A ripple of nausea rolled through Gin’s stomach, the warning of seasickness before a storm.
Am I really going to do this?
He looked over at his original taiga warriors, who had stood by him since the Blood Rift. He remembered how close to death he’d been, and how dedicated they’d been to bringing him back to health. And then they’d spent years training in the Shinowana mountains, fumbling with this new magic, bruising themselves while sparring, and finally, mastering it.
This was what all that time and effort was for. To bring Kichona and its people a glorious, immortal paradise.
Gin turned his attention back to the assembling crowd in the square. Taking away their free will is a necessary sacrifice. The Ceremony of Two Hundred Hearts is part of the process. It’s for the ultimate good of the kingdom.
“I’ve spent a decade dreaming of coming home,” Gin said. “You’re my kin. I missed you deeply.” He smiled.
A little girl in the front row shrieked. “His face is so ugly!” She buried herself in the folds of her mother’s skirt.
The woman flushed and took several steps backward, all while wrapping the fabric of her skirt around her daughter, as if doing so could make her disappear. “I-I’m sorry, Your Highness. She’s only three. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”
Gin clenched his fists. But he didn’t respond. The girl—and everyone else—would love him soon enough.
Now, in fact.
Emerald-green particles whooshed through the air, falling like snow on the people’s heads. A moment later, they smiled drowsily.
Gin glared at them. “As I was saying, I’ve been looking forward to coming home. You missed me too, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” the crowd answered in chorus. Their eyes twinkled with the kind of blissful peace only Gin’s enchantment could give them.
Perhaps free will was overrated.
“I’m here to bring eternal paradise to Kichona,” Gin said. “But I need your help. Are you willing?”
“Whatever you require, Your Highness,” the villagers said.
“Good. My sister has been empress for a while, but I intend to take the crown from her, so that I may lead you to glory and everything our kingdom deserves. There will be a coronation, and I would like to invite citizens from throughout Kichona. Is anyone interested?”
“Me!”
“Over here!”
“Your Highness, pick me, pick me!”
The crowd erupted in clamoring chaos.
Gin motioned for Virtuoso, one of the most reliable of his original warriors, to come over. “You know what to do, right?”
She nodded. “Two hundred slots that need to be filled. Ages one to one hundred, a male and female each.”
“We don’t need to find all of them here. We’ll make plenty more stops before the Imperial City as we amass our army. But go ahead and choose some here.”
Virtuoso nodded and began shouting at the people for order. The other taigas jumped in to herd them into lines to submit their names.
Gin turned his back on the square. He strode away, pushing through the curtains of flowering vines to the outskirts of town, where his warriors’ horses waited. Even from here, he could still hear the people shouting over each other as they argued for the honor of going to his coronation. For the privilege of sacrificing their lives for Zomuri.
Another little shudder of nausea rippled through Gin.
But this time, the guilt was smaller, and it passed quickly. Because after a lifetime of dreaming and ten years of planning in exile, everything was starting to come together. Gin had the makings of a magical army that no one would be able to defeat. He’d begun collecting Hearts.
And the fantasy of the Evermore was within reach.
Chapter Sixteen
Fairy and Broomstick pushed their way through the streets of Shima. Obnoxious, sweaty hawkers stood on the narrow sidewalks, each shouting louder than the previous one that their gambling hall had the most honest dealers, the greatest odds of winning, and the cheapest tobacco and beer. In every alley, crowds of people huddled in circles, exchanging bets and watching roosters screech and fight in a mess of blood and feathers. And pretty girls with too much makeup hung on the arms of men strolling through the tawdry city.
Usually, taigas liked to dress in street clothes when they were on leave. Kichonans respected taigas immensely, because the gods interacted with humans in only two situations—when they blessed babies as taigas, and when they were summoned by an emperor and empress. Thus, people bowed at the taigas’ feet and called them “Your Honor” wherever they went, and it wasn’t unusual for small children to run up and ask taigas—even apprentices—for their autograph. It was hard to blend in and enjoy a brief leave from school or duties when wearing a black uniform.
But there were other occasions when a Society uniform was needed. Going into Shima was one of those times. Fairy had worn a red dress here on her first leave as a Level 9 and had received enough leers to last a lifetime. She swore never to do that again.
Fairy and Broomstick finally arrived at their destination, a tiny herbal medicine shop that was sandwiched between a gentleman’s club and a pawnshop. The owner, Mrs. Mura, was from a long lineage of respected herbal masters, and she sold dried plants that had been used in ancient remedies for centuries. Unfortunately, the demand for traditional medicine was dying, so she found she had to cater to a less savory clientele to keep her shop open; she sold relaxing grasses and hallucinogenic mushrooms in the main part of her store. But Fairy was here for the rare seeds and crushed leaves that she needed for her botanicals. Like Sora had said, she needed something to distract her while her friends were off hunting a Dragon Prince.
Mrs. Mura’s seemingly permanent frown melted away as soon as she saw who had walked in her door. She pushed up the heavy spectacles on her nose and straightened her blouse, which was decorated with a pattern of brightly colored flowers and herbs, spiraling out as if seen through a kaleidoscope.
“Your Honors, welcome back. I cannot tell you how happy I am to see your faces. What can I do for you today?” Not only did she respect Fairy and Broomstick as taigas, but it was also a relief to be able to serve someone who actually appreciated her plants. It wore Mrs. Mura down to sell areca nuts to the patrons of the gentleman’s club next door.
“It’s great to see you again,” Broomstick said before wandering off to look at the amusing collection of pipes in the display window. There was one shaped like a laughing banana, another like a pig’s snout, and more. Broomstick didn’t smoke—taigas weren’t allowed to, and besides, he didn’t see the allure of tarring up his lungs and coughing all the time—but the pipes were something to look at while his gemina did her shopping.
Fairy handed a piece of paper to Mrs. Mura. “I made a list of what I need for my experiments. Do you have any of these?”
Mrs. Mura put on her glasses. “Two ounces of swallow’s saliva, one ounce each of dried wood-ear mushroom, cherry blossom petals, and mangrove bark, half an ounce of bitter almond extract . . .” She read the rest of the list in silence. When she finished, she took her glasses off and said, “I think I have most of these. I’ll be right back.”
“That’s a lot of ingredients,” Broomstick said. “You’re going to spend your entire apprentice allowance on them.”
Fairy shrugged. “I gave my satchel to Spirit, so I want to make new batches of some of my standbys. Plus, I need some of them for Wolf’s birthday project. . . .”
“Oh yeah!” He grinned. Then he picked up a pipe shaped like a hairy, bare foot. The mouthpiece was the big toe. “Who in their right mind would want to put this in their mouth?”
She laughed. It caught her by surprise, because she’d been so anxious since Spirit and Wolf had left. But it was a welcome surprise, even if it was only temporary.
Mrs. Mura came back with a tray of tiny glass jars and vials.
Fairy flitted back to the counter.
“Your Honor, I have everything on your list except the wood-ear mushroom.”
“It’s okay. I can forage in the woods for that. Everything else is harder to come by.”
Mrs. Mura rang her up, and as Broomstick predicted, it cost Fairy her whole allowance. It was a good thing Mrs. Mura was out of the wood ear.
“Someday when you have more time,” Mrs. Mura said, “I would love to hear what you’re cooking up with all these ingredients.”
Fairy smiled and clasped Mrs. Mura’s wrinkled hands. “I will definitely tell you all about it once I get better at brewing these potions.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Mrs. Mura said. “Thank you again for coming by, Your Honors. I hope to see you soon.”
Fairy waved, and then she and Broomstick were out the door, hurrying back to the Citadel. There was lots of work to be done on Wolf’s surprise, and they had only a couple weeks left.