Jade Fire Gold(107)

I bury my head in her chest, listening for something.

Anything.

But there is only silence.





54


Ahn


I open my eyes to a sky teeming with purples and blues, warming to a vibrant orange on the far horizon. I stare at my hands. They look normal, the flesh unburned. I feel fine. There’s no ache where my father struck me. There’s no pain or wound in my chest.

Am I . . . dead?

There’s a soft chirp. A giant bird is in front of me, its emerald and violet feathers shimmering softly. Tilting its brilliant head side to side, its large intelligent eyes observe me.

I did not expect you.

“Who are you? Where is this place?” I look around. All I see is this strange, vivid dreamscape of nothing. It’s just me and the giant bird. A phoenix, I think.

This is my realm. Some find it by passing a trial. Others find it through other means. It seems you have made a big sacrifice.

“Realm? Are you a Soul Beast?”

The creature nods. What is your request?

“I—I get a wish?” I say, dumbfounded.

The Phoenix makes a sound like a laugh. Call it what you will. What is your wish?

My mind goes blank. “I don’t . . . I don’t know.”

You may forfeit your wish if— “No!” I exclaim. “I wish, I wish that . . .” I look up when I find my thought. “I want everyone I care about to be safe.”

As you wish.

The Phoenix spreads its wings. Teardrops roll from its eyes and burst, the faint sprinkle touching my face. I smell grass and honey and I’m suddenly sleepy. So, so sleepy.





55


Altan


Warning shouts pierce through my haze. The nothingness fades as my senses return. Sounds of metal clashing, the smell of fire and smoke. . . . I see Tang Wei shielding Ahn’s grandmother, fending off attacks from the priests. Her comrades from the Lotus Sect are thick in the fray, but they have suffered casualties. Tai Shun and his reinforcements are nowhere to be found.

“Jin.”

I look up. Leiye’s face is beaten and bruised, one eye swollen. Blood trails down his side. His arm. Fury ignites in my chest. They burned him.

“You look a mess,” I say.

“Still prettier than you.” He grimaces as he leans on his sword. “Get up, Jin. We have to fight.”

“You’re in no shape to fight.”

“I bet I could beat you up right now.” He rests a hand on my shoulder. “Mourn her later. She would want us to finish this.”

Something raw breaks free from that broken place inside me. Not anger, not rage, but a precise understanding of who I am and what I am not. Leiye is right.

I have to end this.

I lay Ahn down gently and turn to him. He can barely stand, but his eyes tell me everything I need to know. Leiye will always be beside me. He always has been.

“Like that day at the stables?”

He nods. “We only have one shot at this.”

My lips curl. “Then we better get it right this time.”

I release my magic. The air around me moves, and the wind picks up speed. Leiye extends his good arm. Flames blaze out in plumes. Magnificent, terrifying, glorious. On his cue, I rotate my wrists, and the wind funnels his fire.

Tang Wei yells a warning to the Lotus Sect. I direct the blaze, wrapping each priest in a fiery lasso, drowning out their screams, their cries. As the priests burn, the Lotus Sect disciples throw their daggers, striking a deathblow on each and every one of them.

Leiye drops to the ground, breathing heavily. I sink to my knees, spent.

It is done. But what does it matter?

She is dead.

I return to her, lifting her in my arms, holding her close.

The nothingness returns. As my tears fall, I whisper a prayer to gods I once spurned.

I don’t know how long I kneel for. Holding her, desperately praying her into existence. An eternity seems to pass. Then, an impossible gasp.

So soft, so fragile.

I don’t dare to hope, but what else is left if not hope?

I bend over and listen to the most beautiful music in the world: a faint, but steady beat of her heart.





One Month Later





56


Altan


A hushed layer of white blankets the palace grounds, snow crystals softly glistening in the weak rays of winter’s sun. I watch the flurry of activity below me. Attendants and officials scurry around, preparing for the coronation. My coronation. It will be held during the Spring Festival, just before my nineteenth birthday. An auspicious time, according to the soothsayers of my court. Still several weeks away, but apparently it takes a lot of time and a staff of hundreds to muster the pomp and circumstance required.

Nandah has abandoned their attack for now. In return, I have opened diplomatic channels to settle the dispute over the Southern Colonies. The lieges of other nations will attend the festivities as a show of faith that cordial relations with the Shi Empire have been renewed. Even the reclusive Queen of Mengu is coming, though I wonder what her true motivations are.

With Tai Shun’s support, I have reclaimed the throne and started to dismantle the Diyeh priesthood, flushing out their loyalists from the courts. But we both know spies still lurk in our midst.