Author's Note: I apologize for the lateness in updating. I won't give any excuses, but I hope you'll still continue to support me as you all so graciously have :)

Dynasty Warriors: Allegiance

Chapter 6

The filtered light through the canvas barely illuminated the tent, but this didn't seem to bother Sima Yi as he walked casually through the flap without a backward glance, assuming that Jiang Wei was following. The boy paused; confused why he was being allowed straight into the commander's quarters with the closest guards several feet away. He may have appeared unarmed, but even so, the older strategist's over confidence was so great, it was fairly unnerving.

Po-yueh entered slowly, stopping at the very edge of the doorway a bit awkwardly as he leaned his weight on his left leg and glanced around expectantly for any sign of danger. By this time, the Wei commander had lit a lamp, allowing the warm fire to keep back the invading darkness of evening, as well as bring the confines of the tent more clearly into view—which rather surprisingly didn't include lurking soldiers ready to kill the Shu officer. In fact, the interior was surprisingly simple, even for an army tent, and the only object that seemed to have been placed with much thought was the desk covered in scrolls by the corner. The sight reminded Wei rather painfully of his master.

Sima Yi sat himself calmly by the table and rounded on Jiang Wei, studying him languidly without speaking. The boy forced himself not to fidget, despite feeling as if the gaze could penetrate his very being and thoughts. He returned the look, wishing he could mimic Zhuge Liang's usual unruffled authority, and reminded himself of the other's possible ignorance of who he was.

"I may not know your name, but if you really are Jiang Qiong's son, that means you were originally of Wei," Yi had said when they first met. Po-yueh was simply a minor Wei soldier who had deserted, that was all the enemy knew. He barely counted as leverage in this scheme. If anything, he was just a means of Sima Yi gaining information with minimal effort. If this was the case, he could continue to hide his seniority in the Shu ranks and agree to give up trivial data, small details that any foot soldier might easily divulge—

"So, have you been able to send a message to your precious master Zhuge?" Sima Yi asked lightly, with the air of someone discussing the weather.

"Wh-what?" The word slipped out before Jiang Wei could help himself. The enemy strategist smirked at the barely hidden bewilderment on Wei's face. Black feathers swayed lazily as Yi tilted his fan towards him.

"Come now, Jiang Wei, don't be so quick to underestimate me. I did not become the head strategist to Lord Cao Cao himself by mere luck," the commander drawled, seeming to be enjoying this immensely. "Much as Zhuge Liang tried to cover your tracks for you, many written records of you were still left in Wei, minor character as you were. Quite careless of the supposedly great K'ung-ming."

Wei bristled at the insult but was silent, holding his tongue, as he should have the moment he stepped into the enemy camp. Take from the enemy much, but give of yourself little, the prime minister had taught him. But despite his efforts, it seemed this Sima Yi continually outwitted him, keeping li ahead of him while revealing nothing about his own thoughts—a task that seemed almost inhuman.

"If you know who I am, then what do you want of me?" Po-yueh asked carefully, gripping the comforting wood handle of the knife that he had not released since he had acquired it. "I'm sure you realize that threatening me is not an option, I would rather die than give up any of my master's teachings." He hesitated then forced out, "I refuse to be controlled by your threats on my family as well."

These last words hung heavily in the air, and even Jiang Wei could hear the lack of conviction in them. The commander seemed amused at the words, and he stood, approaching the boy nonchalantly.

"Who said anything about me blackmailing you with your family's lives?" he inquired silkily. "I only said that to persuade you to come here. I assure you, by now, your mother is already dead."

Wei's heart stopped. The disbelief constricted his throat, and a deep pang resonated in his chest, threatening to shatter him.

"Did you think I would allow you time to run back to your beloved teacher with the news that you had been found out? Jiang Wei, I am truly disappointed. I was told you had a brilliant mind and even a fool should have seen this coming—"

Po-yueh gave little more than an animalistic scream of fury in response as he launched himself towards Sima Yi, brandishing the knife like a claw before him. Thoroughly blind to his previous pains, he stabbed and hacked at the enemy, barely noticing when he didn't make contact, only intent on hurting Yi as much as possible.

The older strategist sidestepped a particularly vicious swipe, deflecting the small blade quite easily with the metal hilt of his war fan. As Wei turned to attack again, Yi kicked out sharply and accurately, his heel connecting with the boy's ankle.

Jiang Wei cried out at the sudden agony that burned through his rage, losing grip on his weapon almost immediately. His right leg gave completely under him, and he plowed into the ground on his shoulder, the momentum of his aimed strike tumbling him quite a distance. He lay gasping, choking a bit on the pain and from tears that he hadn't noticed had long since spilled onto his cheeks.

"Know your enemy and you need not fear the result of a thousand battles. Find their weakness, exploit it and watch them collapse upon themselves."

The anger sparked again at this rather loose quote of the Art of War, and the strategist-in-training rolled over to face Sima Yi, ready to see that infuriating, condescending smirk as he stood over him. However, he was stunned to stillness when he saw the soft look in his enemy's eyes, an honestly pitying gaze that he had never thought possible in this man.

"You do not belong with Shu, Jiang Wei. In their eyes, you were and are still their enemy. None of them, not even your Zhuge Liang, can ever fully trust you," Yi stated bluntly, but not quite as coldly as the boy would have expected. "Especially now, how do you think it looks to them for you to have run willingly into the supposed enemy camp, without even a possible danger to your family to act as a reason for betrayal? Tell me, if you told them you had fallen into an enemy trap, how many of your supposed comrades would believe you?"

Wei could say nothing to this, the weight of the pain in his body, his mind and his heart restricting him from cohesive thought. Sima Yi drew close and crouched next to him, a surprisingly warm hand touching his shoulder. "Wei is your home, you should realize that you will never fit in anywhere but here."

Po-yueh heard the words but realized dimly that he couldn't process the meaning. His vision faded as he slid into unconsciousness, pulling him mercifully into a fleeting, but welcomed, peace.