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 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."
"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."
"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 justi
ce."
"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
The Luxury of Vengeance Page 9
