Circle of Shadows (Circle of Shadows, #1)(85)

They lay quietly in the moss for a little while. But the ryuu were going to march to the Imperial City at sunrise, and Sora had to leave tonight to beat them back to the Citadel. If she was going to take Hana with her, she’d have to test the waters now.

The temperature seemed to drop several degrees. Sora shivered. But it was time. “That story made me think about the gods,” she said slowly. “They’re all-powerful. They can make women fall in love with them, give up their children. What’s to stop them from making humans their playthings?”

Hana frowned. “You mean, they’d toy with us like dolls?”

“Something like that.”

“That’s a horrible thought.”

“Why?” Sora asked.

“Because what if I didn’t want to do what the god wanted? If we were toys, he could make us do anything. Kiss someone you find revolting. Smack yourself in the face. Jump off a cliff.”

“You’re right,” Sora said.

“I’d fight back if they did that,” Hana said.

“And if you couldn’t? What if you couldn’t fight back against the gods?”

“Then . . .” Hana thought about it. “Then I’d rather not live. What would be the point of having a life, if I didn’t have free will? At least a doll doesn’t actually have a mind of its own.”

Sora let it sink in for a moment.

Hana turned to her, the moss pressed like a pillow against her face. “Is something wrong?”

Sora sighed. “What’s wrong is Prince Gin and what he’s doing.”

Her sister sat up suddenly. “What are you talking about?”

This was it. Sora was about to reveal that she’d broken free of the Dragon Prince’s spell. Instinctively, she sat up too and began to reach for her weapons, anticipating a fight.

But then she looked at Hana. The sweet little tenderfoot had been there only minutes ago, asking for their bedtime story. She wasn’t a ryuu, not entirely. And she had accepted Sora back into her life. Hana was capable of seeing the world in more than black and white. Sora had to do this—for Hana, for herself, and for her parents, who, if they knew their baby was still alive, would do everything in their power to shake her from her misguided faith in the Dragon Prince.

Sora moved her hand away from her knife. “I know Prince Gin is using ryuu magic to take over people’s minds. I’m not sure how I broke free from the hypnosis, and I understand that you may want to bring me to him for the execution I was originally sentenced to, but if I’m to die . . . please give me a minute to explain. It’s all I ask.”

Hana’s shock painted itself in circles across her face—round eyes, open mouth.

The freckles across her nose jerked as she wrinkled it and pulled herself together. She rose to one knee and drew her sword, the short one she wore at her hip. “You’d better talk quickly.”

Sora swallowed and nodded. “Prince Gin is playing god. He’s stealing people’s free will and making them his toys. He wants to start wars, using not only us, but also ordinary Kichonans, as his soldiers. And for what? To pursue the legend of Zomuri and his immortal paradise? Stories are fun to tell, but they’re just that. Stories.”

“No,” Hana said, shaking her head like she was trying to wake from a bad dream. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Hana, lives are at stake, for a mythological reward that either doesn’t exist or is impossible to attain. I know Prince Gin raised you, and you helped to build this army, but it’s not too late to change your mind, to leave the sky like some constellations do.”

That was how ancient Kichonans had explained stars that inexplicably disappeared. They were the god of night’s children, making the choice to leave their father to return to their mothers on earth.

Her sister pointed her sword at Sora’s chest. “No. Prince Gin wants what’s best for Kichona.” A sob caught in her throat. “That’s what he told us. That’s what he told me.”

Her blade wavered. Sora inched closer and slowly reached over to Hana’s hand. Her fingers closed over Hana’s.

“I’m going back to the Citadel,” Sora said gently. “Come with me. We’ll defend our right to possess our own minds, and the peaceful way of life that Kichonans have had for centuries.”

“But Prince Gin promised us more,” Hana said, dropping her arm by her side.

Sora could see the wanting in her sister’s eyes. Hana had grown up in an impoverished camp for exiles, in the rough mountains of Shinowana. To her, life was an injustice that needed to be corrected. And what the Dragon Prince promised must really seem like heaven on earth.

“Hana, you’re home,” Sora said. “This is a blessed kingdom, with plentiful harvests, joyful traditions, and friends and family. It may not be Zomuri’s Evermore, but it’s real. Come with me.”

Her sister looked at the outline of the Citadel and Rose Palace on the hilly horizon beyond that.

“Sora . . . I love you.”

“I love you too.” Her heart soared like a nightingale taking flight.

Hana raised her sword again.

Sora tumbled backward on the moss. She scrambled for her own blade, but Hana had her sword point at Sora’s throat.

“I love you,” Hana began again, focused intensely on Sora’s eyes, “and that’s why, if you want to leave, I won’t stop you. But I won’t come with you, because my place is here. And if you go . . . it will be the end of us. For good this time.”