It took several hours to handle the situation that called for Yuze to interupt his first breakfast with his new wife. A long running investigation into missing supplies had finally resulted in an arrest when the suspect was caught in the act.
The only hiccup had been the identity of the thief, the son and heir of General Yue, one of Chenzhou's highest-ranked commanders. His parents had not been pleased by the arrest, but they'd been less pleased when Chenzhou had laid out the evidence Yuze had gathered.
General Yue wasn't Chenzhou's biggest supporter, but as critical as he was of the current Lord Ye, he was more critical of his oldest son.
"Well, Yue Chang's life is over," Chenzhou muttered as he and Yuze left the Yue family to their outrage.
Yuze snorted, "He's a useless, spoiled brat. Maybe now his father will get through to him."
"Or crush him completely." Chenzhou wasn't any fonder of the Yue heir, but he was the result of an overly strict father and a dotting mother, and no one in the family seemed to want to take responsibility for their roles in one another's behavior.
It was times like this that Chenzhou was thankful he and Anna had never succeeded in having children. Only the gods knew how badly they'd raise a child when he barely had time to breathe, let alone be with his family. It had been hard enough to maintain a steady relationship with Anna. Even her patience wore thin when he was away for weeks at a time.
They stepped out into the morning light, and Chenzhou's guard fell back. Threats to him in the Camelia were limited to power-hungry rivals, of which there were only a few serious contenders.
"Your new wife seems…interesting." Yuze ventured. He'd been the sole voice against Chenzhou's plan, at least in the beginning. Chenzhou had worn him down eventually.
Or at least, his continually failing health did. Yuze had spent years looking for some kind of cure, sending his agents across the Empire and beyond to the other lands of Byd Seren, but they'd never found anything, and last year, when he'd come up with the plan to find a wife in the capital, he'd told Yuze to stop wasting resources.
If a cure existed for Chenzhou, it would have been found by now.
"She's definitely…something," Chenzhou's lips twitched against his will. "She is not what I was expecting." He admitted. It was amusing in a way, given that he'd been so specific in his search.
Yuze snorted, sending him a sideways glance.
"Her family lied to her."
Yuze leaned against the bridge wall, looking surprised. "About?"
"The marriage contract. She didn't know about the bride price. Or how long we'd been having negotiations." Chenzhou leaned against the wall next to him and looked out over the estate his family had served since the very first mixing of blood that had created the Ye's.
The Ye line was going to die with him now.
And he wasn't…
He wasn't really upset about it.
The importance of his bloodline had always hung over his head. His tutors always preached the importance of maintaining the line, teaching him about his illustrious ancestors and barely even mentioning the less illustrious ones.
Chenzhou had never known his parents, at least not enough to remember them now. Yuze had stopped speaking to his parents when he'd left to learn under his master, and Chenzhou would have done the same if he'd had Yuze's family.
"I think she will be good for the Camelia," Chenzhou admitted. "She has no home in the capital now. Her family has abandoned her."
"That sounds more like a recipe for revenge than salvation," Yuze muttered.
"She has power. You can feel it when her temper rises. The air around her turns to flame."
"Wonderful. She can burn the whole place down around her."
Chenzhou shook his head. "No. Life is born from fire. It illuminates the darkness. Chases away the chill. The Camelia has been cold for far too long."
"Fires can rage out of control in a heartbeat," Yuze warned.
Chenzhou scoffed, "How bad is it then, that I think that wouldn't be a bad thing?"
It was a sad thought, one of the many that kept him up at night. But Chenzhou could feel the rot and decay spreading throughout the estate like it was in his own blood. Several healers had even suggested that leaving the Camelia would improve his health, but Chenzhou could never leave. He was responsible for this place and every person in it and there was no one qualified to take over from him.
If there was, he wouldn't have needed to resort to a wife from the capital. He could just hand it off and go die in peace.
"She's beautiful, though," he mused and grinned at Yuze's raised eyebrow. "She's not as beautiful as Anna, but she is striking. I've never seen hair that color before."
Yuze turned thoughtful, "Strange eyes, though. When are you going to tell her about your…" He motioned to Chenzhou's heart. Yuze's theory was that all of Chenzhou's health problems were heart-related.
"When I'm dead."
"I'm sure she'll take that well."
"Won't be my concern."
"Unless she's powerful enough to bring you back."
That had definitely not occurred to him before now, and he gave Yuze a panicked look. "You don't think…"
"What's with that look?" A female voice made them both jump.
Chenzhou and Yuze turned.
Eirian stood there, robes and hair shifting in the afternoon wind.
~ tbc