“Youdarebringthisintomyhouse?”
Hisgriptightened。
Suyuanstruggledforbreath,butshestillmaolookdirectlyathim。
“Youcalleditahouse?”
TheKhanseyesburnedwithfury。
“Thisisyourmothersfault。She—”
“Dont。”
Hervoicewasstrained,butsuddenlysharp。
“Dontspeakabouther。”
TheKhantightenedhisgripagain。Suyuanshandscaughthiswrist。Forthefirsttime,thecalmexpressiondisappearedfromherface。
“Youhadyearstorememberher,”shesaid。“Youhadyearstoaskwhyshewassick。Yearstonoticethatshewasstarvinginacourtyardyouabandoned。”
Suyuanshoutedathim。
Butbeforehecouldsaymore,someonebehindhimcollapsed。
Heturnedinstinctively。
Anotherpersonhadfallen。
Thenanother。
Thehallhadbeealmostunreizable。Tableswereoverturned,cupslayscatteredacrossthefloor。Servantsranineverydirewhileguardsshoutedordersnobodycouldproperlyhear。TheKhanlookedbackatSuyuan。
Hisangerhadfinallybeenreplacedbysomethingelse。
Fear。
Suyuansawit。
Andforthefirsttimethatnight,shelaughed。
Itwasthesoundofsomeonewhohadcarriedawoundforsolongthateventuallyevenfearhadbeeaningless。
“Youreafraidnow?”
TheKhanstaredather。
Suyuanseyeswerecold。
“Sowasmymother。”
Hisgripslowlyloosened。
Suyuansteppedawayfromhim。
Aroundthem,thecelebrationhaddisappearedpletely。
Themusicwassilent。
Thelaughterwasgone。
Thebannersstillhungabovethem,butthehallnolongerlookedlikeaplacecelebratinganalliance。