Drakkon

Chapter Sixteen

I had been sitting on the window sill of Meilin's room, staring off at the rain thundering outside. I couldn't dispel the gruesome replays of that man's death and no matter how much I debated whether or not what Meilin did was something anyone with military authority would do, I couldn't come up with a way to justify his actions, no matter how justifiable they seemed in the face of war. Meilin hadn't entered the room at all, either because he knew I didn't want to be near him at this time, or because he was too busy to give me any thought.

Suddenly, there was a knocking on my door. I bristled and stiffly glanced over my shoulder to see that Commander Bohai had entered the room. He was frowning and he had a somewhat sheepish expression on his face. "Lady Daiyu, I—" He swallowed and rubbed the nape of his neck. "How are you feeling?"

I stared down at my clasped hands. "F-Fine."

"You weren't supposed to see that—any of that." He sighed loudly. "Meilin didn't want you to see him kill someone."

His words hit my chest and I trembled. "I'm terrified of him."

"He knows that," Bohai said with another dragged out sigh. "Listen, Lady Daiyu, anyone would deal with a traitor in that manner."

I nodded.

"You're a good judge of character, aren't you? I know there's mostly darkness in Meilin, but can't you see the small light in him?"

When I didn't speak, he sighed once more.

"Goodnight, Lady Daiyu."

I continued to stare out the window even after he left. I couldn't stop shivering and thinking back to that interaction. I had never seen someone die right before my eyes, so I could only imagine what it would be like to kill someone. Still, it was war and it was justifiable, right?

Squeezing my eyes shut, I knew that murdering someone couldn't be justifiable.

At least, at the moment I felt like it was. Then again, Atreus had killed all those people to protect me; did that make Atreus's actions justifiable? Wasn't I being hypocritical in thinking that the people Atreus killed in my favor were bad and therefore easily killed off, but Meilin's actions weren't because they had nothing to do with me?

Even as I tried to justify Meilin's actions, I couldn't stop from fearing him further. No matter what scenario or thoughts I came up with—even a few shedding light on Meilin—I couldn't stop from trembling as his dark eyes came to mind.

He is the way he is from the life he's lived, and I think you need to understand his life in order for you to feel more comfortable around him.

Atreus's words came to me and right when I was about to ponder on what to do, the door swung open and Meilin strolled inside. His dark eyes were cloudy and I couldn't read what he was thinking as he stood in the doorway. After a moment of staring at me, he shut the door behind him and loosened the collar of his shirt.

"You shouldn't look too petrified," he said with a frown. Unhooking his swords and daggers, he placed them on his desk before slipping out of his boots. Stretching his arms, he watched me with the corner of his eyes. "I'm going to sleep. You can either join me, sleep on the desk, or do whatever you please."

Before I could answer, he shrugged off his shirt and tossed it on his desk. He was about to go to bed but then I saw black markings on his hipbone, reaching down and disappearing below his pants. I could barely see what it was, since only the tip of it was visible. He noticed me watching and smiled wryly. "Interested in my body?"