Delivering My Love

Chapter 18

"Ten more minutes, Empress. We should be making landfall by then," the stout man announced. Daiyou kept her face blank. She watched a cargo ship drift away in the distance before responding.

"Notify me when that happens," she ordered, keeping her eyes straight ahead. The night wind was cool against her bare arms. It has been years since she last set foot in her homeland. Driven away as if she was nothing. She scoffed, but then composed herself.

That's fine. They'd eat their words soon enough.

But she didn't do this for them. Seeing her father's cabinet cower in fear when they find out she had brought an army she built by herself, two times the size of theirs', that was just a pleasant coincidence. The real victory was reclaiming her throne.

She had heard what her father had done. Ashamed of her actions, he had held a funeral for the daughter he had disowned. The empire wept and mourned the lovely young woman with black hair that flowed to her waist and a face that charmed her suitors. She smirked, fingering her chopped hair. She was never meant to be an empress in her own right, though no one cared about that but her.

"Poor girl. She didn't even get to marry and birth a son." Her knuckles threatened to split as she gripped the railing tightly. "She has a brother though, doesn't she? Maybe it was better this way." Yes indeed, maybe it was.

Because now, the only thing standing in her way was her brother. And she was stronger and more powerful than years spent locked away in Zhouguang could have made her. Her reconnaissance had resulted in little getting back to her. Dewei had been hidden away for years since she was banished, and if he moved, she had no way of finding out. Until now. She had been waiting for him to come of age, an emperor in his own right. Delighted to get the message that Dewei was being transported to the edge city of Hangshai, away from the impetrenable palace in Zhougang. Not impossible to take over, not with the knowledge she had from going up there. She was going for the heart of the empire anyways, but a victory at the beginning thrilled her. Taking out the only other living heir would surely crumble the nation.

Father, you made a mistake letting me live. A sneer crept onto her face, and she raised her arms to embrace the empire laid out in front of her. A light blazed in the distance, a tower that stood tall to signal boats entering the port.

A tear trailed down her face. She quickly wiped it away, tossing her head back. She had given everything she had for this day. She'll be damned if anyone stands in her way.

The coast came into view. A large summer palace loomed on the edge of the cliff, jagged rocks jutting up from below. They veered off to the side, headed for the docks. She could hear screams as they floated near the posts. Her men anchored her boat before lowering the plank for her. She smiled as she descended, relishing her first steps. Her gown trailed behind her, shimmering red that flared in the moonlight like fire.

She glanced behind her, admiring the hundreds of ships that accompanied her. Dewei didn't stand a chance.

She floated down the docks, her guards forming a ring around her as she made her way to the palace. A trail of bodies littered the ground, bloodied weapons beside them. Men ran about, shouting and yelling. Smoke clouded the courtyard, pouring from the first floor of the west wing. Her guards pressed closer to her, weapons raised as a rotund man wobbled over to her. He held a silk handkerchief to his mouth and coughed into it.

"My empress, we have taken control of the palace," he sputtered. She regarded the man, presumably a loyal servant. "And the other thing?" she inquired. He would understand if he was the traitor he claimed to be. The man coughed, his belly shaking with vigor. His beady eyes darted off to the side.

"Well, we—" he began, his hands shaking slightly. Daiyou clamped down on the fury that ignited inside her. She breathed slowly through her nose.

"Where is he?" she interrupted. Maybe they have him captive, that would be better than nothing.

The man squeezed his eyes shut and spat out, "He's gone. He took a ship and left."

Rage flooded through her. All the voices in her hands entangled, growing louder and louder. She opened her mouth, not seeing the man flinch, waiting to be reprimanded.

Instead she screamed, letting it all out until it was silent again. When she was done, she slipped a hand into the folds of her gown.

"Find him," she ordered her right hand. He bowed before retreating to the docks.

"We can still get him," the coward rambled, "he couldn't have gone far, we can—"

Squelch. Her fishtail blade slid smoothly into the man's fat neck, cutting through both arteries in his neck. She enjoyed watching the scarlet river douse her blade and spill onto her dress. It left a stain, mingling with the crimson of her gown.

She would wear the blood, the fuel to her inferno. So that everyone could see.