Circle of Shadows (Circle of Shadows, #1)(77)

Hana pushed through the tent flaps, just as Sora caught the empress’s body in her arms. She held her in a headlock again, Empress Aki’s back pressed against Sora’s chest.

“Stay quiet,” Sora whispered so quietly, her words almost got lost in the swirls of the empress’s gold hair. “I have to pretend to kill you right now. If I don’t, my sister will do it for real in about thirty seconds.”

She reached for the tiny, hidden pocket sewn into the inside of her collar and retrieved the pink rira disk that was meant to be Sora’s way out if things went awry. She broke off half of it and crammed it in Empress Aki’s mouth.

“This much won’t kill you, but it’ll slow your vital systems to the point of seeming like you’re dead. You’ll wake up in about a week, maybe less. Understand?”

The empress nodded her head but didn’t say anything. Thank the gods.

“Good, now swallow it.”

Empress Aki did as she was told.

“Are you taking your time torturing her to death, or what?” Hana asked. Her voice grew nearer. From the sound of it, she was halfway across the tent, although she hesitated in the middle, as if debating whether she could actually watch the assassination she couldn’t execute herself.

The rira would hit the empress’s bloodstream soon, but Sora still needed an explanation for why there wouldn’t be a visible garrote wound across her throat. She’d have to make a show of the empress’s death for Hana to witness.

I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, she said silently to Empress Aki.

Sora wrapped her left hand around her throat. The feel of the empress’s fragile neck sickened Sora.

But this was what she had to do to save the kingdom.

Sora tightened her fingers. Empress Aki let out a frantic, gurgling cry. Tears formed in Sora’s eyes. She held the leader of Kichona’s life in her hands.

The velvet curtain flew open, revealing Hana on the other side.

Empress Aki gave a final, weak writhe against Sora’s grasp. Then she went limp as Sora pushed on a pressure point while pretending to snap her neck.

Sora swallowed the nausea cresting inside her and dropped Empress Aki down to the ground. She slumped like a sack of rice.

“What took you so long?” Hana asked. “I dispatched thirty taigas out there, while you took care of . . . two?” She kicked Daemon’s side. Luckily, he and Broomstick were both facedown. Not that Hana would have recognized them after the decade that had passed since she saw them last, but still. Sora exhaled a little in relief.

“I was savoring the moment,” Sora said. She narrowed her eyes and smiled, as if wickedly gleeful at her victory, as a ryuu would be. “I told her all the things Prince Gin is going to do for Kichona. All the things that will change once she’s dead.”

That made Hana smile too.

And it made Sora angry. Angry that her sister had been raised to believe in Prince Gin’s greedy goals. Angry that she had been molded from a sweet little girl into a bloodthirsty one. Angry that they were on opposite sides of this war.

But I will fix this, Sora swore. She would go back with Hana to the ryuu and work on swaying her away from the Dragon Prince while they marched toward the Imperial City. And then when they were close, she and Hana would break away and rejoin the taigas at the Citadel. They knew a lot about the ryuu; Hana probably knew of weaknesses the Society could exploit.

They would be the Teira sister team, but on the side of good. As it was supposed to be.

“Well, there’s nothing left to do here,” Hana said. “I guess we have to get the empress’s body back to Prince Gin now.”

She hesitated, though.

She’s still having trouble with the idea of the empress being murdered, Sora thought. Which boded well for Sora’s hopes of persuading Hana away from the Dragon Prince’s side.

“I’ll take care of the body,” Sora said.

Hana smiled bravely. “Thank you. I’ll, um, wait for you outside.”

As she left the tent, Sora stooped to pick up Empress Aki. It was the first time she looked at her face-to-face.

Oh gods. It wasn’t the empress. It was Fairy in disguise.

If it hadn’t been for Daemon’s strange ability to shock Sora out of Prince Gin’s spell, she would have killed Fairy, thinking she was the empress. Actually, she would have killed Daemon and Broomstick too, when they tried to defend Fairy.

“Stars,” Sora whispered, falling to her hands and knees. Prince Gin’s ability to brainwash everyone he came across was terrifying. He told us to stop at nothing. He told us bloodshed was good. I . . . I would have murdered my best friends.

She saw clearly now what he could do when he had control of every magical warrior in Kichona and took them across the sea to ravage the mainland. They would be a tsunami of death, ruination with no mercy.

Sora doubled over and vomited onto the floor.





Chapter Fifty


Daemon came to shortly after Sora was gone. He shook Broomstick lightly to wake him. There were a hundred thoughts racing through Daemon’s head, but the first—and most important—one was:

“Fairy.”

He jumped to his feet, but she was nowhere to be found.

“She was right here,” he said.

Broomstick shoved through the velvet curtain and began overturning everything in the tent. “Fairy! Where are you?”