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TIYUNG

THE COASTAL ROAD, YUSAN

T he warm baths, dry beds, and hot meals were exactly what we needed. But at daybreak we continue on toward Qali. It’ll take days to reach the palace. We’d looked for a carriage at the stable in town, but unsurprisingly, they’re all rented during monsoon season.

Hana looks unbothered as she rides, stunningly beautiful as always.

Her features are different from Sora’s—she’s taller and curvier where Sora is more delicate.

My father searched for unique beauties, thinking he’d have a stable of poisoners to suit every man’s tastes.

He must’ve been so disappointed that only three survived.

All that torture, all those families torn apart, just so he could maintain or increase his power. He said one day I’d understand. I aim to live a life where that’s not the case.

Every now and then, Hana pulls out her spyglass. The Weian ships are no longer visible, but I know they’re continuing down the coast just as we are. I hope I’m wrong—that they are actually sailing back to Wei—because a war of the realms will be disastrous for Yusan.

I grip my reins at the thought. If King Joon is alive and still possesses the Immortal Crown, my father will die.

That much is certain. But getting to someone who has taken Qali Palace is easier spoken than accomplished.

I don’t think anyone, king or not, has ever successfully sieged Qali.

Which means it will be a war and thousands of people will die.

Would my father surrender to avoid that? No, absolutely not. He’s proven time and time again that he doesn’t care about the lives or deaths of others.

I cough and shake again with a worrisome chill from this rain. Hana looks none the worse for wear, but maybe she’s from the northeast like Sora. The truth is, I don’t know. I lack basic knowledge about the woman who saved my life.

“Where are you from originally?” I ask.

“Oh, no. Not small talk, Tiyung. My nerves can’t handle it,” Hana says.

I glance at her. “You don’t have any nerves.”

Her lips curl up into a grin. “You’d be surprised. I’m from a small town in the west. Your father searched the entire realm for girls to become poison maidens. Imagine my luck that he found me.”

“Where in the west?” I ask. “My mother was from Pact on the Yew River.”

Pact is technically in the west, although the river marks the border to the south.

“Way out west,” Hana says. “Almost in the foothills of the Tangun Mountains.”

I nod. “Like Sora and the Khakatans.”

She cringes slightly at the name and then drops her shoulders. “Similar in that they are mountains and we both grew up poor. But my climate was drier, more desert than hers. My town was nearly to Fallow.”

Poverty did force most parents to sell their children to my father, but with Sora’s father, Seok threatened to kill the entire family.

After swords were drawn, my father told me to wait by the carriage.

I was still surprised when he came out later with indenture bills and the girls.

I asked what happened, and he said all men can be bought—it’s just a matter of the amount.

It always seemed off to me. Her father had been so determined to keep them, but maybe Seok was right. Maybe everyone has a price.

I wait for an insult from Hana. One inevitably follows any mention of my family, but her barbs don’t come.

“Why are you being nice to me?” I blurt out. Blood rushes to my cheeks. I hadn’t meant to say that aloud.

She sighs. “I suppose I realized that you are genuine.”

I sit straighter, buoyed by the compliment. “Not totally useless, then?”

She arches an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

A feeling bubbles in my chest—the possibility of friendship.

Hana has warmed to me since we escaped from Idle, and I’ve changed her opinion some.

But a voice in my head reminds me that she only helped me because I saved her brother.

She is not actually a friend. I never had friends until Mikail, Euyn, Royo, and Aeri.

Hana is settling a score because she doesn’t want to be in my debt, but she doesn’t need to do a thing.

“I am sorry,” I say.

She stares at me. “For what?”

“For what was done to you, and Nayo, and Sora, and Daysum. And all the others. I should’ve been stronger and braver. I should’ve stopped my father.”

She takes a breath and adjusts herself in her saddle. “Don’t flatter yourself, Tiyung. You were just a kid when it all started, and you’re mostly useless as a grown man. You couldn’t have stopped your father. And you’ve taken large steps to right his wrongs. You’re not the one to blame.”

I can’t help it. I grin.

She rolls her eyes and looks away, but a small smile plays on her lips, and it lightens the heaviness in my chest.

Maybe I do want atonement, but there are worse things to desire.