Page 9 of Four Ruined Realms (The Broken Blades #2)

Royo

City of Quu, Khitan

Aeri just ran out of the room. I can’t be sure, but I think it was because of what Mikail said. About the dead prince who was touching and killing kids. And wasn’t that the same guy who King Joon thought had killed her? Would that mean…

“You don’t need that,” Mikail says.

I look down to where he’s pointing. My fist is curled around a steak knife. I drop the blade on the table, and it lands with a clang. I just told myself I wouldn’t care about Aeri. I have to keep my word for more than a minute when it comes to her.

“How are the girls gonna get in to see the general?” I ask, needing a new topic.

“General Vikal used to see petitioners at dawn each day in Trialga Square,” Mikail says. “I’m not certain that she still does. After I meet with the ambassador, I’ll know more.”

He pushes back from the table and stands.

“You’re leaving?” Euyn asks. He looks kind of confused and hurt.

“Yes, I don’t think it’s wise to invite Zeolin here,” he says.

“Why’s that?” I ask.

“For starters, he’s the one who tipped off the spies today.” Mikail stretches, cocky, like it doesn’t matter.

“You’re gonna go see the guy who just tried to have you killed?” The grooves in my forehead deepen.

Mikail shrugs, facing me. “I can’t let every little thing bother me.”

I don’t know why I asked.

“Speaking of setups, though, I’m curious,” he says. “What does Bay Chin have against you?”

“I dunno.” I shrug. “I didn’t think he knew who I was.”

“Who was the girl?” Euyn asks. “The one Joon mentioned in the throne room.”

Lora.

The memory knocks the air out of my lungs. That son of a bitch Bay Chin said I killed Lora, that I let Hwan, her father, take the fall. The man who’d treated me like a son. The one I’ve tried to free for nearly a decade. The only girl I ever loved. Aside from… Never mind.

“Royo, I’m going to give you wooden cutlery if you can’t stop that,” Mikail says.

I look down and see I’m brandishing the knife again. I let go and push it out of the way. It skitters toward Euyn, and he catches it and sets it by his plate.

“I didn’t hurt her,” I say.

“I didn’t think you did,” Mikail says. “I’m trying to piece together what happened and why the northern count was involved.”

“She was…” I go to say her name, but I can’t. Grief makes the word stick in my throat. And that’s not what they’re asking anyhow. They don’t care who she was. They care what she was to me, but more what she was to Bay Chin. “She was the daughter of a merchant. I took the wrong job and killed a gang member, and then two gang members tried to kill me but got to her instead. But her father was the one arrested and jailed.”

Euyn and Mikail exchange glances. I don’t know what those looks mean, but I doubt it’s good.

Mikail nods. “That makes sense, then.”

“What does?”

“Bay Chin is the head of the gangs in Umbria,” Euyn says.

My heart lodges in my throat. The gangs. The ones who ran the city. The ones who stabbed her to death. I’d never figured out the connection before.

Mikail frowns. “You were a dead man once you killed a gang member.”

No need to tell them about the two I left in pieces.

“Why set up Hwan?” I ask. “Why not take me down?”

Mikail shrugs. “He certainly tried to by having Aeri bring you in. But it could’ve been any number of things. Bay Chin has a long memory and bides his time. I suspect this Hwan person either took something precious from him or became a threat to his interests. The counts do not tolerate competition from commoners.”

Hwan had two successful gambling houses. After he was arrested, they were given to the gangs. But that couldn’t have been it. I shake my head. It couldn’t have just been money.

Then I remember the sanctions on the city—a quarter of all revenue went to the throne because the count tried to kill the king. Eleven years of tribute nearly ruined Umbria. Then Bay Chin risked his own neck to bring in the most dangerous killers in Yusan, just to get the king to lift the sanctions. All to line his pockets with more gold. So yeah, it could’ve all been money.

“I’ll slice him apart in lingchi myself,” I say.

“I don’t doubt it,” Mikail says. “I hope you get the chance, truly, because it will mean we’ve won. Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I have to drop in on the ambassador.”

“Don’t kill him,” Euyn says.

Mikail pauses and looks surprised. “Why not?”

He walks out the door before Euyn can answer.