Chapter 10
Biyu just … stared at him, because he must have been losing his mind if he thought he was going to be her guard. There was absolutely no way. Maybe she heard wrong?
Nikator gave no indication that he had said something absurd, and he only smiled at her coolly, cruelly, like he had won something over her. As if he had pulled a trump card and told her hah, there goes your plan.
“You must be joking,” she said through clenched teeth.
Please. This must have been a sick prank.
Nikator’s smile sharpened. “No, I’ll be your bodyguard from now on.”
Biyu’s trembling hands curled into fists. She wasn’t even sure if it was from rage, frustration, or horror—because if he truly was her guard, she wouldn’t be able to do anything in the palace pertaining to her and Yat-sen’s plan.
“Bodyguard?” she said with a short, mirthless laugh. “You mean my warden? My executioner?”
“Someone has to protect you.” There was a mocking lilt to his smooth voice. He leaned against the door frame and slowly pulled the door so that it wasn’t open fully anymore. “I’ll be able to keep a better eye on you, princess. Your previous guards were inept.”
“But—But you’re a member of the Peccata.”
“Yes, I am.”
“So—so—so doesn’t that mean you have to go on important missions?
” she stammered as her brain tried to catch up with what he was telling her—he would be guarding her?
How would she sneak out into the library and get the scrolls that she and Yat-sen needed?
If the first phase of their plan flopped like this, there was no way they would ever get to the magic-crystal phase of the plan.
“You don’t have time to watch me for days on end.
I don’t even do anything other than stay cooped up in my bedchambers. ”
“Don’t worry about my tasks for the empire.” He flashed another feral grin at her—this time with his teeth. “I’ll manage.”
Biyu pursed her lips together, unable to hide the annoyance flaring within her like a dancing flame; he intended to foil her plans.
He knew she was up to something and he had decided this was the best way to stop her.
If she argued any further, then it would make her seem guilty.
She didn’t want to give him a reason to actually imprison her in the dungeons, or throw her in the mage towers.
Eventually, he would grow bored of staring at the hallway walls with nothing to do. And, eventually, his duties to the emperor—espionages, assassinations, the like—would draw him away from her. She just had to bide her time until then.
“There’s no need for you to go so far to prove your pointless point,” she said, marching toward the door.
She reached for the handle, but his hand wrapped around her wrist and before she knew it, he was inches away from her, his sapphire eyes burning into hers.
Her breath hitched and she couldn’t pull away.
An unexpected warmth spread from his touch.
“If you truly are innocent, then there’s no need for any of this,” he said, voice low, eyes searching hers.
He slowly, deliberately, grazed a finger across her jaw, causing a ripple of goosebumps to flare along her arms, and grasped a strand of her hair that had come undone from her low bun.
He rubbed it between his fingers softly, almost tenderly.
But there was a harsh gleam in his eyes.
“You’re playing a dangerous game, Princess Biyu.
If I find out that you’ve been lying all this time, I’ll be forced to do something far worse than you can imagine. ”
Biyu pulled her face away from his touch, and glared at him. “I’m not lying. Now let me go back to my bedchambers. Or do you truly plan on chaining me here?”
“Here? In my bedchambers?” The corner of his mouth rose. “We can arrange that if you’d like.”
She yanked the door open, her face heating up, and stomped into the hall.
He shadowed her, his shoulders shaking with silent laughs.
Despite the fire in her behavior and her snappish response, she was practically quaking in her silk shoes.
If he truly did become her guard, she wasn’t sure how she was going to accomplish anything.
What if he found the two scrolls in her bedchambers?
Was that enough to persecute her? He would, at the very least, find out she’d lied if he saw that, and she was sure he would then tell the emperor everything. She and Yat-sen would be discovered.
Nikator led the way back to her chambers and although she should have tried to memorize the path—it could potentially help her in the future—she couldn’t stop thinking of her own execution.
Her mind traveled to those three naked torso corpses and she imagined herself in that position.
Fear trickled down her spine, chilling her down to her bones.
When they reached her door, she finally heaved a sigh of relief; finally, she could put this behind her.
She needed a few moments of just peace, quiet, and her own thoughts to mull over.
She also needed a better hiding spot for the two scrolls she had pilfered—and she still had to read them to see if they were useful in any way.
For all she knew, they could be spells on how to tie her hair together.
Right when she was about to slam her door in his face, his hand shot out and he grabbed the edge of it.
“What are you doing?” she asked, trying again to close the door, but he held it tightly, refusing to let go.
“What part of guard do you not understand?”
Her mouth dropped open. “You don’t … you don’t mean to …?”
He smiled—almost innocently, and it was like a slap to the face. “Do you truly think I’d leave you alone to your own devices? I will be guarding you day and night.”
Day … and night.
That wasn’t right; that couldn’t be right.
“You—you lecherous beast! It’s improper for you to even suggest that you will be watching me during the night!
How—how can you even … How can you even say such a thing?
” Biyu’s body trembled and she inadvertently stepped back; she wasn’t even sure if she should be disgusted or horrified, or both.
But she was mostly terrified, because if he really was watching her like a hawk, then she would be surely be executed once he realized what she was up to.
She needed to hide those scrolls.
“Call me all the names you want, but it doesn’t change that I’ll be guarding you more competently than your previous guards.
” He pushed the door further open and brushed past her until he was standing in the center of her chambers.
His narrowed, critical gaze slowly swept over the furniture, her bed, the vanity, and everything else.
He paused at the couch she rarely sat upon and flicked aside the two identical crane-embroidered pillows, and plopped down in the center of it.
It was supposed to be for two people, and yet he took up most of the space, and his long legs almost looked comical, bent as they were.
He waved a lazy hand toward her. “Do as you normally do. Pretend like I’m not even here. ”
That was easier said than done.
Biyu crossed her arms over her chest. “What if I need to bathe? Or change? Or relieve myself? Will you stand there and watch? I would rather have a female guard, if I’m to be watched day and night.”
“Do you need to bathe yourself?”
“Not right now!”
“Then worry about it later.” He waved dismissively.
He was infuriating.
Her fists shook. “But what about when I need to do that? I don’t want to worry about it later! I usually bathe in the evenings—”
“I’ll step out when you need me to, but the instant you take a suspiciously long time—” The threat hung in the air for a moment before he shrugged. “You understand what I’m saying, yes?”
Biyu could only continue to stare at him dumbstruck. He really was planning on shadowing her every step, her every move. She didn’t dare glance at the two scrolls stuffed beneath her mattress. Not only was this a breach of privacy, this just … wasn’t right.
But she was a prisoner. The realization, the reminder, dawned on her in that moment, deflating whatever rage she wanted to wreck on him.
She couldn’t forget that the small luxuries she had been given—the privacy of her own room—were simply that, luxuries.
Most prisoners weren’t afforded that much, and just as the emperor had given it to her, so could he just as easily take it away. Like now.
Arguing would get her nowhere; in fact, it might make her more suspicious in Nikator’s eyes, and that would only make him stay longer.
She needed to prove to him that she wasn’t a threat and then she could move on with the plan.
Yat-sen and Biyu had been prisoners for five years now—what was a few more weeks on top of that?
Without another word, she stomped over to the window and sat down on the bench there.
She was all too aware of Nikator’s gaze honed in on her, but she pretended like he wasn’t there, and propped her arms on the window sill, leaned against them, and gazed down at the gardens.
She would show him just how boring her everyday life was, and then, maybe, he would learn that there was nothing for him to do here.