Luxury of Vengeance (6 page)

ever be able to give him. He pulled away just before Chien could fear that there was nothing left.

Anymore and this man might know everything. He might know his heart. That could not be allowed.

Chien shifted his leg until Bao was cradled between his thighs. The rough cotton of the Bao's

robe chafed against his skin. "Will you tell the Empress what you saw?"

"I should. I made an oath to the Empress. It is by my oath that my people are cared for and my

parents are fed. Should I violate my oath and forfeit my honor?" His finger played with the soft skin of Chien's inner thigh, but he did not move further up. "Perhaps if you could convince me."

"General—Bao," Chien corrected when he saw the annoyed slash of Bao's brow, "I poured

nothing into his drink."

"I am not stupid enough to believe that." His hand tightened for a moment on Chien's wrist, a

quick hurt before he returned to the soft, short kisses that covered every part of his face but his mouth.

"Why do you find it so difficult to tell me the truth?"

"Because this might be the end, and I do not wish to waste precious time."

Bao was angry at his statement, he could tell in the way the kisses turned into nips. Tiny sparks

of pain along his neck. "Will it be worth the price? Your plan?"

19 | Luxury of Vengeance

His vengeance was worth everything. His vengeance was the only thing he had left that was

truly his. "I do not wish to speak of this."

Bao sat up, fingers under his chin to make Chien look into his eyes, "There will come a time

when you will not be able to avoid my questions."

"There will come a time when you will see the answer for yourself."

The nips moved downward toward his chest. Bao's fingers moving upward to encircle his

erection in a loose grip. "Then if I can have nothing else, I will have you cry out my name."

Chien might have argued, but Bao's hand tightened, and he could not deny that the sound that

left his throat was dangerously close to a whimper. "I find I do not have the patience tonight to be gentle with you." Yet contrary to his words, his hand brushed softly against Chien's cheek, "You may keep your secrets tonight, my prince. And I shall not say a word to the Empress."

"What of your loyalty?"

Bao did not respond, instead reaching for the bottle of oil kept beside Chien's bed for this very

purpose. Anger made his movements rough, but he still took his time preparing Chien. Even angry he

would not hurt him, and Chien wondered what sort of idiot it took not to trust this man. He had already

committed himself down this path though. Too far to contemplate turning back. So he dug his fingers

into Bao's shoulders, urging him to hurry, to do something. He could only hope that he might leave a

bruise, some kind mark that, for a short time, Bao had been his.

There was a desperation to his movements. This might be the last time and he wanted to take it

slow at the very same time he wanted to be greedy and take it all as quickly as he could. There were no

more of the soft butterfly kisses, only the relentless push of Bao's erection inside of him. Only when he was seated fully inside did he lean down to take Chien's lips in a possessive kiss. The shift in position made Chien arch under him, torn between wanting to get further away from the intense pleasure and

allowing himself to drown in it. Bao did not give him a choice however. His right hand tightened on

Chien's waist in a way Chien knew would leave marks later.

It seemed no matter how tightly Chien clung there was no way he would keep Bao with him. It

would be so much easier if he could explain it, if he could put into words why the Empress could not be

allowed to live. All of this darkness had begun with pointless death and it seemed that would be the only way it would end.

He would have been content to have it last forever, to stay on that precipice of intense pleasure.

But it was not possible. He came not with a shout, but with a choked whimper. He lay there pliantly in

the aftermath, trying and failing to catch his breath as Bao finished, his mouth worrying the skin just

above Chien's pulse. He made scarcely a sound when he came and not for the first time, Chien sincerely

regretted the secrecy their affair required. In the aftermath, he could feel the gentle breeze bringing him cruelly back to reality.

"I will not tell the Empress." Bao's hoarse voice broke the silence, and though Chien knew he

ought to be applauding his victory, he felt nothing but guilt. Bao was not built for this sort of deception.

It would weigh heavily upon him. Bao was built for far more courageous deeds than Chien would ever

accomplish.

"What would make you happy, Bao?"

Bao's mouth opened and closed a few times before he finally found his words. "It is a useless

exercise to dream." He started to stand, but Chien yanked him back down until he lay beside him.

"Give me this."

"I might have liked to return to my home, to teach them the things I have learned here in the

palace and ensure that they never know hunger or desperation again." His hand hovered over Chien for a moment, and Chien could see in his eyes an emotion so intense it humbled him. But he shook his head

and pulled his hand away and Chien knew that he was not the only one who desperately needed

distance.

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And still, Chien's hand rose tentatively to brush against Bao's cheek, but Bao pulled back at the

last minute. He sat over Chien for a moment, Chien's hand still awkwardly hanging in the air. "This path you're on. It only has one ending, you know."

"Success. It's the only ending I can allow myself to contemplate."

Bao did not say anything for a long minute. "I hope it is worth it then."

Chien thought of what the Empress had taken from him, what he had sacrificed so that he might

finally pay back what she was owed. Thirteen years of pain could not easily be erased in a single night,

but it had to begin somewhere didn't it? "It will be." He answered, though by that time his answer echoed in an empty room.

And this time, he had no one to blame but himself. It was not his aunt who had chased Bao

away. It would all be worth it, he reminded himself. The goal. The end result, it was all that mattered.

His heart told him differently.

His aunt summoned him to appear in court the next morning. It was hardly surprising. Likely she

wished to punish him for his actions the night before. His body ached as he dressed himself. He

dismissed the servants, wanting a moment to himself. A time to mourn what he had so effectively

ruined. A chance to remember the last kiss he'd shared with Bao, that possessive hunger that had

seemed as if it might never be satisfied.

With a frown, he purposefully dismissed the thoughts. There would be time to linger on such

things later. A time to regret and mourn. But right now, he had to focus. The Dragon had been right.

There was no room for weakness in his plan. His aunt would capitalize upon any weakness and use it to

destroy him. What he faced tonight was a truly dangerous foe, not a courtier caught off his guard.

Tonight. Tonight. The word circled in his head. Everything was going perfectly and this would all come to an end tonight. Was that possible? The thought gave him pause.

Whatever his aunt had planned for him, however, it seemed she intended to make him wait.

She busied herself seeing to the petitioners who had travelled to the palace to ask the Empress's favor.

Many of them were requests that the Empress speak on their behalf to the Dragon. As the Empress was

his servant, it was appropriate that she might hold his ear.

On the tier below the Empress, the two princes sat. Custom dictated that the day of a duel, the

men involved should spend their day in the Meditation Hall, meditating to the Dragon. It should hardly

have surprised Chien that the princes had chosen to forgo particular ritual.

Chien dug his fingers into his palm and forced himself to calm. Minh looked between Tuan and

Chien with a confused look. Likely he wondered why his poison seemed not to be working properly.

Chien would have to ensure that Minh could not have a chance to get him alone and demand to know

what he had done.

Before long, court had ended and the room began to clear. Confused, Chien began to stand as

well. His aunt's voice cut clearly through the quiet. "Not you my, dear nephew. We must speak." Fear raced through him as the ministers exited and in their place, soldiers filled the room, filing along the wall to block his escape.

His perfect plan had gone astray.

He would not show her fear. Chien turned, expression calm. "May I ask what this is for,

Empress? I am truly sorry about my behavior at the banquet."

His aunt tilted her head and for a moment, he was struck by the fact that she truly was

beautiful. She also wore his mother's favorite ao dai. "Dear nephew, I find I cannot help but wonder if you have the bad fortune to find yourself as some courtier's pawn. You are, after all, hardly capable of

such a plan yourself."

"I'm afraid I do not understand." Somehow she'd found out. But how much did she know? Why

was he still alive?

21 | Luxury of Vengeance

"Of course you do not." The Empress sighed, "My poor, stupid nephew, used by those who

would see me thrown from my throne."

"You believe I have played part in some plan to betray you?"

A small smile played upon her lips, "I know you have played part in such a plan. And even if you

have been too simple to know the truth, I still intend to see you punished."

"Killed."

"Killed? No! You must think me a barbarian. I would not kill my brother's last surviving child."

She sat back fully, her fingers playing along the golden dragon head along the arm of the throne. "No, I have already made plans. What would suit you best is to remove yourself from the palace. Away from

where others might manipulate you."

"You believe that I have been the victim of manipulation? To turn against you and see you

destroyed?"

"Not me. My enemies would not dare attack me directly. They attack my sons instead." Chien's

mind raced, but he could only think of one person who would have given her such information. Bao had

promised. Twice.

But what were promises worth in the face of betrayal. A hate like he had never known welled up

inside of him, threatening to burst. Underneath the hate he could feel the pain in his chest, spreading

through the whole of his body in a slow, steady ache. Even the Empress's betrayal had not affected him

so.

"I have heard that you were commissioned to pour poison into the princes' drinks."

"And where, my Empress, did you hear such a thing?"

"That does not matter. I had the poison replaced with water either way. But it is true, is it not?"

"Perhaps."

The Empress seemed startled by his half answer. "Now is not the time to play coy, nephew.

Answer my question so that we may decide your punishment. I wish to know why you would do such a

thing when I have cared for you for so long. Seen you fed and clothed. Seen you guarded. Why would

you betray me?"

It was almost a relief when he snorted in laughter at her statement. Thirteen years of being

someone else, and he was Prince Chien, at last, if he could only remember who Prince Chien was

supposed to be in all this madness. "Cared for me? Clothed me? Surely you must take me for some kind of fool." His aunt seemed taken aback by his laughter. "You think I would ever be grateful to the woman who killed my mother and sister? To the woman who even now sits upon a throne that was never hers?"

"You speak of treason."

"You are the one who committed treason. I speak of justice." He had nothing else. No family, no love. But this he could hold fast to. Justice would not betray him. Vengeance would keep him firm. It was his fault, his weakness, for believing he could trust the general. No one could be trusted.

"You speak of things you cannot possibly understand."

"Not understand?" Chien laughed once more. "I sat there hidden amongst my mother's things

and listened as you taunted her. Listened as you told her exactly who had betrayed her. The only thing I

could not bear to listen to was the end. I covered my ears to drown out the sound of my mother dying."

There was a dawning realization on his aunt's face. She seemed to know now how she had been

fooled. How she had underestimated him. "You hid like a coward while your mother lay dying."

"I hid under my mother's orders." But her words stung. He had hidden, hadn't he? He could

have joined her. He could have fought. He could have done anything, but he had hidden instead.

"So you came to this complicated plot. You poisoned my sons hoping what? That I might feel the

same thing you did? That I might be forced to watch them die?" She stood, "Did you set them against each other as well?"

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"Mother! I cannot be so easily manipulated!" Minh cried. "Tuan perhaps, but I could not be manipulated by this—" Words seemed to fail him for a moment. "This fool."

"You're the fool, Minh," Tuan raged, his hand going to his weapon. "If you continue to insult me so, I will see you dead."

"Quiet!"

"Surely you realize by now that your sons are idiots. The Dragon will not bless them. He has not

blessed you."

"What are you talking about?"

"You've been sending your general to find the sword. Have you found it yet?" The Empress's

eyes narrowed. "You are a false Empress."

"And you are a coward. Soon, you shall be dead." She sat down once more in her throne and he