by Evelyn Skye
I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, she said silently to Empress Aki.
Sora wrapped her left hand around her throat. The feel of the empress’s fragile neck sickened Sora.
But this was what she had to do to save the kingdom.
Sora tightened her fingers. Empress Aki let out a frantic, gurgling cry. Tears formed in Sora’s eyes. She held the leader of Kichona’s life in her hands.
The velvet curtain flew open, revealing Hana on the other side.
Empress Aki gave a final, weak writhe against Sora’s grasp. Then she went limp as Sora pushed on a pressure point while pretending to snap her neck.
Sora swallowed the nausea cresting inside her and dropped Empress Aki down to the ground. She slumped like a sack of rice.
“What took you so long?” Hana asked. “I dispatched thirty taigas out there, while you took care of . . . two?” She kicked Daemon’s side. Luckily, he and Broomstick were both facedown. Not that Hana would have recognized them after the decade that had passed since she saw them last, but still. Sora exhaled a little in relief.
“I was savoring the moment,” Sora said. She narrowed her eyes and smiled, as if wickedly gleeful at her victory, as a ryuu would be. “I told her all the things Prince Gin is going to do for Kichona. All the things that will change once she’s dead.”
That made Hana smile too.
And it made Sora angry. Angry that her sister had been raised to believe in Prince Gin’s greedy goals. Angry that she had been molded from a sweet little girl into a bloodthirsty one. Angry that they were on opposite sides of this war.
But I will fix this, Sora swore. She would go back with Hana to the ryuu and work on swaying her away from the Dragon Prince while they marched toward the Imperial City. And then when they were close, she and Hana would break away and rejoin the taigas at the Citadel. They knew a lot about the ryuu; Hana probably knew of weaknesses the Society could exploit.
They would be the Teira sister team, but on the side of good. As it was supposed to be.
“Well, there’s nothing left to do here,” Hana said. “I guess we have to get the empress’s body back to Prince Gin now.”
She hesitated, though.
She’s still having trouble with the idea of the empress being murdered, Sora thought. Which boded well for Sora’s hopes of persuading Hana away from the Dragon Prince’s side.
“I’ll take care of the body,” Sora said.
Hana smiled bravely. “Thank you. I’ll, um, wait for you outside.”
As she left the tent, Sora stooped to pick up Empress Aki. It was the first time she looked at her face-to-face.
Oh gods. It wasn’t the empress. It was Fairy in disguise.
If it hadn’t been for Daemon’s strange ability to shock Sora out of Prince Gin’s spell, she would have killed Fairy, thinking she was the empress. Actually, she would have killed Daemon and Broomstick too, when they tried to defend Fairy.
“Stars,” Sora whispered, falling to her hands and knees. Prince Gin’s ability to brainwash everyone he came across was terrifying. He told us to stop at nothing. He told us bloodshed was good. I . . . I would have murdered my best friends.
She saw clearly now what he could do when he had control of every magical warrior in Kichona and took them across the sea to ravage the mainland. They would be a tsunami of death, ruination with no mercy.
Sora doubled over and vomited onto the floor.
Chapter Fifty
Daemon came to shortly after Sora was gone. He shook Broomstick lightly to wake him. There were a hundred thoughts racing through Daemon’s head, but the first—and most important—one was:
“Fairy.”
He jumped to his feet, but she was nowhere to be found.
“She was right here,” he said.
Broomstick shoved through the velvet curtain and began overturning everything in the tent. “Fairy! Where are you?”
“They took her,” Daemon said, running past Broomstick. He stopped short as he burst out of the tent.
Imperial Guards. Some on the ground. Some suspended upright, as if held up by invisible string. Pools of blood, coagulating and sticky and already attracting flies with their iron tang.
And every single warrior was missing body parts—arms, legs, entire midsections of their torsos. The absent parts were nowhere to be seen.
“Good gods,” Daemon said. Why hadn’t Prince Gin hypnotized them, like he had at the other cities? Why kill these taigas?
Broomstick emerged from the tent and froze in horror when he saw the grisly murders.
“Is she . . . ?” he whispered.
Daemon shook his head. “Fairy isn’t among them.”
Broomstick exhaled in relief. But then his eyes grew wide again. “Just because she isn’t here doesn’t mean she’s alive. The ryuu meant to kill Empress Aki.”
Oh no, Daemon thought. Prince Gin must not have come. That’s why Sora and the other ryuu killed the Imperial Guards, instead of adding them to their army.
“I think Fairy is gone because the ryuu had to take her body back to the Dragon Prince as proof,” Daemon said.
“No.” Broomstick crumpled to the ground, not caring that he collapsed among dismembered corpses.
It still didn’t add up, though. I got through to Sora, I’m sure of it, Daemon thought. If she had her mind back, she wouldn’t have killed Fairy. She would have thought of some way to trick the other ryuu into thinking Fairy—the empress—was dead.
To test his theory, he reached out through their gemina bond. It was the kind of gentle nudge he and Sora would always send each other in the mornings, to check if the other was awake.
A moment later, a reassuring nudge came back to him, like the foamy touch of low tide on bare feet.
Daemon nodded. She was all right.
He pulled Broomstick up and out of the graveyard of mutilated bodies. “Sora’s with Fairy. She’ll keep her safe.”
“Are you mad? Did you not see what I saw? Spirit is a ryuu. We have to go after Fairy.” He started to run toward the dirt road that led down the side of the bluff.
Daemon caught up and grabbed him. “Sora is still one of us.”
“You’re not thinking clearly,” Broomstick said, every single one of his knives in his hands. “She’s your gemina. It’s affecting your judgment.”
“And the fact that Fairy is your gemina is affecting your judgment,” Daemon said. “But . . . okay. Test your gemina bond. Can you still feel her on the other end?”
Broomstick pursed his lips as he tried to connect to Fairy. “No. It’s like a cemetery in my head,” he said, choking back his despair.
“Sora must have done something to knock her out. If they have to present a body to Prince Gin, Fairy has to look like a dead empress.”
Broomstick shook his head skeptically.
Daemon took him by the shoulders. “I know this is hard. Trust me. I just went through thinking my gemina was taken by the ryuu or dead. And I care about Fairy too! But I have a gut feeling that she’s all right, that this is all part of Sora’s plan. Whether or not you believe in Sora right now, the reality is that we can’t go after Fairy. You see what ryuu can do.” He waved behind them, but he didn’t look. The image of the carnage was burned into his memory forever. “If we chase after Fairy, we will walk straight into the entire ryuu army and they’ll kill us in half a second. Then we’ll be no good to anybody.”
Broomstick sagged. The five knives he had in each hand fell to the dusty ground.
Daemon picked them up. “Let’s go home. We have to tell Empress Aki and the Council everything that’s happened. They’ll know what to do.”
“Do you actually believe that?”
Daemon sighed. “I have to.”
Chapter Fifty-One
The president of the Striped Coves’ most famous jeweler—Tiger Pearl Trading Company—had supposedly offered his home to Prince Gin, and this was where Sora and Hana found him when they returned from Copper Bluff. They w
ere still covered in Dassu Desert’s fine brown sand, but Hana had insisted they report on their success immediately. Hana levitated Fairy’s body behind them. Her eagerness to please Prince Gin had overridden her squeamishness over the empress’s assassination.
One of the jeweler’s servants led Sora and Hana to the fourth floor of the mansion, out through a sunroom, and onto a cliff-side patio that overlooked the Kichona Sea. Prince Gin sat at a table, watching the waves while drinking a bottle of fine whiskey and nibbling on chili-dusted peanuts.
It was Sora’s first look at him since regaining command of her mind. She clenched her fists to keep herself in check, fighting the urge to fling herself across the table, smash the whiskey bottle, and use it to cut the prince’s throat.
“Your Highness, the empress is dead,” Hana said, dumping Fairy’s gold-haired body to the floor.
Sora winced at the impact. Fairy might seem dead, but she could still be hurt.
Hana frowned at Sora’s reaction. Sora slapped a smug smile on her face, as if she too were pleased with the empress’s death.
Was her sister suspicious that Sora was no longer under Prince Gin’s spell? But she couldn’t be. There was no precedent for anyone breaking out of his hypnosis. I’m just jumpy, Sora thought. But it was a good reminder to be more vigilant in how she acted, just in case.
Hana eyed her for another second before she turned back to Prince Gin. “We should have the kingdom light fireworks in your honor,” she said.
Prince Gin set his cup down on the table. He turned slowly from the ocean to Sora and Hana.
“We won’t throw a party at the death of the empress. Despite her shortcomings, she was still my sister. The kingdom will mourn her for thirty days, as custom dictates when a member of the royal family dies.”
“My apologies, Your Highness.” Hana bowed again.
Prince Gin frowned as he looked down at Fairy. “Aki is prettier than I remember. She was never the kind of beauty that would turn heads if she wasn’t royalty, but now . . .”
Sora froze. Did he know it wasn’t his sister?
She cleared her throat. “Ten years can change a person,” Sora said. “I imagine being empress and revered by the entire kingdom could make anyone glow and become more beautiful.”
Prince Gin picked up his whiskey and sipped it.
Sora held her breath. How stupid could she be? Hana had just caught her wincing at dropping Fairy’s body on the floor, and now Sora had put herself out there again for scrutiny. And yet, it had to be done. She couldn’t let them doubt that this was Empress Aki.
He contemplated the body before him some more. Finally, he said, “I suppose time does change people.”
Prince Gin set his whiskey down and turned to Hana. “We’re in mourning, but that doesn’t mean we can’t move forward with our plans. We’ll march to the capital, where I will take the throne. The Society is sworn to the crown. They’ll follow my orders out of duty or, if necessary, through magic. We’ll hold my coronation as soon as the mourning period is over. And then you’ll have your fireworks.” He winked at Hana, as one does when giving a child what she’s coveted for so long.
Hana blushed.
“Virtuoso, prepare the ryuu to head to the capital. We’ll leave in the morning.”
“With pleasure, Your Majesty,” she said, addressing him by the title reserved for the emperor or empress. But, Sora supposed, if Aki was dead, the Dragon Prince would be His Majesty. She again had to keep herself from leaping across the table and slitting his throat.
Oblivious—or perhaps because he was so powerful—he turned his back on them and went back to gazing at the ocean.
I guess we’re dismissed.
Hana levitated Fairy’s body, and she and Sora left the patio.
“Do you want to help me plan Emperor Gin’s coronation parade and celebrations?” Hana asked.
Emperor Gin. A foul taste formed in Sora’s mouth, and she hadn’t even said the words aloud.
But she had to go along. She had to stay undercover within the ryuu until they were close enough to the Citadel that she could abscond with Fairy’s body. And if possible, with Hana too.
“I’d love to,” Sora lied. “The emperor’s homecoming will be one Kichona will remember forever.”
While Sora and Hana had been gone, the ryuu had found where the citizens and remaining taigas of the Striped Coves were hiding, and Prince Gin had enchanted them all to return home. Now word of Empress Aki’s demise spread quickly through the city. Prince Gin gathered everyone into the main square and tailored the story to be one of a flaw in his sister’s heart like the one that had killed their father, a secret she’d kept from the people of Kichona.
“But there’s no reason to worry,” he’d said. “The gods could see our kingdom’s future, and they summoned me home just in time. I am blessed to be able to continue the Ora family line as your humble servant, and I’ll honor my sister’s life by ushering Kichona into a new era of greatness and prosperity.”
Every word he said was magicked as if dipped in rich caramel and chocolate. The people ate it up. “Long live the Emperor!”
But Sora was immune to his brainwashing because her gemina bond was open again, and this time, she knew to cling to her connection to Daemon. Back on the ship, she’d been so surprised to see her sister alive that she’d stopped paying attention to her bond with Daemon as he escaped. That had weakened his ability to help her fight off Prince Gin’s charm. Now, though, Sora held firmly to her connection, constantly sending and receiving emotion from Daemon. She still didn’t understand how he could resist the Dragon Prince’s spells, but whatever it was, she wasn’t going to let go of it.
With her sense of self intact, Sora watched the prince, horrified by how easily he could charm everyone.
He couldn’t be allowed to take over the Citadel. He couldn’t be allowed to conduct the Ceremony of Two Hundred Hearts. He couldn’t be allowed to wage war on the mainland, to pursue the Evermore. A glacial chill shivered through Sora’s spine.
By the time the ryuu mobilized for their journey to the capital the next morning, small shrines to Empress Aki lined the cobblestone streets, her painting surrounded by white chrysanthemums and mourning ribbons. But gracing every window were new banners—yellow and green, not the traditional Ora colors, but Prince Gin’s adopted ones for his ryuu army.
As they departed the Striped Coves and began to head inland, Sora’s thoughts turned to Fairy, Broomstick, and Daemon. As a survival mechanism, she hadn’t let herself think about them much since Copper Bluff. It was as if she could temporarily deny it had happened if she cordoned off that part of her brain.
Now, however, on horseback for a journey that would take several days, Sora had nowhere to hide from the guilt of leaving her friends. If something happened to them, she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself.
Did she give Fairy the right amount of the rira disk? Did Daemon and Broomstick get back to the Citadel safely? Would she ever be able to make it up to them, the fact that she’d tried to murder them in her hypnotic haze?
If only Sora could be in two places at once—here with her sister, and there with her friends and the Society, where she belonged.
That is, if the Society would have her back. Her gut twisted as she thought about how this looked. She’d started this by breaking the rules and sneaking off on a self-appointed mission. Then she’d gotten herself captured, ostensibly joined the ryuu, learned their magic, and used it in an assassination attempt against the empress. And Sora hadn’t gotten a chance to tell Daemon and Broomstick that Virtuoso was actually Hana, and that’s why she was staying behind.
Put that way, the facts looked bad. Very bad.
Sora’s horse stopped. The gelding ahead of her had lifted his tail. He let out an avalanche of dung.
Yeah, she thought. That’s how I feel.
The ryuu on the horse next to her laughed as he rode past. “I’d find a handkerchief to wrap around my nose and mouth if I w
ere you. Shitstorm there lives up to his name. That is only the first of his many ‘gifts’ he’ll leave on the road in front of you.”
Nines.
She steered her horse around the steaming pile.
The army rode onward into the countryside, making good time. The rice paddies were green and flooded with water, and the terraces on the hills behind it were lined with what were probably sweet potato plants. The tiger pearls from the Striped Coves were one facet of Kichona, and these quiet farm communities were another—different, yet equally important. Sora tried to envision what would happen to them if Prince Gin won this fight against Empress Aki.
He would begin wars against other kingdoms, and their soldiers would come to Kichona’s shores in retaliation. In her mind, Sora saw foreign warriors lighting the sweet potato terraces aflame, burning a sickly, syrupy smoke. She watched the rice paddies dry up, their plants uprooted, farmers’ bodies impaled by hoes. She heard the screams of scared children, and of even more frightened mothers who tried to protect their babies’ innocence while enemies pushed up the women’s skirts against the farmhouse walls.
She also saw that the ryuu could do the same in other countries. Right now, they restrained themselves from too much destruction, because Prince Gin needed to preserve the kingdom he meant to rule. But she remembered how easily Prince Gin had beheaded the harbormaster at Tiger’s Belly, how he’d designated Hearts throughout Kichona—including babies!—without a thought to sacrificing their lives, and how he’d told the Black Widows they could have their way with their prisoners once the war began. If this was what restraint looked like, the Dragon Prince and his ryuu would be disastrous abroad.
How was Sora going to stop them?
Prince Gin’s army could control the ocean’s waves. They could summon hordes of stinging wasps. They could unleash fire as if from a dragon’s mouth, suck the air out of lungs, and boil the water inside a man until he burst from within. And that was just a sampling of the ryuu’s abilities.
The taigas don’t stand a chance. The answer set in like rot, rank and damp.
