Yin left with one final parting shot. "Sometimes when you love someone, the safest thing to do is remove yourself when you become a danger to them. You may be capable of remaining professional, but that does not guarantee that Lord and Lady Ye can do the same." He'd paused on his way out the door, almost sad. "And they are exceedingly fond of you."
History was full of rulers whose hearts had led to their downfall.
His words left Mingzhe in turmoil. He loved Chenzhou and Eirian too much to let anything hurt them that he could prevent, but he'd also done nothing wrong. It was infuriating and frustrating to be told he needed to give up everything he and his ancestors had worked for simply because of rumors someone had maliciously started.
And it felt too much like admitting guilt. His stomach twisted, the pain sharp. The idea that people actually believed Mingzhe had let his own soldiers march to their deaths for no reason hurt more than he'd even thought possible.
Mingzhe loved the soldiers of the Camelia, took leading them seriously, and gave them the same trust and dedication they gave him.
He would never have sacrificed them pointlessly.
And now Lord Yin wanted him to step down. Would he retaliate if Mingzhe didn't? How many others agreed with him?
Was Lord Yin behind the rumors? It seemed out of character for everything Mingzhe knew about him, but so did this conversation. Lord Yin was famously removed from gossip, too easy-going to ever be bothered by things people said about him, and left out of much of the court nonsense as a result.
It was something Mingzhe had always admired about him, and it had left him low on Zhao Linlin's list of suspects for many things over the years. The Yins were a well-established family, and they would neither ascend nor decline during Lord Yin's leadership.
How nice to remain so steady no matter what you did, Mingzhe thought bitterly. Unsure if he should even tell Chenzhou and Eirian about this conversation. It would anger both of them, and now that Mingzhe thought about it, he couldn't stop thinking that either of them might do something that made it worse without realizing.
It might be time for Mingzhe to take a step back. Stop spending quite so much time with them. Fewer dinners, sleep in his own bed more nights than not. At least until Eirian found something solid in the investigation that Mingzhe could use to fight back against the rumors.
He sent a sparrow to summon Hikari. His old friend would have an idea of what to do. He'd been giving Mingzhe helpful advice since they were in training together, and he'd been by Mingzhe's side for the entirety of this short war. He knew just as much about the situation as Mingzhe, perhaps even more, since their soldiers would probably be more comfortable talking to him than Mingzhe himself.
Hikari also understood Mingzhe's position better than most. He was an oldest son himself, slated to take over the family once his mother was finally ready to let go. Not that either of them expected Lady Yang to be ready for that anytime soon. What little control Hikari and his father had, they'd wrested from her with great effort, and they'd only done it to help her. Worried about the effect it had on her health to be the only one carrying everything.
And Lady Yang was very close to Lord Yin.
Hikari would know what to do.
***
Vitali walked them out after the rest of her family said their goodbyes. "It's worth noting, too, that all the rumors started at the same time."
"After the ambush?"
"The day after, to be exact." She didn't look surprised when Eirian, Yuze, and Kia Low stopped in shock.
"The day after?" Yuze repeated, mind whirling.
"That's impossible." Kai Low pointed out. "I thought there were no survivors? That was why everyone was so angry."
"There weren't, and that's not the only reason they were angry." Yuze snapped.
"How did the word travel that fast?" Eirian didn't understand. There was no way. No survivors. The closest village was a day's ride. The closest friendly force was a day and a half away, and the Camelia was a week away from all of them.
There was no way anyone at the Camelia or in any of the other forces in the Borderlands could have known what happened that quickly.
"That we could not discover. Those we asked simply said that it was the first time someone told them about it. It was only a handful of people, all of them in our cavalry force."
So, one unit had learned days earlier than possible.
"Do you know who they were hearing it from?"
Vitali shook her head. "No one had names of any significance. Just soldiers of their own level that they happened to know."
"That's suspicious in itself," Yuze pointed out. Only a truly incompetent commander didn't know what his soldiers were gossiping about. Gossip was the most reliable source of information about the health of the army, because it was talk between soldiers with no fear of retribution or pressure. Things they would never say to their commanders came out in gossip, and more than one mutiny had been avoided because of good commanders paying attention when they needed to and not when they didn't.
"It lends credence to the idea that the rumors began with a single source." Kai Low agreed. Yuze glanced at him in surprise.
Kai Low ignored him, and Eirian could feel the chill in the air.
What had Yuze done to piss off Kai Low? They'd slept together just last night.
"It does." Yuze offered and was ignored.
Vitali bit her lip; she shared Eirian's amusement at the drama of others. "I will report anything else we learn, Lady Ye."
"Thank you." Eirian kept one eye on Yuze and Kai Low as she hugged Vitali goodbye. "Will you be staying in the Camelia for a while?"
Vitali nodded. "I'm taking over the training of our forces."
Eirian nodded, pleased. "We'll talk later."
Vitali nodded in understanding.
Eirian led the way out, ignoring the growing chill between Yuze and Kai Low.
~ tbc