Page 48

SORA

ROSE PALACE, GAYA

M ikail pants as he pulls the Water Scepter out of the spring.

The toll from manipulating the water with precision like this must be great, but Mikail barely seems fazed aside from his breathing.

Instead, he faces the palace, waiting. The governor, two assistants, and a cadre of guards approach us.

Mikail stands casually, locking eyes with Governor Yong.

He mentioned that the governor has been the same since the end of the Festival of Blood, which means he oversaw the subjugation of the entire island.

The man is around my height with gray hair, darker skin, and an active build.

He wears a suit that’s a blend of traditional Yusanian and Gayan with a collar of onyx spanning his chest. He’s not a nobleman, but because he rules Gaya, he has the same power as the counts. Maybe more.

Mikail stares at him, his eyes brimming with hate. I hold my breath.

“What is the meaning of all this?” the governor asks.

“I am Adoros Miat,” he says. “You are trespassing on my family’s home and this island. Flee now or die.”

His voice echoes in the warm air. No one reacts until the governor starts to laugh. His men immediately join in.

“Do away with him.” Governor Yong gestures dismissively with his fingers.

The ten guards draw their swords.

Royo grabs his new axe, pulling it from the strap on his back. Aeri stands with her hands out, her golden eyes waiting for a signal from Mikail. I slide both daggers into my palms. But it’s Mikail who acts first. He stares at the guards as he places the scepter back into the spring.

Then he smiles.

Rather than forming a tree or another shape, this time, the liquid disappears from the fountain basin.

I’m not sure what he is doing until the thirteen men in front of us start falling on their knees, clawing at their throats and chests.

Their eyes bulge out, and a few of them vomit water, but the rest turn red and then purple.

Mikail is drowning them on dry land.

I didn’t know the scepter could do that.

The men are crawling, desperately trying to breathe, but it’s hopeless. They make gurgling sounds as their lungs fill with water. I don’t want to feel sympathy for them, because I know what they’ve done. But I hope they meet Lord Yama quickly.

The governor gets the closest, crawling and pleading for mercy with his hands clasped, but Mikail doesn’t break focus until they are all dead.

Then he swings the scepter out. He jabs at the spring again, and a rush of water sprays up in the air.

I crane my neck as Mikail sends tons of water miles above us into the clouds, and then slowly, the water falls down on Jeul as frozen little crystals.

He just made it snow on the tropical island.

A cheer rises from below us, and we turn and look down. There, gathered in the town square, are thousands of Gayans who just watched Mikail murder the governor like he was no different from common guards.

Mikail raises the Water Scepter in the air, and that draws another cheer from the crowd.

He beams with sweat, but his face now glows with exuberance.

A chill shakes me as I watch him bask in their adoration.

It’s a smile and an expression I haven’t seen before.

There’s both hunger and satisfaction written on his face.

He needs their love, but the allegiance of a people is a tricky thing.

Yusan commands through might, Wei uses religion, and Khitan gives equality.

What will sway the people here? Will freedom be enough?

My heart sinks. Somehow, I don’t think so.

Mikail turns away first. He looks at the three of us.

“Let me show you my home.” He smiles as he steps over the dead bodies. We all follow.

“Yusan changed the gardens,” he says. “They used to grow food in colorful rows on half of these slopes, and the Miats would have a ceremonial first harvest dedicated to Alta. They would open the doors of the palace and feed whoever came, regardless of their birth. They’d all drink from the Fountain of Life.

The spring runs from here down to the seven fountains in the city and provides water for all of Jeul, but the fountain is where Alta pressed her finger into the earth and made fresh water. ”

I listen, rapt, but then I remember that Mikail was only five when he left Gaya, so almost everything he’s saying isn’t what he remembers but what he has read.

Yet he speaks with the passion of having seen and lived a life here.

I suppose I’d talk the same way about Inigo.

All our homes disappeared when we were children, in one way or another, so we cling to memories and stories.

It doesn’t make them any less ours, but it also may not be correct.

Five more guards come running toward us from the palace. Mikail shifts the scepter to his left hand and grabs his sword hilt with his right. Royo readies his axe. Instead of attacking, though, the guards take a knee from yards away.

They say something in Gayan, and Mikail responds. The guards then utter something as one.

“They are pledging their loyalty to me,” Mikail explains.

“How can we be sure they’ll be loyal?” Royo whispers. I’m not sure if he’s talking to Aeri or Mikail, but it’s a good question.

Mikail shrugs. “We can never be sure of anyone’s loyalty, but I’ll take even the show of it.” He turns to the guards. “Go tear down the poster in the square and let the people know that their lost prince, Adoros Miat, has returned.”

The guards salute him. Three leave and two stay.

“Welcome home, Your Majesty,” one man says. He’s around thirty, maybe thirty-five, and clean-shaven with very short black hair and an almost square jaw.

“What is your name?” Mikail asks.

“I am Teo, and this is my brother, Calier.” He points to a man a couple of years younger who has blue eyes but wears an eyepatch on his left. “We were and remain loyal to the true Gaya.”

“And how did you survive the Festival of Blood?” Mikail asks.

There’s a subtle but dangerous shift in Mikail. If either of these men answers incorrectly, he’ll kill them where they stand. I’m certain of it.

“We are both from Hallan,” Teo says. “The slaughter ended before Yusan reached us, but not the destruction.”

The sad memory of the burning of the woods plays out on their faces.

“I am going to rid this island of its oppressor,” Mikail says. “Yusan will be thrown out. We will be our own realm once again and forever.”

“You have our swords,” Calier says.

They both place their blades on the ground and back up a step, taking a knee with their heads lowered.

Mikail touches each of their shoulders, accepting their submission.

“Do you want us to burn the bodies?” Teo asks.

Mikail glances at the men he just killed. “Not the governor—I have plans for him, but otherwise, yes.”

I’m about to ask about those plans when two people come running into the garden. A man and a woman. I know exactly who they are, and yet they can’t be, because Hana and Tiyung are both dead.

I start to laugh. I’m fresh out of room for more emotions and probably out of my mind, but it’s uncontrollable. The giddiness spreads through my heart like blown poison in the wind.

“Sora?” Aeri says.

Her eyebrows knit, and she looks very concerned for my sanity. And she should be. I’m seeing ghosts. Mentally cracking was the last thing I needed, but I suppose this is what happens when you don’t sleep or properly deal with grief.

I gesture in the ghosts’ direction. Aeri looks that way, and her mouth falls open.

“Oh gods,” she says.

“Ten Hells. Ty?” Royo asks.

Wait, Royo sees them, too? He must be cracking as well.

“Zahara?” Mikail says. “Tiyung?”

No, we can’t all be seeing ghosts. Not the same ghosts in the same place. The world begins to spin. The next thing I know, I’m crumpling to the ground.