Free Luxury of Vengeance by Isabella Carter Page A

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.
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    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."
    Chien could see that Bao wanted to ignore him, wanted to disregard his words, but Bao was
    smart enough to know he had little chance and religious enough to respect the idea that Chien just
    might have a god's favor.
    In the end, he stepped aside. Chien squeezed his arm then released him. "I will win."
    Bao did not respond verbally, but he looked over to Chien and there was a wealth of response in
    his eyes.
    His arm ached, but he could not fail, not here. Not now. The sword pulsed once more, and he
    could feel the warmth spreading through him again, the dragon's blessing making him forget about his
    aches and focus on the battle before him. The Empress did not wait for him to raise his weapon, she
    attacked and though his dodge was clumsy, he managed to move quick enough to avoid being caught by
    her sword.
    "When you die, you will be the last in a line of pathetic rulers loyal to an invisible ideal." They circled each other carefully, each looking for weakness in the other's stance. He attacked and she
    blocked.
    "Only cowards and fools feel the need to taunt their opponent once the battle has begun." She
    attacked and he blocked.
    "You will pay for those words." She attacked once more, a series of relentless strikes that he
    could barely defend himself against. Just when it seemed as if she might let up, she stabbed forward
    once more, this attack breaking through his defense to catch him on the arm.
    Chien made the