Mingzhe felt like he was being pulled in a dozen different directions with such force that he could feel his muscles separating from his bones.
Hikari took off his cloak and hung it next to Mingzhe's by the door, then took a seat without even asking. It was something Mingzhe would never have cared about before, but now he was finding fault with every single thing Hikari did.
That had to be normal after such a betrayal. Mingzhe had no idea. Before Hikari, he'd never been betrayed to such a degree.
There'd never been anyone outside his family that he cared about enough to feel it this deeply.
"Will you sit down so we can talk?" Hikari asked and had the nerve to look hurt and pleading.
It took everything Mingzhe had not to draw his sword and run through his oldest friend.
He took a measured breath and then took the seat next to him. Hikari's smile of relief was blindingly bright and completely unjustified given Mingzhe's thoughts.
"Did you come here just to rub it in?" Mingzhe asked, unable to keep the hurt out of his voice.
"No! Of course not." Hikari reached over and squeezed Mingzhe's arm. It was a strangely intimate touch now that they were enemies. "I swear, Mingzhe, it was an accident. I wanted…" He trailed off, bit his lip. "I've wanted to talk to you about this for so long."
Mingzhe stared at him in surprise. "What?"
"You didn't think so?" Hikari shook his head. "You are my brother in all but blood. When my mother first told me about this, you were the first I wanted to talk to about it."
Mingzhe leaned forward, tried to corral his thoughts. "Then why didn't you? How old were you?"
"I was only fifteen. It's the family way. No one really gets involved in family business until before that age." Hikari shrugged. The way was simply the way for most noble families, regardless of the reasoning behind them. "When my mother told me, I didn't believe her at first. I didn't have much experience with anything outside the family walls. Do you remember when I first came to training?"
"Of course." Hikari had made an ass out of himself trying to tell his peers what to do and gotten his ass kicked as a result. Mingzhe had stepped in and stopped the rest of their peers before they did any lasting damage. And then he'd spent weeks explaining the real world to the sheltered heir. That was where their friendship had started, and it was only because of Mingzhe that Hikari was able to make friends and graduate with their cohort instead of being held back based on an inability to work with others.
At the time, Mingzhe had been incredibly proud of himself. His family had been proud, too.
He doubted they'd feel the same now.
"My family is…insular. To say the least, but I grew up learning the Yang family tenets. Protect. Defend. Destroy. Protect the innocent. Defend the land. Destroy the enemy."
Mingzhe is very aware of the Yang family motto. They live and die by it. "How did I become the enemy?"
"You're not." Hikari struggled to find the words to explain properly. "It's not you. You just got caught in the middle. It's the Ye's that are the problem, Mingzhe. They're dangerous for the Camelia, for the Crimson Army. Haven't you noticed how many of us have died under their command? How far the Camelia has fallen from the greatness it once held? The Kings of Sorrow used to brag about us. They used to visit constantly. Now it's been over a hundred years since the last one set foot inside our walls. Even Princess Soliel didn't come because she thought we were worth celebrating."
"All estates have their highs and lows, Hikari. Not even the Ye's can be blamed for everything single thing that has happened here."
Hikari's expression hardened, and for the first time, Mingzhe saw Hikari's mother in him. "Perhaps not everything, but enough of it that they can't be allowed to continue. You had seen it, I know you have, Mingzhe. Lord Ye is weak. Sick. He would be dead by now if Princess Soliel hadn't arrived."
"Perhaps that was a sign," Mingzhe argued, but it did nothing to move Hikari.
"It was luck, and it won't hold. The Ye's will be the death of this place. My family took an oath to protect these walls, and we cannot turn a blind eye to what is happening any longer."
Any longer? Mingzhe wondered. It was likely the Yang's fault through the miasma that the Camelia had been so miserable for so long.
"The Ye's have been failures since they took over the Camelia."
Mingzhe gaped. "That was during the Age of Warfare. Even the Histories of that time are recollections, not factual recordings."
"And yet, they do nothing but illustrate the many ways the Yes are not fit to lead the Camelia." Hikari's voice was firm, absolute.
Whatever methods of conviction Lady Yang and her family used were clearly strong. Hikari had never struck Mingzhe as gullible or easy to manipulate before, but there wasn't a single hint of doubt in his voice.
"We barely won the previous war, and this conflict with Beng Shai has cost us thirty thousand soldiers. Our people." Hikari shook his head. "Lord Ye may be kind, but he is not fit to lead the Camelia or the Crimson Army."
"He established peace with the tribes. People will write odes to him one day." Mingzhe argued, but he kept his tone deliberately light. He would follow Chenzhou to the ends of the earth, but it was clear that letting Hikari know that served no useful purpose.
"That peace will only last a turn of the seasons. The tribes have a short memory. They will forget what it cost, and we will be back at war. Lord Ye is too soft, and that softness will be the death of us all."
Mingzhe leaned back, away. Hikari had a zealot's gleam in his eye. "Why are you telling me this?"
Hikari reached and grabbed his hand. His grip was a vice Mingzhe would have to fight to get free of. "Because I want you to join us, Mingzhe. You are the only one I know who is as dedicated to the Camelia as we are."
~ tbc