Page 11

SORA

THE WEST SEA

D aysum is dead.

May the gods guide her soul. May Lord Yama have mercy on her. May her deeds weigh lighter than a feather.

I sigh as I make my way through the standard death prayers while sitting aboard the skiff. I think something is wrong with me. Daysum, the girl I’ve lived my whole life for, is dead, and I feel nothing. I’ve barely shed a tear.

I think I’m broken.

Aeri looks over at me again, scanning with her golden eyes.

She lays her hand on mine. She cares, and she doesn’t have to.

She wants to help, and that’s something.

There is a great deal of unkindness layered with indifference in the world, and her compassion is a gift.

So I open my fist and weave my fingers with hers.

I brace myself for questions, but she sits quietly. She’s kind enough to recognize that I don’t want to talk, and that isn’t easy for her.

We silently hold on together as the world blurs by.

Mikail uses the scepter to wield us along the cape of Yusan, a good distance from the shore.

The sail on this skiff is white—meaning it doesn’t fly any nation’s flag.

We have it unfurled so that we don’t draw more attention to how unnaturally fast we are moving.

Not that it matters. If anyone is closely watching us, the sail won’t fool them.

Fallador sits with Mikail at the front, and Aeri and I are in the middle, which leaves Gambria and Royo together in the back. It’s hard to tell who dislikes it more. But we won’t be on this boat for long.

It’s barely a bell before we reach the Bay of More, the curving inlet between Gain and Use. We traveled an impossible distance in that short of a time. It’s even more impossible that yesterday morning we were in Quu Harbor.

I twist my hair. I suppose we exist among miracles and horrors now.

Moments later, we sail up the Tan River. Named for the colored silt that’s often in the water, the Tan flows from Lake Garda into the bay. Even though we’re sailing against the current, it’s far faster than any other way of getting to Rahway.

I have mixed feelings about returning to the western city. Count Rune is far from a good man, but I suppose Mikail is right—we don’t have many options, and they are all bad men.

The only good nobleman probably died in Idle Prison. I take a moment to absorb the possibility that they’re all dead—all the people we’re fighting for. That not just Daysum but Tiyung, Ailor, and Hwan have gone to the Kingdom of Hells.

Yet I still feel nothing.

Royo scans the horizon with a spyglass, and it distracts me from my thoughts.

“What are you looking for?” I ask.

“Pirates,” he says, not taking his eye off the water.

“Those are on the East Sea,” Gambria scoffs. “We’re all the way in the west now—on a river.”

Royo takes the glass down for just long enough to glare at Gambria. “There are pirates on the Sol.”

Tension crackles, and I’m a little concerned that one of them will push the other from this skiff.

“I haven’t heard of pirates in the southern region, but I suppose we can’t be too careful,” I say.

They both seem to accept that, or at least they return to staring out of opposite sides of the vessel.

One conflict put to rest. A hundred more to go.

We speed along the Tan and pass the floating city of Speculator.

The city sits high on the engorged river.

Memories return, and I think about the man I murdered here.

He was the eighth mark for Count Seok, the name scrawled on the back of a card—Brookson Veil.

I remember his name. I remember all of their names.

In order to find him, I had to ride to Allegiance, a city at the northernmost edge of Seok’s territory.

After studying my mark, I saw he coveted other people’s possessions, so I charmed my way onto the arm of another high-ranking nobleman.

He was the one who introduced me to Veil, and then I let myself be seduced away.

A day later, Veil took me onto his pleasure yacht and almost immediately to the cabin below. I can still feel his wine-laden breath on my neck and the way he kissed my ear, gripping me from behind. He was practically pushing me down the stairs to his bed, he was so eager to claim his new prize.

I murdered him with a large dose of Erlingnow. He was dead within seconds, but then I had to figure out how to escape on a moving ship with servants and guards above us. It was well into the evening, and I stared at the Tan River from the lower-level deck.

Jumping in was the only solution, but I hesitated.

There were not only blood pike but sharks in the water. Yet I was buoyed by the lights of Speculator. I thought I could make it, so I held my breath and leaped overboard. I hit the cold water and swam against the current, keeping the city lights in my sight.

But I underestimated how fast the river was flowing downstream.

The current carried me for a mile before I was able to drag myself onto the shore, my limbs shaking until they gave out.

It was one of the most terrifying nights. Even now, that feeling of helplessness grips me. I exhale. My fingers twitch around Aeri’s, and she pats my hand.

I look at her and remember that horrible night is over. I’m not swimming right now. I’m on a skiff.

With another deep breath, I calm my pounding heart.

But all of it, all the worst moments of my life, were because of Seok.

Fallador and Mikail casually mentioned that he may have taken the throne of Yusan.

I grit my teeth at the thought of him being king, but any coronation will have to wait until monsoon season ends.

The celestial gods can’t see Yusan during the monsoons, and therefore they can’t bless a new king.

But once he is coronated, Seok will be guarded behind the walls of Qali Palace and it will be impossible to get to him.

We have to cut him down now, before it’s too late.

I exhale a short laugh. I’ve finally become the merciless killer Seok always wanted me to be, and I’m coming for him.

Aeri tilts her head while blinking at me. She probably said something, and I missed it.

“What was that?” I ask.

“We’re almost there,” she says.

I finally notice where we are. We entered Lake Garda while I was lost in my thoughts.

It’s a beautiful lake twice the size of Lake Cerome.

The water is cerulean, and the shore is dotted with towns.

Last time I was in Rahway, I could only see where the Sol ended, but the full expanse is breathtaking in the dusk.

The city of Rahway appears out of nowhere.

There was nothing on the horizon and then Mikail pushed us closer, and now there’s the sandstone metropolis in front of us.

The monsoons don’t normally reach this far west, so the sky is lit up in ribbons of bright pink and oranges, making the beige city shimmer.

So much water has rushed down the Sol that some of the harbor of Rahway is submerged, but Mikail pulls us toward the raised portion of the port. Then he hides the Water Scepter inside the walking stick, and we use the sail to take us the rest of the way to a dock.

Aeri found a dress with long sleeves at the market in Cetil. The lace of the edge somewhat hides the ring, and the high neckline conceals the amulet.

With the relics now disguised, we disembark into the Port of Rahway. Mikail offers his hand to help me out of the skiff. He searches my face as I take it. I think he’s looking for forgiveness or at least acceptance. I turn away.

I’m not sure this gamble will pay off. There’s nothing to stop Rune from betraying us all, but desperation makes for strange friends. We’ll have to trust that he’ll need us as much as we need him.

As we walk, I apply a dash of Oxerbow on my lips, just in case.