The Rebellion (Preview)

Chapter 1 - Past Escapes

"You can't take him!" I screamed.

The guards grabbed me before I reached the door, pulling me back into the living room. I was strong, but not strong enough to twist from their hold. My younger brother looked at me over his shoulder as the emperor's guards dragged him outside into the darkness. They forced him to his knees, pointing a sword at his throat.

A man in heavy boots stepped between us, his broad shoulders bringing back memories I had thrown away long ago. He had once been a shadow of my past, but now, he was a shadow that divided me from my brother.

"It's too late, Jaehwa," the shadow replied, not turning to face me.

I narrowed my eyes, the guards' hands gripping hard into my arms as I struggled to step forward.

"You expect me to back down?" I asked. "He's all I have left, Saejun! You know that!"

The shadow turned and stepped back into the house, his dark eyes showing no regrets nor sympathy as the living room candles lit his face. The crimson robes of the emperor clung to his skin like blood, a testament to his position of power. He stood tall and arrogant, as if he had never been the poor farmer's son he once was.

"He's a murderer," Saejun said. "He brought this upon himself."

"You're wrong!" I tried to twist out of the guards' hold, but they held fast. "Kiwan would never commit treason against the emperor! You know that. How can you take him away to be executed?"

I tried to catch my breath, my eyes beginning to burn. Saejun stepped in closer, but I only stared at his expensive boots, refusing to let him intimidate me. His fingers curled under my chin, lifting my head up to look at him. His features were just as I remembered - his sharp eyes and strong jaw - but there was a new darkness in him that wasn't caused by the late hour.

"Stop fighting against me," he replied. "You won't win. You know that ."

I jerked my face from his hand. "Get out of my house."

"I hate to say this," he said, his hand dropping to his side, "but this house is no longer yours."

I looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

His jaw clenched before he opened his mouth again. "This house was in your brother's name. Now that he's been arrested, it has defaulted to the emperor."

"Saejun --"

"You can live here for the time being," he continued, "but you can be thrown out at any time. These are the orders of the emperor."

I twisted hard, breaking free from the guards, but only for a moment. They pulled me back again, bringing me down to my knees.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" I spat at Saejun. 

"Enough," he warned.

"You disappear for five years, become captain of the guards, and then show up at my door to take my brother and my home away from me?" The guards twisted my arms in an attempt to silence me, but I continued. "Who the hell do you think you are? What right do you have to come back here?"

"Put her under house arrest," he told the guards, not even blinking. "Secure the first floor."

He turned his back on me. It was something he was good at.

"Saejun!" I called.

He stopped. With two heavy footsteps, he turned back.

"That..." he said, "will be the last time I allow you to say my name and live."