I know the moment I’m alone. I force open my eyes and try to push myself off the floor, but I’m too weak. The poison is working faster than I’d anticipated. Everything will be all right. They will take care of each other. My brother would’ve been pushed into the Shingae in two weeks’ time no matter what. This way, he won’t be alone when it happens. And she won’t have to be alone anymore either.
“You are now his royal guard,” I speak through the bond. “Protect him.”
My bonded brother is quiet on the other end. I feel a flash of panic, but his solemn vow fills my mind. “With my life.”
I float in and out of consciousness. I’m jerked awake when someone pulls me into their arms. My brother. I want to say,Don’tbe sad, Little Brother.But I don’t have the strength. I only have enough strength left to tell him ... tell him what? It’s crucial ...
“Forgive me, Your Highness. I can no longer serve you.” I focus my gaze on his beloved face one last time before darkness edges in. “Break ... the stone. You must break the stone ... of tears.”
It’s time to join my mother and father. I protected him with my life as they protected him with theirs. We have served him well. That is all that matters.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Jihun leads the way to a bustling outdoor restaurant with a large raised platform underneath a sloping thatched roof. A crowd of people sit cross-legged on the platform, eating bowls of hearty soup with rice, stooped over low tables.
“You expect to find someone who knows about the sacred ashes at a jumak?” I gape at him.
“What’s wrong with a jumak? They serve the best gukbap here.” When my eyes narrow, he relents and says, “And the person I want you to meet usually has lunch here.”
We circle the platform until Jihun approaches a seonnyeo drinking soup straight from a heavy earthen bowl.
“I knew I would find you here,” Jihun says amiably. He must know her well.
The female seraph thumps the bowl down onto the table and loudly scrapes up the few remaining grains of rice with her metal spoon. She doesn’t look up to acknowledge us, but Jihun sits down across from her and motions for me to take a seat. Then he waves down the owner as she bustles by with a stack of empty soup bowls.
“Jumo, we’ll have two gukbap,” he says.
“Right away, my lord.” She bows and rushes off.
“What do you know about the sacred ashes, Minju?” he asks without delay.
The seonnyeo pushes her empty bowl away and finally meets Jihun’s eyes. “They’re extremely rare, to the point of being mythical.”
He lowers his voice. “What if I told you someone obtained the sacred ashes?”
“And lives to tell the story?” Her big owlish eyes glitter with sudden focus. “I would say that’s fascinating.”
The seonnyeo is wearing a fine silk hanbok, but her skirt is hopelessly rumpled, and splotches of black ink stain the sleeves of her jeogori. And strands of hair have come loose from her untidy braid and hang down by her face. But even her disheveled appearance can’t dampen her exquisite beauty.
I lean toward Jihun and whisper, “Thisis the person we’re looking for?”
“What better person to ask than the Kingdom of Sky’s foremost scholar of arcane magic and a historian of the Order of the Suhoshin?” Jihun arches an amused brow at my surprise. “Minju, this is Sunny. She has some questions for you.”
A half hour conversation proves that Minju is whip smart and passionate about her work, beneath her sloppy appearance and distracted air. Unfortunately, she has more questions than answers for me at the moment.
“I’m sorry I can’t be of more help,” she says with genuine regret. “But I promise to devote all my waking hours to finding you answers.”
“Thank you, Minju.” I offer her a wavering smile. Another dead end. I don’t know what else to do. I fight against the hopelessness that threatens to drown me.
“I appreciate your help.” Jihun nods at the historian. “Please update us as soon as you find anything.”
Minju sits up straight with a gasp. “What if ...”
“What if what?” I grip the edge of the table.
“What if we look into other ways to defend against the Amheuk?” she whispers.
“There are other ways?” A small part of me thinks,I got the sacred ashes for nothing?But really, I’ll take anything I can get at this point.
