“You told me the maps of the palace you studied never showed the internal layout of the King’s fortress, specifically to protect him from would-be assassins. I just spent the past few months holed up in that place. I know how to get around. I can help.”
Voices rise nearby, the crowd thickening around us—Ketai must be close. I see Kenzo, looking for the most part unhurt. Someone has bandaged his shoulder where the arrow struck.
“Come on,” I say, tugging on Wren’s arm. “We should go now. You know the others won’t let us leave without them.”
Wren doesn’t shift. “Lei, this is about more than the shamans. I lost my magic, too. And if I can’t be sure I can fight without my powers, maybe we should talk to my father. Come up with a new plan.”
A frustrated growl escapes my throat. “Your father made you believe you’re only special because of your magic. Your whole sense of worth has been built on the fact you’re the last remaining Xia and Ketai saved you for this one purpose. But, my love—that isn’t all you are. Your blood and upbringing aren’t everything. You make your own power, Wren. You are your own strength. You faced the King a hundred times alone when we were Paper Girls. Those nights took far more bravery than any of this. We can face him one more time.”
With a rough exhale, Wren pulls me into her arms. “One last time,” she amends. Together, we look back at our friends.
Blue sits quietly, hugging her legs to her chest. Lova and Nitta chat with a couple of Amala members who’ve just joined them. They talk breezily, as if we weren’t in the midst of a battle that could see us all killed any moment. Nitta even laughs at something one of the cats says, and the sound burrows inside me, warm and precious, a magic all of its own.
Paces away, Ketai and Kenzo head their way. It’s clear they’re expecting to find us with them.
My eyes water. I want so badly to hug Nitta and Blue before we go—even Lova. To make them promise to look after themselves. Maybe I could even convince Blue to stay behind with the injured. I still can’t believe she came. How much she’s changed from the petty, vicious girl I first met one year ago.
I have my reasons to hate this place, too, Lei.
I only realize then it’s the first time she’s called me by my real name.
“Remember what I said about good-byes,” Wren says gently.
I swipe my tears away. Before I can doubt our plan, I wind my fingers through hers and we slip through the jostling soldiers. We make for the archway to the northwest of Ceremony Court that’ll lead us from our friends and allies and deeper into the heart of the palace—and to the King.
It strikes me that now Wren and I are truly on our own. Yet it feels right in a way. We came to the palace alone, only to find each other. Now, we will destroy it on our own.
The two of us. Together.
The whole way.
THIRTY-SEVEN
WREN
GUARDS, TO THE LEFT,” LEI HISSED.
The pair of them melted into the shadows of the building they were skirting. There was the sound of a door banging. Heavy footsteps. Gruff voices. Wren caught the words army and Inner Courts and hurry. Her hand strayed to the sword at her waist as a group of demons jogged past. As soon as they were gone, Wren and Lei were back on the move.
They’d been traveling through the palace this way for the past half hour, dodging soldiers on the ground and the eyes of lookouts in watchtowers and circling bird demons. They’d decided it would be too risky to use the passages within the walls, as the girls and Kiroku had done the night of their escape—they could be too easily trapped.
The quiet of the palace after the turmoil of battle was unnerving. But more than that, it was the palace itself. Being back within its walls made Wren claustrophobic. Even if it’d been where she and Lei had fallen in love, a darkness hung over her memories here. A darkness that took the shape and weight of the King’s shadow.
A distant scream pierced the air.
Lei faltered.
“They’re fighting hard,” Wren reassured her. “Otherwise the King wouldn’t be pulling guards from the rest of the palace. They must be wearing his defenses down.”
As another set of royal soldiers ran by, Wren drew Lei into the cover of a nearby maple tree. They skirted the edge of a training ground before passing a final set of deserted barracks to reach Military Court’s northern perimeter.
White curls of clematis clung to an archway in the wall. Beyond, a lush green landscape stretched out, a few bridges and shrines with their braziers and golden idols just visible.
“Ghost Court,” Lei said, giving Wren a fleeting smile.
Wren knew she was remembering the time they’d gone there together. How they’d sat under the whispering leaves of the paper tree in the Temple of the Hidden as Wren revealed the truth about her background. It was the moment Wren had felt a wall melting between them, something else forming in its place: not a barrier but a connection. Invisible strings, tying them together.
After checking for guards, Wren and Lei dashed through the archway, emerging into Ghost Court.
“Do you think anyone’s here?” Lei asked as they crept along the wall, keeping to its shadows.
“Perhaps a few shrine maidens. But if we keep away from the temples, we shouldn’t be spotted—”
The words were barely out of her mouth when there was movement to their left.
In a flash, Wren drew her sword.
A stone plinth nearby carried an idol of a snake-headed goddess. Post-storm light glimmered off the statue’s golden curves—and the two figures that had stepped out from behind it.
One was unfamiliar. The other was—
“Lill!”
Lei darted forward at the same time the small doe-eared girl broke into a run. Lei fell to her knees, bundling Lill into her arms. The young Steel girl was crying.
“What are you doing here?” Lei gasped. Her voice hardened. “Did someone send you here to find me? Is this…”
A trap, Wren finished in her head.
She moved to block both Lei and Lill, glaring at the Moon demon who’d accompanied Lill. She didn’t lower her sword. “Let us pass,” Wren said, “and I won’t harm you.”
The demon was a statuesque panther-woman, so strikingly beautiful Wren would have known she were one of the Night House concubines even if it weren’t for the choker at her neck signifying her position.
The panther demon cocked her head, her cool yellow eyes appraising. “Not the politest of welcomes I’d expect from a Clan Lady, Wren Hanno,” she said, scratching at the neck of her low-slung magenta robes with a long feline nail. “I was taught to introduce myself to strangers before threatening them. I’m Darya. Mistress Azami entrusted me with Lill’s care… among other things.”
Where she crouched by Lill, one arm around her shoulder, Lei said, “You were one of her girls. I saw you at the Night Houses once.”
“I prefer woman, or exquisite beauty,” Darya quipped. “But yes. I worked with her. Like Zelle.”
“You share her humor,” Lei remarked.
“Excuse me. That skinny Paper was ten years my junior. She shared my humor.”
Though her tone was teasing, there was a rough note. It was clear Darya had cared about Zelle and Mistress Azami.
“You’re here to help us,” Wren said.