“Maybe the young captain finds the risk worth his while.” A lewd smile crosses Lord Gweon’s face.
“No one here would dare question Captain Song’s loyalty,” General Bak says with steely authority. “If he trusts this female enough to sponsor her, we have no reason to keep her from participating in the next trial.”
Lord Choe grumbles under his breath while Lord Gweon shrugs, neither of them raising an objection. The older male, Lord Nam, harrumphs and crosses his arms like a petulant child but says nothing.
“Well, this is going to be interesting,” Lord Yoon murmurs as he gets to his feet. “If we are all in agreement to grant Captain Song’s petition for sponsorship and Cho Mihwa’s application to participate in the trial, I think I will take my leave.”
“Both requests are hereby granted,” General Bak declares. “You are dismissed, Captain.”
“Thank you, my lords.” Jihun bows, so I mimic him once more and follow him out the door.
We walk down the path that leads back to the gates. As awe inspiring as it is, I don’t want to spend a single unnecessary second on the palace grounds. Something about the place feels sinister.
“Lord Choe is an idiot. Lord Gweon is creepy as hell. I wouldnotwant to run into him in a dark alley. Lord Nam vacillates between bragging and worrying but mostly only cares about his reputation.” I tick them off my fingers one by one when the meeting hall is far enoughbehind us. “And Lord Yoon will go whichever way that benefits him. I don’t trust him one bit. Our only clear ally is General Bak.”
“You deduced all that from one meeting?” Jihun tilts his head and gives me an appraising look. “Impressive.”
I clamp down on the urge to be flattered by his compliment. “What are you risking by sponsoring me?”
“Not much, I hope.” His expression gives nothing away.
“Ugh,” I groan in frustration. “Enough with these cryptic non-answers. What does sponsoring me entail?”
“I have in essence pledged myself to be your proxy for any infractions you might commit,” he says, like he does this every day. “If you break a law of this kingdom, I will pay the price.”
I spin on him, coming to a halt. “You what?”
“I don’t see an issue.” He presses a warm hand against my lower back, and I begrudgingly start moving down the path again. His hand lingers on my back for a few more steps. “You’re not planning on breaking any laws, are you?”
“I don’t know,Captain.” I’m being a snotty brat, but I’m not sure how I feel about him sponsoring me. I already owe him so much. “Are there any lawsbeggingto be broken?”
“Only a few.” His lips twitch for a second.
I give him a shit-eating grin. “I’ll be sure to get to them when I find some free time.”
Hailey is already in Jihun’s study when we arrive. “How did the audience go?”
“They’re a bunch of pompous assholes.” I wiggle into my usual seat, then smooth out the beautiful hanbok skirt, the color of the sky moments before sunset. I can’t believe I had to dress up for that circus show.
“It went well then?” she quips.
“Wellisn’t the word I’d use, but we got what we needed.” Jihun drags a hand down his face. “What has Minju uncovered?”
“So we all know that the legendary Gwangdo, the only known weapon against the Amheuk, is very much lost,” she begins.
“But?” He arches an eyebrow.
“ButMinju found some obscure references about a way to forge another sword of light with the sacred ashes ...” Hailey sighs. “And dragon scales.”
“Is that supposed to be a joke?” I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. Dragons are fantasy bullshit made up by humans.
“Might as well be.” She shakes her head. “Yongwang, the Dragon King, has been asleep for more than a century.”
“Yongwang, the god of Water, is a dragon?” My voice rises with every word.
“You knowyongmeansdragonin Korean, right?” Hailey gives me a wary glance.
“Yes, but I thought it was just a badass name.” I don’t care how clueless I sound. “I didn’t know it was an actualdescriptionof the god.”
