I elbow my way past rushing bodies. He stops midstride, turning at my call. We’re crushed together by the throng, the rush and noise shielding my words from the wrong ears.
“There’s something you need to know,” I say. “But you have to promise not to tell Ketai.” Kenzo begins to protest, and I cut him off. “I know you’re loyal to him, but I need you, Kenzo. I need your help.”
He hesitates a fraction longer. Then he nods. “What is it?”
“The Demon Queen is carrying the King’s child.”
His jaw ticks. “Why are you telling me this now?”
“We need you to get her out of there, Kenzo. I’m going to try, but if anything happens to Wren or me, I need you to do it. She’s in a pavilion within the River of Infinity’s southern curve—though the King might keep her with him during the battle for extra protection. I don’t know. But I need you to promise me. After the battle, get her to safety.” I clutch his arm. “Ketai cannot know about this. If he thinks there’s any chance the King’s reign could continue with the baby, he’ll kill it, and the Queen, too. And she deserves to live, Kenzo. Think of everything she’s endured. Now, pregnant… it’s her choice what she does with the baby. No man is taking it away from her without her consent, demon or not.”
Kenzo gives me a long, searching look. Finally, he reaches down, curling a roughly padded paw around my shoulder. “I asked you once to help us when we needed it the most. Of course I’ll do this for you, Lei.” He draws me against his chest. Pressing his nose to the top of my head, he adds in a rough whisper, “But I pray I do not have to.”
I squeeze him back.
“Wren’s coming,” he says, and slips away.
“Lei!” Wren calls over the clamor.
I snap on a neutral expression. “Sorry. I just wanted to see if Kenzo had an update on Aoki.”
“She’ll survive this, Lei,” Wren assures me, taking my hands. “She’ll be here when we get back. And the rest of the girls, and your father and Tien. Maybe it’s a good thing we don’t have time to face them before we leave. There’s no need for good-byes when we’ll see them again.”
It takes all of my willpower to hold back tears at that.
I told Baba and Tien we’d speak more about them joining the battle. They’d promised me they’d think about remaining behind, and I could tell they understood how desperately I meant it. Now I won’t have time to be certain, to give them one last embrace, and I won’t be able to see Aoki or Blue or the twins to tell them how much they mean to me, how much their companionship over the past few months has kept me going, kept me alive—not in the physical sense, but in my soul.
Tears cloud my vision as Wren leads me back to the tent. “Let’s get you changed. My father had clothes and armor made just for you.”
Of course he did. After all, The Moonchosen must always look her part. First, as a symbol of revolution; then repentance; then a bride.
And now, the last of her guises.
A martyr.
The burning forest comes into view as we head out into the camp grounds. Even as we pushed through the swarm of bodies within the tent, the bite of smoke in the air was detectable. Now it hits us full force as we emerge into the night.
The rocky plains stretch before us. Past them, the Hidden Palace lives up to its name, veiled by swaths of flames. The whole horizon is alight.
Wren leads me to where her father is booming instructions from atop a crate.
“General Novari, to the west flank!”
“Lady Oh, your Commander is preparing your war-bears in stall twelve!”
“All remaining soldiers of mine who’ve been assigned to mounts, report to Commander Chang!”
Spotting our approach, Ketai presses the scroll in his hands to the adviser beside him to continue organizing the crowd, before jumping down and striding our way. Kenzo comes over from where he was helping a soldier steady her nervous horse. Nitta joins us, too, Battlechair gleaming in the firelight.
“Where’s Lova?” Wren asks her, ignoring her father.
“Gathering the Amala. We’ll be making up the bulk of the eastern flank during the first wave.”
“‘We’?” I say. “Are you with the clan again?”
“I mean us cats. It’s not like—”
“There’s no time for this,” Ketai interjects. “If we make it through the night, you can continue this conversation then.”
His eyes skip over me as he says this, the words so careless on his tongue. I resist the urge to punch him in the face. He and I alone know I won’t get a chance to finish this conversation.
I won’t get a chance to finish anything.
“The forest being on fire changes things,” he says. “We’d planned to travel through the forest, but it will be completely unnavigable like this. The court knew exactly what they were doing by setting it alight. They must have heard by now we lost our remaining White Wing allies, so our only route to the palace is by foot. They’ll be expecting us to wait out the fire, forcing us to attack in daylight tomorrow, when they’ll have a perfect view of our approach.” His eyes flash. “We must not play into their hands again. We will attack now, while the fire still rages. We will be the ones to surprise them.”
Two winged figures descend from the sky: Merrin and Samira. Merrin’s coat is stained pewter from smoke. Samira doubles over, coughing, as Nitta goes over to rub her back.
“Everything is as we suspected,” Merrin reports. “The soldiers are mostly gathering within the courts adjacent to the main walls in preparation of us attempting to scale them, with more in Ceremony Court in case we attack via the main gate.”
“And the King?” Ketai prompts.
“Guards are mobilizing around his fortress. But they’re concentrating on the perimeter walls.”
“Good. That’ll mean more will be caught in the blasts.”
Blasts?
“But the shamans are in the walls,” I say.
The group ignores me, talking fast, shooting information and queries back and forth as the sky roils ever darker.
“Are we still focusing on the main gate and the southern walls?”
“I don’t see any reason to change plans. We always knew they’d anticipate a more front-loaded attack. Let’s give them what they expect—then surprise them with what they don’t.”
“What about the Tsume? The White Wing? We never factored in this much smoke.”
“It’ll only make it harder for them. They fly in a pack. The bad visibility will cause problems.”
“And Samira and I can keep them distracted.”
My heart races as I try and keep up, try to make sense of the plans I wasn’t a part of making, only ever truly expected to be useful to Ketai for one part of them. A part that requires neither preparation nor practice.
Knife, blood, magic.
The formula could hardly be simpler.
“Lord Hanno!” A blue-clad guard hurries over. “The army is ready. Everyone is in place.”