His jaw tightened.
Bohai nodded slowly, appraising him with narrowed eyes. “Ah. I see.”
“I need your help,” Nikator said. “Please.”
Bohai exhaled deeply and tipped his head back against the seat until he was staring at the ceiling. “Do you know why I’m in here so late in the night instead of in my own bed? In my own home?”
“I’m not in the mood for your theatrics, Bohai,” Nikator snapped.
“Well, it’s because of you lot.” He rose up, circled his desk and leaned against the front of it, his muscular arms crossing over his chest. He was clad in rich silks, but their opulence barely hid the rigid lethality that clung to his form. He was stripped of his armor, sword, and violence here, but there was a reason he was the commander of Muyang’s armies. “Remusaccidentallykilled a villager on his last quest. I had to smooth that over. Minos fucked the daughter of a powerful noble and got caught. I had to smooth that over. Atreus unraveled a dangerous secret from someone powerful and decided to—for some unfathomable reason—blackmailhim. I had to smooth that over. And now—nowthis?” He flicked his fingers between the two of them. “Don’t tell me youloveher now?”
Biyu swallowed; her mouth and throat were suddenly dry, and she wondered if it had been a mistake to come here. Muyang probably didn’t even want to see her. What if he disposed of her without even talking to her? Her plan hinged on speaking with him. Letting him understand. Trying to negotiate with him.
But right now, Commander Yao Bohai stood in the way, and he was unimpressed by whatever he saw between them.
“You’ve complicated things, Nik. You rarely ever do that.” He lifted a dark eyebrow when silence greeted him. “Well? Speak. Explain yourselves.”
Nikator exhaled deeply, seeming to gather himself. There was a hardness in his gaze. “I love her and I need your help getting her out of here. I had plans with Vita to smuggle her to Sanguis?—”
“Vitais in on it?” Bohai pinched the bridge of his nose.
Nikator pursed his lips together and another chill settled in the room. “Biyu shouldn’t be here. You know that Muyang will execute her.”
“Oh, I know. It’s already been announced that she’s dead.” Bohai pinned her with a scowl, like she had personally offended him in some way. “You’re supposed to be dead, princess. Why did you crawl back here? You must have activated the spell, right? Why do something so stupid?”
“I need to speak with His Majesty.” She wove her hands together to keep them from shaking. She felt vulnerable standing there in nothing but thin, ragged clothes that belonged to a dead woman. For women in the palace, silks and golds spoke volume and were sharper than swords and armor. She was unused to being so barren of those luxuries. “I need to explain to him that we love each other?—”
He snorted. “Are you fucking kidding me? Oh—excuse my language.” He rolled his eyes and gave Nikator a look like she was crazy, before turning back to her. “Although I’m sure youhave arivetinglove story, Muyang will likely not be impressed and moved like you expect him to be.”
Her face flushed with heat. “Please, I just need an audience with him.”
“No. It’s too late for that.” Bohai was already shaking his head. “He’s in bed with his wife. I’m not going to be the one to rip him out of that so he can witness …this.” He gestured to both of them with a frown. “You both better prepare a good enough reason as to why he shouldn’t have her executed in the morning.”
Her stomach twisted and she stepped forward. “Please! I just need to talk to him?—”
“I doubt he wants to see you.”
“But—”
“Bohai—” Nikator’s voice shook. “Please, I just need you to turn the other way and let us escape from here.”
He stared at them both, and Biyu’s chest tightened as a wave of nausea washed over her. She had thought she could appeal to Muyang’s—no, toFeiyu’shumanity. Have him see that she was willing to do whatever it took to keep her and Nikator together, but the more Bohai looked at her like she was the dumbest person in the room, the more her confidence withered and waned.
What the hell were you thinking? Bohai seemed to say with every head shake and sigh.
Biyu blinked through stinging eyes. The wind rattled the shutters and made them flap against the wall and back again, and she startled at the loud noise. The night air seeped down to her bones.
She had wanted to prove to Nikator that she had a choice. That she would choose him. That their love wasreal.
She had taken a gamble, and although she could feel the chasm of self-doubt yawning wider, her conviction remained thesame. What was life without their love? She was willing to fight for it. She had taken the chance—she had to believe in herself.
“I love Nikator.” Biyu reached deep within herself and pulled on every ounce of strength she had left. She stared Bohai in the eyes and continued, “I would do anything to be with him, including facing His Majesty and my own punishment for my crimes. I just hope that he can hear me out and let me prove myself. All I ask is for an audience with him. Please.”
“You’ve got a lot of gall to even ask that.” Bohai picked at invisible dust on his clothes. “You betrayed Muyang and tried to kill him. He won’t be merciful to you.”
“Please,” she said, stronger this time. “I need to talk to him.”
“And what will you say to convince him not to kill you?”
