The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1)(115)

It couldn’t have been that long, but it felt like I’d been fighting for a lifetime. My injured arm burned and numbed in turns. I turned the dog-snout construct, and then another. It was all I could focus on. But then Mauga began shuffling toward me, and I knew I’d have to come up with some way to turn him back. I had no idea what my father had written into his commands. All I saw was a brief flash of triumph on his face – one that sent ice through my veins.

“Bayan!” I called out. I heard no response. He could have been injured, or dead, or too busy with his own battle to respond. I hoped he’d caught my meaning. I’d need time to figure out what the Emperor had done, because we couldn’t afford to have Mauga against us.

For Numeen, for his family, for all the rest of them.

I ran toward Mauga, my fingers tight around my engraving tool. He saw me coming, his brown eyes narrowing. He swiped. I leapt to the side and ducked beneath the swing. Claws caught in my hair briefly, sending a shiver up my spine. Before I could straighten, his other paw caught me in the hip. I felt my flesh tear, the blow sending me tumbling. My vision hazed, the world spinning around me. I licked my lips, tasting copper. A musky, manure smell filled my nostrils.

Get up.

Mauga’s foot appeared in my vision. A piece of straw was stuck between his toes. I tried to focus on it, get my vision cleared. Somewhere behind me, Bayan shouted. I couldn’t tell what he said.

I was Lin. I was not the Emperor’s daughter, but I was stronger than he knew. I would not die here. I would not become his wife.

Gathering all the strength left in my limbs, I launched myself to my feet and pushed my hand into Mauga’s chest. Pain bloomed across my body, radiating from my arm and hip. Grimacing, I ran my hand across Mauga’s shards. There were too many of them. It would take me too long to find the one Shiyen had altered. I closed my eyes. “I’m sorry, Mauga.” I seized a fistful of shards and yanked them free.

Mauga froze.

The second construct I’d turned still protected me, though it was bleeding from multiple wounds and looked about ready to fall apart. I grabbed another construct.

I could see Bayan out of the corner of my eye, working furiously to change the war constructs over to our side. Uphilia was dead now. But I could feel the tide turning. If we could just take out Tirang, we’d win. I turned two more constructs.

A long, low growl sounded from the doorway.

Bing Tai leapt into the room and seized Bayan by the neck. Blood spurted.

I felt as though I watched through a lens from far away, my lips numb. Bayan didn’t scream, Bing Tai’s teeth clamped around his throat. When Bing Tai let go, Bayan dropped to the ground, his body limp. The constructs he’d turned ran about, purposeless, attacking both my father’s constructs and one another.

Bing Tai ran at me from one side. From the corner of my eye, I saw the ruddy fur of Tirang.

Bing Tai growled.

And suddenly, I wasn’t in the dining hall anymore. I was in the library, Bing Tai laid out before me. My hands moved of my own accord. It was me, yet not me. I was sorting shards into rows, laid out on a silk cloth on the floor. I brought one up to my eyes and examined the command.

“It’s quite complex.” I knew the voice that echoed from the shelves. A hand came to rest on my shoulder. Shiyen.

“Yes, well, why do something simple if I have the capability for more?” I kissed the hand. “This will be for both of us. A guardian. A personal protector.” I started pushing the shards into Bing Tai’s body.

The memory rushed away from me and I was back in the dining hall, blood seeping from my wounds. Bing Tai stood over me.

“Kill her,” Shiyen called out. “I can grow another.”

Bing Tai hesitated.

The shard I’d held in front of my eyes blazed back into my mind. Ossen Nisong en ossen Shiyen. Obey Nisong then obey Shiyen. Nisong took precedence, and I resembled her. I held some of her memories.

“No.” I pushed myself up, my heart and bones aching. I remembered the way Bing Tai had backed away from attacking me when I broke into my father’s rooms. I’d thought my father had commanded him to protect his family; now I knew that his wife had created Bing Tai. And much as I wanted to be my own person, some of her identity was mine. Even as he growled, I put a hand out. I stuffed down all the fear, all the uncertainty. I touched his nose and the beast stilled. “I know you, Bing Tai. You are mine.”

I met my father’s gaze as my war constructs brought down Tirang and savaged him. “Kill Shiyen.”

Bing Tai turned and charged toward my father, my creator, my one-time husband.

He sank his teeth into Shiyen’s neck. The room erupted into chaos.

I collapsed once more, the drip drip drip of my blood on the floorboards like the remnants of a storm that had long since passed.





43





Jovis


Nephilanu Island

By light, Mephi’s changes seemed even more pronounced. His back was waist-high now; his brown fur thicker. A patch of hair on his chin had begun to grow longer, giving him something of a beard. I scratched it absently, and he closed his eyes. “Very good,” he rumbled.

Ranami had been pleased to see me return, Gio even more so. I knew now, though, that their motivations differed. Ranami was a believer in the cause. Gio had his own plans, and I didn’t know what they were. Ranami drew me aside. “Here.” She pressed a package into my hands. “You’ll need a way to get messages to us. There’s a code in there; study it. There’s also a fair approximation of the Imperial seal. At the docks is a woman who sells steamed bread. She flies a white flag at her stall. Give the messages to her, no one else. Send us as few as possible, but keep us updated. If you need help, let us know. She’ll pass messages back to you.”