only way she could see victory was through betrayal and dishonorable acts.
She would bathe the Throne of a Thousand Swords in blood, and that could be allowed no
longer.
"Nephew, I have taken the liberty of securing a weapon for you."
"That will not be necessary." Chien pulled the dao from his belt, watching the way her eyes
widened as recognition dawned upon her face.
"Where did you get that sword?" A hush fell over the spectators as they too began to recognize
the sword in his hand.
"It was given to me."
He watched her face grow mottled with rage, "It means nothing."
"It means everything."
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"I will not be held prisoner by the voices of invisible Old Gods that sit upon their pedestal and
dictate what man should do. This Empire is mine. Not theirs. I earned it. I claimed it."
"You stole it."
"And you think to take it back? What makes you believe that you can do so? What makes you
believe that you have the strength?"
"I could explain it, but words are meaningless. Years from now, only my actions will be
remembered. You laid the parameters for this duel and I have agreed. Now," Chien flicked the sword,
taking a moment to admire the balance of the weapon in his hand, "I would prefer to end this."
"Cocky little brat."
"I have waited thirteen years for this moment. Thirteen years of groveling, of watching while
your disgusting sons lorded over this palace and watching as you ran this Empire into destruction.
Thirteen years of watching my people turn to our enemies to save them from your rule. Thirteen years
of vengeance burning inside of me. I have had thirteen years, my aunt, to contemplate the different
ways I would enjoy seeing you die. And at last it will come to pass."
"Not yet my, dear nephew." She sat back in her throne, Chien's throne, and flicked her hand, "As the prince has spoken, the rules have been set forth. He has challenged his cousins for their position."
Tuan and Minh stood, and Chien realized just what she planned. "The both of them. At once."
"Better to get it over with quickly, do you not agree?"
To his surprise, it was Bao who stepped forward, "This is hardly fair, Empress."
"Quiet, General. The future of our Empire is at stake and you expect fair?"
"You would pit your trained sons against a child who has barely lifted a sword in his life." What was the Bao doing? "How would beating a single child like that show your strength to the Empire?"
"He has committed treason. I do not think he intends to stop with this attempt. What would you
suggest, my General?"
"Banish him then. Or hold him under tighter guard. Make it clear how little a threat you find
him."
"I wonder, General, why you plead so hard for his life."
"Because he is nothing to you, Empress, and you should show such through your actions."
The Empress seemed to honestly consider his words. "Many have considered your compassion
to be your weakness, General, but I have always considered it your greatest strength. It is clear that you care for the people of this Empire. You care to ensure that my rule remains strong. Never before have I
felt reason to doubt the oath you gave me when I made you general."
"I have never betrayed that oath, Empress."
"But you would now. I knew you spent time with my nephew, but I had assumed you were not a
part of this plot as well. Treason carries a heavy price, Bao."
"Never once have I failed in my duty to you."
"Did you know of my nephew's plans to poison my sons before he did so?"
"I did not."
"But you did afterward." She shook her head when he did not respond. "Men are so often led by their baser instincts. There are many who could warm your bed, yet you choose the one that would
have my head. I will give you one last chance for loyalty, Bao. Step aside now and you may avoid the
sharp end of my sword in punishment."
"I will not."
"Then you would break your oath? You would throw away your honor? For him?" The Empress
was confused, as if she could not contemplate such a possibility.
Bao did not respond to her, but Chien could see the play of emotions across his face. The toll it
took for Bao to break his oath. The Empress's expression darkened. "There is a heavy price for treason, 27 | Luxury of Vengeance
Bao. You will discover this once I have dealt with your lover." She waved to her sons once more and they pulled their weapons.
When Bao went to pull his weapon as well, Chien stopped him with a hand on his arm. "What—"
"This is my fight." His hand tightened for a moment and he felt reluctant to let go. "Thank you.
For standing with me."
"I did not betray you." But he had betrayed the Empress, and for all her wickedness, Chien could see that the betrayal weighed on him.
"I know." He'd known from the beginning, but rage had allowed him to sink into despair. He
could see clearer now. If he had only not been such a fool before, he might have seen it sooner. They
might have spent a few remaining hours together. "When this is all over, we will talk."
"When this is all over, you will be dead and I as well." There was no insult in Bao's voice, only the matter of fact tone of his beliefs.
"I will not allow that to happen." The sword in his hands pulsed with his conviction.
"You will not have a choice."
"Enough talk!" Chien released Bao and turned to face the Empress and her sons, his hand
tightening around his weapon. "This challenge will come to an end."
Somehow, Tuan and Minh had come to a harmony of sorts. Likely a common enemy had united
them. But Chien knew something they did not. It would be difficult fighting the two of them
simultaneously, but he had to survive. There was so much riding upon this. So many expectations, so
many lives. Though he sorely wanted to, he did not turn again to look at Bao.
It seemed at last, at the end, he was not at all alone.
Tuan attacked first, he had never learned the fine art of patience. There was no art to his thrust,
only brute strength, and Chien dodged it easily. Tuan did not allow himself to become dissuaded by that.
He attacked once more, and this time Chien brought his sword up to block. The force of Tuan's blow
threatened to cripple his arm.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Minh sneaking forward to make his attack while Chien
was distracted. He allowed himself to stumble back, enough that he was out of Minh's reach as well.
From there it became a dance of dodging Tuan's strikes, which became clumsier with each missed blow,
and avoiding Minh's attempts to catch him off guard. They truly did complement one another. Should
they have ever settled their differences they would have been a truly terrifying duo.
But Chien had not come this far to fail. This was his destiny. His throne. His empire. And if Minh
and Tuan did not intend to bow, then they had no choice but to fall.
All it took was one. One misstep by Minh in which he thrust his sword too close to his brother's
skin, the sharpened sword cutting easily through the fabric. Tuan howled and stumbled back, hand going
to his arm while he glared at his brother, "Are you attempting to kill me?"
"I missed. It was a mistake."
Chien stood back, dao at the ready rather than attempting to press his advantage. He could see
blood spill from between Tuan's fingers as he squabbled with his brother.
"I barely nicked you!" Minh cried. "You truly are a weakling. So much for the strong and mighty Tuan. I should have known it was nothing more than an act."
"A weakling? From a man who scarcely knows what to do with a sword? All you can do is sneak
behind others and steal their strength." The blood continued to flow, staining Tuan's golden robe. Chien could see that the Empress was beginning to grow angry, but no one had yet noticed. He could be
patient. He could wait.
"At least I do not cry when I receive a small cut on my arm. You're barely bleeding." Minh
gestured to his arm then paused. "Why are you still bleeding?"
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Tuan looked down as well, eyes widening as he took in the blood that covered his hand and
made its way down his sleeve. He moved his hand away from the wound, and the blood began to fall
freely down his sleeve. "What have you done?" He asked his brother in a fading, horrified voice.
"Nothing, I did nothing." But Minh could not help staring in fascination at the wound.
"Summon the shaman!" The Empress declared, standing from her throne.
Before she could make her way down the tiers however, Tuan had staggered backward, raising
his weapon with great effort. "You will not take the throne from me. Even in death." He thrust forward, but his arm was too weak to do much more than pierce Minh's skin.
"Tuan! Stop!" Tuan collapsed, every breath he took sending him into shudders of pain. He was
feeling it now. In the moment of death, the pain would be the worst. Every part of him clinging to life
while the poison slowly dragged him to the underworld. He had enough strength to shove his mother
away when she would have collapsed beside him and taken hold of him. "I am the strongest," he
gasped. "The most capable. I will not die here." His movements slowed and his statement faded into nothing.
Tears sat in the Empress's eyes as she stared at the body of her oldest son. The gasp of pain
from behind her made her turn, and she watched as Minh clutched at his chest, the front of his robe
soaked in blood. She mouthed the word 'No', but it never made it past her lips. Minh fell and she sat
frozen in horror.
Silence descended within the hall.
"Do you feel the depression weighing upon you until it seems there is nothing left but despair?"
Chien's words seemed a shout in the silence. "The horror that has gripped you now that you are all
alone? This is but a taste of what I have suffered these thirteen years." His sword drooped, and he
cradled his aching arm. Trying to block Tuan's blows had seriously injured it.
"What have you done?" His aunt's voice was hoarse with grief, her hands covered in the blood
of her sons.
"My mother screamed as she died. As that poison made its way through her system, she
screamed in pain. It seemed only right that I extend your sons the same courtesy you gave my mother."
"Everbloody." She brushed one last hand over Tuan's cheek before reaching for his weapon.
"You will die for what you've done here today. You will never take a hold of this throne. This Empire is mine. These people are mine!"
"Perhaps. But I will take joy in the fact that if nothing else, I will take you with me. Whether I
leave here or not, the Empire will never accept your rule. You are a failed Empress. You are not worthy
of the Throne of a Thousand Swords. Only the strong may take the throne and you have proven time
after time that you are anything but. This ends today." He tried to move his arm and hissed in pain.
"If my sons gave me nothing else, they gave me the power to end this." She flicked the sword, a hateful look on her face. "Thirteen years only to join your dear mother in the underworld. I gave her the opportunity, you know. To take her weak brood and return to her wasteland of a home. She refused.
Something about her child's destiny. I did feel bad about An. That was," she paused, "an accident."
An accident. He had seen the broken, bloodied lump they'd left of his sister. Rage blinded him,
but before he could step forward and take her head, an arm appeared in front of him, blocking him. "I will ask you once more, Empress. End this." Chien did not want this ended. He wanted her dead.
"She must die."
"You are injured. What hope do you think to have against her?"
The worst part of it was that Bao was right, but Chien could not stand down. His pride would not
allow him. His hatred would not allow him. "Why should I step down, General, when I have the
advantage?"
"Hasn't enough blood been spilled tonight?" His gaze flicked to her sons who still lay prone.
29 | Luxury of Vengeance
The Empress's gaze followed his. "Not nearly enough. By the time this night is over I shall see
this hall bathed in blood. All of you. I will kill all of you who stood aside while this—this traitor
slaughtered my children."
"Your children killed each other. The prince did not lay a hand upon them."
"Do not call him a prince! He is not a prince! He is the bastard of an iron my brother left to hang
about my neck, and I will be damned if I sit aside and watch as he takes my throne. The throne goes to
the strongest. The strongest here is me!"
"The Dragon has granted him his blessing."
"And look what good that has done. Look at the man your Dragon has sent you! Weak. Useless.
Just like his father. Just like his whore of a mother."
Chien hissed and stepped forward to find himself once again blocked by Bao. "If you insist on
this challenge then, I will accept in the prince's stead."
The Empress paused. "Barely ten minutes and already you have given your oath to another. I
planned to kill you one way or another today, General. The order hardly matters to me. Come, if you
think you can kill your Empress."
Bao pulled his sword and Chien grabbed desperately at his shoulder. "You cannot defeat her."
"No. I cannot." He shrugged free of Chien's grip. "But I will not watch you die while I stand helplessly aside."
"You think I could do the same? Stand aside while she kills you?" Beneath his hand, he could feel the tension in Bao's body. He practically vibrated with the urge to do something, to fix this. But this was not Bao's problem to fix. The problem was Chien's. "Have some faith in me."