Page 66 of Four Ruined Realms (The Broken Blades #2)

Mikail

The Palace of the Sky King, Khitan

There’s never a dull moment.

Everyone at the table looks around as the palace vibrates with the beating of drums. Some of them seem confused, but there is no mistaking the sound of war drums. I will never forget the first time I heard them in Gaya. They marked the end of life as I knew it.

Khitan is under attack.

I sigh, swallowing my annoyance with myself. It took me entirely too long to figure out Joon’s plan. But we can still best him—if we can form an alliance with Quilimar. The Gayan troops, even the Yusanian army, won’t fight if Joon falls. We have to get to him. It’s as simple as it is impossible.

Twin messengers with long braids run into the grand hall. They’re older girls—sixteen, maybe seventeen. They kneel on the floor far outside one of the sets of doors to the room. Each holds a card. They’re both breathing hard, their pale skin rosy. They ran all the way here from somewhere—the border of Yusan, if I had to guess. Khitan is so mountainous that in some places runners would be faster than horses.

A gray-haired palace guard takes the cards and brings them on a gold tray to Quilimar. She reads the notes and frowns. “I suppose you were correct, Mikail. Although I could’ve done with more warning than this.”

“It was a bit of a challenge booking an appointment to see you,” I say.

“Yusan?” General Vikal asks, standing by Quilimar’s right shoulder.

“And Gayan troops at the border.” Quilimar tosses the cards onto the table.

The mention of multiple realms sobers everyone in the room. For Gayan troops to already have arrived, Joon must have called for them as soon as we left. Possibly before.

“I have to attend to the country.” Quilimar stands. “General, see Prince Calstor to safety, then meet me in the war room.”

They exchange a lingering glance, and then Vikal salutes her. The general hurries out of the room, taking two guards with her.

Interesting that the prince is Quilimar’s priority. I never thought her maternal. But then again, he is her only claim to ruling. And, apparently, he is her only claim to royalty at all.

“We will see where the war leaves us,” she says, glancing around the table.

We failed. Spectacularly. The war of the realms has begun, and we lack an alliance, but the absence of Wei is puzzling. Their navy should have arrived in Quu Harbor before the troops reached the border. One of their major advantages in any conflict is that with the Water Scepter of the Dragon Lord, their navy can go from docked in Wei to our doorstep within a few bells. Not to mention that their ships are unsinkable with the scepter controlling the currents.

Maybe the amarth was wrong. Stars, I hope so.

Quilimar is nearly out the door when she stops. “Guards, detain them.”

My stomach sinks as the palace guards salute her.

“On what grounds?” I ask. Of course I had thought of the possibility of capture, but we’ve committed no crimes, and we are here under the Rule of Distance.

“The beautiful one attempted to assassinate General Vikal at the banquet, and I assume the rest of you colluded with her. Euyn is a wanted criminal, and as to you specifically, you’ve murdered since you’ve been here, or at least you have in the past. We’ll find out during interrogations.”

My heart races in my chest. How did I not see this coming? I’ve become so accustomed to my status protecting me, I didn’t think I was vulnerable. I am no longer the royal spymaster under the Yusanian flag, and thus she is free to arrest me. To arrest all of us. She can’t kill Euyn or Aeri, as they are members of the royal family and treaties protect them, but the rest of us are fair game.

Hubris. I fell due to nothing more than hubris.

How unoriginal.

I have my poison pill, and I’ve been ready to die since I was a child, but I’d rather greet Lord Yama trying to fight my way out. I move my hand to my sword only to touch my pocket. I have no weapons. And if I fight, I risk everyone else being slaughtered with me.

What do I do?

Euyn studies me, his face pained. Then he stands, pushing back from the table.

“I offer you a wager, Quilimar.” His loud voice echoes through the room, and I’m sure he can be heard in the hall, even over the drums.

She pauses and blinks. “What was that?”

He raises his chin. “You seem convinced that I am illegitimate.”

She stares at him. “Because you are. You look and act nothing like Father, and your mother was a common pleasure house girl.”

That’s simply untrue. While Theum might not have been his father, his mother was the eastern count’s oldest sister. The insult lands as intended, though. Euyn reddens and his hands ball into fists, but he exhales and smiles.

“Then I’m sure you would be willing to gamble the ring on it,” he says.

What is he doing?

“Wager a relic of the Dragon Lord on your parentage?” She arches an eyebrow, but she hasn’t left the room yet. Whatever Euyn is up to, it’s buying me time to think. To come up with another way to escape, to defeat Joon.

But how?

Aeri can wield the ring, and she is fleet enough to steal it with a diversion. If we had the ring in our possession, we could broker terms—whether with Quilimar or Joon. But there is still the matter of getting out of this palace alive. Yes, we slaughtered a room full of men in Oosant, but those were far different odds.

“Let me attempt to wield the ring,” Euyn says. “If I am a bastard, as you say, nothing will happen, and then you will be proven right. I will return the ring disgraced before your nobility and my lover. However, if I am royal and I can wield the relic, the ring will belong to me.”

She laughs, amusement shining in her eyes. “And why would I ever agree to those terms?”

He takes one step closer. “Because you believe in your weak, inferior female brain that you are right. And I am willing to wager my life on it. If I fail, you can kill me.”

The room is stunned silent—me included. Euyn didn’t discuss this with me. And now I, like Quilimar, am trying to figure out his goal. If he thinks he can steal the ring and run out of here, he’s wrong. Even Aeri couldn’t pull that off. If he believes he’s royal, then he’s become an impressive liar. What is he doing?

Quilimar’s gaze darts around, and I’m sure she is calculating the same thing—Euyn’s intentions and the likelihood of him surviving.

“You heard me, sister ,” he says, limping a step closer to her. “If I fail, you can send my head to Joon. You can collect on the bounty or just broker peace with it. I’ve heard the rumors of how you love to gamble with your opponents’ lives. Accept mine.”

Quilimar stands there, lost in thought, or maybe she is doubting herself. I’ve never heard of the hunting injury to the old king, but that would’ve happened long before I was even born.

“Come now, Quilimar,” Euyn says loudly. “You were so confident a moment ago, slinging your baseless insults about my mother and myself. And now, when you have to back up your claims, are you really nothing more than an undignified whore, like Joon said? Frankly, I expected better. Even if you are just a woman, you’re still royalty. You owe me an apology.” He gestures to the grand hall, to all the nobility listening in.

Fury lights her face, coloring her light-brown skin red. Euyn is succeeding in goading her, but how does he think this will end? The treaty of everlasting peace between Khitan and Yusan protects royal children and family traveling through both realms, but with war on her doorstep she could just as easily disregard the treaty and kill him where he stands.

“I owe you nothing ,” she seethes.

I step closer to him. A guard holding an axe immediately shifts, mirroring me. Quilimar knows me well enough to expect me to be dangerous. But I’m not trying to attack her. I’m trying to save Euyn from himself, because I think I’ve figured out what he is doing.

“Euyn, no,” I say.

He hears me, but he doesn’t take his eyes off Quilimar.

She smiles a vicious grin. “All right, then, brother. I accept your wager and your terms. If you turn the egg to solid gold, you may keep the Golden Ring of Khitan and your head. Fail, and you lose both.”

“And you let everyone else go,” he adds.

Quilimar hesitates, but she can’t resist the bait. “Agreed.”

Euyn nods before I can object. “You are all witnesses.”

Her guards salute as one, pounding their fists to their chests. Euyn isn’t looking at them, though. He’s staring at the dignitaries in the hall, including Ambassador Zeolin.

“Yours in this life and the next,” he whispers to me.

No. A chill runs down my spine, fear like I’ve never felt before gripping me. I got it all wrong. He’s not trying to steal the ring…

Euyn just offered his life to save the rest of us.