Random One-Shots (By Silverskies)

## Betrayed

He found her sitting by the koi pond.

She looked serene. Tranquil. Her face was partially obscured the sheet of midnight hair that hung loose about her face, falling to her hips. Her handmaidens must’ve brushed it before she retired for bed, because it gleamed in the moonlight.

He found himself tempted to run his fingers through it. It looked so soft. So silky. So soothing.

*She* looked soft. Small and soft and sad. Even when she smiled, which was less and less these days, there was always a deep, inexplicable sadness in her eyes. A grief that had grown over the years, lingering around the edges of her smile and her laughter and her embrace.

“Lihua.”

She looked up at him, through her veil of hair, and smiled when she saw him standing there.

“Cato.”

He sat down next to her, careful to keep a foot or so of space between them. He couldn’t trust *anyone* to be that close these days. Not even Lihua. Kind, gentle, loyal Lihua who wouldn’t hurt a fly. Who wouldn’t *dream* of betraying him or keeping secrets from him or  stealing from him.

Or so he’d once thought.

As the memories of what she’d done flooded his mind, *r a g e* sparked through his veins. That white-hot, blinding rage that bubbled up from the darkest depths of his soul. The rage that threatened to make him lose control, let his composure slip. The rage that made all his honeyed promises choke in his throat and silvered words turn to ash in his mouth. The rage that was his birthright from his mother, that marked him as one of *h e r s.*

The rage that constantly simmered just below the surface, no matter how much he tried to convince himself it wasn’t there.

Lihua had always been able to sense when that rage started to seethe, and usually she was the cool, calming balm he needed to let lull the fire back below the surface. A brief touch, a whisper in his ear, a look. She was his counter, his foil. The still water to his flickering flames.

They’d been balanced. Bound together by the threads of Fate and bonds of holy matrimony. Able to communicate without words.

*Connected.*

He’d provided her with the companionship and guidance and patience she required to thrive, and she’d given him the support and love and devotion he needed. That was rightfully *his.*

She was *his* gift. *His* wife. A sign of favour from his mother to *him.*

And after all their years of perfect harmony, perfect *happiness* whenever they were together, she’d gone and destroyed their beautiful union.

His wife had betrayed him.

He only asked *two* things of her, in return for the charmed life he provided her with: Her absolute love and her absolute loyalty.

And after all these decades, she’d finally wavered in that blind, trusting love. In that steadfast loyalty.

*Lihua has betrayed me.*

“Cato?”

A small, soft hand on his shoulder. Soothing. Comforting. Loving.

*Lihua has betrayed me.*

“What’s wrong?”

*Lihua. Has. Betrayed. Me.*

Her touch roused the rage. Lightning crackled in his veins, crimson engulfed his vision. His magic sang in response to the rage. In his mind, in his blood, in his flesh, in his bones.

In his *s o u l.*

*Betrayed, betrayed, betrayed.*

The words sang in his mind, over and over and over again. His mother’s warning. His mother’s gift. His mother’s curse. His mother’s lesson.

He was nothing but fire and rage and *betrayed.*

*B e t r a y e d*

*B e t r a y e*

*B e t r a y*

*B e t r a*

*B e t r*

*B e t*

*B e*

*B*

*.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .*

*.   .   .   .   .   .   .*

*.  .   .   .   .   .*

*.   .   .   .   .*

*.   .   .   .*

*.   .   .*

*.   .*

*.*

He did not know what had happened. The rage had retreated, from a blaze to a simmer, back to just beneath the surface. His heart slowed. The blood no longer roared in his ears.

Blood.

*Blood.*

Why was there blood?

Blood on his hands. Blood on his clothes. Blood on his face. Blood in the water, staining the koi pond scarlet. Blood on Lihua’s white robe and white nightgown and moon-pale skin.

*Lihua.*

“Lihua?”

She did not answer. Not a word. Not a sigh. Not a sound.

She lay on the ground, still. Ever so still. In a pool of dark, dark blood. Her midnight hair fanned out around her face, a halo of darkness instead of a halo of light.

Blood.

*Blood. Blood. Blood.*

“Lihua?”

His voice is low, sharp. Strangled.

What has he done?

Desperation, fear, *p a n i c.*

*What has he done?*

A frantic scrabbling to check her heart, her breath. Does she breathe? Does her heart beat?

Silence.

Terrifying silence.

Yet…

*There.*

A faint, whisper-soft beat.

And yes, the slightest movement of her chest. The quietest breath on his cheek.

*She lives.*

“Lihua. *Lihua.*”

His words are a choked cry, a garbled sob. What has he *done?*

What has *she* done?

He gathers her up, holds her close, heedless of the *b l o o d* that stains him crimson. Marks him. *Condemns* him.

A kiss. To her forehead. To her cheeks. To her nose. To her jaw. To her lips.

*She lives.*

“Lihua. Lihua. Lihua.”

*My love.*

Yes. His love.

*His* love.

The one whom loves him, more than anything.

The one who *should* love him.

“My love.”

*My love, my love, my love.*

*His* love.

He knows that he should call for the physician, hand her over to be tended and healed and loved.

He will.

But she is *his* love. *His* devotion. *His* loyalty.

She knows this. Even in her betrayal, she knows this.

*Betrayed.*

He *is* betrayed. She *has* betrayed.

*Betrayed,*

*His love.*

*Rage.*

“Lihua.”

He will bring her to be healed, and he will forgive. She will *atone.*

But now, he will hold his love, stained with blood, and think of what she has done.

*Betrayed.*

Midnight-dark hair. Moon-pale skin. Rage-red blood.

*Betrayed.*

“Lihua.”

*Betrayed.*

“Lihua.”

*Betrayed.*

“Lihua.”

*Betrayed.*

*I am betrayed.*

*You have betrayed.*

*You* are *betrayed.*

*I* have *betrayed.*

*We are betrayed.*

*We have betrayed.*

“Lihua.”

*My love.*

*My betrayed love.*

*Betrayed. Betrayed. Betrayed.*

*We are betrayed.*

*All of us betrayed.*