The Emperor's Daiyu (BWAM)

34) Dispose

Xiang

I am walking towards the western wing, back to reunite with my Daiyu when a sharp contrast of red liquid seized my attention.
It looked like blood.
I walk towards the trail of red contrast and drop to a knee, attempting to inspect it closer.
It was blood.
But how? And why?

I follow the messily sprinkled drops until my feet end at a puddle of thick red blood. A basket with a dark cloth stands in the end of the hallway.
I understood what it was. It's arrangement was to apparent to wish it otherwise but I didn't wish to face my blatant reality; but my desire to wish has long since faded. As Emperor, there were many things I had wished to do but my role had forced me to confront my duties, no matter how unwilling I was.
I had to open it for confirmation.

I bent low and snatch off the blanket. My eyes meet with the lifeless eyes of a freshly decapitated head.
Red blood leakedthrough the basket and down the path of the hallway.

"Guards." I call. They run to meet me and see the content of the basket. "Call general Jung at once"

A small white note tucked into the deeper rear of the basket catches my eye. It was folded over and addressed to... me.

"Xiang,
Two down.
Only 10 remain Emperor." I crush the note in my palm and throw it into the basket.

"Clean this up" I frown, storming over to my bedroom to meet Akazi.

——-

It took me a while to have the courage to enter my room. Not only would Akazi be worried about my lengthy disappearance, but I also had to garner up a an explanation for the blood on my hands.

After the 12th round of pacing back and forth the entryway to my quarters, I finally found the courage to enter.

"Xiang!" she runs into my arms and cries. I see her tattered clothes and furrow a brow. No! Had they gotten to her too?

"I'm here Daiyu. I'm here" I quiet her sobs as she buried her head into my arms. "What happened?Who did this to you!" I rage, seeing her robes in tatters. 

"The blue mask man...the bandit. They came...Again and—" she cuts off her words and cries into my chest. I make sure my warmth surrounds her as she sobs into my arms. My only duty was to protect her and I failed; the least I could do was make her feel safe.

"When?"

She shakes violently as my hand caresses her chin.

"You left and to attend to Mei Li.
You left me Xiang for a women who.." her words end abruptly and she frowns.

"A woman who is nothing" I finish her words. Her anger was justified. Especially due to the situation at hand.

"Another dragon head has died." I blurted. I couldn't keep it from her. The situation was already bad.

"No!" she gasped. "No...no!!" I could see the guilt lacing her eyes.

"It's head was just outside the western hall... in a basket. They're making a statement."

"Xiang there is a bounty on your head!
They'll go down the list one by one until they kill you" She was hysterical, imagining a world where not only I was dead, but a dynasty where there was no emperor.

"I am tired of sleeping and crying awake to the warmth of hands unfamiliar to me.
I am tied of looking over my shoulder and praying I am safe in a land foreign to me.
Xiang please..."

"No." I snapped, grabbing her jaw so she would cease her words.

"If the list no longer exists... they cannot keep commuting the murders..."

"Who cares. These dragon heads are murderers themselves. It is a cycle that would be repeated even if I disposed the list Akazi" I remind her.

"So you deserve to die?" She whispers.

"Well...it was my choice to not dispose of the list. I must face the consequences. If I die? So be it. I don't regret keeping you alive Akazi" I hold her close, making sure she heard my words.

She snatches away from my arms and walks over to the other end of my open room, halting at the sovereign honed sword that held proudly against my wall. It was hung against my velvet emerald wallpaper. She takes it from its resting place and holds it tightly.

"Akazi" I warn her, reminding her to think of her sanity.

She lifts it out it's holster, staring at me before making her way towards my figure. She presses the sharp edge against her neck before prostrating, and pressing her head against my feet.

"Please Xiang... dispose of the list...please" she looks up at me and pleads. Tears welled in her eyes as she meets my eyes.

Dispose.

There was that fated word again.

Dispose
Dispose
The third...
There were only three rules.
It echoed in my head, it always did. I suppose I became so used to it, I suppressed them.

1) Look
2)Memorize
3)Dispose

No....

"I am not Akazi. I am not your Daiyu. I am the Tai yen."

"You are not!" I try to lead the sword away but she grabs my wrist, forcing me to still.

"I cannot live with myself if I knew I was responsible for your death. Xiang, please!" she sobs, her chest rising violently. She bent her head once again and waited for my sword to slice through her skin.

I refused it.
I would never kill her. It was a promise I made to her  that I intended to keep.

I dropped the sword and it clatters against the tense silence of the room.

I fell to my knees and pulled her into my arms. I couldn't help but feel the heaviness of my heart as she sobbed in my arms. 

"The only person to blame is me Daiyu
It's my cross to carry."

"Yet it is I who have been violeted day after day" she scoffs through a sniffle. I watched her as she played with the ends of my robe.

"My mother used to visit a woman in the outskirts of the dynasty. She used to travel for days. She never told me what she did at this woman's house but I figured it had to do with magic or herbs. Every time she left and came back she would bring me sweets and treats. She always brought back thick books that were bound with purple ribbon."

I caught myself smiling reminiscing about my mother. I hadn't done it in a long time. She looked up at me and couldn't help but smile.

"My mother told me she was a blind woman. It was only when I was older that the guards set out one day and figured out her identity. She was a herbal doctor who did apothecary."

"Apothecary?" My Daiyu whispers.

"Magic. Dark magic"

"Your mother didn't seem like one to indulge in something like that"

I smirk and nod in agreement. "Those were my same sentiments, but darker things have happened in the dynasty" I reminded her. She nodded and looks to the distance.

I look at the sun dial, determined to help my Daiyu.

"She is the only person who can probably help us. She is a trusted witch doctor and is blind which is beneficial for us as she can't see the list."

Akazi ponders the thought before looking up at me. "You think she can really help?"

"It doesn't hurt to try, does it?"