Whatever Wren might have expected, it wasn’t that.
“The King took me to see her,” Lei said. The lightness had gone from her eyes; they looked as solid and heavy as the gold at her wrist. “She’s carrying his child, Wren. His heir.”
Blood rushed in Wren’s ears.
The King. An heir.
It was too awful to believe.
That at least had been one comfort, one thing her father and their allies had felt safe in—that the so-called Empty King of Ikhara was infertile. They didn’t need to worry about his line continuing. They just had to kill him, dismantle his court, and they’d be free of his corrosive influence. But if another Demon King lived on…
“We have to find her,” Wren said. “We have to—”
She stopped, the words too horrible to speak.
Lei’s stare was caustic. “We have to save her. I promised myself that I’d free her, Wren. Whatever happens tomorrow, we’re getting her out. I count on your support.”
She strode away before Wren could offer it. Maybe she wanted to leave before she could read any more into the shock on Wren’s face, and figure out what Wren had actually meant when she said they had to find the Demon Queen.
Or maybe she was walking away because she already knew.
“Trouble in paradise?”
Lova slunk from the shadows. Wren wondered if she’d overheard what Lei had revealed about the Demon Queen, but if she had, Lova didn’t let on, and it wasn’t like her to withhold her opinions.
“What did you want to show me?” Wren asked.
Lova led her to the northeast corner of the encampment. Apart from the guards patrolling the perimeter beyond, only a few clan members were still up. They bowed as Wren passed.
“Lady Hanno,” one young Paper maid demurred, before moving on, and the name shot through Wren like a firebrand.
“Perhaps you’d prefer Lady Xia,” Lova said.
“I’d prefer no Lady at all,” Wren snapped.
“I’m with you there, honey. Lady suggests such a dull life, doesn’t it? Even General has been getting on my nerves lately. I think it’s time for an upgrade.”
“Depending on how things go in a couple of days,” Wren responded coolly, “Queen might be available.”
Lova stopped. “Lei saved herself from getting married to that bastard. Why aren’t you happier? I know you understand restraint more than most of us, but you’re back with her, Wren. She’s safe—at least for now. Don’t waste the time you have. If it comes to an end, you’ll regret you didn’t make more of it.”
There was remorse in her voice.
“Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?” Wren retorted, annoyance rising in her. “Me and you? How good we could be together, a Paper and Moon leading Ikhara? Because it sounds like someone else’s recent plan, Lo, and I wasn’t a fan of that, either.”
Hurt dashed across Lova’s features. “What I’m saying is to not let pride or some stupid fear get in the way of something true. Something good.” She started on again, brushing roughly past Wren. “If you don’t want my advice, fine. But as allies in a war, I am obligated to show you this.”
She marched out from under the lit canopy of the camp. They went a short way before Lova pointed to the east.
“There.”
At first, Wren couldn’t make out anything, her human eyes not nearly as sharp as Lova’s demon ones. Then she saw it.
Something was moving on the horizon. A low mass, lit by flickering pinpricks of light.
“But our army is coming from the west,” Wren said.
“So that’s not our army.”
Coldness slunk down Wren’s veins. She thought of Lei tending a gravely injured Aoki. Of the Paper Girls asleep in their hammocks. Of Kenzo and Nitta and everyone else back at the camp under her protection.
“Reinforcements,” she whispered.
“But for the King, or for us?”
Wren scanned the horizon again. It was impossible to make out anything more of the slowly approaching mass, but it was clear they were headed right for them. If the group was coming to bolster the King’s defenses, they risked being taken out—their daos weren’t strong enough to protect them from such a large attack.
“We’ll take the horses,” Wren told Lova. “Just the two of us. And bring some of your explosives.”
Lova gave her a sharp-toothed grin. “You always know the way to my heart, honey.”
Wren recalled the barely veiled disappointment in Lei’s eyes earlier.
If only she knew how to hold on to the one heart she truly wanted.
TWENTY-EIGHT
LEI
AOKI’S LASHES FLUTTER. SHE LETS OUT the occasional soft groan, or turns her neck, wincing. But she hardly seems aware of my presence as I check over the bandages the Hannos’ medics wrapped her with—far better than our frayed scraps of hanfu—before I settle beside Blue.
“He’s keeping her sedated for the pain,” she tells me, inclining her head toward the shaman kneeling on Aoki’s other side.
His chanting drifts over us, fluttering the curtain separating the sick bay from the rest of the camp. It’s quiet. Only the distant sounds of guards patrolling the perimeter and the murmuring and clatters of a few restless clan members break the peace, along with a sudden flurry of hooves from the direction of the stables. Guards off to do some checks I suppose, or perhaps messengers. Once they fade away, everything settles back into a strange kind of serenity.
It won’t last long. In a few hours, the place will be a hive of activity.
At least, I imagine so. I haven’t prepared for a battle like this before. Perhaps this is how it will go on. The calm before the storm.
Aoki murmurs. Her eyes half open, and I hold my breath until she drifts away again.
“Sleep,” I tell Blue. “I’ll stay with her. You must be exhausted.”
“I’m fine,” she says, her words at odds with the shadows bruising her eyes. “You should be the one resting. It’s not like I’ll be going back there to kill the King. That is your plan, isn’t it?” She makes a scornful noise when I don’t answer. “I don’t care, Nine. There’s no need to pretend anymore—not for any of us. Go kill the godsdamned King, if that’s what you want. Just make sure you do it right this time so we can all move on.”
“Move on,” I breathe. “It seems too much to hope.”
“All I’m hoping for,” Blue responds tartly, “is to finally live without your stupid actions dictating my life.”
We glance at each other—and burst into laughter. It comes from nowhere, a sudden rush, as though it’d been bottled all this time. Tears rush my eyes. Blue’s laughter is bold and true and wholly surprising. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard it like this before, not a bark or derisive snort, and it’s a wonderful sound.
“Wh-what’s… f-funny?”
Aoki’s croak makes both of us jump up.
“Aoki!” I brush the sweat-stuck hair from her brow. Blue lifts a cup of water to her mouth. “Don’t worry,” I say, stroking her face. “You’re safe. You’re safe, now.”