Chapter 118: Locket

Not even when she’d lost Ayden, not even when she’d been flung into this strange world, had she felt so lost, so desperate.

Samaya was sure that she had been looking for over an hour. But there was no trace of Manu anywhere. Every second that passed, her heart twisted further and further into itself as fear clawed at her gut. Her ears were ringing, her sight narrowed, her mind hyperfocused, and yet completely oblivious of her surroundings except for the search for her son.

She could not scream for him, no matter how much she wanted to. Not when she was supposed to be locked up in her own residence. She had checked every corridor, every courtyard, every nook of the garden where he liked to run. Nothing. Nothing but the rustling of her cloak against the Palace’s cold stone.

She could feel the rage behind the panic. If she did not find Manu, if something happened to him… she would die. But not before burning everything and everyone down. Not before finding out who was behind this and tearing them apart limb from limb. Whoever came after her son, she would kill their family in front of them and make. Them. Watch. The thought came unbidden, dark and savage, but she embraced it because it was the only thing strong enough to keep her moving when despair wanted to drag her to the ground.

Her spiral of destructive thoughts did not distract her from her mission. No, it was Ah-Liu who would find her at the Southern Gate, near the servants’ quarters. He always knew how to find her. He had somehow keyed into her “lack of energy”. She had no idea how it worked, but she was glad it did.

“Jiejie.” He called the moment he blurred into her line of sight, breathing quick but steady, eyes sharp. “They found him. They found the bard!”

Her breath caught, her chest tightening so sharply she nearly doubled over. She could not quite make out whether the stone on her heart lifted or pressed down harder at those words. Finding the bard meant possible clues as to where her son might be, but it was only possible clues. They did not find her son and there was no guarantee that they would find her son.

Her fingers curled into fists. The nails bit into her palms but she barely felt it. “Where is he?” she asked, her voice thin but steady, cold with the effort of holding herself together.

Without pause, Ah-Liu spoke. “They took him to the Imperial Study. I came to find you as soon as I found out.”

She frowned.

“I’m sorry, jiejie,” Ah-Liu said quickly, his voice tinged with unease. “The Shadow Guards were very alert. I did not wish to risk it by bringing him to you. And-”

She shook her head, interrupting him before he could explain further. “You did the right thing. Follow me, quietly, and stay outside the Study.”

No more words were wasted. She then took off, running at her highest speed in this world. She did not have qi, but those with lesser control over their qi could not keep up with her. She still did not know why she was faster in this world, why her body seemed sharpened to a blade here, but gods, was she glad to have this power. She moved like a shadow given form, her robes snapping behind her, her hair half-loose from the frantic search.

The corridors blurred, guards and servants scattering out of her way of the black shadow that flew past them. She was in front of the study within minutes, her heart hammering so loudly she could hear nothing else for a beat.

She could not hear anything from inside, a silencing talisman most ki. She could also hear the faint scrape of boots outside. Shadow Guards.

They stood like obsidian statues at either side of the door, hands resting lightly on the hilts of their weapons. Their eyes flicked toward her as she approached, but - strangely - they did not move to bar her way. She had expected resistance, orders not to let anyone in. Instead, they let her stride past without a word.

It made no sense. But she did not have the time or mind to give it more than half a second of thought. Her pulse drowned out everything else.

Samaya pushed the doors open with both hands, the heavy wood giving way with a deep groan. Without hesitation, she stepped inside, expecting to find a man bound and kneeling on the ground.

Instead, she found Han Qin and the Emperor speaking in hushed tones that ceased the moment she opened the door. They turned in tandem to look at her, their faces tense. 

“Where is he?” She asked without preamble.

“Did anyone see you?” The Emperor asked in return.

“Of course no-” she paused mid-sentence and then frowned. She’d been too frazzled, too occupied with looking for Manu to be sure.

“I do not know,” she admitted.

“You must be more careful, Lady Qing. Just because We have allowed you the freedom to do what you wish does not mean that you can be so brazen.”

A frown marred her face. The Emperor’s voice was colder than she had become used to these days. She absently registered the fact and then promptly decided to ignore it. They were both tense because of everything that had happened. It was not out of the ordinary for him to sound like this.

Suppressing the unease in her heart, she asked again, “Where is he?”

The two looked at each other before Han Qin turned to her. “He is in the dungeons. He won’t be speaking without some … help.”

Her feet turned before she knew what she was doing. Making people talk? That was right up her alley. She could make him squeal in a few hours at most. It would give her increasingly violent urges somewhere to go to.

“Stop.” Samaya froze mid-step at the command before turning around, a frown marring her face.

“We did not give you permission to leave, Lady Qing.”

There it was. The coldness. Something that had not been directed at her for quite a long time.

She exhaled harshly. “Your Majesty, if you have something to say to me, just say it. I do not have the time to be beating around the bush when my son - our son - could be in danger.  And neither do you.”

They exchanged another look.

“We found something on the man.”

It was the Emperor who spoke and, after a moment, he held up his hand, clenched in a fist. The fist opened partially and dropped a silver chain with a heart-shaped locket at the end.

Her stomach dropped.

She knew that locket, she knew how old it was, where it was brought, she knew that it could be opened, and inside… inside was her picture. She had a similar chain, buried deep beneath her belongings in the old chest she brought with her.

“I take it you recognize this.”

The shock on her face must have been visible from the goddamn moon.

She clenched her teeth, not answering. How did she not even think of this? How could it slip her mind? How could she not at least suspect that he might have had a hand in this? Was it because deep in her heart, her trust for him had never quite faded? Because she thought he would never hurt her?

Her naivety was astounding, even to herself.

“Han Qin.” The Emperor’s voice was harsher now. “Leave us alone.”

Han Qin - with only a moment of hesitation - bowed and left. Samaya did not even notice him glance at her with a strange mixture of concern and wariness, her eyes fixated on the thin chain.

Once Han Qin closed the door behind him, silence reigned between them. It was uncomfortable, suffocating. She could not breathe. Whether it was because of the thought of Ayden or the unreadable, hard expression the Emperor was wearing that was pulling her downwards in a spiral, she did not know.

She had given up. As ashamed as she was to admit it, she had given up on finding Ayden. The thought that he might be alive somewhere was not enough for her to abandon everything, abandon Manu, to go find him. And after she entered the Inner Palace, after she… sunk hopelessly into the pit of lust and desire that this man had opened up, she had given up completely.

Why did he have to come back now? Why did he have to come after Manu? Why did he have to leave behind something so incriminating? She was not stupid enough to think that this was an accident. He was far too good to leave something this obvious behind by mistake.

“Well?” The Emperor’s voice took her out of her thoughts. “Do you have anything to say to Us?”

Samaya hesitated.

“Need I remind you,” the Emperor’s voice was low as he slowly walked up to her, “that you once promised Us not to hide your past should it affect the Court? The Palace? And now-” he grabbed her arm in a grip that she was not sure she could get out of, “it is about our son. Your son, whom you were just ready to torture a man for.”

It was as if lightning struck her spine.

What the fuck was she doing? The Emperor was right. This fucked up situation and her feelings about it were utterly insignificant compared to Manu. Ayden had once again managed to wound her up so badly that she lost sight of her priorities for a moment.

She exhaled softly. “I know who took Manu.”

The man did not speak, but his grip did loosen slightly. She knew he was expecting more.

“The owner of that locket.” She paused before taking a deep breath and letting the words that seemed intent on being stuck in her throat. “My lover.”

The man’s response was immediate.

“The minstrel from Rayie.”

It was not a question, but a statement.

It seemed today was the day of giving Samaya shocks. She blinked.

“What?” He asked, a tinge of derision in his voice. “Did you think We did not see how you looked at him during his performance? How utterly entranced you were?”

Her breath hitched. She’d been hoping he had not noticed. Of course, he had. He somehow always managed to notice everything about her. From what she liked to when she was upset. Even Ayden had not been…

No, stop. You need to focus.

“Your Majesty, this is not the-”

“We waited for you to come to Us. Because We trusted that you would not betray Us, that you would not do anything that would harm Us. It seemed We were wrong.” His grip tightened again. Despite his face being his usual cold mask, Samaya could tell something ugly was brewing underneath. 

“Did you know? Did you know he would be coming? Did you plan this? To take the Prince-”

“Your Majesty!” She yelled. It was the first time she remembered raising her voice at the man after Rin’s death. “Have you gone mad? I would never, ever do anything to put my son in danger. If I wanted to take him away, I could have done so already. I do not need anyone to help me for that. Or did you forget the challenge I won when I first came to the Palace?”

The man stared at her for a long moment, not releasing his grip on her. Samaya did not attempt to extricate herself. Instead, she put a hand over his.

“Your Majesty, we can talk about this later. Right now, we need to find out where they took Manu. We need to make that man talk.”

The man stared at her for a moment before finally releasing her arm. She exhaled softly and was about to speak again when the man uttered the word - “No.”

She blinked. “What?”

The man gazed at her, steadfast and cold.

“You will not be doing anything, Lady Qing. We have Guards looking everywhere and the Brocade Guards will interrogate the man. You, Lady Qing, will stay in your courtyard.”

“You cannot do that-”

“We are the Emperor, Lady Qing. There is little We cannot do.”

She growled. Was he seriously pulling the Emperor card at this moment?

“You won’t be able to find them. He’s trained just like me; he will evade your guards and take Manu to who knows where!”

“And you will be able to find him instead?”

“Yes!” She said hotly. “Just give me an hour in that dungeon and I will! I know his patterns. I just need a fucking clue.”

“No.” He said simply. “You will not leave your residence. That is an order.”

Rage and desperation made all the sense of propriety she had gained in the Palace fly out the window.

“Oh fuck your order.”

She turned around to leave.

But before she could take more than half a step, she was lifted off the ground.

Her eyes widened as he looked up at the man.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

The man did not answer. Instead, her head spun once again, like the time that Shadow Guard transported her to the entertainment stalls. Before she could blink, she was inside her room, plopped on the bed.

She looked up at the man, wide-eyed.

“You are under house arrest as of now. You will not leave the residence. We have stationed both Shadow and Imperial Guards outside. Rest assured, We will find Our son and bring him back.”

“You-”

“Ya’er.” For the first time tonight, his voice was softer. It took her aback for a moment. He cupped her cheek. “I will not ask you what has happened. I will not ask you why he has come back. I will not ask you why there is a strangely lifelike painting of you in this locket. Not until I bring Ah-Xu back. And I will bring him back. Just … be good. Alright?”

His thumb caressed her cheek once before he turned on his heel and began to stride out the door.

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Author's Note: The Emperor is being an ass rn lol. His actions are the result of a mixture of reason and irrationality. I hope I was able to convey that!

Thanks for reading! Lemme know your thoughts in a comment below!