Page 6 of King Foretold (Realm of Four Kingdoms #2)

An unsteady breath hisses through my teeth. What I want ceased to matter the moment Daeseong reentered my life. There is no running from this. If I run, all will be lost. I will lose everyone .

“This realm is fucking me up.” I have no choice but to stay, so I might as well ask Minju for her help. “It’s ... messing with my magic. My spirit eyes are acting strange.”

“Your ... spirit eyes?” The historian squints in consternation.

“That’s what my mother and I used to call it.” I purse my lips. “Maybe you guys have a different term for it up here. You know, it’s like ... Gods, I don’t even know how to describe it.”

“Try,” Minju says in all seriousness.

“Spirit eyes are like ... like your third eye.” I try as I’m told. “It’s a different kind of sight . It’s the power that lets you see the gi around you.”

“How ...” Minju swallows. “How do you see ... What ... what does the gi look like?”

“What do you mean what does it look like?” I give her the side-eye. “It looks like gi.”

“Just humor me, please.” Minju focuses her gaze on me with an intensity that tells me I might be missing something here.

“All beings of the Shingae have an ... aura around them.” I circle my hands, urging the words to come. “The aura, or glow, kind of ... looks like a rainbow. The colors are distinct, but you can still see through it.”

“The colors?” the historian chokes out.

“Yes, the colors,” I repeat slowly. She is the smartest person I know. Why is she acting like she doesn’t know any of this? “You know ... blue for Water, silver for Sky, green for Mountains, and red for Underworld. You do realize you’re acting weird, right?”

“Can you open your spirit eyes right now?” Minju asks urgently, ignoring my question. “Can you ... see my life force? What color is it?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.

” I throw my hands up, confused as hell.

What has gotten into her? “I don’t need to open my spirit eyes to see the gi anymore.

I saw Gang Haesan’s life force with my physical eyes earlier.

I think it has something to do with this realm.

But I’m not sure I can even control the power anymore. ”

Minju slams her palms on the table, making me start, and pushes up to her feet.

Then she paces back and forth, mumbling under her breath.

She does this often. It helps her think, so I usually wait it out.

But tonight, her nervous pacing only makes me more apprehensive.

Before I can ask her to just tell me whatever she is thinking, the historian suddenly pivots to face me.

“What were you doing when you saw his gi?” she demands.

“We were about to spar, so I ... I kind of zeroed in on him.” My eyes widen, and I jab my pointer finger at her. “You’re a genius. I need to concentrate on someone—”

“Look at me.” Minju snatches my finger out of the air and pushes my hand down. “Tell me the color of my gi.”

“I can’t.” I stare at her, narrowing my eyes. “It’s not working.”

Then I rear back, blinking rapidly against the brightness. I see her gi. She’s a radiant silver, which doesn’t come as a surprise. She’s a seonnyeo, a being of Sky. Of course, her life force is—

“I see red gi threaded through your silver gi,” I whisper, and Minju gasps, pressing her hand to her chest. The red threads of her gi flicker, then flare, burning as brightly as the silver. The twin flames of her life force are ... beautiful. “You’re part Underworld?”

My mother told me beings of the Shingae are drawn to those of the same life source because their gi calls to one another.

Like calls to like. I had taken her words literally and assumed beings of different life sources couldn’t be together.

I honestly hadn’t thought too hard on it since I was never drawn to anyone.

In all my years, I’d never met any beings of the Shingae who contradicted my assumption ... until Ethan. He was the first person I was ever drawn to, and he was also the one who proved my assumption wrong.

His mother’s jade necklace—which bore the last of the Queen of Mountains’s love, tears, and magic—bound his powers and kept him hidden from his father for twenty-four years.

When he broke the stone of tears, it unleashed his magic and imbued him with his mother’s memories, revealing his past and his destiny.

His magic burns with the silver gi of Sky and the green gi of Mountains. He is living proof that beings of different life sources can be together. Minju is proof of that as well. Then why aren’t there more beings with dual life forces? Ethan and Minju can’t be the only ones.

“You must tell no one,” she says, reclaiming her seat next to me.

“Why?” I shake my head. None of this makes sense. I’m so tired of being clueless. “And how is it even a secret?”

“Which question should I answer first?” A mischievous smile curves the historian’s lips.

She must have learned something new from our little exercise.

Knowledge is her addiction, her aphrodisiac.

It’s nerdy but strangely endearing. “You mustn’t tell anyone because it is forbidden.

I am forbidden under the Code of the Realm. ”

“What?” I sputter. “That’s total bullshit.”

“I agree, but marrying someone outside of one’s own kingdom has been prohibited for hundreds of years—partly because of the feud between the four kingdoms and partly because it is close to impossible for beings of different life forces to have a child together,” Minju explains matter-of-factly.

“It is hard enough for the Shinbiin to procreate as is, so the rulers of the four kingdoms decided not to risk the population dwindling even more. It was one of the few things they all agreed on.”

“Then how ...” I trace Minju’s outline in the air with both hands.

“My parents married in secret, accepting they would never have a child together.” She shrugs delicately. “But here I am. A statistical anomaly.”

“You’re a miracle,” I correct her. Just like Ethan.

Minju nods shyly, then asks, “Do you want to know the answer to your second question?”

“My second question?” I scrunch up my nose. “I forgot I had one.”

“How is my parentage even a secret?” She practically bounces on her chair.

“Okay. I’ll bite.” My lips quirk into a grin, her enthusiasm contagious. “How?”

“Because no one can see the colors of my gi.” Minju grabs my hands and swings them between us. “When I actively use my magic, I draw solely from the life force of Sky, so people only see silver fire burning in my eyes.”

“Wait.” I snatch my hands back, needing to concentrate. “Why can’t anyone see your gi when you’re not using magic?”

“Because no one has that power. No one in the history of the Shingae has ever had the ability to see gi.” Minju grips my face between her hands. “But you do. Do you realize what that means?”

“No clue,” I say through puckered lips. I dislodge her hands from my face with an exasperated shake of my head. “You are making zero sense.”

“It makes perfect sense. Don’t you see, Sunny?” A triumphant smile spreads across the historian’s face.

I do see, but I wish I didn’t. This power is another reason I’m different from everyone else. It only makes me feel more alone. But Minju stares at me expectantly, so I give her the answer like a good student.

“I’m the only one who can see gi because I’m the only one with the Yeoiju,” I say in a monotone. “I’m somehow harnessing its powers to perceive the life forces around me.”

“This is a good thing,” she says softly, squeezing my hand. The understanding in her eyes makes my throat tighten.

“If you say so.” I look down at our hands. After the briefest hesitation, I flip mine over and squeeze hers back.

“I asked Captain Song not to share this with you because I didn’t want you to be distracted from your lessons. But ...” Minju hesitates, and I raise my head. “Daeseong disappeared from Heaven Lake.”

“I ...” A shiver runs through me, and I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to block out the memory of that terrifying battle. “I th ... thought he was t ... too hurt to leave the lake.”

Daeseong had lured me to Heaven Lake to steal the Yeoiju from me. Even though Ethan, Jihun, Hailey, Jaeseok, and Draco fought at my side, the dark mudang was too strong for us. His nightmare monsters ripped us to shreds.

But in the end, it was the darkness that nearly destroyed us. The darkness that stole our hope ... our will to live. In my desperation, I somehow harnessed the powers of the Yeoiju. I forced Daeseong to retreat to the dark depths of Heaven Lake, but I almost died in the process.

I thought I had more time. As long as he stayed in the lake, it meant he was too weak to carry out his plans.

It also meant I didn’t have to go after him since no one can dive that deep without imploding.

But if he left Heaven Lake, all bets are off.

I have no choice but to face him, whether or not I’m ready.

I lock my jaws to keep my teeth from chattering.

“Suhoshin sentries have been watching the lake around the clock,” Minju explains. “But the dark mudang somehow got past them.”

“Wh ... where is he?” I force out.

“We don’t know. He’s gone into hiding again, which means he hasn’t fully recovered.

But our time is running out, Sunny.” The historian takes a deep breath and attempts a reassuring smile.

“So it is a very good thing that your connection to the Yeoiju is growing stronger. It means you are one step closer to commanding its power.”

“Oh goody,” I say weakly, glomming on to the fact that Daeseong went into hiding again.

I don’t have much time, but I might have enough to master the powers of the Yeoiju. It’s too soon to give up hope. I haven’t failed everyone. At least, not yet.