Taishakuten

Before Fai, there had been Taishakuten, Ashura-ou's late general. Fai had often looked at the portrait of the cold, cruel, beautiful man hanging in the gallery of the palace. They had something very deep in common- they both lived for, and only for, the same inscrutable man. Fai wondered why he wasn't jealous, as it would have been only natural- a retelling of one of the oldest stories. Yet he never resented his beloved king's former lover.

Years later, Fai realized why- Taishakuten, in the end, had never owned Ashura-ou anymore than Fai had. In the end, they were equals.