Page 57 of King Foretold (Realm of Four Kingdoms #2)

“You have me alone, king father.” I sketch a mocking bow. “Please say what’s on your mind. And do use small words so my tiny animal brain can process it.”

“I will tell you where Daeseong is hiding.” He smiles even though I keep my face impassive. It’s as though he can hear the pounding of my heart. “ If you swear to leave the Kingdom of Mountains without my son.”

“I will do no such thing,” I hiss before I can stop myself. No one can make me leave Ethan.

“Do you not want him to claim his birthright?” The tyrant’s eyebrows crest in a travesty of benign concern.

“Do you not want to give him the peaceful succession he so desperately wants? With you by his side, that will never be possible. No shinbiin, even the worthless commoners of the Kingdom of Mountains, will accept a gumiho as their queen.”

I hold back a startled gasp. Their queen?

Ethan and I love each other, but ... marriage?

Is that where this was leading? I’ve been so busy hiding my love that I never thought about what would happen after I gave all of myself to him.

Marriage. I would be his beloved wife. My heart melts at the thought, but . .. I would also be their hated queen.

“A king must take a wife,” the old king says, as though he read my mind. “He must have a queen and an heir to strengthen the throne.”

“Do you even hear yourself?” I say with forced derision. “ You didn’t have a queen, because you killed her. And you didn’t have an heir, because you chased him away and would have gladly killed him, too, if you had the chance.”

“ That was my mistake, wasn’t it? I lost my queen and heir, and lost the support of my people.” He shakes his head morosely. “The love of one’s people is fickle. They will turn on you at the slightest shift of the wind. The closer you remain with my son, the quicker he will lose the throne.”

I know he’s full of shit, and yet ... wouldn’t Ethan’s ascension to the throne be that much smoother with a shinbiin queen at his side?

He can ally with a powerful noble if he takes their daughter as his wife.

Shit. The wily tyrant is messing with my head.

He is full of poisonous manipulations. I cannot be shaken.

“Where is Daeseong? Tell me,” I demand.

“Swear that you’ll leave this kingdom— alone —and never return,” he barters smoothly.

“Sure,” I drawl without an ounce of sincerity. “Why not?”

His low chuckle makes nausea churn in my stomach. “I would need your blood oath, gumiho.”

I suck in a sharp breath, the dank smell of the dungeon coating my mouth. “I’ll give you my word . Unless you plan on returning the blood oath to swear you are telling the truth.”

“I will,” he says without hesitation, a creepy sneer curling his lips.

That is the last thing I expected him to say.

And I do not like the look of that smile.

This is a trick. I just don’t know how it can be.

If he swears by a blood oath to tell me the truth, he literally cannot lie.

It means I can get the truth out of him without bewitching him.

I shudder at the mere thought of drawing on that power.

But I would have to swear to leave the Kingdom of Mountains and never come back.

This is Ethan’s home now. I want it to be my home too.

Every cell in my body rebels against leaving Ethan.

He is my home. But there are a thousand human beings who might breathe their last if I don’t help them.

The Mortal Realm, and the lives of over eight billion humans and beings of the Shingae, are in imminent danger.

I can’t put my desire—no, need —to be with Ethan ahead of eight billion lives.

I shake my head. I can’t accept that. There must be another way. My eyes jump around the dark cell as a scream builds in my chest. Please ... There has to be another way.

I can ... I can use my dark power. I can stay with Ethan.

I just have to ... I just ... No, I can’t.

I lock my knees to keep them from buckling—to keep my body from crumpling to the ground.

I can’t cross that line, even to be with Ethan.

Because if I do, I would no longer be the person he fell in love with.

There’s no use prolonging the inevitable. I am making this blood oath. I have no other choice—no choice I can live with. I have to leave Ethan ... for now. But I will find my way back to him.

I stalk over to the prisoner and stop two steps away from him, then crouch to the ground. I let my incisors elongate and pierce the tip of my index finger. When blood wells on my fingertip, nearly black in the dark cell, I draw a half circle on the ground with it.

“I swear to leave the Kingdom of Mountains—”

“Tonight,” the old king interjects.

“Wh . . . what?”

“You leave tonight ,” he snarls. “Or I tell you nothing.”

I glare at him, my blood pounding in my head. That’s too soon. But I swallow and resume my oath because the dark mudang must be stopped.

“I swear to leave the Kingdom of Mountains tonight and ... never return,” I rasp. “In exchange for the current and exact location of Daeseong and his human captives.”

“I swear to give the gumiho the current and exact location of Daeseong and his human captives.” The former king slices open his index finger with the sharp nail on his pinky and draws a half circle next to mine, finishing the circle.

“In exchange for her leaving the Kingdom of Mountains tonight to never return.”

The circle of blood bursts into fire, shining light on the tyrant’s gleeful eyes, then it extinguishes in a heartbeat, leaving no trace of blood behind.

I slowly turn my left hand over and stare down at my palm.

And there it is. The crudely drawn blood circle imprinted onto the mound beneath my thumb. Gods, what have I done?

The tyrant holds up his left hand to me, showing me the identical imprint on his palm. “The dark mudang—”

“Say his fucking name,” I growl, in no mood for games.

He snarls at my disrespect but continues through gritted teeth. “Daeseong is at the Santorini caldera.”

“The Santorini caldera?” I blink at his sudden switch to impeccable English, the words sounding foreign coming from his mouth. “What the fuck is Daeseong doing at the Santorini caldera? Taking his dream vacation? Working on his tan?”

“Leave me, gumiho.” The former king has that smug look on his face again, and my stomach drops like lead.

“He’s expecting me.” My voice is soft with wonder at my own stupidity. I gave the blood oath for nothing. “The dark mudang told you to send me there, didn’t he?”

“You figured it out at last?” He chortles. “Gods, you’re slow.”

“He needs me there to move his plans forward. Tonight ...” My knees give out, and I fall on my ass. “But why ?”

“You can think about that on your way out,” the tyrant bites out. “I cannot bear your stench a minute longer.”

I grab the long end of the cangue and raise it toward the ceiling until the prisoner is dangling by his neck, his feet kicking in the air. It feels like he and the thick wooden cangue weigh nothing.

I vaguely register my extraordinary strength in the back of my mind.

He digs his hands into his neck hole to fight against strangulation. His face turns a mottled purple, and he gurgles weakly. I drop him to the ground.

“Is Daeseong planning to kill the humans tonight, king father?” I ask with impeccable manners. “Why does he need me at Santorini?”

The tyrant tries to laugh but ends up coughing and gagging instead, drool dribbling down his chin. “Do you think the dark mudang shares his plans with me? If you weren’t a filthy animal, I would’ve been flattered at how highly you think of me.”

“Tell me.” I raise the cangue again until his ass lifts off the ground.

“I do not know,” he yells, panic in his eyes. “He truly does not share his plans with me. I do not know.”

I drop the cangue back to the ground. The coward is telling the truth. “What do you get for handing me over to Daeseong?”

“I told you. I’m the only thing standing between the Realm of Four Kingdoms and the Amheuk.

The dark mudang said he’ll spare this realm if I sent you to him.

He promised that the eternal darkness will drown the Mortal Realm but nothing beyond it,” he gloats.

“I saved this realm from the Amheuk. Every kingdom will fall at my feet in awe and gratitude. I will be the King Foretold.”

“And you believed him? The Gray Void already stands between the Amheuk and the Realm of Four Kingdoms. If Daeseong somehow finds a way past the Gray Void, then he and the Amheuk wouldn’t hesitate to conquer this realm.

You are meaningless in the equation.” I cluck my tongue, remorseful that this pathetic male is Ethan’s father.

“You can save no one, not even yourself.”

I don’t wait for him to respond. I walk out of the cell and close the heavy door behind me. Then I stand in the quiet of the stone hall, blinking against the light. And even before I see that there is no one in the circular hall, I know that something has gone wrong.

“There you are,” Hailey cries, running down the stairwell. Her shirt is torn at the shoulder like she broke free from someone trying to grab hold of her. Blood oozes from a thin gash on her chin. “We need to get out of here.”

“Is Ethan okay?” I meet her at the bottom of the stairs and motion for her to climb back up the steps. “Is Jihun with him? What’s going on?”

“Don’t worry. They’re both okay.” Hailey glances over her shoulder. “But a general who remains loyal to the tyrant has attacked. Well, loyal might be an exaggeration. He’s just looking out for himself because if the king loses power, he loses power.”

My stomach drops. “How bad is it?”