Circle of Shadows (Circle of Shadows, #1)(36)

“What in Luna’s name was that tornado?” Daemon whispered.

“Another ryuu. Come on, we need to climb.”

Sora splayed her fingers into a gecko mudra, with precisely five-eighths of an inch between each finger. She quietly chanted the spell that would allow her to stick to the wall as she climbed.

Next to her, Daemon did the same thing, although it took him several attempts at spreading his fingers, whispering the spell, shaking out his hands when he’d failed, and starting again. He got it on the fourth attempt. His embarrassment at his magical shortcomings again manifested itself like a cringe through their gemina bond, their connection actually contracting.

“We can do this,” Sora whispered. “I believe in you. In us.”

He sighed in frustration but nodded.

They began to scale the wall, the tips of their fingers like suction cups.

Before they reached the top, the noise and wind from the tornado disappeared as violently as it had come, its fury replaced by a sudden vacuum of movement and sound.

The taiga warriors above gasped.

“It can’t be,” a woman said. “You died during the Blood Rift.”

Prince Gin laughed, but it was joyful, not condescending at all. “I’m alive and well, and grateful for it,” he said. “My taiga brothers and sisters, how I have missed you and Kichona. Not a day has passed in ten years when I didn’t think of you. I can’t tell you how happy I am to be home.”

“I’m not sure we are as happy as you,” the same woman who’d spoken up before said. “What is the meaning of terrorizing the city and rounding us up like cattle?”

Prince Gin sighed. “I apologize that it was a bit . . . rough. But I needed to show you how things are different from a decade ago. I still believe that Kichona is destined for greatness, and that you—the taigas—are destined for greatness as well. We didn’t have the means to achieve that in the past, but we do now.”

Daemon glanced over at Sora. “Because of the new magic?” he whispered.

“I think so.”

They began climbing upward again.

Another taiga warrior spoke up. “How have things changed since the Blood Rift? Because other than some flashy circus tricks with firework snakes and rings of fire, it seems that your warriors’ tactics are the same as ever—destructive to the point of disregard for the very citizens we are meant to protect. Your Highness,” he added hastily, as if remembering to whom he spoke.

Sora frowned. Despite Prince Gin being a known traitor, he nevertheless commanded respect.

There was a contemplative moment of silence, and then Prince Gin said, “I appreciate your opinion, and again, I apologize for our unruly arrival. I love every citizen of this kingdom. I’ve come back because of them.”

“And what about us?” the first woman asked. “Will you murder us like you did our fellow warriors during the Rift?”

“Your Highness,” a raspy girl’s voice said. “I think it may be wise if you used your—”

The prince let out another sigh, but this one was colored with a hint of impatience. The ryuu who’d spoken up stopped talking.

The wind around the Society command building kicked up again. But though it should have been cold here, the breeze kissed Sora’s cheek like a woolen blanket, warm and soft from years of loving use. She closed her eyes for a moment, basking in the sensation of being fireside with her friends, telling each other stories and filling their bellies with butter cookies and rose-apple wine. She felt a lingering trace of tension, but she couldn’t remember why she’d been stressed a moment ago. All her worries melted with the warmth and trickled away.

“As I was saying,” Prince Gin said, “it is for the taigas and the people of Kichona that I’ve returned. I know you thought me dead, but I’ve only been in exile. Let me tell you about the past decade.”

“Yes, I want to know,” the previously confrontational woman said, her tone now the complete opposite, brimming with curiosity and subservience.

I want to know too, Sora thought. A pleasant buzz saturated her every cell, like she’d drunk a cup of spiked coffee.

Then she frowned. Why had she thought that?

Something was off. But she wasn’t quite sure what.

No, a feeling inside of her countered. Nothing is wrong. Prince Gin has only the best for Kichona in mind.

“It’s true,” Prince Gin said to the woman who’d spoken up earlier, “I was near death at the end of the Blood Rift. We fled across the ocean and lived in exile in the mountains of Shinowana. It took over a year to nurse me back to health. But one day, I woke up, and it was as if the gods had given me new eyes. Some people see light when they’re dying. I saw light when I began living again. It turned out to be a greater form of magic, and I believe the gods showed it to me for a reason.

“Now, I’ve come back to Kichona to bless all of the taigas with the ability to perform this ryuu magic. To unlock each of your potentials. To make this kingdom as great as Zomuri—and Sola and Luna, of course—deserve it to be.”

“You would teach us your magic?” one of the taigas asked.

“Yes,” Prince Gin said. “Do you want it? Do you want to become a ryuu and bring glory and paradise to Kichona?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the taiga shouted.