The Girl King (The Girl King #1)(64)

“I know Lu is innocent!” Hyacinth broke in, gripping at the bars of her cell. Her knuckles went red, then white.

This seemed to amuse Set. “Innocent, you say? The girl who killed your little brother?”

Fear flickered across Hyacinth’s face, an uncertain quaver. “What?”

“What was his name?” Set continued. “Wonin? A brave young man. He only wanted to help his empire, his true emperor. And she cut him down like he was nothing. I’m sure she thought herself justified. Anything for the crown.”

“Liar!” Hyacinth snarled, triumphant. “My brother wouldn’t help you—”

“Your brother would do anything your father told him. And your father would do anything that improved his station.”

For a stunned moment, Hyacinth drew back as if he’d struck her. Her pretty face twisted in confusion and grief. Then she lunged forward and spat. The emission struck Set’s handsome cheek, streaking down toward his chin.

“You’re a filthy liar, and a traitor. Lu would never hurt Wonin, never!”

The guard gave a shout, slamming a baton against Hyacinth’s exposed knuckles. There was a sick splitting sound. The nuna let out a shriek.

Min closed her eyes against the sight. When she opened them again, a man was on the ground before her.

He didn’t look like much. Short and stout. No hair, but for a filthy beard groping its way down his chest. Two soldiers in blue Hana tunics flanked him. They, and the iron shackles about his wrists and ankles announced him as a criminal, but nothing on his tired face or stooped posture suggested danger. Mostly, Min thought, he looked old.

“Who is he?”

Min jumped. Set and her mother stood behind her, just inside the heavy metal door of the tiny room—a prison cell. Set gestured toward the prisoner with a disdainful flick of his hand and Min flinched, shuffling out of his way—although, she knew, he could not see her.

Not this again. No, please, whatever it is, I don’t want to see—

“Lies.” Min flinched and there she was, the shamaness in white. She hovered behind, her sharp little chin digging into Min’s shoulder. When Min turned though, the girl had disappeared.

“Why have you brought me to see this creature?” Set asked the guards.

He was an uneasy fit in the tiny room. The gold silk of his robes looked unnatural, fussily bright against the old, stained stone walls.

The soldiers behind the prisoner bowed at the waist. As they straightened, one of them noticed the prisoner was still upright. He kicked the old man in the small of his back, sending him to his knees, hard. The man cried out—pathetic and thin. Min flinched.

“Are you simple?” demanded the soldier. “Don’t you know to bow before your emperor?”

“Oh, is this the emperor?” the old man said. “I did not realize. I heard the emperor was a woman these days—”

“Why, you insolent old dog!” The soldier brought his gloved hand down against the prisoner’s jaw with a sick, wet impact. A blood-slick tooth shot from between his lips and skittered across the stone floor, disappearing into the filthy rushes. Min closed her eyes and forced herself not to cry out.

“Enough!” Set barked. “Do you mean to keep me waiting all day in this disgusting cell? Who is he?”

“Your Majesty,” the soldier said, quickly scrambling back into formation. “This man has information on the whereabouts of the Girl Ki—Princess Lu. We have reason to believe he was harboring her immediately after she murdered her father. He is also suspected of helping her slay one of our own company, a soldier named Wailun.”

“How was this not brought to our attention sooner?” demanded the empress from Set’s far side. Min started. She had forgotten her mother was there at all.

Set frowned at the interjection but nodded. “Yes, it’s been days! How are we—how am I only hearing of this now?”

The other guard stepped forward. “If you please, Emperor Set, we tried to bring him before you as soon as he was discovered, but in the chaos—that is, the confusion of mourning the late emperor Daagmun, we were not permitted to enter the city. We had to hold him in one of the city jails.”

“You should have informed the captain of the imperial guard!” Set cried.

“Begging your pardon, we did, Your Majesty,” the second guard said. “But again, we were told no one was to enter or leave the palace grounds for the safety of the imperial family.”

Set crammed agitated fists to his hips, turning as though to pace the floor of the cell, only to find the quarters too close to do so. Seemingly frustrated by this, he took a deep breath and refocused on the old man now hunched on the floor before them. “What is his name? How did he come to know my cousin?”

“The villagers in Ansana call him Omair. He is an apothecarist, allegedly. They say he appeared out of nowhere some years ago. He has no known relations, though there was a young man, an apprentice boy living with him—”

“And where is this boy?” Set demanded impatiently.

“He, ah, he disappeared, Your Majesty,” admitted the guard. “We have men searching for him. He may be with the princess.”

Set’s mouth hardened into a red line. “Go,” he managed to bark out. “I’ll deal with you later. Out.”

When they’d gone, Set whirled on her mother, almost accusatory. “You see?” he demanded. “Spies and conspirators everywhere. I told you Lu was plotting against me this whole time!”