Royo opens the bag again, but I pause. I place my hands on the top and bottom of the egg and raise it, as if I’m considering smashing it on the white marble. We hadn’t discussed this, so Sora audibly gasps. Strangers around us do the same. I catch the glimmer in Mikail’s eye—he approves.
“Should we let people know she refused, and they can speculate as to why?” he asks.
Vikal raises her chin and stares coldly at Mikail, but there’s a hint of respect in her expression. She’s impressed that he knows Quilimar’s secret.
“A five-minute audience,” she says. “We will prepare a table, and there will be an abundant amount of guards present. If any of you bring in a weapon, all of you will die.”
“Sounds like a deal,” Mikail says.
She takes a step away and then pauses. “Your driver can wait here with your arms.”
With that, Vikal turns on her heels and leaves with her personal guards.
“You make friends everywhere,” Mikail says to Gambria. He takes his sword off his belt and hands it to her. Then he removes two blades from his boot, the knife tucked in his interior jacket pocket, and three throwing stars.
“You know this is a trap, right?” Gambria asks.
“I’d be disappointed by anything less,” he answers.
Gambria stares at him, unamused. “You need to be careful, Mikail.”
He smiles. “Always am.”
She lets out a long-suffering sigh. “Don’t…don’t hurt her. She is who she had to become.”
Mikail pauses, staring at his friend. “Aren’t we all?”
My chest tightens at his words—what have we all become? There’s no time to consider it, and maybe I don’t want to. I start pulling knives out of my cloak and handing them to Gambria. Everyone else does the same. Soon, she has a small arsenal at her feet. Bolts, knives, swords, an axe, and the list continues. Royo takes the longest, continually pulling knives and daggers out of nowhere like a magician.
I hesitate, but I part with my last throwing knife, hidden in the waist of my dress. I leave my hair dagger in, though. It’s small but deadly sharp. I doubt they’ll find it inside the decorative clip that holds my hair back.
“Isthis a trap?’ Euyn whispers to Mikail.
Mikail shrugs. “We’re about to find out.”
Royo and I look at each other. That’s not exactly comforting. But we don’t have long to think about it. A palace servant bows elaborately to us and asks us to follow him. I take Royo’s hand as we walk in under the watchful eye of twelve swords.
It’s time.
Chapter Sixty-Four
Sora
The Palace of the Sky King, Khitan
We enter a stunning palace. The palace at Qali is also beautiful, but we had hoods on when we were brought into the throne room, and then we were dragged out, dazed and in chains. But now we are escorted inside as honored guests. Nobles and dignitaries—even Ambassador Zeolin—stand to the side to watch our procession. He gapes with his mouth open as Aeri passes him, holding the bag that contains the egg.
It is said that the palaces of the four original realms were made and lived in by the gods, and I can see it. This one is filled with white marble, deep-purple rugs, gently fluttering lilac-and-white flags, and gold. Tons of gold—from flecks in the floor, to the eagles on the center of the flags, to the massive chandeliers, to the carved decorations on the walls, to even the banisters on the dual, central staircase. With its high ceilings, open domes, and columns, the space has an airy feeling. It truly seems like the Sky King could have walked these halls himself.
The palace servant stops at doors not far off the grand entrance, but we’re all taking our time following him, not outpacing Euyn, who walks with a limp. Plus, there’s much to see. Elaborate tapestries, sculptures, and paintings celebrate the grandeur of the Trialga rulers. Gilded and bejeweled flowers sit in solid gold vases around the halls.
Aeri’s eyes are keen.
“No,” Royo murmurs.
She pouts and then smiles at being caught eyeing things to steal. My heart fills as I watch them. This world is brimming with unkindness. It takes a brave hand to carve out a small piece of happiness and to stand ready to defend it.
We’re shown to a banquet room that makes the gilded armory look shabby. The ceiling must be three stories high, and it’s painted with frescos of the sky at different times from the stars to midday. And, obviously, there is gold everywhere. The room has a gold dome and a gold fountain in the center that collects the rainwater falling from the oculus.
