Page 13

CHAPTER 13

JAEIL

The Under World

Fourth Ward, the Outer Ring

“THE TRAIN DERAILED a half day’s journey outside Seorawon.”

Jaeil looked from the window of the carriage to where Sana sat across from him, peeling an apple with her dagger. It was a large monstrosity of a fruit, grown in an inner-circle greenhouse. He shuddered to think what chemicals she was imbibing, though it was quite possible that was the appeal for Sana.

The buildings of the fourth ward were a blur, the horses cantering past them at a breakneck speed. The carriage hit a rut in the road, and the lantern attached to the ceiling swung back and forth, casting lurid shadows over the upholstered interior.

“The entire back of the train was lost,” Sana continued, the skin of the fruit spiraling around her calloused fingers. “The mercenaries didn’t make it. Not sure about the old bounty hunter. A certain scarred individual never showed up.”

Jaeil scowled at the reminder of his father’s visit. “And the soldier?” He peeled a piece of lint from his shirtsleeve, tossing it to the floor with a flick of his fingers.

“Likely killed in the crash.”

Outside, the streetlights went out, only to flicker back on a half second later. The horses didn’t let up. They were creatures bred in darkness; it held no fear for them.

The other nobles thought him a glutton for punishment, choosing to live in the darkness and the filth. They were wrong. The true filth was found in the light.

Finally, he said the words that he’d been thinking since the train departed the station:

“I should have gone.”

“You’re injured. You would’ve been no use to anyone.”

He shot Sana a look of irritation, but he didn’t contradict her. She was, as usual, insufferably right.

But now there was no one—besides perhaps, the bounty hunter—going after the girl that he’d sent himself. It was likely that more than a few mercenaries had made it to the river city.

Of course, there was a chance, however small, that the soldier had survived the crash…

The wheels of the carriage squealed as the coachman dragged on the reins. Jaeil didn’t wait for the carriage to stop before pressing open the door and jumping onto a wet street. It stank of piss, sweat, and fish. They were outside the fisheries. Sana handed him a handkerchief that he brought to his nose.

“Captain!”

A low-ranking soldier wearing the Sareniyan uniform approached. Jaeil hadn’t a reputation of being friendly with those under his command, but he endeavored to remember their names. He’d met this one once before.

“Yumi,” he said, his voice muffled from beneath the handkerchief. “What’s this about?”

He’d received the missive only a half hour ago, when he was readying to leave for an assembly in the square. His steward had gaped at him when he’d informed the harried old man that he’d be delaying that trip in favor of this one.

Yumi’s eyes widened, seeming startled that he knew her name. “If you’ll follow me, sir.” She guided them toward a long dock, at the end of which shone a single lantern.

“Apologies for sending a missive on such short notice,” Yumi said over the low murmur of polluted water breaking against the rickety wharf, “but I was told to report anything of consequence.”

“You did the right thing.”

The soldier’s cheeks flamed beneath her dark skin. From Yumi’s other side, Sana waggled her eyebrows. Jaeil ignored them both.

She led them to where two fishermen were wringing their hands over a swollen mat. The smell was stronger here, mixed in with a new, fouler stench.

Spotting him, both fishermen dropped to their knees, flattening their faces against the wood.

“Now, now, don’t stand on ceremony,” Sana said, looking down at her nails. “Truly.”

“What did you find?” Jaeil asked.

“Sir,” one of the fishermen whimpered, “it’s… gruesome.” Jaeil noticed the way the old man trembled. His skin appeared brittle, as if made of paper.

Sana scowled. “Oh, I’ll just do it.” Reaching down, she threw the mat back.

A body lay beneath. The woman’s flesh was torn in several places and half her face was missing.

“Canal sharks, maybe?” Sana said. She shuddered, taking a step away from the edge of the dock.

“Perhaps,” Jaeil replied, though he was skeptical. Sharks would consume all of the body; this one was mostly intact.

The woman was naked, giving no clues as to her identity. She was likely from the Outer Ring, as she showed signs of malnourishment.

“These look like bite marks,” Jaeil said, crouching by the corpse. “But these…” His fingers traced five gouges on the woman’s arm.

“Scratches?” Sana asked.

“They’re too deep.” He pressed his gloved fingers into the gouges. They sank an inch into her flesh.

“That’s disgusting,” Sana said, taking a bite of her apple.

Jaeil stood. He nodded to the fishermen, who had come out of their bows only to cower by the lantern, then to Yumi. “You’ve done well, soldier. Have the body transferred to the morgue at Hagye.” He’d need a full autopsy report before he figured out what was going on.

She bowed, dropping her head low. “Yes, sir!”

Jaeil and Sana moved back across the docks.

“What do you think killed her?” she asked.

Jaeil removed his gloves, pressing them into his pocket. “Nothing good.”

He’d had a piss-poor morning, and the day wasn’t over. Sana tossed the core of the apple into the black water.

AS THEY PASSED through a gate from Mid City into the Core, the darkness receded.

Gas lamps illuminated the nine great avenues of the Core, each lined with dozens of mansions and shops—teahouses, confectioneries, apothecaries, and ateliers. Here, the wealthiest citizens of the Under World dwelled. As the carriage careened down cobblestone streets, appearing like burnished gold beneath the lamps, Jaeil thought of the fishermen trembling in the dark.

The fourth ward avenue opened into the main square, where all nine of the avenues converged. Jaeil was already late when the carriage pulled up outside the assembly hall, but that didn’t stop him from pausing on the steps to lift his gaze skyward.

Somewhere above him was the Sky Door, the very center of the Floating World. He couldn’t see it through the darkness, but in less than two weeks’ time, during the Festival of Light, it would open. The square that day would be crowded with people, not just the citizens of the Core and Mid City but also the Outer Ring. Every year a few people were trampled to death, but that mattered little to those who wanted to witness the spectacle of the light flooding the city.

He felt Sana step up beside him, and together they approached the doors. The guards standing in front uncrossed their spears, moving aside to let them pass. Inside, floor lanterns illuminated a wide path to the assembly hall.

“Captain,” a low voice crooned from the shadows. Jaeil signaled Sana to wait for him in the foyer. He turned to the owner of the voice, a young man with small, beady eyes and a thin beard. “You stink, Cousin,” the man said, wrinkling his nose. “And you brought a rat with you.” His eyes trailed after Sana, licking his lips.

Jaeil said nothing, waiting until his cousin’s gaze had traveled back to him. When not sequestered on the Floating World, Yohan, along with the rest of their wretched brethren, spent most of his time in the brothels and gambling dens of the Under World.

Yohan was the first to break eye contact, looking away with a scowl on his face. “Uncle won’t be pleased at your late arrival.”

“I had…” Jaeil thought of the bodies by the docks, bloated with canal water. “An issue to take care of.”

Yohan gestured Jaeil toward the chamber ahead. “Come, Cousin. Dearest Uncle should be addressing the assembly soon.”

Jaeil followed Yohan through the doors. A council member was speaking from the podium at the front of the hall. Members of the council, as well as influential citizens from the Core and Mid City, sat in the long rows of tiered seats curving around the room.

The first several rows held the more prominent nobles from the Floating World, including his father. The general didn’t acknowledge Jaeil’s entrance.

“Cousin,” Yohan said, “let’s—”

Jaeil swept past the section with the nobles, choosing instead to climb the wooden steps. As he predicted, Yohan didn’t follow. On the upper levels, non-council members—merchants and minor nobles—observed the proceedings with lazy interest, smoking pipes and murmuring quietly among themselves.

Jaeil headed toward the last of the rows. It was occupied by a single person, a man in a black robe. As Jaeil stepped past him, he noticed the man’s clothing gave off an odd chemical scent.

A loud rapping noise drew Jaeil’s attention to the front of the room.

“General Iljin of the Sareniyan army will address the assembly,” the council’s secretary announced before bowing in the general’s direction, then scuttling to his seat.

The chatter in the room ceased as the general approached the podium. Jaeil sat down, resting his fist on his thigh.

The general was considered a handsome man, tall and broad-shouldered. Jaeil was said to resemble him, though he was slighter of build. He was well-mannered, soft-spoken, though his eyes, many had remarked upon, seemed rather cold. They shared that in common.

His father spoke to the assembly at length about the war, key battles they had won, and territory gained. In the ten years the general had been in power, they’d forcibly annexed all the smaller kingdoms surrounding the Floating World and only now contended with their last and most powerful enemy, the great northern empire of Volmar.

The battles had become more vicious in the past few years; every day, the boundaries between the empires were redrawn. It was during the most recent one, a critical battle to overtake a mountain pass, when Jaeil had been thrown from his horse; he’d only survived because Sana had dragged him from the valley.

“… And so, I beseech you, noble lords and ladies, to once again contribute to the greatness of Sareniya.”

Jaeil watched as below, the nobles shifted uneasily in their seats. While many took care to appease his father, they were united against him on one issue—the use of coin, their coin , to fund the war.

In the second row, an older man spoke up. “General, what is the purpose of continuing the war with the Volmarans?” Minister Bak, the first ward minister , Jaeil remembered. His presence at the assembly reminded him of Minister Jo, the ninth ward minister, whose vacant seat none but Jaeil seemed to take note of. “Should we not reach an agreement, a truce? I believe we should focus on building the necessary infrastructure in the territories we have gained rather than waste our resources in fighting against a mighty foe.”

“And if that mighty foe decides we pose a threat?” his father asked quietly.

“If that is the case, it would only be because you made it so, General,” Minister Bak said, just as calmly.

Jaeil was impressed. Minister Bak was braver than most. At least half the nobles present murmured their support.

The general seemed to consider the minister’s words for a moment. “When I was a young boy, I once traveled with my father to one of the neighboring kingdoms,” he began. “It has since been assimilated, but at the time, it was ruled by a king, though I can no longer recall his name.”

He spoke in a quiet voice, but that didn’t matter—the hall had gone silent.

“I remember standing with this king on the balcony of his castle,” the general said, “as he gazed upon the Floating World, when I happened to glimpse his face. What I saw there made my blood run cold. He was desirous. Covetous. His was a weak kingdom, and even then, he hadn’t the power to overcome Sareniya, but I never forgot that expression. It was one of the few times in my life I’ve ever felt truly afraid. It made me wonder about other, more powerful nations. What would stop them from seeing that beautiful land in the sky and taking it for themselves?”

The general had been looking out at the assembly, with no particular focus, but his gaze at once bore down on the first ward minister, making the older man flinch.

“You’re right, Minister Bak. In ten years, I’ve built Sareniya into a powerful empire, a feared one, through terrible sacrifice and the bloodshed of thousands, never wavering from one single, all-consuming purpose: to defend it against those who covet the light.”

Jaeil shifted in his seat, uncrossing his legs and leaning forward slightly. His father had always been a charismatic speaker. The other half of the nobles, those who hadn’t vocalized their support of Minister Bak, cried out in favor of the general, the hall resounding with voices shouting over one another.

“But in order to gain more capital, we’d have to mine more mithril,” said a corpulent nobleman of obvious wealth and rank. “And if the rumors about the Floating World are true…”

“What rumors?” Minister Lim, the sixth ward minister, asked with a frown.

“That it’s…” His voice lowered. “Sinking.”

This statement sent a stir through the assembly.

“Then mining should cease at once!” someone at the back of the hall cried out—likely a merchant who, unlike the nobles, couldn’t uproot her family and business should a landmass happen to fall from the sky. And she was a woman with resources. By no means were any of the vast majority of the Under World’s population, none of whom were represented at this assembly, equipped for such a migration. “Mithril is what keeps the Floating World afloat!”

“We can’t stop mining!” a nobleman shrilled hysterically. “The economy would cease to run!”

Jaeil raised a brow at this statement. The cessation of mining would stop the flow of wealth into the pockets of the nobles, but the bartering of goods and exchange of coins would continue.

“Had the celestial maiden still lived, none of this would be a concern,” thundered a strident voice, silencing the others.

In the front row, a woman had risen from her seat. Lady Maya.

She was his father’s most powerful opponent. As a descendant of the first celestial maiden, she, along with her clan, carried the royal bloodline. “For a hundred years the Floating World had remained unharmed because of her protection. There was no power in any of the hundred kingdoms that was stronger than her Light.”

Jaeil could sense the building of his father’s anger, though it was likely he was the only one aware, having become attuned to it over the years.

“It is a tragedy what happened to your cousin, lady,” the general said icily. “But even when she was alive, she had no true… power.”

He let his words linger in the hall. Even if the direct descendants of the original celestial maiden had inherited her incredible powers, they’d become diluted over generations. The last queen of Sareniya hadn’t any magic at all.

“Sareniya’s strength is in her military, which brings me to my original purpose for calling this assembly today. I’ve told you what I need to win this war. However you obtain the coin matters little to me.”

The general nodded to the secretary, who leaped to his feet. “That concludes the assembly!” the man shouted.

The nobles were quick to disperse. The bench rattled as the man sitting at the end abruptly stood. As he turned, an object fell from the pocket of his robe.

“You dropped something,” Jaeil said, reaching down to pick up the object—a plunger with a long needle. A syringe . Jaeil had seen such instruments used in the medical tents.

“Thank you,” the stranger said, grabbing the syringe and stuffing it into his pocket. He wore spectacles, and Jaeil had the impression of dark circles beneath downcast eyes before he fled.

Jaeil hadn’t taken a dozen steps outside the hall before a voice called out to him. “Captain!”

He turned from Sana, who’d joined him in the foyer, and greeted Lady Maya with a low bow. When he straightened his back, he found her studying him, a calculating expression in her gaze that she quickly smoothed over with a smile.

“It is, as your father said, a tragedy what happened,” she said. “The general claims my cousin’s death the night of that horrible storm was an accident, that she fell while standing too close to the edge, dragging her daughter along with her.”

Jaeil kept his expression neutral.

“They say you were the princess’s closest friend, that she was quite… attached to you.”

“Ten years is a long time,” Jaeil drawled. “I hardly remember.” It was a lie. He remembered every detail of that night, though it was almost a decade to the day. “And you’re mistaken. The princess and I weren’t close.”

He bowed to Lady Maya before she could reply, turning from her though she hadn’t formally dismissed him.

“Nobles,” Sana said as they exited through the great doors of the assembly hall’s entrance. “Why do I always want to kick one when I see one? Oh, wait, you’re a noble.”

“Let’s go,” Jaeil said, tugging at his collar to loosen it.

“Sir!” A soldier approached from where she’d been wringing her hands beneath a streetlamp.

“What is it?” he asked sharply, sensing her agitation.

“I was sent by Commander Su, from outside the Wall, sir. He said to come quick. Another body was found.”