Without meaning to, her world darkened and sleep took its hold on her.
15
A stifling heatstirred Biyu from her sleeping position. It prickled beneath her skin, growing hotter until all she felt was the unbearably sticky summer warmth. She groaned and shifted in her bed, the stiff pillows making her neck ache in discomfort. When she finally peeled her eyes open, it took a moment for her vision to adjust to the darkened room. She was in her bedchambers, in her own bed, which shouldn’t have been unusual, but all at once a rush of memories overcame her—the spell gone wrong, Nikator’s injuries, the cursed marriage spell, falling asleep on the couch.
She jerked upright and looked around quickly. A short candle flickered on her nightstand, offering her enough light to make out that she was alone, save for Jade, who was sleeping by her feet as usual. She glanced at her clothes to find that she was wearing the same dress as this morning. How long had she been sleeping? Had Nikator brought her here?
A furious blush spread over her face at the thought of him carrying her sleeping body all the way here. Tucking her in bed. Propping the pillows around her so she’d be more comfortable.
Why would he bother to do something like that? Maybe Lin or another maidservant had helped her into bed. That wasthe only explanation, because there was no way Nikator, the brooding and mean warrior who currently hated her guts for the spell she cast on him, would do such a tender thing for her.
Worse yet, why hadn’t she woken up from that? She wasn’t even a heavy sleeper, but maybe the exhaustion from her near-death experience had drained her more than she would have liked to admit.
Biyu slipped out of her bed and padded toward the sealed windows. She cracked one shutter open to peek outside. The night air breezed over her hair, chilling the clammy skin along her neck and forehead. She pushed it closed. How late into the night was it? And where was Nikator? She couldn’t imagine him choosing to forgo being her guard after everything that had happened earlier today—not when his suspicions toward her were bolstered and truer than before. Was he just taking a break? That would make sense, since he’d barely taken one when watching her.
She didn’t have much time, then.
Without wasting another minute, Biyu rushed over to her calligraphy supplies atop one of the tables and scribbled a quick note to Yat-sen in flowery text that, hopefully, he would be able to decipher easily.
The red lotus blooms and poisons me, shadowing my every breath like an undying night.
My quandary, though full of serpents waiting to strike, is fragrant and propitious.
Your gift to me, the azure blade, is dull and useless against my foe.
She readit over a few times before folding up the piece of parchment and tucking it into the collar around Jade’s neck. She made sure to tie the ribbon a few times around the note to ensure it didn’t slip away and was still discreet enough to the passing eye, and then she opened the door to her bedchambers and released her cat, who scurried down the hall without another glance back at her.
The narrow corridor was dark and empty, the flames in the wall sconces flickering ominous orange halos. She half-expected someone to come sprinting down, screaming at her for trying to leave her chambers, but she was still too groggy to care, so she slammed the door shut. With how things had unfolded with Nikator, Minos, and Vita, she had no doubt that this was either a test, or someone was watching her from the shadows to see what she would do next. Fleeing into a different room, or even the library, wouldn’t help her.
She just hoped they didn’t pay too much attention to Jade, but she didn’t think they would. Jade had been going in and out of her room for years now.
Biyu went back to her bed and flopped onto it. She wasn’t tired enough to go back to sleep—the nap had been sufficient enough—but her mind couldn’t move past the absolute blunder she had made of everything. The shattered mirror had been cleaned up, all the broken pieces and the blood splatters gone, and the space where it once stood appeared empty, like something was missing. She had gotten used to the way her chambers were furnished, and not having a body-length mirror anymore filled her with a sadness she hadn’t expected.
Yet another belonging that had been taken away from her.
She laid an arm across her eyes and tried to calm the erratic beat of her heart. Questions swarmed her thoughts, consuming her with layers of confusion and apprehension. What would she do now? How would she get out of this mess? Why had she everthought she was capable enough to … sneak around, cast spells, and commit treason?
A knock interrupted her thoughts. She pushed herself into a sitting position before Lin, her old maidservant, poked her head through the doors.
“Princess Biyu?” Upon seeing her, Lin’s leathery, wrinkled face lit up and she entered. “Ah, you’re awake! Are you ready for your bath?”
“My bath? Isn’t it too late in the night for that?”
Lin tilted her head to the side. “It’s but the usual time, Princess. If you’re not feeling well, we can postpone?—”
“No, that’s fine.” Relief swelled in her chest at the thought of taking a long, warm bath; it was a small luxury she had taken for granted. Nikator had only allowed her ten- or fifteen-minute baths, since he was always suspicious of her, so she hadn’t been able to indulge in one properly for days. She hated feeling rushed and now that he wasn’t here, this was the perfect opportunity to unwind and unknot the mess in her mind.
Lin and a plethora of other servants entered her bedchambers and set up the wooden tub. They went back and forth with steaming buckets of water and poured it in, adding dried and crushed lavender—her favorite—and oils. When they were done, they all exited with a short bow, and she was once again alone.
Biyu peeled off the various layers of her dress and dipped into the water tentatively. She sighed loudly as she sank deeper into the warm, lapping water. The scent of lavender and rose tickled her nose and she began to slowly bathe herself with the herbal soaps and powders. Every muscle loosened and relaxed. After she was done cleansing her hair, she simply sat there, her head tipped back on the rim of the tub and her eyelids fluttering shut.
She must have remained there for another ten minutes, the water growing lukewarm, when the door to her room burst open and Nikator strode in. Biyu didn’t have time to yelp, to scream, to cover herself. He froze midway through closing the door, his sapphire eyes widening as he took her in. For a moment, neither of them moved, only stared. He had changed into a dark cross-collared tunic and pants, his weapons strapped to his waist, and his hair pulled back. The dim lighting played shadows over the planes of his sculpted face and his muscled forearms, which were on full display from his rolled-up sleeves; even with the various bandages, she could make out the bulging muscles, the outline of his powerful frame.
A moment passed, then another. He shut the door slowly behind himself while Biyu sank deeper into the bathtub on instinct. Her eyes only widened as the realization of what was happening began to sink in—he was here. Right now. While she was bathing.
The click of the door snapped her out of whatever reverie she was stuck in, and she said, “W-why didn’t you knock? I’m bathing.” She dunked even lower in the tub until her head was barely poking out to watch him. The suds in the bathwater offered her protection from his wandering gaze, as did the single candle flickering by her bed. “You can’t be here right now.”
“And why not?” Nikator crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the closed door. The corner of his pretty mouth lifted. “I’m here with mywife. Why can’t I enjoy her bathing?”
