Read Luxury of Vengeance Online

Authors: Isabella Carter

Tags: #erotic MM, #Romance MM

Luxury of Vengeance (7 page)

BOOK: Luxury of Vengeance
7.98Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

could see her trying to regain her composure. She could not see around her. Could not see the doubt

that had begun to form on the faces of her soldiers. "You thought you would poison my sons and then

what? Come for me in the night?"

"No, my aunt. I will come for you in the broad of daylight. I will challenge you for that throne

that has never once belonged to you. And I will take your head. I will show you far more honor than you

showed when you came in the night for my mother's head."

She seemed visibly shaken by his words, her hand shaking as it rose. "Pity you shall never get the

chance. You will be dead before nightfall."

"Your queen is afraid. She does not wish for others to know the truth." Chien did not speak to

her, but to the soldiers who surrounded the room.

"Shut up, stupid child!"

"Empress, does he speak the truth? Are you not truly blessed by the Dragon?" One of the men

spoke up at last.

Mai's head whirled to face him, "You will pay the price for your doubt. Take him to the grounds

as well." But none of the soldiers moved to fulfill her orders. He could see the realization settling in, the panic that filled her eyes, "You would follow this child instead of me? He is a drunkard, a wastrel. He is hardly suitable for the throne. What has he done to prove himself? What lives has he taken?"

"All those responsible for the betrayal thirteen years ago. Your closest servant who spread the

word, your handmaiden who carried your messages. The minister who plotted the attack. My mother's

handmaiden, who took money to lure the guard away."

As he named each of her conspirators, he could see the panic rising. The silence weighed heavily

and still he spoke, "The three eunuchs who assisted you. The armorer who provided the sword. The

shaman who provided the poison you used to make my mother's death as painful as possible The

spineless bastards who killed my little sister."

That particular death had been as painful as he could make it. He had made sure that the man

had enough clues to realize why all those involved in the coup had been dying. Enough to keep him

awake at night in fear. And the night before he planned to go to the Empress and blackmail her into

giving him protection, Chien had attacked.

"You," The Empress seemed to be having difficulty finding words. "You will not win this."

"I challenge you Empress."

"I refuse!"

"In front of all these soldiers? In front of your guard you refuse my challenge?" Chien smirked,

"Your Empress is weak. She is afraid. And cowardice cannot be abided by the Throne of Swords."

"Quiet!" Her shriek was deafening, and she took several deep gulps of air before she could at

last speak. "I will not fight you because you are not on my level. I do not display my strength by fighting those so obviously beneath me."

"The words of a coward."

23 | Luxury of Vengeance

"And you would know best wouldn't you, dear nephew." She spat the words and took one last

deep breath. "I will not fight you, but we shall have a duel this night yet. You will fight the proper heirs for the throne. You will fight my sons."

"Mother—"

"Quiet."

Chien knew why she had decided on such a thing. She could not simply kill him. Moron he might

have appeared, but Chien knew he still had supporters. Those willing to raise a coup in his name. If she

killed him, she would only serve to give them a cause. If Chien died in combat, however, she would

prove that her children were superior. "Spend your last hours wisely nephew."

She looked around the room, staring each of the guard in the eyes, "And when I have finished

with my nephew, know now that each of you will face punishment."

The soldiers did not respond. "Call in my general. Have him escort my nephew to his rooms."

It did not take long for General Bao to appear. Seeing him hurt, but Chien swallowed it down.

Pride would not allow him to do anything else. The Empress gave orders in a tight, angry voice and Bao

gave him a baffled look before escorting him to his rooms. Not a word passed between them as they

crossed the bridge. Chien could feel eyes upon him and wondered what they might be thinking.

When he stepped into his room, Bao followed him inside and closed the door behind him.

Before he could do so much as open his mouth to speak a word, Chien rounded on him, his fist

connecting solidly with Bao's nose and sending him stumbling back with a startled cry. His hand hurt.

Likely his fist would be bruised, but none of that mattered now.

"You betrayed me." His voice was oddly calm as he stared down at Bao, who hadn't moved,

hand prodding tentatively around his nose.

It seemed to take him a few minutes before he realized what Chien had said. "I what? Betrayed

you? There is only one traitor in this room."

"You gave me your word that you would not speak to the Empress."

"And I have not." He sounded so sure of that, but there was no other way she could have

known. Bao had come to him with his suspicions, threatened to tell her.

"Then how else might she know?"

"She knows?" At Chien's nod, Bao stated, "And you believe it was me. The problem with treason is that it relies on so many things, so many people who you may not be able to trust."

"I'm aware. And I trusted the wrong person. Weren't you satisfied? Did I not hold my end of the

bargain?"

"Your end of the bargain?" Bao asked, his tone dangerous, "Are you implying that last night was about bargains?"

It was clear that whatever last night had been, it had not been simply a bargain to him. "Were

you not the one who told me that you may not tell if I satisfied you?" Chien had not believed him when he'd stated it, but at this moment his only desire was to hurt Bao until he felt as broken as Chien himself felt.

Bao's mouth opened a few times, his face growing steadily pale. "I see." He stated at last. "You may continue to believe whatever you wish, but I broke my oath that night with you."

"And you may continue to believe whatever you wish as well. Cling to your delusion that the

Empress is doing the right thing."

"I have never once said that what she has done is right."

"Then why continue to support her?"

"Of all people, you should understand best. Have you not been speaking constantly of your

honor? While I am here, I can provide for my family. I can send food to my home. After she conquered

us, all the Empress demanded in return was my loyalty."

"You sold yourself."

Isabella Carter | 24

"Don't pretend to be self-righteous," Bao raged. "It is easy to sit there and judge, but you have never gone hungry or watched your people starve. You can sit here all you like and talk of how the

Empress is starving her people, but you will never understand it the way I do."

"And you can bring up whatever just causes you would like. Would your people be happy

knowing you've killed innocents so that they can eat?"

Bao seemed to deflate. When he spoke once more, his voice was nothing, but a harsh whisper.

"Don't pretend this is about an empire. Don't pretend that you do this for anyone more than your own selfish desires."

"Regardless of the truth, the fact stands that she would see our Empire bathed in blood. Already

she has weakened us to our enemies."

"And you believe that you can do better? You believe that you are not at all like her? She stole

the throne from your family and now you seek to steal it from her. She began her reign in a hail of blood and you would do the same."

"Look at her sons. Look at what they have done and tell me that it is not justice."

"I question your path, Prince." Chien winced at the distance Bao's use of his title invoked. "But it is your path to walk."

"Once I have defeated her, you will be freed from your oath. You can return to your people and

help them."

Bao did not acknowledge his words, instead turning and starting toward the door. "I would have

helped you." Bao's words caught him by surprise. "If you had trusted me enough, I would have helped you. We could have run somewhere."

"Life has taught me that those you trust are often the first to betray you."

"I did not betray your trust." Bao repeated once more.

"Even so, it does not matter. It's better it ends this way before I am forced to face you." Chien's hand subconsciously rubbed over his heart, "I suspect you could hurt me far worse than my aunt could ever dream."

"Because you love me." It was not a question. Bao already seemed fairly confident in his answer.

And the worst part of it was that he did. Love was not this wondrous thing the poets spoke of,

but a miserable and painful thing. "It is a weakness that I shall deal with."

A short snort of derisive laughter escaped Bao, "It is a pity that you have allowed the Empress to

corrupt your beliefs until you are blind to the fact that love is never a weakness. It can only be the

greatest of strengths." He stepped close then and kissed Chien. Unlike his kisses before, this one was soft and sweet. This was not goodbye. This was hope.

Bao pulled away, "I cannot follow you along this path, but I will pray to the Dragon that you

survive." He lingered for a moment, his hand on Chien's shoulder, and Chien had the half mad hope that Bao would kiss him once more. But he pulled away instead. "Take care to prepare for your fight. The

Empress will not fight fair."

Chien watched as he left, the guards outside of his room bowed to show their respect. Bao did

not look back, his stride confident. He watched until Bao left his sight.

He had more reason than ever to succeed tonight. This was beyond destiny. With a sigh, he

turned back and knelt beside his bed, pulling up the loosened board of wood. Bao had not said whether

he returned Chien's feelings, but that was simply something further to look forward to. Once the throne

had been set to rights and Mai punished, then he could ask.

The truth was, he didn't need to. Chien had never truly believed that Bao had betrayed him, but

it was hard to forget that his mother had been betrayed by the sister-in-law she had trusted with her

life. But Bao had broken his oath for him.

Chien lifted the box Bao had brought him as a gift, a small smile on his face. There was no way

he could look at this gift and not understand Bao's feelings toward him. Not unless he was blind. He set

25 | Luxury of Vengeance

the box to the side and reached for another box within the hiding space. This one was a beautiful box in

dark wood, decorated along the edge with the faded writing of a protection charm.

His mother had given him this box before ordering him to hide. It was important that he keep

this safe, never open this box. It had been years before he had understood why his mother had ordered

such a thing. Then had come the question of when it would be the right time. When would he know?

When would he be ready?

Because there was one other thing he feared even more than the thought that he might forgive

his aunt's betrayal. The sword of his ancestors, the sword of the Dragon. He knew the power contained

within this box. The protection charm was not to keep the sword safe, but rather to keep them safe

from the sword itself. It had been a long time since an emperor had been forced to draw the Sword of

Heaven. Chien lifted the box into his lap, fingers dancing along the edge where the box would open.

Was he worthy of this sword? What if he tried to grasp it and found that he was as bad as his

aunt? For a moment he faltered. Then he tightened his fists, remembering his resolve. Mai would pay.

Not only for what she had done to his mother. Not only for what she had done to his sister, but for the

suffering she had inflicted day after day over the past thirteen years.

Opening the box felt a bit anticlimactic. There were no explosions or bright flashes of light. The

Dao that lay against the lining was perfectly serviceable if a little ornate. The hilt was golden, but when Chien grasped it, it didn't have the soft give of gold. Instead, it was warm in his hand. Not burning, but in a pleasant way. He'd felt this presence before, in the grove.

And just that easily, it settled around him, accepting him, welcoming him. The sword was his.

The throne was as well if he could claim it.

No, there would be no 'if's. Standing, he turned back to see Bao's gift sitting behind him. It was

highly inappropriate. His aunt would hate the color, hate the insult it would represent to wear the style of Xing in her court. But now was hardly the time to begin caring what she would think.

And perhaps, for the first time, love did not feel so much a weakness.

The guards who escorted him to the Hall of Dragon's Claw did so with the somber manner of

escorting a man to his death. And likely they believed that would be the case. They knew only the prince

who appeared more child than man.

Chien's hands tightened around the hilt of his weapon, but he did not allow himself to falter, to

look anything less than completely confident in his place and in his victory. This throne was his destiny, a destiny Mai had stolen from him, a destiny he would reclaim. Still, his hands shook slightly because this was the end. Talking was cheap, planning was nice, but in the end it would come down to his strength

versus that of his aunt's.

The Empress sat upon her throne, her posture relaxed and a small smile upon her face. Of

course she could be confident. She had no intention of playing fair. The first time she had abandoned

her honor had likely been the most difficult. Each time since then would have become easier until the

BOOK: Luxury of Vengeance
7.98Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

Other books

Makeovers Can Be Murder by Kathryn Lilley
Post-American Presidency by Spencer, Robert, Geller, Pamela
Don't Look Behind You by Mickey Spillane
The Everlasting Hatred by Hal Lindsey
i f38de1664e17c992 by Your User Name
Living Out Loud by Anna Quindlen
Plain Paradise by Beth Wiseman
Decoded by Jay-Z