Chapter 27
Biyu couldn’t focus on the book in front of her.
It might have partly been because Minos was balancing a scroll on his head while juggling three very sharp daggers in the middle of the library, or the fact that the she didn’t particularly want to break the magicked union between her and Nikator.
When she re-read the same line four times and still didn’t comprehend it, her attention went up to the juggling Peccata member.
Nikator was seated across from her, his scroll splayed open and a smirk on his face as he watched Minos. Vita sat beside her, an equally amused expression on her face.
“Come on, this is child’s play,” Minos said, tossing the deadly blades in the air and catching them by the hilts expertly. His blue eyes flashed with mischief as he nodded to Nikator—whilst, impressively, not dropping the ancient scroll atop his head. “Toss me your knife too.”
“Hell no.”
“You don’t think I can do it?”
“I think you can do it,” he said with an arched brow. “But on the off-chance that you drop it and slice your fingers off, I don’t want to have to clean my dagger. This thing’s expensive and I don’t need your blood rusting it.”
“Wow. You’re a cold-hearted bastard.” Minos snatched the blades midair and strapped them back on his waist. His good-natured smile remained as he removed the scroll from his head and plopped it onto the center of their table. “I’m offended. I’d like to see you try that.”
“No way.” Nikator grinned at him and Biyu found herself unable to look away as he bantered with his brother—it was so obvious now that she knew they were siblings.
They didn’t look alike, sure, but their antics, their dynamic, and their conversations steered them in that direction without a doubt.
Even Vita’s overprotectiveness, lack of being impressed, and her head shakes made more sense now.
Vita cleared her throat and tapped the open book in front of her, garnering everyone’s attention. “If you both are done with your ridiculous display of masculinity—” The corner of her mouth twisted when Minos looked offended. “I think I found something useful.”
Biyu straightened, glancing at the woman.
“It says here that most magicked marriage bonds have an emotional link between them. It seems like when some emotions are very strong—like anger, sadness, or fear—you should be able to feel them in your partner.” Vita’s voice rang clear in the mostly empty library, thought a few passing mages glanced over at them curiously—likely wondering why they were so interested in magicked marriages.
Nikator’s expression remained unchanged while Minos’s eyebrows rose.
“Did either of you ever feel that? You know, like feeling each other’s emotions? ”
For a haunting moment, Biyu realized that she had felt strange emotions from time to time, particularly in the beginning of their bond.
Mostly fury. She had thought maybe she had been imagining it, or that she was angry deep inside without even realizing it, but had she been feeling Nikator’s emotions the whole time?
“Well?” Minos asked when Nikator didn’t say anything.
“I think I noticed some,” Biyu said, voice coming out small.
But then it hit her—was he able to feel all the guilt she felt?
The fear of being discovered? The anger at her position of being imprisoned?
Or maybe those emotions were too complex to feel; even when she did feel some of Nikator’s rage, it had only been in that moment that she felt a passing of it.
Nikator leaned back in his seat. Everything about him was neutral; from the way he lifted his shoulders to the dismissive wave that followed. “It doesn’t really matter, does it? We just need to find a way to break the bond; I have no interest in learning about how it works.”
“I suppose it doesn’t matter for you.” Vita tsked and gave a side-eyed look at Biyu—which bordered between a look of pity and something else she couldn’t pinpoint—shook her head, and continued burying her nose in her book.
A coldness swept over Biyu. What was that look for?
“I can’t believe Muyang—” Minos started, yanking back his chair with a loud screech across the floor.
“You mean His Majesty,” Nikator corrected.
“Yeah.” He plopped down on his seat and pushed back his wavy black hair. His bright blue eyes—a few shades darker than Nikator’s vibrant sapphire ones—lit with amusement. “Can’t believe he married off Zihao. Makes you wonder if he’ll do the same with us.”
Biyu still found it odd how casually they spoke about Drakkon Muyang—anybody else who spoke his name without the honorifics could be sentenced to the dungeons. How close were they to him that they accidentally let his name slip?
Vita frowned. “I think it’ll be good for Zihao.”
Nikator scoffed, but didn’t elaborate.
“What?” Biyu frowned at him. “Are you implying my sister isn’t good for him?”
He gave her a look that told her that was exactly what he was thinking, and Minos bit his bottom lip to keep from laughing, his smile splitting across his dimpled cheeks.
“My sister has her faults, but she’s not a bad person,” she began.
“Uh huh. You’re not convincing anybody,” Nikator said with raised brows. “Your sister has never been nice to you. So why defend her? I think His Majesty must be pissed at Zihao for something, which is why he sentenced him to a life with Princess Liqin.”
“I don’t think he’d do the same to us.” Vita shifted in her seat, an uncomfortable look passing over her face. “Right?”
“Punish us and force us to marry someone?” Minos’s grin widened. “Of course he would. For politics. He’s considering marrying Bohai off to the daughter of one of the suspected rebel leaders so her father remains in check. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wants us to marry for political reasons.”
Biyu couldn’t imagine Commander Yao Bohai being forced into a marriage, but then again, weren’t all people involved in politics subjected to political marriages? She had grown up with the idea that she, too, would marry whoever her father chose for her. It wasn’t too strange a concept.
“But Bohai has a high position, so it makes sense,” Nikator said, gaze briefly lingering on Biyu. “I doubt he’d do the same to any of us.”
“Look at Zihao.” Vita folded her arms over her chest. “Nobody knows anything about him being His Majesty’s blade, and yet he got married off for no apparent reason.
Why would Muyang do that? He doesn’t gain anything by marrying her off to him, and Zihao certainly didn’t want to get married—much less to her—so it’s definitely not a prize like it’s being framed. ”
Biyu’s blood ran cold.
Her sister had married … His Majesty’s blade?
It was a covert word for assassin; even Biyu knew that much.
But … that couldn’t be right. Were they talking about Guo Zihao, or some other man who shared the same name?
Her impression of the tall, scarred soldier had been that he was quiet and polite.
She hadn’t got any vibes that told her he was an assassin.
Everyone was talking so casually, brushing off that little detail like it didn’t even matter, or like they were all supposed to know it, that she questioned whether she had imagined it. By blade, did they mean a soldier? Maybe she was out of the loop when it came to these terminologies.
“It’ll be good for him to learn some emotions,” Minos was saying. “I almost didn’t recognize him because he wasn’t wearing his mask. But even without it, he hides his emotions well.”
“I’m sure he’s furious inside,” Vita chimed in.
“I thought he was someone else at first,” Nikator said. “I’ve only seen him unmasked maybe twice.”
“Wait. Wait.” Biyu palmed the table to keep herself steady as her attention skated over to the three of them.
“What do you mean by His Majesty’s blade?
Surely you cannot mean he is an assassin for the emperor?
Are we still talking about Guo Zihao? The man my sister married?
I thought—I thought he was just a normal soldier? ”
All of the siblings exchanged looks with one another, their silence growing. Biyu’s face slackened and her stomach twisted into knots. “Nikator?” She turned to him, eyes pleading.
He cringed, sighed, and glanced at the others.
“Well, it’s … sort of confidential, but …
” He rubbed the nape of his neck and shot a glare at Vita, who had let the information slip.
“We’re not really supposed to tell people this, but I suppose it’s fine since he’s now your …
what, your brother-in-law? He’s part of His Majesty’s Black Fang unit.
Everything was set up for him to become the next leader of it, but instead of that …
His Majesty got him married and sent him away.
I’m sure he's not pleased with the whole thing.”
She had heard of Black Fang, a mysterious force that worked in the shadows; most people thought they didn’t exist. They were supposedly assassins with lethal dark magic, and they killed anyone who went against Drakkon Muyang.
She’d thought it was just baseless rumors meant to make the emperor even more ominous and nightmarish.
She hadn’t thought … it was a real legion.
And Liqin was married to one of them.
All the blood drained from her face and she looked between them all in horror—Minos appeared nonchalant, Vita grimaced like she knew she made a mistake, and Nikator frowned like he didn’t want to indulge her in the information but had no choice.
“Why didn’t you tell me? Liqin is married to him.
” She and Liqin had their disagreements and they mostly didn’t get along with one another, but they were sisters, and now Liqin was married to a dangerous man who, apparently, needed to learn about emotions.
She would never wish harm for her sister, and knowing that she was potentially in danger from a violent man?
It set off a chain reaction of stress within her body.