Circle of Shadows (Circle of Shadows, #1)(24)

Her roommate wisely did not challenge her but instead continued patiently. “You can turn fire green with chemicals, but you can’t change the flames into serpent heads.”

“So you believe us?” Daemon asked.

“If you think something’s off, then something’s off,” Fairy said.

“I do feel that way,” Sora said. “It’s like a cannonball in my stomach. Aren’t we taught to marry evidence with instinct? But the Council writes us off after one pair of taigas gives a once-over to a pile of trash.”

“It’s because we’re mere apprentices,” Fairy said. “The warriors expect us to act like adults until it’s inconvenient for them. Then we’re just children to them again.”

“I suppose it’s also my fault they don’t take us seriously,” Sora said. “I’ve spent years goofing around and doing anything I could to make life difficult for them. Why would they think any differently of me now?” She sank down onto the lawn.

Daemon, Fairy, and Broomstick joined her, and Fairy rested her head on Sora’s shoulder, her hair like a silky blanket for Sora’s cheek. They sat like that for a few minutes in silence, which Sora knew was difficult for her roommate, who usually couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Sora appreciated it and let her own head rest on Fairy’s.

It didn’t mean her mind stopped whirring, though.

I understand why the Council closed the matter, Sora thought. They’d sent a team to look into it, and when the answer came back a definitive negative, Glass Lady and the others had moved on to other leads. This was a crucial time; the Council and all the taiga warriors were stressed and researching every possible explanation for the magic at Isle of the Moon. There were scholars in all the libraries across the kingdom, poring over old texts, day and night. The outposts throughout Kichona were on high alert and on orders to send dragonfly messengers about anything and everything suspicious. And the councilmembers themselves were hardly sleeping as they sorted through all the incoming reports.

But Sora didn’t accept that what she and Daemon had seen was unimportant. It just meant that the Society was short on resources right now and couldn’t spend more time on chasing a lead that seemed, on its face, easy to explain away.

I have time, though, Sora thought. Classes were going to be canceled this week, because the Society needed every taiga warrior—teachers included—to help with their research and to be ready to defend the Imperial City should the Isle of the Moon threat appear here. That meant apprentices like Sora were without a task, and without much supervision.

Daemon sat up and arched a brow. An idea was percolating in Sora’s brain. He could feel the pinging of anticipation through their gemina bond.

“What’s the plan?” he asked.

Fairy and Broomstick turned to Sora too.

She took another moment to think through her idea, just to make sure she really believed in it.

She did.

“We need to go back to Takish Gorge,” Sora said. “Or near it. We have to find those people again. The Council won’t investigate this any further now, but just because they’re busy pursuing other leads doesn’t mean we should let this go ignored. Maybe we really are wrong. But what if we’re not and it really is the Dragon Prince? If we do nothing, we will have failed as taigas. Our job is to protect Kichona. Prince Gin would destroy it.”

Fairy sprang to her feet. “When do we leave?”

Sora frowned. “About that . . . The warriors might not notice if two of us are gone, but four are too conspicuous. I think it should be just me and Daemon.”

“But I want to go!”

“She’s right,” Broomstick said to Fairy. “The Warrior Meeting Hall staff would definitely notice if I’m not at work. Besides, if you and I stay, we can help cover for them.” He turned to Sora and Daemon.

Fairy slumped. “I feel left out.”

“Don’t,” Sora said. “If we do find Prince Gin, we’re not just going to take notes and then leave him. I want a way to stop him. Whatever the Dragon Prince is here for, it can’t be good, and I need you.”

Fairy scrunched her nose, confused. “How can I help with that?”

“You could pack up some poisons for me.”

“You want to kill a member of the imperial family?” Fairy’s eyes went wide in shock. Broomstick gawked at Sora. Even Daemon, despite his gemina bond that had clued him in on her feelings leading up to this, was numb with shock.

“No,” Sora said. “I want to kill a traitor to the kingdom, who would upend the entire planet in his selfish quest for the Evermore if he could do it.”

What she didn’t say out loud, but which was equally true—

I want to kill the man who murdered my sister.





Chapter Thirteen


Sora and Fairy climbed up to the third floor of the girls’ dormitory. The building’s black rice paper windows were thrown open, so even indoors it smelled like sunshine. It was a jarringly cheerful sensation, given that Kichona’s destruction loomed on the horizon.

They turned down the hall, passing several doors until they reached theirs. Sora slid it open and stepped inside, nearly tripping on the nunchucks she had left haphazardly in the middle of the floor before going on the Autumn Festival break.