I don’t even let myselfattemptto decipher my reaction to her answer. That would be the opposite of focusing on surface emotions. It’s bad enough I let myself think about him ... even for a second.Ethan.My head buzzes and vibrates like a jack-in-the-box ready to pop.
“I’m hungry,” I blurt, louder than necessary.
“I’m glad to hear you brought your appetite.” The flight attendant chuckles, handing me an in-flight menu.
I blink in surprise as I accept the menu. He has impeccable timing, and I consider hugging him.Thank you for saving me from grown-up Sunny.But I settle for giving him a dazzling smile.
Only thanks to her lightning-fast reflexes, Captain Seo narrowly escapes being impaled in the eye by the sharp corner of a first-class menu. Pressing back into her seat, she gingerly takes her menu from the dazed flight attendant.
I turn off my smile, regretting my uncharacteristic behavior. And after a bumbling apology at the captain, the poor man makes his way down the aisle, glancing back at me every two steps.
“You should be careful where you flash that thing.” Captain Seo’s lips curl in wry amusement.
Her familiar teasing sends unwelcome warmth through me—warmth I mentally shove away. I don’t want our friendship to thaw out my numb dissociation. I stare a hole into my menu and resolutely ignore her. But her considering gaze makes the side of my face prickle and itch.
I clench my jaw until my back teeth creak in protest. She wants to figure out what’s wrong with me?Fine.Call me Lumière—because she can be my guest.
I sure as hell won’t risk a catastrophic meltdown to figure it out myself, especially since there is no fixing me.
Chapter Six
Ethan
I stare at the small bowl in the back corner of the dais, listening with half an ear to the generals and high officials gathered in the audience hall. They’ve been making the same argument on loop for over an hour.
Where are you, Sunny?
The stitches of my sanity are snapping one by one, every minute I’m apart from her. Yesterday, we received word from Captain Seo.Found Minju. Daeseong dead.A longer message would have been scrambled while crossing the realms, but the cryptic note made me want to punch my fist through the wall.
Why aren’t Sunny and Draco with Minju? Why didn’t the three of them come back once they killed the darkmudang?
“Enough,” I growl. The officials standing before me have burned through what little remained of my patience. “I will not sit idly by while the enemy ravages my kingdom.”
General Bak and his army from the Kingdom of Sky are raining down death and destruction everywhere their feet fall.
“Please withdraw your ire, Your Majesty,” General Im intones. “Your humble servants only wish to protect you.”
“We beg of you, Your Majesty,” the generals and officials drone as one. “Please keep yourself safe.”
“Am I to stand back and watch innocent people lose their homes, their farms,their very lives?” The arms of the throne creak under my grip. “Am I to do nothing? Is that what you are telling me? My father might have gladly hidden behind this throne, but I am not him.”
“Forgive your humble servant.” General Im drops to his knees and presses his forehead against the hardwood floor.
Then everyone joins in the fucking fun and falls to the ground. “Forgive your humble servant.”
“Assemble the soldiers guarding the capital. I will ride out with them.” I need to do something before I go mad. “And open the gates to Shinsi for those seeking refuge.”
“But, Your Majesty, we cannot have you come to harm.” General Im raises his head, eyes wide with panic. “We also cannot risk a security breach to Shinsi. The capital and its palace must not fall. They are the symbols of—”
When I slash my hand through the air, the general shuts his mouth so fast that his teeth clack together from the force. I breathe through my nose to get a grip on my anger.
“They will symbolizenothingif I stand by while the Kingdom of Sky annihilates my people.” Frustration roars through me.Why can’t they understand?“There is no Kingdom of Mountains without its people. I will fight to protect them.”
“Your Majesty.” Jihun breaks his silence next to me.
“If you say my place is on the throne,” I snap at him in English, “I will kick your ass.”
He raises his eyebrow by a millimeter, expressing his skepticism at my ability to kick his ass. My surprise elicits a bark of laughter out of me.
