Chenzhou had a plan.
Well, he had an idea, and Yuze's arrival and everything that happened to him only added to his determination.
Yuze would hate it.
Eirian and Mingzhe would tie him to a chair and refuse to let him out of their sight if they knew what it was.
But somewhere between the crushing guilt of Beng Shai in his arms and the blood-chilling loneliness when he'd heard Yuze was injured and realized he might lose the last of his family and be truly alone, it had taken hold and refused to let go.
That wasn't true, Chenzhou knew that in the logical part of his mind, but there was no logic to be found when he saw Yuze so still and so bloody next to the wrapped body of the man he loved, even if he'd never been willing to admit it while Fox was alive.
That was when he made the decision.
He was going to end the fighting between Sorrow and the tribes. He was going to find a way to bring peace to the borderlands.
It was the only way to stop people from dying.
The only way to protect the people he cared about. There were some who thought they could do the same thing by completely destroying their enemies, but Chenzhou wasn't convinced that living with the fact that you helped wipe out an entire culture was actually protecting them.
Who wanted to take part in that level of destruction and have to carry that with them for the rest of their life?
No one deserved that.
Even if Chenzhou went down in history as a coward for refusing to continue the fighting, he was going to stop it.
He barely heard Eirian and Mingzhe talking above his head. Neither of them had strayed very far, always within arm's reach as Chenzhou watched over Yuze and gathered his thoughts.
He needed to act quickly. Eirian and Mingzhe were both ready and willing to push forward and cross swords with the tribes, and Chenzhou wanted to avoid the two of them being on the battlefield as much as possible.
"Do we know what the tribes are doing now?" He asked, voice raspy from crying.
"Heading north," Mingzhe responded gently. "Many of them have already reached the Bandri territory."
"They joined the Bandri?"
Eirian shook her head with a frown. "No, they're in individual camps, but it does seem that they are gathering for the Bandri."
"Another attack." Mingzhe guessed. He seemed tired, almost haggard. He hadn't spoken of his magic since he'd admitted to using it to travel. He was always so uncomfortable with the subject that Chenzhou didn't feel comfortable bringing it up. From what Eirian said, he didn't talk about it with her either, unless she brought it up first.
He'd also always been a bit of a pessimist, expecting the worst so he could always be prepared.
Eirian shrugged. "We need to send the scouts out again, or Yuze's spies, if we can contact any of them?" The security protocols surrounding Yuze's information network were designed to be impenetrable. Unfortunately, with Yuze, Snake, and Fox out of commission, there was no way for anyone outside the organization to contact anyone inside it. They'd have to wait until one of the other spies reached out to them, which hopefully wouldn't take long once word started to spread.
"Send the scouts out." Chenzhou decided. "Tell them to focus on the Bandri. Find out what they're doing."
Mingzhe nodded and stepped away, ducking outside to send a runner to notify the scouts.
Eirian frowned as she studied Chenzhou, and he was surprised to realize there was a level of suspicion in her gaze.
"What's wrong?" He asked, trying to divert her from whatever had put that look on her face.
"What are you thinking?" She asked instead of answering.
Chenzhou's eyes darted to Yuze's sleeping form. He looked younger when he was asleep, but who didn't? Free in your dreams in ways you never were when you were awake. "He's the last of my family." She already knew that, knew how close they were. "I don't want to lose him."
"You won't," Eirian said, confident and likely hoping to share some of it with him.
If only you could borrow things like that from other people. Chenzhou could have been a much stronger leader, and then someone wouldn't be trying to usurp his family's position.
"The healers have already said he'll be okay, it's just going to take time." Eirian continued, brushing a loose strand of his hair behind his ear absently. She looked at Yuze too, her features softening in sympathy.
But then her eyes slide back to him, and there was a hardness there that hadn't been there since her first weeks at the Camelia. "Why don't you answer my question?"
Chenzhou's gaze slid away. "I'm thinking about a lot of things." He hedged and then immediately felt guilty at the anger that flared in her eyes. "I'm thinking. I haven't made any decisions." He couldn't quite look her in the eye when he said it.
~ tbc