Page 71 of Four Ruined Realms (The Broken Blades #2)

Royo

The Palace of the Sky King, Khitan

I’m coughing and sweating as blood trickles down the mirrored glass and pools on the floor. Even though we just killed pretty much all the guards in here, we’re fucked. Euyn is dead, and we still have the rest of the palace guard to deal with. I’m not sure how we’ll make it out of this, but we gotta try.

“What happens now?” Aeri asks. She stares at me with her big brown eyes, and I wish I knew.

I cough some more. “Good question.”

“Wait, come here,” Sora says. “I can help with the poison, at least.”

We walk to the table where she’s standing, and she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a little vial. She puts a drop on Aeri’s tongue and then Mikail’s as her stare keeps darting over to the door. She gets to me and empties the vial in my mouth. I grimace. It’s bitter as shit. But then I blink, and I can see better. I can inhale without it feeling like my nose and mouth are on fire. It’s an antidote. And she’s just gone through the last of it.

“What do we do now?” I ask, wiping my face. We stare at Mikail.

“We need to build a pyre,” he says. He’s weirdly calm, even though he looks at Euyn with unspeakable sadness in his eyes.

Ten Hells, we do not have time for a funeral.

“Here?” I ask, gesturing around. “Now?”

Mikail nods. “I won’t have him be a trophy.”

My stomach sinks as I realize he’s right. Khitan wanted the dead guy’s head from a hundred years ago. They’d display Euyn, too. We need to get his soul released and do it fast. I look over at the doors. They’re gonna figure out soon that we’re alive and the guards are dead.

I glance around the room. There’s no fireplace or hearth, but we can use the king’s table for a pyre. Except that burning a body inside will smoke us out. I look up at the gods for help but notice the opening in the dome. I start pushing the table to the center of the room. The ashes and smoke can leave out the top without choking us.

Everyone else takes the hint, moving quickly. The girls start wrapping Euyn in tablecloths. Mikail walks over to the enormous painting and pulls it down. The frame cracks and splinters, landing on the ground with an ear-splitting crash. He breaks apart the frame as if it’s paper and starts building a pyre.

Once we’re ready, Mikail carries Euyn’s body over and gently lays him down. All wrapped up, he just looks like he’s sleeping. Mikail must’ve closed his eyes.

We say the prayers to the Divine Kings, to Lord Yama, and to the Dragon Lord. We ask for the gods to forgive Euyn’s crimes and guide his soul to redemption. Even Sora bows her head and says the prayers.

Mikail leans down and kisses Euyn’s forehead, his lips lingering for a moment. “I’ll meet you in the garden again.”

Emotions clog my throat. For Euyn. For the fact that it would’ve been me saying goodbye to Aeri like this if I hadn’t brought her back. She glances at me, and I reach out and take her hand.

Mikail smashes a vase of oil under the table, then lights the pyre. The bonfire sparks to life in the middle of the room and consumes Euyn’s remains. Within minutes of us slaying the guards, Euyn’s soul is released.

Mikail watches Euyn’s body burn, the flames dancing in his eyes.

The drums suddenly beat again, but this time bells chime, too. It feels like they’re ringing every single bell in and around the city of Quu.

“What fucking now?” I say.

“Is that because of us?” Sora asks.

“No,” Mikail says, still watching Euyn burn. “Wei must’ve arrived in the harbor.”

“Wei?” Aeri repeats.

Mikail nods, barely able to care. Sora stares at him and then takes a deep breath. She stands straighter, raising her chin.

“Armor,” Sora says. “We need armor.”

We all look around at the dead and dying guards. We’re gonna have to take it off their corpses, which is fine—they don’t need it. But if I’d known that was the plan, I would’ve been cleaner.

We walk around, sizing up our closest fits as the bonfire continues to burn. I wipe some blood and bone off the one that’s closest to Aeri’s size. She gives me a small smile, and I help her get the armor strapped to her body. I grab my closest match, but these guys were all built like Euyn or Mikail. The chest armor barely fits my shoulders, and it’s not like the metal gives. Fuck it, though. It’s better than nothing.

Bells chime so loud, it’s hard to think. It feels good to have armor and weapons, but we still have to get out of this palace. I pick up the axe, ready to chop our way out of here.

“Shouldn’t we try the doors?” Aeri asks. “Maybe they’re distracted with Wei and we can slip out.”

“But the guards couldn’t get them open.” Sora points to the guard Mikail impaled with two swords. He’s still alive and moaning.

“Maybe the captain has a set of keys,” Aeri suggests.

Mikail strolls over to the body of the captain. “It’s a good thought.”

I watch him like a hawk. He can’t be this okay—he just can’t be. But I’ve never understood this guy. Maybe he really is fine, or maybe grief looks different on everybody.

Mikail rifles through the captain’s pockets and reaches into his breastplate. He holds up a set of keys and then flips them to Aeri.

“Give those a try,” he says.

She nods and begins to work on the lock.

Sora walks up to Mikail as Aeri tries one key after another. She’s been staring at him, too.

“Are you…okay?” she asks.

He breathes out a laugh. “No, and I won’t ever be, so there’s no sense in dealing with it now.”

I guess that’s fair enough. There just ain’t the time. Sora stares, tears in her eyes, but she nods.

“I’m really sorry, Mikail,” she says.

He nods. “I… Me too.”

Aeri gets the door unlocked with a click. Once she has it, I cup her soft face in my hand. She looks at me, her lips parting in surprise. I lean in and kiss her. Because if I’m going to die, it’s going to be with her kiss on my lips.

Then we both turn and look at Sora and Mikail. We’re ready.

“The ones we hate die first,” Sora says.

Mikail nods, lifting his sword to salute her. I bang my axe on the ground, and Aeri inclines her head.

I move in front of Aeri to be the first one out the door. Fuck, this sucks. I take a breath before I turn the knob. This is it. There ain’t no way we’re all just walking out of here, but at least I’ll go down protecting Aeri. There are worse ways to go. Worse ways to live, too.

I throw open the door, muscles rigid but ready. I come through, swinging my axe, expecting to hit blades and bodies, but there’s…nothing. Not a thing. I look around. There’s nobody inside. Not one guard or a servant. No stuffy swells. No one.

“What the fuck?” I whisper, then shudder. Where is everybody?

A cold breeze blows through the empty great hall, making the flags flutter, but there’s not a breath or a sound aside from the three people behind me.

Mikail is over my shoulder, and I feel his confusion. I thought the entire palace guard would be out here waiting for us. I don’t want to meet them, but where’d they all go?

Sora and Aeri peek out behind us.

“I don’t understand,” Aeri whispers.

“Is this because Wei has arrived?” Sora asks.

Mikail’s sharp eyes scan around. “I assume so, but be alert. Royo, protect our back in case it’s a trap.”

Mikail starts walking, clinging to the wall, his sword in hand. Sora and Aeri follow him, and I take the rear, ready for a surprise attack.

We stay tightly grouped, slowly making our way to the open front doors as one unit. Two steps, three. The quiet is unsettling as fuck. I don’t know how, but it’s almost worse than running straight into battle. At least we know what to prepare for when we can see our enemies. But this…this feels like willingly strolling into a trap.

We reach the golden doors, and then I get why there was no one inside—they are all in Trialga Square, standing in the rain. There have to be five thousand soldiers in the space, including two hundred palace guards in gray steel. Queen Quilimar and General Vikal sit on white horses in front of the army. Rather than hide her golden breast, Queen Quilimar has ripped off that part of her dress to put it on display. I guess it makes her seem more like Khitanese royalty. But none of them are looking at us.

Everybody is facing the harbor.

I’ve never seen a navy before, just boats on the Sol. And I ain’t never dreamed of anything like this. There are one hundred warships facing Oligarch Mountain. All with the blue sails of Wei—except for one boat in the center. That one flies the red flag with a black snake. It also has red sails.

King Joon’s ship.

“I’ve got a dumb question,” I say.

“What’s that?” Mikail is staring at the king’s ship, hatred burning in his eyes.

“If we win…” I begin, but then I stop because I doubt it’ll be a problem. And we have to win to worry about who’d rule Yusan. But with Euyn dead, I dunno who that would be.

It don’t matter, though. General Vikal has spotted us. She stares and leans toward the queen. Queen Quilimar turns and looks.

“Never mind,” I grumble.

I shift my axe in my hands, ready.