Descendants of the Dragon, Book One: The Mandate of Heaven

Chapter 16: A Thief in the Night

At what he guessed to be at least an hour past midnight, Aiden tore away his blankets and climbed out of bed. His phone had died on him hours ago, but it wasn't like he could get service on it anyways. Still, he shoved it into his pockets.

From beneath his bed, he dragged out a cloth knapsack that he had managed to snag in the marketplace, and he began pilfering every single gold ornament in the room, stuffing them inside of the bag. The bag bulged awkwardly and was incredibly heavy, but he still managed to sling it over his shoulder without crumpling to the floor. That was a win in his book.

Aiden was not planning on staying in the Jade City. Becoming emperor was fine and all for the others, but not him. He didn't want to be some ruler over a weird foreign land. He had come here for answers about his family, but he gotten way more than he'd bargained for. This was all too much for him. Answers or no answers, he just wanted to go home, and if he went home with a bag laden with priceless ancient artifacts, then all the better for it. Besides, there were other Heirs, so it wasn't like anyone would be really upset. Well, Kun might be, but Aiden could always apologize later. This was Kun's home, not his. His home was thousands of miles away.

Aiden crept out of his room and was going to make a beeline for the One-Thousand Steps, when something made him pause. He was selfish, and he had no problem with that. Being selfish was profitable. The bag over his shoulder was evidence of that. But he wasn't a complete jerk.

He knocked on Sam's door quietly. He was half-hoping Sam would still be asleep and not answer, but the door opened almost immediately.

Sam stood in the doorway and coolly eyed the bulging knapsack over Aiden's shoulder. "I was wondering when you would stop by."

"You knew?"

"Come on," Sam said. "Neither of us wants to be here, and they showed us a magical teleporter that can take us anywhere in the world."

Aiden pursed his lips and nodded. "We don't have all day then. We should get going."

Sam shook his head. "I'm not going."

Aiden was dumbfounded. "Are you being funny with me right now? Because now is really not a good time. If one of the guards sees me, I'm royally screwed."

Sam turned back inside the room and sat on his bed. Aiden frowned, but also entered the room. "Maybe I was tempted to leave at first. I definitely wanted to. I still want to."

Aiden raised an eyebrow. "So what's stopping you?"

"Do you know why I hate this thing?" Sam said, lifting his hand up, even though he didn't need to. They shared the same mark.

"You told me this story already," Aiden said impatiently.

Sam shook his head frustratedly. "Yeah, but I don't think you really get it. You have an embarrassing story for how you got your mark, but I'm not that lucky. I killed people—a lot of people I'd known for years. And one of those people was my brother's girlfriend. I don't know how I can ever show my face around him or any family members of the people I killed without breaking down."

Aiden blew a gust of air from his mouth, as his mind tried to comprehend what Sam must be going through. "Wow...I'm sorry...I had no idea it was like that. I thought Liang had it bad, when he got his mark."

"I know it wasn't entirely my fault," Sam said in a low voice, as he stared at the wall. "But I also know that some part of it still was. I can't go back home. Not yet, anyways. I'm terrified of this happening again. Elder Chen says that once the next emperor is chosen, our marks will go away."

"You're waiting for that to happen," Aiden realized.

"Not just waiting. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make sure the next emperor is chosen. The sooner I get rid of my mark, the better."