I had fainted for a split second, falling forward and everything darkening around me, but my vision cleared up a few seconds later and I was trembling, my stomach roiling and my chest heaving as I shakily pushed myself up. My eyes barely roved over the dead bodies and when I accidentally caught a glimpse of one of them, I whimpered pathetically, too weak to do anything.
"Empress, you don't have to worry about anything," Remus told me as he wiped the blood off his hands, not seeming to notice I had blacked out for a second. "They're all dead and I don't sense it anymore."
Right then, there was a rustling noise from behind me and I whipped my head to the side, scared that another man was going to come through and try to hurt us. Atreus came through the clearing, Nikator and Minos trailing after him. They all paused when they saw the scene before them.
"Empress," Atreus said as he came towards me, kneeling down and touching my shoulder. When I trembled at his touch, he raised his head to look at Remus. "What happened here?"
"They were bad," Remus said simply. "So I killed them."
Minos sighed and scrutinized one of the bodies. "As usual, you don't kill them cleanly." He crouched down and picked up the discarded heart, looking at it closely before tossing it. "A clean kill feels so much better and prettier than . . . this."
Nikator was peering at the man that had his chest ripped open. "You shouldn't have dragged Lady Daiyu into it," Nikator said offhandedly as he grabbed one of the man's hair, pulling his head to the side and examining it. "These guys don't look familiar."
They were too relaxed with the scene around us.
"Check to see if they have any letters on them," Atreus said as he glanced at one of the bodies, looking casual.
"This is . . . normal for you guys?" I whispered, gripping onto Atreus's forearm and leaning forward until my forehead was against his shoulder. My whole body shook, and I was breathing unsteadily. "I'm sorry for . . . for being too weak, but I can't . . . I can't look at it."
"Atreus, get her to the palace," Minos said.
"Right." He gently scooped me off the ground and walked away from the mess. My head was nestled against his chest and I knew that if I had eaten anything this morning—I had been planning on eating later—I would've retched everywhere. My empty stomach was churning and I felt nauseas.
Throughout the whole walk, I couldn't stop envisioning the man's death, over and over again. Although he had wanted to kill me, seeing him get ripped apart before my eyes was gruesome and something I wasn't used to. At least when Meilin had killed that spy at the base, it hadn't been as traumatic and gruesome as this bloody death was.
"Empress, I'm sorry you had to see that," Atreus said to me when he entered the palace. A few soldiers slowed down when they saw me and Atreus, shooting curious looks at each other.
"Is something wrong?" one of the soldiers asked as he neared Atreus.
"There was an assassination attempt," Atreus said calmly.
The men's eyes widened.
"An assassination attempt? What do you mean, Atreus?" a loud voice called out from the halls.
Atreus turned to his right and saw General Hai marching towards us, a worried look on his face when he saw me. His dark eyes darted from me to Atreus, and he waved dismissively at the men standing around. "What happened?" he asked once more when he was right in front of us.
Atreus shifted his weight on his other foot and looked to his left before turning back to General Hai. "There were three men that I'm assuming tried to kill the Empress. I'm not too sure on the details, but I'm pretty sure it was an assass—"
"You're not sure? How can you not be sure?" He frowned.
"I wasn't there when it happened. I only saw the aftermath."
"Are you alright, Lady Daiyu?" he asked, his eyes softening when he saw me.
I nodded, though it would be a lie to say I was alright.
"She's shaken up. I was planning on taking her to her room," Atreus said, taking a step to his left. "Do I have permission to leave?"
Hai nodded. "Of course. One last question."
"Yes?"
"Where did this happen?"
"The garden."
"Alright. You take her to her room, I'll see to the mess."
Atreus started taking me to my room, his steps quick and his eyes full of mistrust as he glanced at the various soldiers walking around. Although Meilin had crushed the revolt, it was obvious that there were still some enemy soldiers among our ranks, which had become more apparent after this attack.
"Empress, we're here," he said as he pushed the door open with his shoulder. He treaded in the room easily and looked from the couch to the bed. "Would you prefer the bed or the couch?"
"The couch, please," I said softly.
He placed me down on the couch gently, retreated away from me and grabbing the pitcher of water that was resting on one of the desks. He poured me a glass of water and handed it to me.
I mumbled a thanks and shakily downed the contents of the glass, relaxing somewhat. Atreus sat on the opposing couch, his hands cupping his knees and his gaze steadfast on me.
It took me a moment to finally calm down.
"You all were so casual about seeing that," I whispered.
"We've seen death countless times," Atreus said with a shrug.
"I don't think I can ever get used to that," I said, inhaling sharply. "It was so scary."
"I'm sorry."
"That was also the first time I saw magic," I told him, shivering. "It would have been more interesting if I hadn't seen . . . " I thought of Remus digging his hand in that man's chest and retrieving his heart.
"We've all been through horrible experiences that have hardened us," Atreus said. "The Peccata, I mean. Death isn't as hard for us to handle as it used to be. We were slaves before, so it's only natural that these things don't affect us as much as it would affect you. I'm sorry you had to see that."
"Can you tell me about your childhood?" I placed my hands atop each other to stop the shaking. There was no color in my face and I felt sick, my stomach flipping around.
"My childhood?" Atreus said, his eyes blanking for a split second. "What part?" his voice suddenly hardened. "When I was a slave?"
"N—"
"I was meant to be a gladiator. Unlike Nikator, who was taken from his village as a baby, and Minos who was sold by his parents, or Vita, whose parents were slaves, I was orphaned and thus put into slavery when I was two."
"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."