The Emperor's Head

23. Lady Di Zu once Yewan

Di sat at the side of the training hall and watched her brother, who was once her betrothed.

He is in love with that man.

A pang of regret and jealousy threatened to invade her heart, but she held it off. She still loved Jun, but not like she had come to love her husband. Di had lost the man she loved, and her love for Bai had opened her eyes to the different layers of passion and connection a human could hold.

And you loved me. It should have been me on that pike, not you.

Her eyes burned with the tears that threatened to fall whenever she spoke to Bai's soul. His absence left a gaping hole in her heart, which her teacher's training only partially filled.

I thought I was ready. But I didn't know Jun had found his soulmate. Perhaps I left the island too soon.

Focusing once again on the men as they danced with their swords before her, Di smiled. Jun had never taken to fighting. He preferred to hide from their martial instructor and read their father's books.

Books that are now ashes because of Oyun and Bolin.

"Move beyond blame," Huiliang's voice rang in her memory, pulling her back to the sunny room overlooking the dark sea. "The arrow that pierces a heart is not the same as the man who holds the bow. Nor is it the same as the man who started the war. Which is to blame? The arrow, the archer, or the war itself?"

"All of them!" Di paced away from the soft-eyed teacher. The island warmth should have soothed her over the weeks she had basked in it, but she felt only the hollowness Bai had left behind.

"Perhaps," Huiliang granted with a smile."And would you blame the prize that they fought over? Or the man who hid the prize?" He remained in his seated position in the middle of the empty room.

"The prize?" Di was tired of Huiliang's obliqueness. Talking with him made her mind spin. Chinlung stirred in the corner, reminding her of his presence. The young master's face remained inscrutable, but she thought she saw a hint of disappointment.

Am I supposed to know what the prize they fought over was?

"The Crown Prince's head?" Di ventured into the silence, prompting a chuckle from Huiliang.

"That is a prize, but not the prize." He sighed and stood, arching his back as if stiff, but his movements betrayed how limber the older man remained. "Chinlung, do you understand who the prize is?"

"Young Master Yewan," Chinlung answered flatly. Di sucked in a gasp of air and examined the young island prince. She never saw him wearing the orange robes the other masters displayed, the bright colors had surprised Di on her arrival, but she enjoyed the interplay of the various shades in the morning gatherings. Between the masters' orange and the student's bluish-green robes, the island dwellers looked like a sunrise coming over the water. But Chinlung wore a dark blue robe with minimal trim. The simplicity of the robes belied their significance. She knew his importance but not his rank when she first saw him. When she met the island's teacher, his face clarified Chinlung's status.

They look so much alike.

Di shifted with embarrassment, feeling disloyal as she contemplated the handsome features of the teacher and his son.

"Yes, Jun is the prize."

"And my father hid him?" Di ventured.

"Yes," Huiliang agreed. "Your father hid him brilliantly by parading him in front of everyone. Pretending he was his bastard and naming him his heir."

"Everyone knew he wasn't Jun's father," Di argued weakly. Lord Master Yewan had never contradicted the rumor, though the timing was impossible.

"No, they didn't," Chinlung contradicted.