An Abundance of Blood
Requiem of the Moth #9
(Spoiler-y) Content warning1
The next evening, Noe Vylira makes to leave her office only to find a crumpled piece of parchment on the doorstep. She starts unwrapping it but as soon as she glimpses the first words, she retreats into her office and slams the door.
When she smooths the parchment on her desk, something falls out and crumbs all over her ledgers: a dried-up hibiscus flower. Hissing through her teeth, she scans the message. Then she stuffs it into her sleeve and leaves the office at a run.
"Mistress?" Yvara calls after her but Vylira doesn't hear. She hopes she isn't too late.
Yun is annoyed with himself for not daring to glance at Usira. They've been waiting, drinking weak tea, for what feels like an eternity. He's only doing what he does best, only this time it feels different because he will be present. The only one who cares.
If the moth catcher can't leave him alone, Yun has to drive him away—two bats with one stone.
In the dim light, the black-haired, black-robed priest by the door is little more than a shadow but Yun catches him shifting his weight. They are in the Black Room, a neutral space provided by the Temple of the Deep. Both negotiating parties are supposed to kneel down by the pool of diluted blood in the center and drink a few drops from the same silver cup, to show their willingness to work together. Instead, he and Usira lounge by the ember-filled brazier in the corner, drinking temple tea.
He debates calling for a fresh pot when a chime sounds. "Both parties have arrived. Let this meeting be blessed by the—"
Vy shoulders past the priest at the door, making straight for Yun and shoving a crumpled piece of parchment into his face. "I will shower you with deadly nightshade if you don't come and face me yourself? Yun, I value our friendship so I have to ask: Is this a joke?"
As planned, Usira has slipped between the black silk curtains that block out even the blue-green light from the walls. He will listen and bear witness. He will also judge everything Yun does and says for himself.
Slowly, Yun stands and grins. "I never joke about politics."
Vy throws her hands up. The parchment sails to the floor. "Would you stop being cryptic and explain what is so lethally serious?"
"Oh, I forget you missed the action. As I left the Trade Fair last night, I was stabbed on the steps of An Don's mansion. The perpetrator escaped but left a little souvenir in my pocket. Who would have hibiscus flowers to spare but you, dear cousin?"
Vy blinks. "You… you think I would kill you?"
Yun feels the grin morphing into something sharp, dangerous on his lips. "You tell me."
Vy jumps, looking around as if noticing the blood pool, the curtains, the priest for the first time. "You would accuse me here, of all places? Think, Yun, be smart. I'm your only ally! Why—"
"I'll tell you why," he hisses, cutting her off. "Because you see me as a threat. Because the treasury isn't enough for you, you want it all. Be smart? If I were smart, I would've figured it out sooner. We're too much alike to be allies, we both want it all. Oh, the fun we would've had! Pity you underestimated me."
Vy throws her arms in the air. "Fine. Yes, I was trying to eliminate you as competition. The others are sun-sick fools to not see it but then again, they don't hunger for power like we do, right? I admit, I was offering to be your advocate to lull you into a false sense of security. I was not expecting it to work too much. Murder, though?" She pauses. "There is banishment, exile. More elegant, less risky."
Yun scoffs. Step by step, he's herding Vy back into the middle of the room. "Elegant? Assassination would've been elegant too, I suppose, if I had actually died like a good little victim."
Vy glances at the priest by the door. "Is this not against your temple rules?"
The priest shrugs. "The Deep smiles upon any and all discussion taking place in this room. Anything short of bodily violence is of no concern to us."
Vy whirls. "Zakiva will hear of this."
Yun kneels by the pool and fills the tea cup before offering it to her. "By the time Zakiva hears of this, it'll be too late. Consider yourself lucky that I'm feeling lenient today. Promise that you will not lift a finger against me as long as you live. We'll drink to our renewed friendship."
"I don't have to listen to this." Vy strides to the door and throws it open before the priest can. "Yvara, we are going. Yvara?"
Dangling the cup from his hand, Yun watches as she stomps back. Dark liquid sloshes to the floor, splattering their white boots, when she shakes him. "What have you done to her?"
"Me? How ridiculous of you to suggest I would've dirtied my own hands. Like you said, we're alike. The only difference is", he leans back, shoving the cup into her face, "you gave away your weakness."
"Where is Yvara?" Vy hisses, shaking him again. Diluted blood drenches both their sleeves.
Part of Yun is working out how to appease the priests after spilling their sacred elixir, the other part delights in the heresy of it all. "Drink, and you shall find out," he whispers against her cheek. Up close, Vylira is soft and whole all over—unlike him. Not so surprising that she'd care for a servant, of all people.
"If there's a tiny scratch on her…"
"Yes, yes, I'll regret ever being born into our noble clan," he drawls and gestures to the priest by the brazier who comes forward with a portable writing case. He places it on the cushioned ledge of the pool and takes out parchment and quill before replacing the metal lid.
As Vy reads the contract, her lips grow thinner and paler with every line. "This… This requires approval of the clan elders. The others would never…"
"Lisith and Shuli support me, the rest will follow. I told you, I could claim an eye for an eye but I'm feeling lenient. You should be thankful."
Vy's hand is shaking—he wonders if from wrath or fear—, crinkling the edge of the parchment. "I did not give orders to have you assassinated!"
"Careful." Yun pries the contract out of her fingers. "You know," he says while examining the quill's nib, "I could've appealed to the law like a good official. The documents I filched from your desk," he continues, ignoring her cry of outrage, "clearly state that you stole money from clan coffers to use for your own purposes."
"Do you also know which purposes those are, oh honourable Vessi?"
"I don't need to," he says, handing her the quill. "All I need is you signing over your title as treasurer and your promise not to harm me. I'll even allow you to leave the capital in one piece as a sign of good will."
"You can't," Vy points out with a glance at the priest but her voice is trembling. She has lost and they both know it. While signing and sipping from the cup, she stares straight ahead. Her thoughts might have wandered far off to protect her mind, the prisoner's last bastion, or she might be plotting her retaliation.
It doesn't matter. Yun has thought this through, contemplated his wording, weighed his supporters against hers, foreseen any possible loopholes. When she returns the cup, he lifts it with both hands and drinks deeply. Not another drop spilled.
"Thank you most kindly," he purrs when she's finished and slips the contract into his sleeve.
Vy still avoids his gaze. When she is gone, the priests close the door behind them, leaving Yun to the fragrant dark.
"That was unexpected."
He shrugs as Usira emerges from his hiding place behind the curtains. "I needed a witness."
"She hasn't confessed though. And aren't witnesses supposed to be impartial?"
"Aren't you?"
In response, Usira strides up and crushes his mouth against Yun's. There's a muffled "mmph" although neither of them knows or cares who it came from. After the initial shock, Yun leans back a fraction to soften the assault. Flavoured by the lingering taste of blood, Usira's lips are delicious.
When Usira cups his cheeks, however, Yun swats his hands away and slips his tongue into the other man's mouth. It's hot distraction: to keep Usira away from his less-than-perfect skin and to keep his own thoughts from what might be happening out on the streets this instant.
What Usira will never forgive him when he finds out. What will finally tear them apart, restoring the order of things because they were never supposed to be this close in the first place. The Noe and the commoner? A joke if I ever heard one. No, they have to get this is out of their system once and for all. Usira will go back to his moth catching, Yun will go back to his office, his scheming. Everything will be fine.
Moaning, he drags Usira by his braid—down, down, down until they're on the floor, together.
Yvara is waiting for her on the temple steps, flanked by Yun's creepy puppet twins. Vy sighs with relief and squeezes her shoulders even though she would've preferred crushing Yvara to her chest and never letting go. "Are you alright?"
Yvara nods. The puppets watch them leave with unblinking eyes.
The black-cloaked silhouette finds them in a crowded lane. People knock over food carts and tear silk hems as they flee. Before the assassin shrinks back into the city, they present Vy with a dried hibiscus flower. It sails to the ground that is slick with blood around her feet.
Author Notes
Poor priests, all they do in this chapter is get shoved around… Religion and the Temple of the Deep is something I've given a lot of thought because I once wrote a 17,000 word story about a former priest who is forced to marry the leader of clan Yeshen. The priesthood could be described by Garth Nix' Sabriel meets the dance scene from House of Flying Daggers: Their services are characterized by elaborate bell dances. Their other defining feature is that they regularly drink diluted, lightly spiced blood to further honour their deity. What sort of blood? That's for you to imagine… I'd love to showcase more of this sinister religion in the future!
Anyway, how are Yun and Usira holding up in your opinion? Did they catch the culprit or was Vy telling the truth about not ordering Yun's assassination? In many ways, Yun has been the most tame, vanilla version of himself around Usira but that's over now. Usira will need to figure out how to deal with that going forward. For now, he's just having intense feelings that all feed into his attraction to Yun. (To be honest, I'd love to write some x-rated scenes with these two…)
I hope you can tell there are only one or two chapters left in this first instalment of Requiem of the Moth. I've learned a lot about the shape of a serial so I'm looking forward to finishing this up while leaving some breadcrumbs to pick back up for the second instalment.
Blood drinking, lots of blood in general, blackmail, murder, strong hints at sexual intimacy