Page 80 of Four Ruined Realms (The Broken Blades #2)

Aeri

I wake up in another world. The last thing I knew, I was standing on a rock on the seafloor of Quu Harbor. But one look, and I can tell that this is definitely not Quu or Khitan. I’m in a boat, I think. But I’m on dry land.

For a second, I think I’m dead as I stare up at a gorgeous azure sky. The air is warm, and the breeze is gentle. Is this Elysia? But then there’s Royo’s concerned face looking down at me. He’s frowning, and my head is in his lap. If he’s unhappy, I must still be alive.

“Good, you’re up.” Royo moves away from me, sliding on the bench, and then he climbs out of the boat.

Definitely not in paradise.

Confused, I sit up quickly, then put my arms out to steady myself. I’m not sure how long I was out, but my body aches and my head spins. Then I remember what I did. It doesn’t feel real, but there is the Golden Ring of the Dragon Lord on my hand. I killed Bay Chin and General Salosa by turning them into statues. Then I wanted to sink the boats belonging to my father and the Weian king. But all I remember is numbness like I’d never felt radiating through me until I passed out. And Royo saw me do it—turn men into gold without touching them, which I couldn’t possibly do with only the ring.

“Wait, where are you going?” I ask.

Royo stops, his shirt rippling in the sea breeze and his shoulders tense. He turns and faces me. “You lied to me again.”

He’s angry, but he’s not staring at my face. He’s looking at my chest. Or my neck.

I look down, and my armor is gone. And there, exposed, is the amulet burned into my skin, the chain long gone.

“Royo, I can explain…” I begin. Even though I don’t need to. It’s pretty self-explanatory. My stomach sinks. He already knows.

He shakes his head. “I asked about your necklace on the Light Mountains—”

“I know I—”

“You looked right at me and lied.” His voice breaks with sorrow, with hurt. I close my mouth. He sighs. “I would’ve loved you through anything, anything you did, anything so long as you were honest.”

“Royo, please…”

“You’re a liar.” He stares at me, and then he shakes his head. “I shouldn’t of given you a second chance.”

He turns and walks away, and my heart shatters into pieces as small as the grains of sand on the beach.

I stay sitting on the boat because I can’t catch my breath. My stomach is twisting, and my chest feels like it’s been cleaved in two. And there’s nowhere to go. I think about chasing after him. I want to. My muscles ache to move, to climb out of this boat and run after him. But what is there to say? Everything he said was true. I lied to his face on the Light Mountains. It doesn’t matter if I did it for him, because he warned me to never lie again.

I made my choice and broke my own heart. I want him to forgive it, but that’s not up to me. The truth is, if I had to do it all over again, I would lie again to keep him safe. And there can’t be forgiveness without regret.

“He’ll come around,” Mikail says. He walks up on the white sandy shore and stops next to the boat.

“No, I don’t think he will.” The words come out shaky and raw.

I’m not sure how I’m sitting here having a conversation with Mikail. I’m not sure how either of us is still alive, or how I’m still breathing when it feels like I’ve been gutted.

“How did we escape?” I finally ask, looking around. “Where is Sora? Is she okay?”

“It’s a very long story,” he says. “But Sora is fine. Come with me, and I’ll tell you everything.”

He gestures, and it’s only then that I realize he has the Water Scepter of the Dragon Lord in his hand. I can feel the energy radiating off it. It’s hard to focus on anything, even my broken heart, with how strongly I can sense the scepter. Something deep inside me wants to reach out and possess it. I ignore it even though the impulse knocks on me like a drum.

“Mikail,” I say, breathless.

If he has the relic, it can only mean we defeated Wei somehow. But if that’s the case, why aren’t we in Khitan?

“Where are we?” I ask.

“Gaya,” he says. “My home.”

The island. The colony of Yusan. The fourth realm that was once independent but then was absorbed, slaughtered, and weakened by the empire. By my bloodline.

Mikail just called it his home.

I look at Mikail and the staff in his hand. Then I put it together. The energy radiating off it is coming from him. I felt it when he handed me the ring.

Mikail is Gayan royalty.

We are on the colony island with three of the relics of the Dragon Lord. It’s not possible, but somehow it is.

“Now what?” I ask.

“Now,” he says, helping me out of the skiff, “we rest. Then, we seek our revenge.”

The End For Now