She had two options right now. She could abide by his orders and sit like a good princess. She was used to that. Whoever hadpower had a say in what she was allowed to do, or not to do. But something rebelled in her.
Jian was not her warden. He was not her commander. And he couldn’t order her around.
Biyu leaned forward, her voice dropping to a hiss. “Unhand me, or I will tell Nikator to cut your hand off. And trust me when I say that hewilldo it.”
Jian flinched, and it was enough for her to wrench her hand back. She moved around him and he tried to grab her again, but she pulled her hands to her chest and gave him her nastiest, meanest glare. She tried to muster up Liqin’s disgust, Nikator’s lethal scowl, and His Majesty’s haughtiness in one look.
“You have no right to touch me,” she spat. “Don’t try it again, else you’ll find yourself missing a few limbs.”
Jian sputtered a response, but she didn’t listen to it as she swept down the hall and away from him. For once in her life, she felt like an actual princess with a hint of power. Or maybe she was just learning to swing her weight around. Whatever the case, it was time for a change.
24
When Biyu reached Yat-sen,she didn’t give him a chance to rise to his feet and greet her, she went straight for a tight embrace. He flinched from the sudden contact—she would have done the same; they weren’t close as siblings, anyway, and they were in public—but it was the only way she could slip the scroll in his pocket.
He froze, blinking at her. Everything seemed to click immediately for him.
“Sister, it’s so good to finally see you,” he said with a warm smile. “Are you enjoying the wedding?”
“I am, and you?” She noted that his guards barely glanced over at her. They probably didn’t think it was suspicious for her to hug her brother.
“Good, good.” He waved dismissively. His voice dropped and he murmured, “Thank you for that. It will help things move forward.”
She could only nod. Her heart raced at the thought of what all of this meant. She had given him the spell, and now … now they could actually plan to dosomething. The thought made her tremble, and she wasn’t sure if it was in anticipation, excitement, or fear.
Her attention skated over to Drakkon Muyang and Daiyu. General Han, one of His Majesty’s trusted generals, was in front of them talking about something and laughing. Muyang’s mouth curved into a rare, genuine smile, while Daiyu appeared amused as well. They almost looked … normal.
Remember the day he took everything from you—remember the blood, the violence, the screaming,she reminded herself.
“Regarding the wards …” Yat-sen tried to smile, but it came out weak. “Can I trust you to break them?”
Break the wards?
Had she heard him wrong? But when she stared at him, there was only grim determination carved into his face. His eyes, midnight black just like hers, held a darkness that belied his calm, polite demeanor.
Her hands trembled. How could he ask her to do something as important as breaking the wards? How would she even manage that? Nikator shadowed her every move. There was no way she was going to get a chance to do that. But then again, Yat-sen was tasked with killing Muyang. The least she could do wastryto break the wards.
She could imagine herself getting caught and how that would pan out. If Nikator caught her a second—third?—time doing something suspicious like that, she was sure he would toss her in the dungeons.
Biyu swallowed. “I … can try. But I have no clue where they’re located.”
“I’ll send you a map as soon as I can.”
She could only bob her head, unable to say the words through the dryness of her mouth. Just the thought of sneaking around the palace, trying to break the heavily guarded wards and not get caught, made apprehension coil in her belly.
“I’ll create a distraction. You’ll know when it happens.”
“When?”
“A few weeks,” he murmured. “Everyone is busy with this wedding, so it’s the perfect time to slip inguests.”
Waves of nausea overtook her stomach and she couldn’t hold back her shock. She wasn’t prepared to do something that soon. This was moving much too fast for her. She didn’t have … time for that. She hadn’t even mentally prepared for any of this. She couldn’t …she couldn’t do it.
She didn’t have time to voice it, though, because someone touched her elbow. She turned sharply to find a pair of bright sapphire eyes that gleamed like the hottest parts of a violet-blue flame. Her pulse raced and she wasn’t entirely sure if it was from her nervousness, or the fact that he would toss her in the dungeons if she failed on this mission—no, her heart was racing because he was staring at her with enough rage to burn down this entire hall. His eyes narrowed at her, then flicked to Yat-sen.
“Prince,” he said with a slow nod.
“Nikator,” her brother said with a tight smile.
