Drakkon

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"Oh, I didn't—" I hadn't meant to talk about this; I wanted to know the good of his life, not . . . this.

"From what I remember when I was a slave, it wasn't nice. I was beaten almost every day and I was forced to train with the other slaves—"

I touched his forearm and shook my head, my fingers still shaking. "Tell me about the good, Atreus."

Atreus scratched the back of his head. "I was seven when Master freed me. We—the Peccata— didn't really know each other, so we had to learn each other's names and all. I mean, we all came from different backgrounds and were put in that cage to be thrown in the pit, but we didn't even know each other. It wasn't really scary, but I remember seeing Remus and wondering who he was. Minos and I weren't really scared, since we were being prepared for the pit, but the rest were terrified."

There was a silence as he stared at the ground for a moment.

"We've been with Master for a long time and growing up was always fun. We traveled a lot and we've fought against lots of monsters and creatures," he finally settled with. "I'm happy that Master saved us."

There was a loud knocking on my door, interrupting Atreus. Before we could move to open the door, it was flung open and Meilin marched right in, Bohai trailing behind him, along with Nikator.

"I heard what happened," Meilin said, his dark gaze sweeping throughout the room.

"Are you alright?" Bohai asked.

I nodded.

"I was going to tell you that your family is here, but I'm not sure if you want to see them right now," Meilin said slowly, watching my expression carefully.

I froze at the mention of my family. "They're here?"

"Yes."

"Can I see them?"

Meilin glanced at Nikator, who nodded and slipped away from us.

"They arrived just about now," he said. "I haven't met them, but I thought it would be best if you saw them first. I can always meet them later. Besides, I have to deal with this mess now."

***

When I saw my oldest brother, Fu, I jumped into his arms and couldn't help but cry. I had entered the main hall, Atreus and Nikator with me when I saw my family.

"I missed you all so much," I said in a breathy voice as I pulled away and looked at my brother's kind eyes. I glanced over to Mother and ran to her, wrapping my arms around her thin shoulders and holding on tightly.

"You look beautiful," Mother said as she patted my shoulders. She had tears in her eyes and she had a weathered smile on her face.

I hugged the rest of my family and couldn't stop the tears from streaming down my face. The day had been stressful but all of that seemed to vanish as I looked into my mother's eyes, my father, and my siblings.

"So this is the palace?" Wen said as he glanced around the magnificent halls. He smoothed down his worn out shirt and glanced over at the various guards walking around, before looking at my fancy and beautiful hanfu. "Wow, you're dressed so pretty, Daiyu."

Atreus' expression was cool and Nikator looked bored. Both of them, I noticed, were calmly inspecting my siblings, their gazes analytical. Nikator ran a hand through his red hair and almost immediately, my siblings stared at it, their eyes widening as they took in the strange color. None of them had seen foreigners before, which was why they were gaping at Atreus and Nikator.

"I still can't believe you're marrying the emperor," Father said with a soft laugh as he leaned forward to give me another hug.

I nodded and closed my eyes. "I can't believe it either, Father."

"Imagine that, my little daughter becoming the Empress," Mother said as she wiped at her eyes. "I never would've dreamed that poor villagers like us would be in this type of situation."

Wen and Yunru, the twins, exchanged glances with each other before smiling widely. "Daiyu, what's the Dragon like? I heard he's a vicious fighter."

"Master is the strongest man I know," Nikator butted in, smiling widely, his gaze flicking over to Atreus, who wore an indifferent expression. "He can punch a beast and send it flying."

"A beast? Which type? There are so many monsters—" Wen started.

"A beast?" Lanfen, my youngest sister, stepped forward. "You've seen a beast before? Like a true monster? With magic?"

Atreus was about to say something, when he froze, his gaze darting to something in the distance of the room. Nikator was silent as well, and when I followed their gaze, I saw that it was Remus and Minos strolling our way. Remus had blood splatters on his torso and his hands. His expression was blank, however.

My stomach turned and I felt like I would retch.

"Atreus, there's something we need to—" Minos started.

"Minos, this is Empress' family, we should discuss this elsewhere—" Atreus said.

"Family?" Remus's blood red eyes found mine and he glanced over at my siblings and my parents. My family was gawking at him, Lanfen's eyes wide as she looked from his bloodied hands to his face. My parents had taken a few steps back, fear illustrating their faces and paling them. "This is your family?"

I nodded, still feeling sick to my stomach. "Yes, Remus, this is my family."

Minos touched Remus's shoulder and spoke to him rapidly in their native tongue, a frown on his face as he looked at the stricken expression on my family's face. He spoke to him soothingly, but Remus's expression fell nonetheless.

"But I want to meet them," Remus said.

Atreus stepped forward. "Remus, I think we should—"

"Lady Daiyu said she wanted me to meet her sister," he said. "Lanfen."

Lanfen stiffened.

That movement caught his attention and he turned his red-black gaze to her. They both stared at each other for the longest moment, Lanfen's face pallid while Remus's expression was blank. After what felt like forever, he turned away from her and touched Nikator's forearm. "Nik, she's scared of me."

Before I could say anything, or Minos or Atreus, or even my family, Nikator laughed and ruffled Remus's silver hair. "Tenebrimor se. Je hakl si."

Atreus's jaw dropped while Minos burst out laughing, all the while Remus's eyes widened.

I stared at them in confusion while my family continued to gawk at them.

"Atreus, what—" I stared.

Atreus was speaking to Nikator in their tongue, his expression controlled, while Minos was patting Remus's back while saying something to him in their language.

"Daiyu, what's going on?" Lanfen murmured to me.

I shook my head in puzzlement. "I'm not really sure."