … Truly, she couldn’t complain about much. But it was only because she knew this was all temporary. There was no way she was going to go along with this absurd plan of being the emperor’s concubine. Or wife. Or whatever the hell he wanted to do with her.
Her plan still hadn’t changed: take Lanfen and get out.
But now there were complications, and she couldn’t wrap her mind on how to solve them. For one, the emperor knew what she looked like. Two, he knew her name. Three, if she ran, wouldn’t he come after her and potentially murder her and her entire family for rejecting him? Drakkon Muyang was known to be a vicious, cruel man, and going against him likely meant death for her and everyone related to her.
“Daiyu, what will we do now?” Lanfen folded her hands on her lap. Her anxiety was palpable, seeming to fill the room with waves and waves of tension. “Will you marry the emperor?”
The only good thing out of this arrangement was that Lanfen was saved from the emperor’s eye, but even then, Daiyu couldn’t say for certainty if that wouldn’t change if they stayed here. Because if Drakkon Muyang only wanted Daiyu, why didn’t he dismiss the rest of the ladies in the palace? Why was Lanfen still here? He must have been planning on taking more concubines after marrying Daiyu.
“Daiyu?” Lanfen was staring at her intently, and it took Daiyu a second to remember she had asked a question. She opened her mouth to reply, but another voice called from behind her.
“I’d love to know the answer to that too.”
Startled, Daiyu screamed and whirled around, while Lanfen jolted upright from her seat. The masked mage was leaning against the other pillar in the room, his head tilted to the side. The mask he wore this time was a dazzling cerulean and emerald color, reminding her of a water dragon.
The mage pointed at Lanfen. “Are you planning on stabbing me with that?”
Daiyu followed his gaze to her sister, who had a hairpin in her hand, the sharp end of it aimed at him. “Lanfen?—”
“Who are you?” Lanfen asked, wide-eyed and trembling.
“Lanfen! It’s okay, I know him.” Daiyu rushed to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder. “This is the man I was telling you about, the one who will help us.”
She blinked, lowering the hairpin. “You know him?” She eyed his green robes. “He’s … He’s a mage.”
“Then you know how stupid it is to point a”—he stared at the hairpin, as if unsure what to call it—“weapon, at me.”
Daiyu rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip. “A mighty mage like you, afraid of a hairpin? That’s hardly a weapon! I’m sure you can just …” She waved at the silver hairpin with a butterfly on one end of it, “make it disappear if you wanted to?”
Surely, if he could teleport from one location to the next, a measly hairpin must have been child’s play against him?
“It’s the insult that makes this all the more offensive.” He lifted his shoulders, sounding mock hurt. “You didn’t tell her anything about me? The heroic man who was going to rescue you both?”
Daiyu stifled a laugh, the tension in her knotted chest loosening. From the corner of her vision, Lanfen was watching her closely. “It slipped my mind.”
“I can imagine. How did you manage that, by the way?” He pushed himself off the pillar and sauntered to the couch, where he unceremoniously plopped down on it. “You came here to rescue your sister and instead, you’re going to marry the emperor now! If I weren’t a mage, I would have suspected you of concocting some sort of spell to win the emperor’s heart, with your sister as an excuse to weasel your way in here.”
Heat flushed over Daiyu’s face at the accusation. “That’s not what happened. I truly did come here to rescue her.”
“Yes, yes.” He waved his hand dismissively and crossed his ankles together as he leaned deeper into the cushions of the couch. “That’s why I prefaced it by saying that if I weren’t a mage, I would have thought differently.”
“How did you both meet?” Lanfen asked slowly, looking between the two of them in confusion.
“Long story.” The man gestured to the empty couch across from him. “Anyhow, don’t be shy. Have a seat.”
Daiyu reluctantly sat on the couch, while Lanfen watched the mage uneasily. A budding tension headache throbbed in the back of her head. “Anyway,” she said, lacing her hands together. “You never did tell me your name.”
“I have no name to give.” He shrugged. “And you never asked.”
“No name?” Lanfen eased onto the spot beside Daiyu, her tone betraying her suspicion. “How do you have no name?”
Daiyu cringed as she thought of her first time meeting the emperor and how she had said the same thing: I have no name. Was this masked mage doing the same as her? Hiding his identity?
He waggled a finger in Lanfen’s direction. “Well, little miss, I have no name because I must keep it a secret.”
“Little miss?” Lanfen crinkled her nose. “Don’t patronize me.”
“I’m doing no such thing. But seeing as how I’m more than twenty years your senior, I think I can call you little miss since you are a literal child to me.”
Daiyu blinked at him, unsure of how to proceed. Sure, she couldn’t see the man’s face, but she hadn’t thought he was that much older than his early twenties. His voice certainly sounded young and lovely?—
Lovely? Her mind came to a stuttering stop and she shook her head. She must be losing it.
The man drummed his fingers over the armrest. “I have a name, mind you, but I’m unable to say it.”
“Why?” Daiyu asked.
“The same reason I wear this mask.” He tapped the dragon’s snarling mouth. “To hide my face. To hide who I am.”
Lanfen frowned and leaned forward. “But why?”
“Because I’m the head mage in the entire empire, and the emperor has forced me to keep everything about myself a secret. This is to ensure … well, I needn’t say more.”
Daiyu’s eyes widened. “You’re the head mage? Doesn’t that mean you’re the best mage in the entire empire?”
She couldn’t see it, but she could imagine him grinning widely with the singsong way his voice came out. “Yes, yes, it does.”
“We must name you something,” Daiyu whispered. “Unless we should keep calling you mage?”
“You’ll give me a name? I’m honored.”
“Your name will be …” Her gaze traveled to the jade necklace on her vanity and she snapped her fingers. “Bik!”
Lanfen burst into laughter while the masked mage canted his head. She couldn’t see his expression, but she could tell he was befuddled.
“Bik?” he said slowly. “Is that … truly the best you could come up with?”
Daiyu lifted her shoulder noncommittally but couldn’t keep the grin off her face. “Do you have a problem with it?”
“Forgive me for saying this,” he said dryly before waving a hand over his body, “but I am a man. Bik is a woman’s name.”
“You don’t show us your face, so how do I know for sure that you aren’t a woman?”
“You …” His chest shook and it took her a second to realize he was laughing. He tipped his head back on the couch, and his voice came out dramatically. “You really have wounded me with that one, dear lady. Alas, I am a man. I thought you could tell?—”
“We can’t tell at all. Can you, Lanfen?” Daiyu asked innocently, while Lanfen shook her head. Daiyu nodded. “Yes, see? The only way to change your name is to perhaps unmask?—”
“That name is taken by an occupant of the palace already, so I’m afraid we’ll have to change the name,” he interrupted.
Daiyu paused—someone else in this palace was named Bik? “Who?”
“The princess’s cat.”
The princess? She was confused for a moment because the emperor didn’t have any children, but then she remembered the previous emperor, who Drakkon Muyang had slain, had daughters. Her smile faded. Those princesses were still in the palace? For some reason, she had expected them to be imprisoned somewhere else. Or dead.
“Anyway, I thought it would be interesting to see what nickname you could come up with for me. But I’m no longer amused. I do have a nickname I go by, which I think you both can call me.” He placed his hands on his lap. “Feiyu.”
They were all silent for a moment after that. Daiyu picked at the embroidered lotus by her knee and pressed her fingernail over the tight threads of it. All traces of jesting faded as her mind roved over her current predicament with the emperor and how messy everything had become. Finally, when she couldn’t think straight anymore, she lifted her head to pin the mage with a curious look. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“To see how you’re doing.” Feiyu folded his pale hands on his lap and the dragon face of his mask seemed to peer into her soul.
She shivered at the thought of it—could he see into her memories? Her thoughts? He was a mage, after all.
“And—” he added, straightening in his seat and readjusting his emerald robes, “to hear about your grand plans of escape. Which, I’m assuming, still require my assistance? Unless?—”
Daiyu waited for him to finish, but he simply shrugged, and she pursed her lips together. “Unless? Unless what?” A thought struck her and she gasped. “Unless you think my plans have changed because the emperor chose me?”
He shrugged again, and this time Daiyu couldn’t help the mortification and embarrassment from flooding her face with fire. She wasn’t na?ve enough to think that being by the emperor’s side meant she would live a lavish and full life.
She jumped to her feet, unable to hide her emotions any longer as she waved to the jade-veneered pillar, and then to the pretty blue window shades. “You think that these fancy things are enough to entice me?” She rushed to the dresser on the side of the room and picked up the jade necklaces and painted hairpins lining the top of it. She thrust them in his direction. “Or that these pieces of jewelry are enough for me to sell my soul to that wicked man?” She dropped the fine jewelry and they clunked against the surface of the dresser. Her breathing increased as she thought of Emperor Muyang with his beautiful dark eyes and the sinister smile on his cold face. “None of this is enough to sway me. I’m not so easy of a woman to be … to be—” Her lower lip wobbled and she was all too aware that Lanfen was staring at her wide-eyed and that the mage was gravely silent. “To be put under a spell by the riches His Majesty has to offer. I don’t need all of that! What I need is my family and my freedom, none of which he will ever offer me. I may be a simple farmer’s girl, but I am not so blinded by the brightness of this palace to lose sight of what’s important to me. So no, my original plan has not changed.”
The back of her eyes stung with tears that threatened to spill, but she blinked rapidly to keep them at bay. She wasn’t one to cry so easily—and especially not in front of a stranger and her younger sister—so she squared her shoulders and tried to appear as in control of the situation as possible.
Feiyu hadn’t moved from his position and it maddened her that she couldn’t see his face to determine what his expression was or what he was thinking, but he finally released a long breath and said, “I understand. So what will you do now? I can take you both away now, if you wish.”
“Why would you help us?” Lanfen interjected, giving the strange man a once-over. “If you’re working with the emperor, what do you gain from this?”
“Your sister and I already have a prior arrangement.”
Daiyu had almost forgotten the favor she had promised him, and uneasiness spread over her chest at the thought of being indebted to this mysterious mage, but the bigger part of her reasoned that she needed him more than he needed her. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t have gotten this far, so surely whatever favor he had in mind for her couldn’t be that hard to fulfill? At least she hoped so.
She could feel Lanfen’s sharp gaze on her as if asking her what exactly she had traded for his help, but Daiyu simply cleared her throat and said, “Well, although I would love for you to take both of us home, I’m afraid I’m in a bit of a bind now that the emperor knows my name and face. I don’t think he would take too kindly for me to insult him by running away.” She paced in the room, her rounded silk slippers padding softly against the intricately woven rugs and polished tiles. “Since he doesn’t know about Lanfen, I think it would be best if you took her back home?—”
“What?” Lanfen jumped to her feet, her dark eyes the size of saucers. She adamantly shook her head. “I’m not leaving you?—”
“It’s for your own safety.” Daiyu crossed the distance between them and held her younger sister’s hands gently. Unshed tears shone in Lanfen’s eyes and Daiyu’s chest tightened at the sight. So long as Lanfen could escape back home, it was worth coming here, even if it meant falling into a sticky trap. “This place is dangerous, and the longer you stay, the harder it’ll be to remain safe. You need to go back home, or else all of this will be in vain.” She brushed back the stray tear that rolled down her round cheek. “I know it’s not easy, but I came here to rescue you, Lanfen, and I need to know you’re safe back home. I can’t have you attracting the emperor’s attention.”
Lanfen opened her mouth, clamped it shut, and then tried again. “I don’t want to leave you here.”
“I’ll find a way to escape too, and then we’ll be together again.” She smiled, even as her throat closed up at the thought of them being apart again. Truthfully, she had no idea how she would escape from the emperor’s clutches, but Lanfen didn’t need to know that. “Just like how I made my way here, I’ll make my way back out.”
Lanfen pulled Daiyu into a tight embrace and buried her face into her shoulder. Her small body quivered and her voice was muffled as she spoke. “I wish we could leave together. It’s not fair.”
“I know, I know.” She patted her back slowly. Suddenly, she was reminded back to when they were younger and Daiyu would hug her small body and rock her to sleep when their mother was too tired to console her after a long day of working in the rice paddies. The back of Daiyu’s eyes burned and she squeezed her tightly as if that could make her stay longer.
“Do you wish for me to take her now?” Feiyu rose from his seat and brushed the nonexistent dust from his clothes.
“Yes.” Daiyu pulled back from the embrace and gave an encouraging nod to Lanfen, who wiped her red eyes and nose on her sleeve. “Are you able to take her to our village?”
“Sadly, I can’t. I must remain close to the palace grounds at all times,” he said. “But I can warp her out of this palace and give her passage back to your home. Will that suffice?”
Daiyu didn’t like the idea of trusting him so much like this. What if he instead kidnapped Lanfen? Or sent her somewhere else? Or … Or sold her? But then again, keeping her here was a terrible fate in and of itself. Not only was the emperor her enemy here in the palace, but all the ladies and potential concubines would no doubt make her life harder.
“Is there any way you can do some sort of magic to keep your word?” Daiyu asked. “I find it hard to trust you so blindly.”
Something flashed in his dark, glittering eyes, and all at once, Daiyu became aware that she was in the presence of a powerful mage. Her mouth dried up at the shift in the air. Had she offended him? But as soon as the change happened, it disappeared.
She blinked back, unsure if she had imagined it all.
“You’ll just have to trust me,” he said with a cheerful inflection in his velvety voice. “If I wanted to, I could turn you both into rabbits right now or electrify you on the spot, but I haven’t done any such thing, now, have I? If I truly had ill intentions for either of you, I could very well do whatever I wish. So, Daiyu, you’ll just have to trust me that I will send your sister safely on her way home.”
Lanfen shivered beside Daiyu, and although what he was saying was true—that if he wanted to overpower them, he could very well do it with or without their cooperation—she couldn’t help the unease that washed over her at those words. At the sheer power he held and how powerless she was.
Daiyu exhaled deeply. “I apologize if I’ve offended you, Great Mage. I would very much appreciate if you could send my sister on her way home.”
“No need for such politeness.” Feiyu held his hand out to Lanfen, who inched closer to Daiyu and didn’t seem keen on going with him. “Come now, let’s go.”
“It’s okay.” Daiyu nudged Lanfen toward the mage. “You’ll be fine.”
Lanfen reluctantly stepped forward, gave Daiyu an uncertain glance, and placed her hand in Feiyu’s.
For a moment, Daiyu wanted to step forward and call the whole thing off—surely, it would be better to have Lanfen on her side while she navigated the strange palace and her place here? And yet, she remained rooted in place, her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, and her eyes drinking in Lanfen’s image like it would be the last time.
An electrifying charge shifted in the room and before Daiyu could say anything, Lanfen and Feiyu disappeared in a flash. Daiyu blinked, and she was suddenly alone in the room. It had happened so fast that she couldn’t do anything but stare at the spot they had just been at.
She prayed she had made the right decision in trusting the mage.