Circle of Shadows (Circle of Shadows, #1)(60)

Daemon rolled over and got to his feet. His legs felt like jelly, but he forced himself to jog toward the cluster of thatch-roofed huts farther up the beach.

Half a dozen fishermen sat on a small pier, some sorting through the day’s catch, others mending nets. It must have been later than Daemon thought it was. Please let the ryuu still be at Tiger’s Belly.

“Yah-ho!” he shouted when he was close enough.

The men looked up at his greeting.

Daemon stopped at the edge of the pier and gave a short bow of his head. “Hello there. I was hoping you could help me.”

They blinked at Daemon, as if he were a strange apparition. He must have looked like some sort of sea creature, dripping wet with seaweed and sand clinging to his clothes.

“Look at his hair,” one of the men whispered. “It looks like the midnight ocean.”

The others gawked.

“Um . . .” Daemon ran his fingers through his hair. Damn blue roots. Once this was all over, he was going to dye them again. But first, he had the small order of business of defeating a magical, vengeful prince bent on hypnotizing all of Kichona. Easy.

After a few more seconds of gaping, the first man who’d noticed Daemon’s hair dropped to his knees and lay out prostrate on the pier, as if bowing to the empress herself.

“What are you doing?” Daemon asked, blood rushing to his cheeks. “Get up. I’m not royalty.”

“Nauti is testing us,” the man said to the others.

They murmured their understanding that they were in the presence of the god of the sea, who in some myths had hair as blue and black as the deepest part of the ocean. They immediately fell to their knees and laid themselves before Daemon.

“No!” Daemon said, the ridiculousness of the scene pushing back on his own embarrassment. “I’m not a god. Especially Nauti, who I’m pretty sure wouldn’t look like a drowned dog if he wanted to appear before you. Look, I’m only a taiga.”

The men crawled up from their bows a little, although they remained on their knees, just in case. “A taiga?”

“Yes, I am called Wolf, and I am in dire need of your assistance. I need a boat so I can get to Tiger’s Belly. Whatever it costs, the Society will reimburse you, and then some. But please, get up. I need this boat quickly.”

They studied him, then discussed among themselves for what seemed like an eon. Finally, the first man stood up.

“We do not have much to offer, but whether you are Nauti or Wolf, it is our honor to help you. We’ll row you ourselves, wherever you wish to go.”

Daemon nodded. I suppose if believing I’m a god means they’ll get me to Tiger’s Belly, I’ll let them go on believing. He’d donate next month’s apprentice allowance to Nauti’s temple as an apology for not setting the record straighter here today.

“Thank you,” he said. “You are truly honorable citizens of Kichona. Now please, let’s go.”





Chapter Thirty-Eight


Soon thereafter, the ship swept briskly into Tiger’s Belly. The ryuu disembarked, led by Hana, who refused to meet Sora’s eye.

The harbormaster ran down the pier, waving papers angrily. “This ship is not registered! You cannot take up a berth!” he shouted.

Prince Gin took his time walking up to him.

“My ship serves Sola, Luna, and Zomuri,” he said. “You insult our gods by refusing me in your port.”

“I don’t know who Zomuri is—”

Prince Gin flicked his wrist.

The harbormaster’s head snapped cleanly off his neck.

Sora gasped. The man’s body remained standing for a few seconds, as if, in its shock, it still expected its head to return. But a moment later, it collapsed onto the pier, splattering blood everywhere.

The new recruits joined Sora in her surprise, but Prince Gin turned to them and said, “We aim for peace while in our own kingdom, but sometimes, expediency requires sacrifice. Blood is a price we must be willing to pay for glory. I also wanted you to see the power we have within us. This is what we will be able to do when we invade other kingdoms. We’ll make Kichona one of the most feared and revered kingdoms in the world. We will be unstoppable.”

Yes! Sora thought, as the fire of ambition in her belly flared, hot and ready to fight. Her mother had entreated her to do more, to be more. And now she was fulfilling her promise, serving the greatest leader Kichona had ever seen and using Luna’s gifts to their greatest potential. And with her sister, no less.

Mama will be proud, Sora thought.

By now most of the ryuu had disembarked, leaving a small crew behind to guard the ship. Prince Gin divided his warriors into small groups, each in charge of attacking a sector of the city, securing it, and rounding up any taigas they found. Everyone had been assigned a unit—even the new recruits—except Sora.

“Where do I go?” she asked, but everyone was already gone, assembled with their groups farther down the dock.

“You haven’t been trained yet,” Hana said, as she appeared seemingly from nowhere. “You’re stuck with me until you’re ready. Unfortunately.”

Shrug it off, Sora thought. She reminded herself of how Hana had looked at her earlier, when Sora had managed to find her when she was invisible. She also held on to the fact that Hana could have let Prince Gin execute her, but had saved her instead. That didn’t mean nothing.