My lip is bleeding.

My eyes are wetting.

My body is shaking.

The guards that hold my bound arms pretend not to notice as my teeth sink deeper into my already red lip. They look away as tears openly trace down my cheeks, and they don't comment as I tremble with fear as I watch the scene before me.

I fear not for my life.

But for his life.

Sima Yi's life.

How can he kneel there without even a trace of fear?

As I look down from the top of the stairs where I await the same fate, I cannot believe how calm my lord looks. As confident and cool as ever.

Does he not see that this is the end? That there is no where else to go and no means of escape?

We've hit rock bottom.

A dead end.

I curse the birds that sing as Cao Pi paces before Sima Yi, who raises his head as Cao Pi passes him. I lean forward as Sima Yi began to speak in an almost amused voice.

"So my path ends here... does it?"

Cao Pi stops behind Sima Yi, sword clutched tightly in his right hand. Sima Yi bows his head, exposing the back of his neck as if giving the Lord of Wei a clear target.

I want so badly to cry out, to save him as Cao Pi raises his sword high above my beloved's head.

As the sword swishes down I look away, my eyes snapping shut, and a small, jagged gasp sounds from my lips.

I dare not open my eyes as silence fills the air. I fear if I open them, I would see Sima Yi's head rolling along the ground, a mob of beautiful brown hair, hatless and dead.

But, as the silence stretches on abnormally long, I peek my eyes open to see that the appearance of my lord has not changed. Not a single hair had been cut from his head, or even a small tear made in his clothing.

But then I notice what has changed.

His bonds are cut.

As I lift my head, my tears frozen on my cheeks, Cao Pi begins to speak, "Sima Yi, I told you before. The world that my father saw and one that I sought for myself, requires one of ability."

With those last words, Cao Pi steps away from my Sima Yi, who raises his hands to study them. The restored Lord of Wei begins to climb the stairs toward his palace, nodding at the guards that hold me to let me go.

The moment my bonds are cut, I race forward, meeting Cao Pi's gaze for barely a second before I pass him and reach the bottom of the stairs.

I drop to my knees beside Sima Yi, one hand on his shoulder and the other steadying myself.

The former, and now reinstated, strategist of Wei has a scowl, darker than any other I have ever seen him wear, upon his face. I feel my heart jerk as I look into those eyes that look beyond murderous.

"Curse you," he growls, barely moving his head so he could see behind him, "you Caos are... mere fools."

"My lord Sima Yi?" I whisper, and his eyes snap to me, a cold fire blazing within them. I shudder and nervously let my hand drop from his shoulder. He rises, and I jump up beside him as he faces the retreating back of Cao Pi, who has just crossed the threshold of his palace.

"We have not given up, my lord?" I ask, my voice soft. He laughs, high and cold, before he looks back at me, an evil grin spreading across his lips. He raises a hand and wipes away a tear that still linger on my face, "Do not fret my butterfly, I have vowed to grasp this land. And so I shall. For that fool to have left me alive... he will regret it-"

That's when I kick him, hard.

His hiss of pain is covered by a cough as he reaches down to touch his now throbbing shin.

"What are you doing?!" he asks as he steps neatly out of the way of my second kick.

I scowl and cross my arms, "Did you know all along he wasn't going to kill you?"

"I saw it as a possibility, but I wasn't positive," Sima Yi mutters, catching my fist as I attempt to slam it into his chest.

"Then why didn't you tell me there was a chance of you surviving!?" I demand, "I thought he was going to kill you!"

"If I told you," Sima Yi chuckles, pulling me to him in a embrace that keeps my arms pined to my side to prevent anymore damage to him, "I wouldn't get to see those lovely and rare tears of yours."

"Sadist. Don't think I'll forgive you easily," I growl against his chest. He chuckles and brushes a kiss across my forehead, "That's unfortunate. I don't like planing peoples' demises alone."

"That's too bad."

"I didn't want to give you false hope," Sima Yi pulls back, "I didn't want to tell you I would live only to have you see me killed right in front of you."

I reach up my hands and wipe away the last of the tears on my face before I allow a small smile to break across my face.

He smirks.

He knew I would cave before I ever enforced any ignoring or stubborn attitude.

This is one feature...

...That I really hate about him.