The Emperor's Daiyu (BWAM)

4)Honor

Days pass as and the ribs on my stomach start to show. It was calculated starvation, a tactic the general used to weaken prisoners like me. I pray each morning for a drink of water or even a slice of stale bread.
I was faminished.

I counted 2 days, maybe 3 before I find the strength to stand and limp to the broken bowl near the corner of the prison cell they had tied me to.
Carefully I rolled the shards over, pulling the dusty glass into the light to see my reflection. My back was brown and bruised. Black ink was mixed with my body's blood as I tried to read the inscriptions trailing down my spine, but I couldn't, not until it healed. I heard the heavy footsteps of the general approaching and quickly pulled my shirt back onto my chest, quickly tying the blindfold that had been knitted over my head.

"It's useless to pretend." he teased. I rolled my eyes before taking off the cloth and dropping it to the floor.

He opened the iron gates of my cell and came in, smiling before snapping for two guards. They brought in a small chair and table and left leaving only me in him in the cramped space.

Two servants came in and pushed a steaming bowl of soup and dumplings into the middle of the table, bowing down to the general before leaving.

"Mmmm. The best dumplings are made in Hioto" he bragged, disregarding his table manners. I looked at the food with hunger, looking up to the man as he licked his fingers. "Eat" he smiled, motioning me to sit.

I hated how he said it; as if he knew I was starving... as if he was jeering at my hunger.
I hated the evil that rested in his eyes.

"I am...not hungry" I lied, rubbing one foot against my knee. The loud tribal calls of my stomach revealed my lie.

He only chuckled, relishing in my weakness before he lifted up one dumpling and ate. "See. No Arsenic" he bragged, proving to me the lack of poison. "Eat" he smiled, pushing the bowl closer to me. I was hesitant to approach but the pangs of my stomach grew stronger... and louder.

And I succumbed, pulling the bowl and eating with no remorse. He smiled as he watched me eat, pulling a cigar from his pocket before lighting it.

"Fattening the kill before you slaughter it" I sighed, pausing my eating to stare him in the eyes. He chuckled at my quip but only because he knew it was true.

"We won't kill you...well no yet" he said through a sigh. I pushed my head up to face him and swallowed hard. So they did plan to kill me...of course they did.

"What is your name?" he asks me.

I am quiet but stare at him with hesitancy. "Does it matter?" I ask, tying my shirt tighter. He sat up and lifted his chair to place beside me, the space between us was nonexistent.

"Maybe. That depends if you want things to go smoothly or not..." he threatened, letting the hot ash of his cigar drop to my thighs.

"Akazi" I whisper. He smiled and looked into my eyes before nodding.

"Do you know who those men were Akazi?" he asked curiously, tapping the end of his cigar onto the floor.

"No" I shook my head. He knew I didn't know; I was a foreigner in this land.

"Li Wei. One of the oldest and most notorious dragons. The Original dragon head."

"Dragon head?" I asked, shoving another dumpling into my mouth.

"Once upon a time, in a dynasty far away lived the most powerful lineage of warriors. They called themselves the dragon heads. The 12 dragon heads controlled the 12 kingdoms that made up the Qui Dynasty and various organizations spread across the world.

Every 5 years, the current 12 meet and decide on a list of who will join the prestigious organization. Those 12 names are inscribed on a list known as Tai Yen. It is list which has been handed down and kept secret from generation to generation. If the names on that list were ever to get out?"

"The secret society wouldn't be so secret anymore" I say, wiping my mouth clean. I sat up a little straighter, my back still stinging from the swelling of the tattoo scars. I knew where this story was going but didn't like the impending outcome.

He nodded and leaned forward to face me. "They would all end up in jail, captured... or even dead."

Silence fills the small cell as I stare at the wall.

"As of today, you no longer go by that name. Your new name? Tai Yen" he says.

My stomach drops with fear as I hear the fateful omen. No wonder they held me down and marked my back....I was no longer Akazi, I was the secret list; the Tai Yen. My back marked to do their bidding and be disposed of.

"What is your name?" he whispers, gently picking the last of the dumpling.

"Akazi" I whispered in defiance. He smirked gently before pushing the dumpling in his mouth. Once he swallows it whole he stands to face me and...

-SLAP-

The sharp blow of his palm smoothly imprinted into my left cheek. The stinging of the hit still bellowed against my skin.

"What is your name?" he asked again, pulling another soft cigar from pocket before lighting it.

"Tai Yen" I muttered, lifting my head up to push the curl that had found its way into my cheek due to the impact of his blow.

"What a fast learner." he nods, clapping his hands in mockery. He snapped for a guard and he came in with a small scroll, leaving it on the table.

"You will travel to the 12 dragons, showing each of them the list. Once you meet one dragon, they will tell you the location where you can find the next."

"Why me?" I asked, anger still permeating from my core. Had they no shame to force me into a position such as this?

"You were chosen out of convenience.
You are a woman. You are disposable and you hold no weight in society. You should be joyful. It is an honor to serve the emperor and the Qin Dynasty."

"Yes... a great honor" I lied, looking down to the smoke coming from his lips. I couldn't help the tears the flowed down my cheeks as I realized my fate.

Death was my only outcome as of now. Once I traveled to each dragon my mission would be complete.

The last dragon would kill me.
Like the general said, I was disposable. He chuckled, at my show of emotion, wiping my tears away from my cheek.

"Smile! Isn't it better that I kept you alive? You could have been dead like the rest of the women in your village?"

My heart froze in its cage as I remembered the day my village had suffered... the cold look of fear in my mother's eyes as she screamed for mercy. He smiled, sensing my fearful silence and nodded.
"I do hope you carry out your mission successfully. I don't wish to tell you what happened to the last Tai Yen that stepped out of line, seeing as you just ate" he smiled, pulling his chair away to stand.

"So courteous general" I say, making sure the hatred in my voice was apparent.

"I am always courteous for the Tai Yen" he tapped my cheeks gently, turning away from the cellar to leave.
"You leave at dawn. Travel to the 12 dragons, each spread across the 12 provinces. Once done, your mission is complete."

I sneered are his cheerful disposition before he turned to leave.

"And then what?" I call after him, reminding him of the fate I had in store. I wanted the destiny of my fate to come from his own lips.

"That is up to the last dragon head. He will decide"