Kyou was tending to his old wounds when Rei walked in and announced, "A messenger has arrived from the palace. Shall I ask him to wait, or will you receive him in here?"
"In here," Kyou replied, throwing the towel into the basin. "Is Akio finally calling off the truce?" He picked up a clean shirt and pulled it over his head. "With my brother's insufferable pride, he would never have proposed one."
"Think Inka had a hand in it?"
"It's the only plausible reason," Kyou said wryly. "Show the man in."
Rei held open the tent's flap to allow a lanky boy to enter, probably sixteen winters old. He bowed at the waist, his conical head perilously tipping over in his haste. "Greetings, Your Majesty. I bear the King's message."
Kyou arched a brow at Rei who merely shrugged. He hadn't expected someone so young. "Go ahead."
"His Majesty requests for the Emperor's presence at the palace in one hour. He specified that Your Majesty must come alone."
"No," Kyou responded at once. "Not at the palace. Tell him that I will meet him at the Devil's Edge. Your King knows where it is and make sure that he hears these words — Morior Invictus."
"Morior Invictus?" The boy looked puzzled. Kyou's fearless smile made him fidget uncomfortably.
"It means death before defeat. Now, run along and deliver that message to your King."
"A-As you command, Your Majesty."
After the messenger left, Rei dogged his heels as he rummaged through his weapon's chest. "Was it wise to challenge your brother? He does still hold Inka as his hostage and are you in any condition to fight?"
"You worry too much, Commander. Right now, Akio wants nothing more than to end my life and I want nothing more than to end this war. It's safer to meet on neutral ground where he can't play underhanded tricks." Kyou handed him the archery gear. "But just in case I make a miss, use this. My body is healed but, I don't want to take chances. If I fail, shoot him in the heart. This battle ends today, or I am not worthy of me."
"Your confidence fails to reassure me, Your Majesty." Rei reluctantly strapped on the leather quiver. "Archery isn't my best suit. I hope I won't have to resort to it."
"You'll do fine." Kyou squeezed his shoulder. "Prepare the horses and we'll ride to the Devil's Edge. We need to find you a good vantage point before Akio arrives."
"May I ask why the Devil's Edge?" Genuine curiosity suffused the Commander.
"When we were boys, Father brought us here for the winter solstice holiday. It was the first and last time the four of us were together. We played imaginary battle at Devil's Edge and Akio, and I were the last two standing. Unfortunately, there was no true victor because we had to leave. That day was...monumental because Akio had acknowledged my skills as a warrior. I wasn't even a decade old then."
"And he will not pass up the chance to defeat you just to prove that he is better," Rei presumed.
"Yes, well, that is the very essence of Akio — his pride. Today, we can finally settle that old score."
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They shoved her unceremoniously to the ground, and she released a mild curse. Through her curtain of bedraggled hair, she glared at Akio. "What is the meaning of this? We had an agreement!"
"And I have decided that I don't want to play nice anymore." His tone deadpanned. "Did you think I wouldn't realize that you were trying to soften me up? I'm not going to let you get in my way of killing your lover."
"What are you talking about?" she feigned innocence. "I was only adhering to your wishes."
He mounted his horse and gestured for the guards to hand over her chains.
"Wait!" she cried, stumbling as they hauled her to her feet. Akio forced her to trudge alongside the stallion — like a true slave — or risk being dragged on the ground. The last thing she wanted were scrapes and friction burns. "You can't do this!"
"I already did," he muttered under his breath.
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Akio arrived on a majestic stallion with Inka leashed to its side — tired and dirty but otherwise, unharmed. The sight of his brother mistreating his future Empress roused Kyou's anger. He had had enough of Akio's antics. Mindlessly, his legs carried him forward, but he halted when the guards warned him off with their weapons.
"Release her at once, Akio!" he barked fiercely, his body coiled for action. "I am here now. I am the one you seek."
"Not until I claim retribution on what you have done to me!" Akio raised his mangled hand. "I know why you named this place, and I shall prove to you that I am what this Kingdom needs. Morior Invictus it shall be!"
Kyou withdrew his sword in response.
"No!" Inka yelled, striving to break free.
Discarding his hesitation, Kyou charged with his katana, the curved and singled edged sword providing a swifter attack. Surprisingly, Akio evaded with reptilian speed. Redoubling his efforts, Kyou swung again and felt a prick of satisfaction at the blood blooming on Akio's thigh. His brother ignored the minor cut and reached for his weapon tucked into his obi. Kyou immediately recognized the exceptional carbon steel with a long fuller. His mouth thinned. "Is that─"
"Yes." Akio cut him off, brandishing the matte sword like a prized possession. "Remember this? It's father's beloved Dragon Scale Katana."
"I had it buried with him. That can't be the original one."
"Don't be so sure, Kyou. Swords are easy to forge nowadays," Akio said breezily. "And replaced. Especially when its owner was grieving."
"What have you done?" Kyou demanded in thick accusation, his eyes unforgiving. He refused to believe that his brother had stolen their father's precious sword.
"It would have been yours if you hadn't decided to bury it with a dead man. This katana is destined for greatness, not to please your foolish sense of honour." Effortlessly, Akio sliced his brother's uniform, grazing his flesh.
"While you have none," Kyou accused heatedly, distancing himself. If the Dragon Scale blade was designed for lethal grace, then his Black Raijin was built for quick but maximum damage, enabling him to gut the enemy with surgical precision.
"You owe me for my damaged hand." Akio lowered his body into a semi-crouch as he circled Kyou in a painfully slow manner. "I won't be satisfied until I cut your body to pieces and feed it to my hunting dogs."
Kyou shifted in the opposite direction, waiting to get a clear strike. Like a spitting cobra, Akio pounced and Kyou braced his sword in a defensive posture, blocking Akio's attempts to hit his blind spots. Digging his pocket, he stealthily threw three shurikens, spurring his brother to drop and roll out of harm's way.
The four-pronged metal stars embedded themselves into Inka's guard, allowing her to slip away. The distraction costed Akio when Black Raijin sliced the air, coming for his head. He parried in time, but Kyou had anticipated his move, and deftly jammed their blades in a gridlock, preventing Akio from withdrawing his arm.
"This is my victory!" Kyou declared viciously, his nostrils flared, and all traces of defeat wiped away. With his free hand, he grabbed the tanto blade at his waist and slit his brother's throat in a swift, horizontal movement. He didn't even blink when blood spurted onto his face.
If it weren't for their locked blades holding Akio up, he would have fallen over. Eyes wide and gurgling, he couldn't utter a single word, drowning in his own blood.
"You lost, brother." Kyou fluidly disengaged their weapons.
Akio fell with a thud, internally gripped by agonizing pain and despair. Too stubborn to surrender even as his life force pooled around him, he compelled his weighted limbs to move. He couldn't go down like this. He refused to. Stabbing his sword into the ground, he used it as a crutch to help him stand. He only had one aim.
"Kyou!" Inka ran and jumped into her lover's arms.
Fingers buried in her hair, he embraced her tightly, basking in her warmth and invisible strength. "I'm glad that you are unharmed, witch. What would I do without you?"
She burrowed deeper into his chest, a smile on her lips. "You won't ever have to be without me." As she drew back, she registered Akio's movements in the background and her eyes bulged in horror. "No!" She shoved Kyou behind her and spread out her arms protectively.
It all happened so fast that Kyou was helpless to draw her back. Inka's thrashing heart drowned everything out but the fear, her gaze on the enemy who threatened their lives. She identified the panic on Akio's face when she willfully erected herself as a human shield. The days she spent with him had convinced her that Akio was a victim, brainwashed by his dead mother to fulfil her vengeance against a spirit. It maddened Inka to know that the woman was controlling her son from beyond the grave.
"Inka, get back!" Kyou lunged at her with both hands, overwhelmed by powerlessness.
Concealed behind the bushes, Rei released his arrow and watched Akio jerk from the impact, his blade clattering to the ground.
Kyou snatched Inka back into his arms, relief choking him instead. "Don't ever do that again! You will never endanger your life for mine. Never ever." His arms were wrapped so tight, Inka was certain he had imprinted his own set of bruises on her body.
She winced at the chains digging into her flesh but, was content to revel in his touch and comfort. She had missed him terribly — missed his warm, earthy scent. "You know that you would do the same for me and, I told you that I had a plan, didn't I?"
The reminder of her foolhardiness made him pull back sharply and glower like an irate parent. "I refuse to praise that ill-advised plan. What were you thinking? You might have been killed if Akio meant serious harm."
She fought the urge to roll her eyes. "I was testing him," she explained. "I had to know if my intuition was right. Like you, Akio has trouble expressing his emotions and he tends to cover it up with threats." His mouth flattened at the unsavoury comparison, but she continued. "I made him offer the truce, tried to soften him and I wanted to get to know him – his weaknesses. Akio treats me with contempt but, after that he'll try to make it up to me. He never attempted anything untoward." She omitted the meaningless kiss. "But I wonder if my efforts had been wasted. It's difficult for a person to change when they are unwilling to accept the truth."
"If the irony of my victory lies in his affections for you, then I would rather not know," he reflected tersely. "My brother reaped what he sowed, and he was prepared to die. He beheaded General Attaw and that is something I can never forgive."
Inka blinked in silence. She hadn't liked the General but, death wasn't the answer to everything. "I'm sorry to hear that." Her eyes shifted to Akio's body. "I think your brother was conflicted about his filial loyalty. Somehow, he had led a sad and lonely life."
"The fact that you feel pity for him is one of the things I love about you. If he weren't my brother, I would be glad that he's dead. The war he had waged killed thousands of lives and caused irreparable damage."
She nodded sadly. "What are we going to do with his...body?" It felt wrong to refer to him as a corpse. Minutes ago, he was warm and alive. It made her sad to think that he was gone — an empty shell.
"I'll handle it." Rei emerged from the rustling bushes.
"Rei! You were here all along?" she exclaimed.
"I'm glad to see you are unharmed, my lady," Rei said, handing her the bow and arrows. "I believe this belongs to you."
She accepted the bundle. "I had wondered who shot the arrow."
"If I hadn't shot him, he would have killed one of you." Rei bent to whisper into her ear. "Between you and I, I would have preferred it to be Kyou because if that blade had touched you, he would have my head."
Inka chuckled at his dark humour. "Don't let him hear you say that"
"Rei, load Akio into the conveyance," Kyou ordered, oblivious to their hushed joke. "We're taking him back to the palace." He glanced at Inka, seemingly suspicious. "You weren't lying when you said he didn't hurt you — in any way?"
"He never hurt me in the way you're thinking," she assured his overactive imagination. "How many times must I remind you that I'm not a damsel in distress?" She lifted her cuffed hands. "Can you please get these off me now? I can't hold properly you like this."
He smiled, relieving her of the cumbersome chains. He then brushed aside her hair and feathered his thumb across her cheek. There was a wealth of emotion in his eyes that warmed her heart, tingling all the way down to her toes. Although they've come a long way, Kyou still had trouble expressing his deepest thoughts, accustomed to bottling them. But now, she understood the kind of man he was — one capable of looking at her with love in his eyes.
Surging up on toes, she captured his lips in a startling kiss. Since he was always the one initiating their kisses, this time, she wanted to take the lead. Though, it was short-lived because the Commander was present.
Sensing her internal dilemma, Kyou chuckled. His eyes dropped to her bruised wrists and ankles. "Can you walk, or shall I carry you?"
After days of living with a passive-aggressive King, being shoved around and locked up in a crummy prison...being pampered by her lover sounded like heaven. She nodded and he scooped her into his arms, lifting her onto the horse. "I'll be right back."
"Alright." She watched him walk up to the Commander and exchanged a few words before he returned. "We'll head home to the imperial palace. I'm not staying here another minute longer."
Her eyes never left the unmoving body on the ground. "What about Akio?"
"Rei can handle him."
Inka fell silent, wondering what would happen to Akio's body. Since he had become a public enemy of Xi, was he still entitled a royal funeral and the rights to be buried in the family cemetery? And what about his son? What would happen to everyone living in Nanyang palace?
Kyou stole a glance at her profile, reading her troubled expression. Jealousy stabbed him. Why was the witch so concerned about a dead man's fate? He couldn't help but wonder what happened between them in the last few days. He admitted, it was unsettling when his woman was thinking about another man — a very dead man.