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"I don\'t think so," Kel insisted belligerently, lingering along the wall.

With a huff, the emperor stood up and thundered toward her. When he reached her, he grabbed ahold of her shoulders and began pushing her back to the center of the room. Towers of boxes came tumbling down and papers flew through the air as he used Kel as a bulldozer, but the emperor didn\'t seem to care.

"Sit! That\'s an order!" he demanded, forcing her toward the chair he\'d indicated earlier.

"Or what?" Kel retorted. "You\'ll order your guards out there to slash me with amatoxin-laced weapons?"

"Ha." The emperor snorted. "Is that what all this is about?"

"By \'that\' do you mean the wrongful death of my companion?" Kel snapped, shrugging his hands off.

With a sigh, the emperor stepped back.

"I\'ve already apologized," he hissed, rubbing his forehead. "I told you, I didn\'t mean for that to happen."

The rage that had receded was awakened inside Kel once again.

"Right, and your way of apologizing is allowing me to deal the final blow to him myself?" Kel growled. "How considerate of you!"

"If not for that, he\'d still be rotting away as we speak!" the emperor raised his voice. "What more could I have done?"

"It\'s easy enough to say that when you weren\'t the one suffering!" Kel yelled. Her anger was bubbling through her body like boiling water.

It was hot.

So hot that she eagerly let it all blast out of her mouth in exchange for momentary relief from the heat.

"What should I say then?!" the emperor fired back.

"Why don\'t you start with the truth," Kel replied bitterly. "Instead of your worthless excuses."

"I told you the truth," the emperor remarked, lowering his hand until his flaming eyes were visible between his fingers. "It was an unfortunate accident."

"If it was such an \'accident\'," Kel seethed, "why were those soldiers equipped with dangerous poison-tipped weapons in the first place?"

The emperor stared at her rigidly as if carefully planning his response.

"And why did they stab him on sight!?" Kel continued without giving the man a chance to reply.

Exhaling softly, the emperor finally opened his mouth.

"I\'m sure you know by now that I have a lot of enemies, even in my own kingdom," he explained. "If I didn\'t take every precaution, even those you deem excessive, I wouldn\'t be alive right now."

What a lie.

Kel had seen the way he treated those men after seeing the deeds they had committed. If they were just doing their job, why was he so livid? Why had it looked like he was trying to silence them?

"So why did you ruthlessly execute those faithful servants doing their best to protect you?" she accused.

"What do you want from me!!" the emperor suddenly roared.

"I told you! I just want the truth!" Kel matched the emperor\'s volume. "My friend was killed by your men whom you slaughtered yourself afterward. And now you tell me they were just doing their job?"

Without responding, the emperor yanked a dagger out from underneath his tunic and threw it onto the table next to him.

"Take it," he ordered, pointing to the unsheathed knife. "It\'s not amatoxin, but I assure you it\'ll do a good enough job."

"... What are you saying?" Kel grimaced at the glinting blade teetering on the edge of the table.

With slow movements, the emperor bent and grabbed the short handle of the knife. Extending the hilt to Kel, he stepped closer.

"I can kill dozens with a single blow of my sword," he said quietly, calmly closing the distance between them, "but I can\'t resurrect a single soul. Not even myself."

Kel\'s palms moistened as he worked the knife\'s hilt into her stiffened fingers.

"Try me."

"N-no!" She called, trying to drop the dagger. The emperor\'s fingers curled tightly around her own made it impossible to let go.

Raising the blade\'s tip to his chest, the emperor went on in a terrifyingly placid voice. "This was your plan, though, wasn\'t it? Go ahead."

"I.. I.." Kel stammered, fighting to gain control of the dagger.

"I said, go ahead." The emperor frowned. "Stab me, and…"

He trailed off, brushing the fingertips of his other hand along the neckline of Kel\'s dress. He circled down across her chest and back up to her opposite shoulder.

".. and leave this here," he finished, reaching underneath the edge of her dress to grasp the thin chain hanging there.

With one swift tug, he snapped the chain, sending the red pearl clattering to the floor.

Kel swallowed. Her entire body was sweating, and her heart felt like it was on fire.

"Stop," she whimpered.

The Dragon Emperor leaned forward. Kel could feel his flesh bow beneath the knife. If he came any closer, his skin would give way, allowing the blade\'s tip to lodge itself in the left side of his chest.

"This is what you wanted," he whispered. "Can\'t you do it?"

"I…" Kel winced at the burning sensation engulfing her entire being.

This had been exactly what she wanted.

She\'d pictured herself here at least a dozen times while drawing up her plot.

In all her preparation, however, she\'d never once tried to imagine the emperor\'s face. She hadn\'t thought of his brilliant red irises, piercing her own tear-filled eyes. Or his lips, hardened into a perfect line, refusing to reveal his emotions.

Her biggest mistake by far, though, was overlooking the hellish fire burning every inch of her veins as she stood shaking with a venomous blade pressed against the Dragon Emperor\'s heart.

"I can\'t!!" she finally screamed, dropping the knife as the emperor loosened his grip.

She fell backward, crashing into the chair behind her. Panting, she watched the emperor pick up the dagger and tuck it back into its sheath.

".. Then what is it?" he pleaded, falling to his knees. "What will make you happy with me? To never kill again? To get rid of all my guards and allow myself to be assassinated?"

Kel\'s breathing only got shakier as she witnessed the pathetic display. By the time she could think of an answer, she was choking on the embers in her throat.

The pitiful man stared at her with a tortured expression. "What is it you want?"

".. H-hurts," Kel coughed.

The emperor\'s eyebrows knitted together in confusion, but soon sprung to his forehead in surprise as the flames in Kel\'s body finally overtook her consciousness.