Chapter 9 #2
Nikator took another sip of his tea. Those blue eyes burned into her from above the rim of the cup.
He set it down, then sprawled his muscular arms along the top of the couch.
She hated how her attention flicked over to the way the material of his shirt stretched taut over his broad chest, outlining the corded muscles.
He appeared casual. Calm. And very much not the murderous warrior he was.
Like he hadn’t tortured three men a few hours ago.
Like he wasn’t planning something nefarious.
Then, finally, he said, “You’re a fucking liar.”
She nearly dropped her own cup, then took a quick drink to keep from blurting something else. “I’m not a … a liar.”
“Oh, please.” Another eye roll. “You and I both know you weren’t there because you lost your cat.”
“I really was—”
“Drop the act. You’re not as innocent, na?ve, and harmless as everyone seems to believe.” His eyes narrowed once more. “What were you doing in the mage quarters, Princess?”
“I told you already!”
“I don’t believe you.”
“That’s your own fault,” Biyu said with a frown. “What do you think I was doing there, then?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. What do you gain from the mage quarters? Or were you perhaps in the library?”
“The library? Why would I go there?” Sweat trickled down her spine.
She didn’t miss the way he was watching her carefully, looking for cracks in her demeanor, in the way she spoke, or carried herself. He was trained in these matters.
Nikator continued to assess her, his eyes flicking over from her head to her toes.
She wouldn’t give him a reason to suspect her any further, even though she was lousy at lying and keeping a cool demeanor.
Liqin always told her that, too. She was never good at anything, really.
But she had to be now, because it would be the difference between life and death.
Biyu pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, and he tracked that movement.
She eyed the dark leathers he wore and the shadows beneath his eyes, indicating that he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night; and how could he if he had been torturing those three guards, carving their bodies up, and then propping them at the front entrance of the palace to give off a deadly message? A gift. For her.
“Why did you …” Biyu set her tea on the table and fiddled with the sleeve of her dress, forgetting that she was supposed to remain calm and unbothered, but she couldn’t help but fidget.
Not when an uncomfortable question loomed between them.
“Why did you torture those men? You didn’t have to.
It doesn’t matter to you whether I’m … abused by them or not. So why did you do it?”
A muscle on his jaw twitched. “No one is allowed to touch you. Disgraced as you are, you are still a royal. And that means something.”
Of course he was upholding the image of royalty; if people saw that they could do whatever they wanted with her, a MuRong from the previous dynasty, then it only showed how easy it was for a royal to be used and abused. It didn’t look good for the current royal family.
Something akin to … disappointment released in her chest.
Which was ridiculous, because why did she care that he had made such a horrible display of power for something other than her own safety?
It was a message to everyone and to her, of what he was capable of, what he would do to her if he found out the truth.
“You said earlier that you dismissed my guards. Do you mean … all of them?” she asked, trying to change the subject away from herself and the cruelty he had showed to those deserving three.
“Because I assure you, not all of them are bad people. Some of them are great guards; I don’t think they should be fired from their positions, or …
or lose their livelihood. Furthermore, I wasn’t under the impression that you held power in this palace, so how did you dismiss them so easily? ”
Plus, it only hurt her to have her guards dismissed; the whole reason Yat-sen had wanted her help was because of how incompetent her guards were.
They didn’t think of her as a threat and didn’t treat her like one, which made her the ultimate trump card.
But if Nikator fired all of them and hired new ones in their place—new guards who would see the display he had set in front of the palace and who would know to act accordingly—it would then make her plan more complicated.
Nikator was still watching her in that careful way of his. Calculating. Weighing his options. He took another sip of his tea, which had cooled. “What do you know of the Peccata?”
“There are … six of you?” she asked, probing for an answer—because nobody really knew how many warriors belonged to His Majesty’s lethal force—but he gave none.
So she cleared her throat and continued, “You … are all powerful and … foreign? None of you are from Huo, but you speak the language well enough.”
When she didn’t add anything else, he waved his hand, ushering her to speak more.
“Um. That’s … all I really know.”
The corner of his mouth lifted as he scoffed. “Truly? That is what you think of us?”
“You are all mysterious.” She shifted in her seat; she wasn’t even sure why she was sitting here with him, conversing like it was normal. And she had no idea why they were even talking about the Peccata. He knew more than she did on the matter. “That’s all I really know.”
“You must know more than that, princess.”
She knew that he liked to glare at her. That he was skilled with a blade.
That he was a murderer. That he had no qualms about torturing, hurting, skinning someone alive.
She knew that his body was more muscular when pressed against hers, and that he was surprisingly gentle when he held her, that his ruthless grin made something flutter in the pit of her belly—and it wasn’t entirely from fear.
Biyu blinked at the last line of thought. What the hell was she thinking?
“That’s all I know,” she said, a bit more forcefully than before.
“We share a special bond with His Majesty and a few of his generals,” he said.
“He saved us in Sanguis and raised us. As a result, we all have an unwavering loyalty toward him. It also means we are granted special privileges. I am given power in this palace, in the empire, because I serve directly beneath him. If I wish to kill all your guards, I can do so. Though, His Majesty will likely not be pleased, he will only punish me lightly if he decides I went too far. Do you understand what I’m trying to say? ”
That he had power because His Majesty … raised him?
His Majesty wasn’t old enough to have raised anyone. But … but Nikator wouldn’t lie about something like this, would he? It was true that he and the rest of the Peccata were loyal to Drakkon Muyang.
“What did he save you from?” she asked hesitantly.
A hard look entered his eyes. “That’s none of your concern. The fact of the matter is that I have power here, and I think you’re planning something.”
“I’m not—”
“Deny it all you want; I know to trust my suspicions.”
Biyu couldn’t help but frown at him, and then glare.
He was right on the nose that she was planning something, but she didn’t understand him in the least bit.
“If you truly have power, and you suspect me of something malicious, then why not toss me in a dungeon and let me rot there so I can’t do anything?
Why go through all of this? Why murder three men who were planning on assaulting me?
Why bring me in this room and … and …” She waved to the food in front of them.
“Why feed me? I don’t understand why you won’t just get rid of me if you think I’ve done something!
You clearly have the power to do so and His Majesty will believe your word over mine. So why?”
“Because I need to know for certain.”
“That doesn’t even make sense! You’re not supposed to care whether or not you’re making a mistake and persecuting the wrong person!
If someone poses a threat, a serious threat, then you need to take them out.
You know that. So I’ll ask again—why go through all of this trouble? What do you want from me?”
Her chest seized painfully and she continued to glare at him, hoping to find answers that would quell the confusion swirling in her belly.
He was a trained killer. An assassin. A ruthless warrior.
A spy. A perfect tool for the wicked emperor.
So why? It didn’t make sense; what did he want from her?
Why would he go through all of this if he suspected her?
Nikator blinked slowly. “Are you planning something?”
“No, I’m not!”
“Then you should be grateful that I’m being generous enough to give you a chance,” he said. “You should be happy that I wish to be thorough in my investigation. Unless you would prefer for me to toss you in the dungeons to rot?”
Biyu released a frustrated breath. “Of course I don’t want that!
Who, in their right mind, would want to be thrown in the dungeons and be executed?
But I’m sure you don’t actually want to do that, either, because then you wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble to …
to do all of this.” She picked at the end of her sleeve, though there was no loose thread to pull and fiddle with, so she only thumbed the embroidered design on the edge. “You … you confuse me.”
The last thing she expected from him was the amused expression on his face, and that only further infuriated her, so she stared at her feet instead.
She didn’t want to snap at him and make him change his methods; what if he decided it was the best option to toss her in the dungeons?
She kept her mouth shut on the matter; maybe it was better to be quiet.
She didn’t understand why he was doing all of this, but it was likely for the best.
“Are you done eating?” he asked.
She bobbed her head. Truthfully, she could have tasted a few more of the delicious entrées, but she was full, and she didn’t want to amuse him further by eating more than her fill.
It had been a long time since she’d been given such a spread; normally, her meals came on a tray with a set amount of food.
When she went to feasts or celebrations, she couldn’t stomach any of the meals, so this was the first time she had comfortably eaten so much variety.
Which was … surprising, considering it was with him, of all people.
“Are you sure? You look like you could eat more.”
She shot him a glare. “What is that supposed to mean?”
He pushed one of the plates holding a stack of pan-fried sticky rice cakes with the center darkened with the red bean paste filling.
She licked her lips. “What … what are you doing.”
“You’ve been eyeing it for a while.”
She didn’t think it was possible for her face to warm as much as it did. “I’ve had my fill.”
“Then we should go back.”
“You still haven’t explained what’s going to happen to my guards.” She rose up to her feet and dusted off her skirts, though there wasn’t a speck of dirt on them. She had to busy her hands with something. “Thank—”
She stopped herself short. Was she about to thank him? After everything he had done to her? After he had brutally murdered her family and helped ruin her life?
He lifted his eyebrow. “Thank?”
“N-nothing,” she said, quick enough for him to, hopefully, not hear it.
If she said it fast enough, maybe she could ignore that he had given her breakfast. It was a small unexpected kindness he didn’t have to offer her, but it also made her wonder if there was more to this.
If he was trying to make her soften to him for some reason. She wouldn’t put manipulation past him.
“It almost sounded like a thank you.”
“You must have misheard me.”
Nikator smirked. “Your guards have been dismissed,” he said, answering her question. He led her to the door and glanced over at her, his sharp blue eyes appearing brighter, more lethal. He opened the door and waved her toward the hallway. “I’ll be your guard from now on.”
Biyu stopped in her tracks.
What did he just say?