Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Deals, part 4

Nikola shook his head. Wei Caihong had asked for it, yes. Committed the worst crime of all: the crime of ignorance. Nikola remembered a time when he had been just like the noble.

Green to his gills, full of plans for the future.

Why?

Why had it not been enough for him to raise his children? Yes, the famine had been terrible, but if the Atlanteans had managed to survive on their own, back then, during the dawn of time, what would that have spelled for the world?

Would there have been wars, without the Watchers sharing their cursed knowledge?

Nikola resisted the urge to snort.

War was a human condition. A human sickness. Yes, animals battled each other as well. A colony of wasps could fell a beehive without a shred of remorse, without showing mercy.

Wasps did not salt the land afterward, Nikola could not help but think. Wasps did not lay curses on people who were trying to earn their freedom, this basic human right of theirs, which Nikola had ignored time and time again.

He placed a hand over his eyes.

What was wrong with him? Since when did his conscience that dust covered unused thing deep in his heart, which should have died eons ago, began to speak once more?

"My Emerald?" Wei Caihong asked next to him, lying a hand over Nikola's.

Something in Nikola snapped. Affronted that the noble was acting so, as if Nikola needed his gold to be put back together.

The former emperor opened his eyes, blinking when he saw that Wei Caihong was close enough to him to kiss. Their lips a breath away from each other.

Honesty had long since stopped being Nikola's forte. And yet, this time, he felt like trying to be honest. Not even knowing for whose sake he was doing this sacrifice.

"I prayed for the angels to come," the whisper bubbled out of him. A confession, which more than one tribal chieftain had wanted to hear of him, only for Nikola to fill their ear with poisoned honey. The admittance that the fault lay entirely on him had never escaped his lips before. "There was a famine going on. Not enough soil on an island, you see. So, I prayed on my knees in front of a blood-soaked totem. I thought that I was praying to my God, Tangra, but Penemue came instead."

Nikola sucked in a breath. Could imagine Penemue so, as he had been. Could still see the angel's golden aura, his lush black wings. Each feather a work of art.

"He was the most beautiful being I have ever seen. He still is, even after a millennium," Nikola closed his eyes. How does he describe perfection? He felt Wei Caihong's arms wrap around him. Oh, the poor fool… "Soft features, flowing curly black hair. Shining sapphire eyes. He takes the form of a two-meter-high man. On anyone else, it would have looked awful. But he pulled it off with grace."

A bitterness rose in him. He had forgotten so many things during the centuries. Names of grandchildren whom he had raised, names of friends, names of foes.

But the next words he uttered were etched in his heart, protected in his soul:

"Give me your heart and learn," Nikola closed his eyes. Give me your heart? Oh, he had. Yet Penemue had kept his own heart for himself. Nikola realized that now. And yet, he still wanted to hold the angel in his arms. Not even knowing why. "He told me, and I was in love from the first time I heard his melodic voice. Araqiel came and taught us all about how to manage the land properly. Many still died, my father among them. We survived the famine, and we entered an age of plenty. Everyone was so happy that even my rituals didn't disturb them."

"But they disturbed you?" Wei Caihong asked.

Nikola huffed, refusing to admit that the noble's whispered words were the naked truth. As ugly to the emperor as a defiled temple.

"You are like a dog with a bone, you know?"

"Woof," Wei Caihong's smile was contagious. Nikola giggled at that and exposed his neck to the noble. His mind trying to bring him out of his personal darkness.

"Drink here where no one can see. You can't remain in the palace. There are far too many people in here."

Cold hands were placed on Nikola's shoulders, and he shuddered.

"What do you propose?" Wei Caihong asked instead of drinking from his lover.

"You need to keep a low profile. Resign from being this village's magistrate. You are fallen from grace anyway. Come move in with me in my house. From the little I saw of it as I was buying it, there weren't any windows inside."

Nikola tried to tell himself that he was doing this for Penemue. That he was just trying to make sure that Wei Caihong would not be able to back off from their agreement.

As Wei Caihong's hands started to massage him, he knew that he was lost.

"You want me to move in with that steamed bun seller?" Wei Caihong asked in disbelief. Nikola lightly clapped him on the back.

"I have my own house. Do you know of the pawn shop owner? Trader Hua? I keep forgetting his first name…" Nikola trailed off.

The house was modest compared to the palace, but it could become a home. And no one would question why the fallen from grace noble didn't leave it. Too busy discussing the extravagances of his foreign host.

"I thought about buying it more than once for when I retire," there was approval in Wei Caihong's voice now. "But we will need to redecorate. I'll have some furniture from my estate in the capital brought here."

"I can buy everything you need!" Nikola protested.

What use was melting down his scepter if he had to wait on his lover to decorate their house? Then he stopped.

Their house?

This house was supposed to be his and Penemue's. But Wei Caihong truly couldn't stay here. And he couldn't keep his job. What was he going to do during an official visit? Bring the magistrates in the dungeon?

"Not from here, you can't. No one sells beds here. Or plush chairs. And if your discomfort with the pillow last evening was any indication, you miss such small comforts."

Why was Wei Caihong so considerate? Nikola blinked a couple of times. He could not understand what was going in this man's mind. And yet, he had to think about their safety.

"They scream Atlantis, especially in this land," Nikola warned. Wei Caihong simply smiled.

"Wei is a common last name, so you must not have noticed, but my family were the governors of all of China. I am a sympathizer of all things Atlantis, my Emerald," kissing Nikola on the forehead, a featherlight touch which confused Nikola further, he whispered. "And your most loyal servant."

The final piece of the puzzle clicked in place. Obviously, the angels wouldn't pick just anyone to influence. Wei Caihong must have known a little magic beforehand. He certainly had the talent for it. It didn't matter how careful Nikola had been about not letting magical knowledge slip into the provinces.

His more unruly grandchildren had always ended up trading morsels of knowledge with the governors and high-ranking nobles in exchange for influence in the region.

He always turned a blind eye to this. None of his blood tried to usurp him or hurt one another, and so he let it play out.

"Just feed already. The magic must have drained you," he felt a kiss to the neck and then sharp fangs inside his flesh. Nikola held back a moan.

Wei Caihong was no Penemue. Would never replace him. But as the man started to explore Nikola's body, his fangs deep inside of the former emperor's neck, Nikola closed his eyes, and lost himself to the feelings he could not understand.

He could not allow himself to admit to feeling…