Page 27

“Other than the fact that someone tried to kill you last night?” Sun-ye tilts her head.

“I don’t know how many reasons you need, but I assume the assassins sent word to Seok that you’re here.

You’ll be hunted by tomorrow. If you leave now, you’ll at least have a head start.

But more than that: someone gave you up.

It was either one of your own or one of Rune’s servants, but he didn’t know.

He has people he can’t trust, and the tide will turn against him quickly.

I can only hope it happens by sundown. But he has his own uses for you and your friends, and unless you want to be his slaves, I suggest you leave. ”

“Thank you,” I say. “I don’t know how to…”

“I want something in return,” she says. Of course she does. Sun-ye doesn’t act from the goodness of her heart. I would’ve gotten suspicious otherwise.

“What is it?”

She stands and comes closer to me. She doesn’t walk so much as glide, her movements effortless. Her perfume is sweet like rose apple poison. Madame Iseul really did her work well.

“A promise that Rayna will go free,” she says. “The countess took her to Qali Palace after Seok seized the throne. She’s in there, somewhere.”

“Done.”

Sun-ye shifts her weight to her hip, and she stares up at the ceiling. “No, actually give it thought, Sora. That means you can’t allow your friends to drown or destroy the palace with everyone inside.”

The thought is brutal, ruthless, and incredibly practical.

I shake my head. “We wouldn’t do that.”

“Why not?”

I debate whether to tell her the truth. We were never close, but we also never exposed each other. I decide to give my reason but be vague on details. I hope, in the end, it doesn’t harm us.

“Because people we love are being held in Idle Prison.”

She blinks, then shakes her head. “Sora… They aren’t. The first thing Seok did after taking Qali was empty that prison and release all of the detainees. If they’re alive, they’re free.”

My heart races—Mikail’s father might be free, and maybe Hwan, the man Royo is trying to save. They’ll both be so relieved. But in truth, neither of them was my first thought.

“And Seok’s son?” I ask casually.

Sun-ye rolls her eyes. “Dead, thank the gods. He was killed in his cell and burned sometime before the coup. Seok lost his mind when he found the sapphire collar. He hasn’t been right since.”

My face tingles as blood drains from it.

My lungs feel as if they are collapsing.

I try to soothe myself by remembering that this is what I wanted—Seok to have nothing left.

But hearing that Tiyung is dead makes me want to clutch at my chest and fall to the ground.

I don’t dare show what I’m feeling, though. Sun-ye would only use it against me.

“Oh.”

She takes another step closer. “Sora, promise me Rayna’s life. Swear it on Daysum’s soul or I will kill you right here.”

She still has the dagger in her palm as her eyes search mine. There’s no doubt that she means every word.

“I swear and I vow it,” I say. “On Daysum’s soul, I will do everything I can to make sure Rayna walks free.”

I don’t know that I can promise Rayna’s life or anyone else’s. Nothing seems certain or easy. All we can ever do is try to survive the plans of powerful men. But I will keep that promise till my dying breath.

Sun-ye examines my face, looking for any falsehood, but then she nods, satisfied.

“Good. Now go.” She points to the door.

I don’t embrace her. I just turn and walk out.

I leave the shop and close my eyes, lost in a haze.

Then I shake my head. From when we were in the throne room and King Joon sentenced Ty to Idle Prison, I knew he might die.

Logically, I knew he wouldn’t survive the dungeon even if he managed to live.

But I’d kept a little hope secreted away in my chest—just a small, fragile thing.

Now he’s gone and the hope is shattered, leaving nothing but shards in my chest.

I take a few steps, then lean against the building.

I hadn’t realized how much I needed to believe Tiyung would make it, even if it would hurt Seok more for him to die.

But I’ve lost Daysum and now Ty. I’m just empty.

I keep moving, though. I always have to go forward, a shell battered by the tides and abandoned.

Again there’s no one to blame, to lash out at, other than unreachable men.

I wander the streets and pass statues of the cruel gods and the kings who think they’re deities.

Everything was so different last time I was here.

I was afraid but ultimately hopeful that I could change the realm.

Now I know I can’t. There’s no winning in Yusan. Not for broken souls like us.

The four of us are all we have left.

Then I stop cold on the sidewalk as a thought grips me. If Sun-ye knew, Mikail must have found out, too. Maybe at the same time he heard about Daysum.

He kept another secret? Justified as another false protection? Did he hide this to keep me going forward like a puppet with himself as master?

Anger surges through me, sending heat into my hands and face. I’ve long reached my limit of lies, betrayals, and grief. And I won’t have an owner again.

I drop my dagger into my palm. Enough.

Gripping the hilt of my blade, I stride back toward the villa.