Jade Fire Gold(100)

The empress was more than prepared. A step ahead of me, ahead of the priests. I can’t let her win. I grin, taunting her. “I won’t be your puppet. You mistake how much I value my own life.”

“How about your grandmother’s? Or someone else’s? Someone who showed up in the palace not too long ago. Someone who is supposed to be dead.”

I fail to control my shock.

She stares at me, stripping away my steel layer by layer. Her lips curve into a triumphant smile. “I’m one of the few souls who knows he did not die in the desert all those years ago. Imagine my surprise when I got wind of him stepping foot on the mainland. Imagine my delight when he was spotted in the capital a few days ago. I wonder what made that foolish boy return to the palace tonight? Surely, it can’t be for your grandmother?”

“He wouldn’t come here . . . unless . . .” An invisible hand crushes my heart. “You tricked him.”

“Took me a while to figure out that Linxi was his spy. I had to pretend I didn’t know. That wench will pay, but it worked out for me in the end.”

“What did you do to Linxi?”

“Don’t worry, she’s alive. For now.”

“Don’t kill her—don’t kill him. Please.” A sob catches in my throat. I hate that I’m pleading, hate that I’m begging, but she has found my weakness. Broken my spine.

“I am not the one who will decide if he lives or dies.” The pleasure in her voice sends a rash of shivers crawling up my body. Every word gliding out of that lovely mouth is a gossamer-veiled warning of terrible things to come. “You know, dear girl, it is interesting what you can find in those dusty old scrolls written in dead languages in the Forbidden Library. Fortunately, I had time on my hands, and I needed a . . . hobby. Seems like Yuan Long failed to destroy everything. Stories of a past long forgotten remain. History, I suppose.”

She trails a finger down my jaw. There are no flames, no illusions, but I tremble at her touch.

“Men are often blinded by their own hubris. When you become fixated on your own truth, you fail to see the whole. Tiensai history is Diyeh history; one is incomplete without the other. To only be versed in one lore means you only know half of the story, half of the truth. They are, after all, the same people.” Her breath is warm on my cheek. “Here is the truth, Life Stealer. The sword of light does not exist.”

“But the dark—”

“Yes, a sword exists,” she cuts in impatiently. “You found it, didn’t you? There is no dark sword or light sword: they are one and the same. The dark sword was never meant to be what it has become now. A sword is merely a tool. It is the user who decides its purpose. Yuan Long corrupted it, defiled it with his aberrant use of magic. He shifted the balance in this world and cursed us all. The sins of his blood continue in his descendants. Equilibrium is needed, and a sacrifice must be made so that the land can be healed.”

A sickening thought slithers its way into my mind. I stay silent, trying to blink away the world.

“As the Life Stealer, you can restore the dark sword to its natural state and bring balance back,” she continues. “Restore it with the blood of Yuan Long’s descendant and the last traces of his magic will disappear from the land.” She smiles. “My husband Gao Long is dead—”

“No,” I breathe out.

“—Tai Shun is my son, but royal blood does not run in him. Gao Long—”

“Shut up!”

“—is not his true father. This means there is only one person alive who still carries the blood of Yuan Long in his veins. There is only one descendant and one true heir.”

Altan.

Every fiber of my body screams, writhing, looking for a way to unhear her words, to reverse the truth.

“It’s not true! You’re lying!”

“Am I?” The empress leans back, giving me one last lingering look. “What will it be? Will you save your grandmother and kill thousands? Will you kill your father and marry my son? Will you kill Jin and save the land and our people? Or will you die a lonely death after everyone you love is gone?”

The flame disappears, and I’m plunged into darkness once again. I don’t know if I’m alone or if she is somewhere in the room watching me like a snake ready to strike. As the seconds tick by, despair clutches my mind in its deformed hands, fusing itself into me.





47


Altan


I blink a few times, struggling to adjust my vision. But the darkness is complete. My head is leaden, spinning. Traces of something floral remain in my nostrils. Stiff and sore, my limbs ache as if they have been in disuse. I rise unsteadily to my feet, hands blindly reaching out.

Cold metal. Stone. Four walls. Narrow—the length and width of my reach.

A cell.

My fist strikes the metal door. If only I wasn’t so eager. If only I paid more attention. It was too easy. How I disarmed all the guards, how I found the Diyeh’s mark, how all the cells were empty except for one. A perfect trap for an impulsive and arrogant blockhead.

You.

A single triumphant word spoken when that beautiful face showed itself. A face too young to have been Ahn’s grandmother’s.

Then, that floral scent. And afterward, darkness.

I sink down. My ears pick up the sudden whispery, whistling sound of minuscule particles scattering onto the ground.