I can’t tell if my sister murdered the priests. Her expression is unreadable. My gut feeling is that she did not, but unlike me, Quilimar has always been an exceptionally good liar.
Finally, she meets Mikail’s eye. “Why are you giving me this information? What do you want?”
He gestures with his hands apart. “We wanted you to invade Yusan so we could steal the Immortal Crown and place Euyn on the throne, but with the war of the realms coming, and for…other reasons, there are complications to that plan.”
Mikail glances at me. He didn’t believe me because I am twenty-three and still can’t lie.
“We are seeking an alliance,” Sora says. “We have a common enemy and a shared goal.”
She is speaking out of turn, but Quilimar doesn’t seem to mind. She has always preferred women.
“Now I understand why you needed an audience badly enough for that.” Quilimar points to the egg. She draws a breath and sits back. “I assumed you came to try to assassinate me. What terms are you offering if I help you put my pretend brother on the throne?”
Sora’s eyes dart over to me and Mikail. Now she waits for guidance, unlike before when she ruined everything by revealing that we wanted to steal the ring.
“Favored trade partner status, relaxed border tariffs, a removal of the lost indenture tax, and, of course, Euyn would owe his crown to you,” Mikail says. “We’d also sign a new alliance of peace, although those always seem rather short-lived. The best term, however, is putting an end to Joon’s life. I assure you that none of us here want him breathing a moment longer.”
She considers it. She looks over at Aeri, who holds her gaze.
“Except the obvious issue is that Joon’s crown makes his death impossible,” Quilimar says. “You’re well aware that I have tried.”
She has. Before her wedding, after the wedding, before she became pregnant, and I assume after the prince was born. There might’ve been another time I’m missing—probably a failed attempt during the nuptials, if I had to guess.
“We are here because we stole the king’s crown,” Sora says. “However, we didn’t understand it was all a setup. He had the real Immortal Crown on his arm when we tried to assassinate him.”
“Who was able to remove it?” Quilimar asks. “Certainly not you.” Her eyes land on me.
I raise my eyebrows at her petty insult, but she is correct. It was not me.
“It was me,” Aeri says.
Everything, their entire plan, hinges on whether Quilimar believes her. I’m not sure what she will think of a silly girl who looks like Soo Lin.
As for me, my plan to take the ring will depend on what Quilimar does next.
Suddenly, we’re interrupted by the insistent beating of drums. The percussion rattles the room from the chandeliers to the silverware. The nobility in the grand hall gasp, and the guards begin to shift around.
I close my eyes. I know that sound—war drums. The country is under attack.
Joon has arrived in style.
We need to get him the ring immediately, or he’ll slaughter us all.
Chapter Sixty-Six
Mikail
The Palace of the Sky King, Khitan
There’s never a dull moment.
Everyone at the table looks around as the palace vibrates with the beating of drums. Some of them seem confused, but there is no mistaking the sound of war drums. I will never forget the first time I heard them in Gaya. They marked the end of life as I knew it.
Khitan is under attack.
I sigh, swallowing my annoyance with myself. It took me entirely too long to figure out Joon’s plan. But we can still best him—if we can form an alliance with Quilimar. The Gayan troops, even the Yusanian army, won’t fight if Joon falls. We have to get to him. It’s as simple as it is impossible.
Twin messengers with long braids run into the grand hall. They’re older girls—sixteen, maybe seventeen. They kneel on the floor far outside one of the sets of doors to the room. Each holds a card. They’re both breathing hard, their pale skin rosy. They ran all the way here from somewhere—the border of Yusan, if I had to guess. Khitan is so mountainous that in some places runners would be faster than horses.
