by Devin Madson
I pulled out of Wen’s grip, but did not move. Sooner might Kin forgive me for the attempt on his life than were I to step in and save him now. But Shin was quick. He slashed and jabbed, moving with such skill that my grip tightened on the sword I was not allowed to use. Wen watched, his hand hovering near my shoulder. I wanted them to stop, but although I shouted myself hoarse, it was to no avail. They had come too far now for sense.
And so they danced. Their swords met and parted, the sharp zing of steel on steel all that seemed to fill the air. There was beauty in the way they moved, but each wanted nothing more than to end the other, and I could not imagine life without either of them; Shin my silent guardian, Kin the rock that held Kisia together.
Please gods make them stop. No one needs to die. We can do this together. We can fight for Kisia together.
My prayers went unheeded. Kin’s men cheered their emperor on, chanting and stomping their feet as the bloodlust flowed. They jeered, too, as Shin dodged and ducked. He was always moving, dancing in and out, curved sword slicing at air. Kin was patient, stepping, blocking, backing away, his own blade hovering still.
The cries for blood grew deafening. His soldiers had failed to protect him, and now they chanted for death. ‘And that’s how it should be,’ Katashi would have said. ‘Guards are all very well, but the last bastion of a man’s protection is always himself.’
Shin stepped in, Kin’s blade slicing an arc. The Pike ducked, the edge missing him by a breath. I heard myself gasp, and as Shin leapt back his gaze flicked my way. It was just for a moment, but there was such anger in those eyes that I flinched. I could see unspoken words on the tip of his tongue as though his anger gave them life. He had never been one for words, but I could imagine them now, filling his body. A lifetime of things left unsaid, truths crushed now beneath their weight.
He looked away and the dance brought them together again. Close. So close I feared the sharp judgement of Shin’s knives. There was a terrible rasping sound as sword ground upon sword, and with his opponent’s blade caught, Kin threw his arm wide. He gripped the front of Shin’s tunic. I saw his lips move then, saw the words began to spill forth, lost to the heavens as Kin brought his sword in.
‘Stop!’
The tip was thrust into the stunned Pike’s stomach, sinking into his black sash as Kin wedged the blade deep.
‘No!’
Wen caught me around the waist. ‘Be quiet!’ he hissed by my ear. ‘It is done.’
Blood leaked from Shin’s mouth, staining his lips. Emperor and rebel looked into each other’s eyes, but there was no understanding, no acceptance. Shin spat, spraying a mouthful of blood over Kin’s face. ‘You will always be The Usurper!’ he snarled.
Kin ripped his sword out. Blood gushed onto the grass and Shin staggered a step before collapsing to his knees. Soldiers cheered. Shin’s head turned, and in his last lifeless moment I met that lidless gaze and read its condemnation. He had carried his anger and his hatred to the end.
He hit the grass face first. Still the soldiers cheered. Their respect in their leader had been renewed, but all I could do was stare at the lifeless form of Shin and hate that it had come to this, hate that he had brought it upon himself.
Too many men had died tonight. For nothing.
‘Sound the retreat.’
Wen dragged his gaze from Shin’s still body. ‘What?’
‘You know how to do it,’ I said. ‘Sound the retreat. Go and tell General Roi that Katashi isn’t coming.’
‘But–’
‘If you do nothing else for me, you will do this. Listen to me. This war will not be decided tonight. Do not let anymore men die for nothing. Let them regroup behind their leader.’
Kin was already shouting orders, the crowd of soldiers thinning fast.
‘If that is your final order, I will go, my lady,’ Wen said at last, holding out his hand for his sword.
I handed it back with a bow. ‘Thank you.’
‘You don’t need to thank me, Captain,’ he said. ‘A man must have a captain. But the next time we meet I’m sure we’ll both be dead.’
A rueful smile turned my lips, and I found I could look at Shin’s lifeless body no longer. ‘Perhaps,’ I said, blinking away tears. ‘You men have such fondness for drama. I prefer to hope. Be safe, Wen. Kisia needs more good men like you.’
He pursed his lips and nodded, a little smile but no more words. Taking his horse’s reins from Endymion, he mounted, nudging his heels into the beast’s flank. Kin’s men shot him dark looks, but no one stopped him. Man and beast disappeared into the confusion, the last thing I saw, a glimpse of the satchel he always carried at his side. It contained all the tools of the healer’s craft and he would need every one of them tonight.
With Wen gone I stood alone in an unfriendly camp, the eyes of every soldier flicking my way. Kin did not look at me. Reports were coming in and he gave orders and cleaned his sword, showing no sign that I existed. A guard brought him a damp cloth, and starting at his forehead he began to clean the blood, erasing Shin’s last existence from his skin.
Behind me Endymion had not moved. When our eyes met I turned away, hating the pity in his gaze.
‘Endymion,’ I said, a quiver in my voice. ‘Take Kimiko somewhere safe. She should be looked after, not left to lie upon the grass.’
He did not argue, did not speak at all, just bent to gather Kimiko in his arms. Bones jutted from his skeletal wrists as he slid one thin arm beneath her legs, the other disappearing into her curls. And in the moonlight the branding on his cheek looked like an angry welt.
Endymion left, but although I stood alone Kin still did not look my way. ‘Your Majesty,’ I said, striding toward him. ‘I–’
‘Why did you come?’ he interrupted, halting me in my tracks. ‘Why did you tell me Katashi planned to take The Valley? Why tell me about the ambush at the Zisian Bridge?’
Words stuck in my throat, but I forced them free. ‘Why did you listen to me?’
‘Because I couldn’t risk ignoring the information if it was true.’
‘If? You think I would lie to you?’
‘Haven’t you before?’
Tears prickled my eyes and I tried to swallow a growing lump. It had been a long night. Soon the sun would rise, and if fighting was all we were capable of it would all have been for nothing.
‘Your Majesty–’
‘Captain.’ Kin half turned, holding out blood-splattered fingers. A man approached, and into Kin’s palm he placed a neatly rolled pink sash with twin silver fish upon its end.
‘Did you have him bring this back to me?’ Kin asked, throwing it down at my feet. ‘Did you send it back because you would never marry me?’
Bent halfway to the sash, I looked up. ‘You think I would do that?’
‘I don’t know what to think anymore.’
I picked up the sash, its threads shimmering. ‘Don’t you? Then let me educate you, Your Majesty. You are the emperor Kisia needs. Whatever his claim might be, my cousin is no longer the man anyone thought him. He’s dangerous, but if we work together you and I can win this war. We can save Kisia.’
‘You tried to kill me.’
‘I can’t have tried very hard. Do you know how long I sat there before you woke? I could have stuck the knife in you a dozen times over.’
Kin stared at me, the intensity of his gaze making my heart hammer. ‘Why are you here?’
‘To save your life.’
‘Hana…’
When had he stepped so close? The space was nothing, the warmth, the potency of this man seeming to pull at my every sense. A bloody gash glared through a rip in his sleeve and his hair tumbled loose from his topknot, but still he drew the world like a lodestone. And those brows, close over his dark eyes, their intensity such that
I could feel his gaze burning through my skin.
‘Will you marry me, Your Majesty?’ The words were past my lips before I had time to think, and I knew myself to be grinning.
Kin’s brows flew up. ‘Marry you?’
‘For the sake of the empire, of course,’ I said.
His mouth twisted. ‘Hana, you wretch! Is that what I said? Forgive me. I have been too long alone, too long owned by Kisia to consider anything else.’
‘You are forgiven. But you have not answered my question.’
A half smile; a quizzical gleam in his eyes. ‘Shouldn’t I be asking you to marry me?’
‘No. I am an Otako and Kisia is as much mine as it is yours. I am not a pretty lady to dress in fine robes and treat like a doll.’
‘That was not my intention.’
‘Good. Because I will not sit idly mending your sandals while you fight for my empire.’
‘Mending my sandals?’ That made him laugh. ‘I assure you I have someone who does that for me.’
‘It was a figure of speech! And you still haven’t answered. Do I need to be formal?’ I knelt upon the grass at his feet. ‘I, Lady Hana Aura Otako, Princess of Kisia and rightful heir to the Crimson Throne, do formally request–’
He yanked me up, no laugh in his eyes. ‘Stop,’ he said, his gaze darting all around. ‘I’ll marry you. Gods know it’s all I’ve wanted since I first laid eyes on you.’
For a long time he did not move though I lifted my lips. His fingers dug into my arms, his breath ragged. Then with a sharp tug he pulled me in, kissing me so tentatively, so softly he must have expected to be spurned. He was an unpredictable creature, and I responded with fervour, savouring every moment.
The call began as a mere whisper, but was taken up and repeated until it rose from the lips of every Pike beyond the palisade. ‘Saiyar. Saiyar. Saiyar,’ they cried, filling the night. Monarch had taught them well. Every Pike would retreat without question, and although not all of Katashi’s soldiers had once been Pikes, enough would turn back. Those left behind would be hacked down if they lingered, and it would be General Roi who paid for tonight’s mistakes.
Our lips parted, but Kin did not move. I could taste him, smell him, feel him, every part of my body connected to him, and yet our eyes would not meet. It was as though Katashi stood between us, his hand ever upon my shoulder.
Kin stepped back. He beckoned to one of his guards. Orders were given. A tent for Lady Hana. The Imperial Chancellor was to be found. I heard it all but it slurred as it entered my head, such mundane considerations hardly important when two steps away Shin lay on the blood-soaked grass.
I knelt beside him. Someone had rolled him over so he stared up at the night sky, and though I closed one of his eyes, I could not close them both. One eyelid had been removed before I ever knew him, leaving tiny scars across his brow. They were nothing to the one that travelled the length of his face, so pronounced that I had never before noticed his high cheekbones or the straight set of a fine nose. I had never asked about his past, never asked how he had come by the scar that dominated his face. All I had done was wonder who had been able to better Shin. And now he lay silent, never to speak again, his words lost with him.
I touched his cheek. The sound of the retreat call was fading from the night. ‘You fool,’ I said. ‘You could have fought for me. We could have fought together.’
‘Hana.’
Kin was behind me. I could feel him there, could see the hem of his robe in the corner of my vision.
‘A moment to say goodbye, if you please,’ I said. ‘Whatever he has done, I cannot forget that he risked everything for me.’
I glanced up to see Kin’s face set in its harsh lines, but there would be time to soothe him later. Shin was beyond words now.
My hand fell from his cheek. The wound in his gut had ceased to bleed, his body owning no more life to pour upon the ground. I could not look at it. Even in death he was my Shin, my silent sentinel, harsh and unrelenting.
‘You fool,’ I said. ‘You stupid fool.’
Chapter 23
Kimiko did not move. She lay upon the sleeping mat like one dead, her hands neatly folded. Even the loudest sounds were powerless to rouse her.
A constant stream of footsteps and hoofbeats passed outside; the sound of scouts coming and going; of boys running messages and soldiers burying lost comrades. Death was the result of war, even children knew that, but few could feel it as I did.
It was a small price to pay for the Sight. For Justice.
I shifted my weight for the hundredth time, trying to find a comfortable way to sit in this tiny, airless tent. It wasn’t tall enough to stand in and the floor owned barely enough space for Kimiko, but Kin’s men were dismantling the camp and there was nowhere else to keep her.
The day was growing old. I had hoped to get used to the musty stench, but with every passing hour it seemed worse. Even the scent of herbs had been unable to combat the disuse — the smell like that of unwanted guests.
A group of soldiers passed with loud voices and heavy steps, causing the tent fabric to shift. Light reached across Kimiko’s still form. Six men immediately outside; and another two dozen across the makeshift track that ran between this tent and the next row–
I shook my head. No. Now was not the time to get caught in the numbers, in the souls that called out to me. Concentrate, Endymion, I snapped at myself. Don’t lose yourself yet.
I let out a long breath and knelt again beside Kimiko’s mat. She was warm, too warm. Sweat beaded along her hairline, dampening those unruly curls. They were singed and bloodied, but I brushed them back with my hand. Still she did not move. She would not wake for me, perhaps would never wake, unless it was Darius’s voice that called.
Darius. Ever since that night at Koi, I’d held a piece of his soul lodged inside me.
Footsteps. Outside one man stopped. He cleared his throat, the sound loud and deliberate. I had to bend my head to fit into the space, but I rose, hair catching on the underside of the tent. Sticking my head out, I squinted into the face of one of Kin’s many guards, his soul filled with disquiet.
‘Yes?’ I said, hoping my own did not show. ‘Can I help you?’
The man stared at the branding on my cheek. ‘His Majesty requests your presence.’
Behind him the sun was setting, turning the sky blood red. ‘You may tell him that I will be there presently.’
‘I am to take you to him now.’
‘Do you plan to drag me there by force? I am needed here.’
The soldier stared at me, gaze once again slipping to my branding. ‘Ten minutes,’ he said. ‘His Majesty will not wait. We are leaving, if you hadn’t noticed.’
Without waiting for a reply, he turned on his heel and strode away. Most of the tents had already been dismantled and carts stood everywhere. There was too much noise, too much bustle.
I had hoped to have more time.
Back inside the tent, Kimiko still had not moved. I stared down at her from the entrance, my arm aching as I let the flap fall closed behind me. The bandage was tight and uncomfortable, a constant reminder that she had sold me to Katashi. I could walk away. Slowly, day by day, she would slip closer to death, until one day her body ceased to breathe. But that was not right. Whatever secrets he had kept, Jian had taught me the difference between right and wrong.
A thrill of power shivered through me as I touched her skin. Her life was in the hands of the gods.
The piece of Darius inside me was never hard to find. Closing my eyes, I let it swell, this living shard of him, this collection of memories and words and thoughts like whispers in the dark. Like breathing prayers over a corpse, I let it out, threading it through her flesh.
Kimiko’s eyes snapped open, every breath coming fast. She shrank back, her ga
ze darting around the dim space before finally coming to rest on me. ‘You.’ The word was spat with such contempt. ‘Where am I?’
‘Kin’s camp,’ I said, moving as she sat up. The skin on my arm tightened and I winced. ‘You don’t have anything to fear from him.’
‘Where is Darius?’
‘I don’t know.’
Kimiko pulled the blanket around herself. ‘You’re lying,’ she said. ‘You always know where he is. You followed him all the way from Rina, I know you did.’
‘Yes, but I didn’t know where he was, just in which direction I had to walk to find him. Look, I know you don’t like me and I don’t blame you, but I need you to tell me what happened. I can’t help him if I don’t know.’
She eyed me warily, then letting out a long breath, seemed to deflate. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I don’t like you and I am sorry for it.’
‘I know.’
‘And I hate that you know how I feel. I hate that you understand.’
‘I know.’
I held her gaze. Kin’s men would come for me soon. I needed answers now. ‘I would apologise if it didn’t seem pointless,’ I said.
Kimiko lay back with a heavy sigh and stared at the rippling roof. There were dark shadows beneath her eyes. ‘What do you want?’ she said eventually. ‘If you want an apology from me you won’t get it. I told you I would do anything for Darius.’
‘So would I.’
The hope was like a knife in her heart. ‘Am I blind, Endymion? Is he a good man?’
‘I think he knows how to be,’ I said.
‘That isn’t the same, is it?’
‘I don’t know. Empathy is complicated.’
She let out a little snort; half laugh, half sob, and said no more.
‘Kimiko,’ I began, listening for the sound of the guards returning, feeling the souls pass, one, four, eighteen–
