Page 47

TIYUNG

CITY OF JEUL, GAYA

H ana and I left the Fountain Inn for Gaya as soon as the sun came up. We landed on the colony island less than two bells later at the Port of Charm.

It’s been interesting traveling with Hana again.

It’s almost as if nothing happened because there’s not much to say.

She wanted to help Sora, and she was willing to sacrifice me to do it.

Maybe I should be outraged, and I might be, if it had been for a different cause.

However, I’d also do anything to help Sora, so it’s hard to be too offended.

We arrived in Jeul a few bells ago, and our new problem became obvious as soon as we entered the ancient city.

Jeul is the old capital from when Gaya was the fourth realm.

It is deceptively large—probably around the size of Gain but not as sprawling.

Right in the middle of the town square, a huge wanted poster hangs on the wall with their names and faces on it.

As soon as I saw it, I realized that if Sora and the others are on this island, they must be in hiding.

Maybe not Royo, because he was left off the poster, but otherwise, they have to be lying low.

Four million is too much money for people not to turn them in.

I’m not sure how we’re ever going to find them.

I’ve only been to Gaya once before with my father. Half of the island is charm fields, and laoli is the colony’s main export, but even though Gaya is a part of Yusan, it’s not quite the same. The style of dress is unique; the food and architecture are different as well.

With no leads, it seems like we’ll be here for a while. Hana and I visit the open-air market. She has supplies, but she needs new clothes to better fit in. The women mostly wear wrap dresses, the men short-sleeved shirts and trousers.

As we walk along the stalls. It’s nice to get a break from the constant rain and chill of the monsoon season, but, of course, I’m hungry.

I let my nose lead me. The food on offer is a mix of Yusanian and traditional Gayan, and the people are a mix, too.

I get a plate of oyster noodles and follow Hana to the seamstress tables.

I thought everyone here spoke Yusanian, but as the shoppers converse with one another, they’re using old Gayan.

I studied the four original languages, but I never achieved fluency in Gayan because it’s thought of as a dead language.

The official language of the island has been Yusanian for two hundred years, but the tongue remains like that never happened, which is interesting.

Hana’s theory that Sora and the others came to Gaya was based on the difference between the official Yusanian story and the reality of this land.

Gaya is supposed to be a docile colony, but Hana said there is constant rebel activity, especially in this part of the island.

Mikail would’ve known that as spymaster, and he could be trying to tap into allies sympathetic to their cause.

At least they’d have a much better chance here than in Yusan proper.

Still, Hana seems…nervous, twisting her hair and jumping back when she sees someone with long black locks.

“Are you all right?” I ask.

She nods, but then she dabs her forehead. “It’s just this heat.”

“Let’s find an inn, then,” I say, finishing my plate.

We leave the market the way we came, but we’re stopped at the edge of a large crowd.

Thousands of people have gathered in the town square.

I strain my neck, trying to see what they’re looking at.

Yusan sometimes hangs or whips criminals in the square, and it is always an event.

I struggle to get a better view, but then I realize every single person is looking up.

One man stands on the palace hill by a fountain.

He has a golden scepter in his hand, and he is making water shoot into the air and then flow unnaturally in shapes around him.

The water circles and then bends and breaks to form a frothy tree in the air.

The crowd whispers with praises of Alta.

She is an earth goddess who founded Gaya the same way the Sky King lived in Khitan and the Dragon Lord ruled Yusan.

“Well, I think we’ve found them,” Hana says. One corner of her lips rises into a smirk.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

She gestures to the man wielding the scepter. I can’t make out who he is, but off to the side, two women and a man wait. And one has long dark hair like Sora, but we can’t see anyone’s face clearly from here.

“You don’t recognize him?” she says. I shake my head no. “That’s Mikail.”

I stare up at the hill.

“He’s using the Water Scepter of the Dragon Lord?” I thought a person had to be royal to wield the relics, and Mikail is a commoner.

“It’s a long story, but yes.” She pauses and smiles. “He must be the real lost prince of Gaya.”