She looks at me with hate in her eyes, and then I remember that we never did recover her body. I saw a girl who resembled her burn on a funeral pyre, but we were too far away to check for details. Hana must’ve struck a deal with the nobleman she’d been sent to kill. She faked her death with his help, then fled to the capital and somehow met the king. She isn’t wearing all blacks, but I bet she’s an assassin for the throne.
Or a spy.
“You have nothing to say?” she asks, one eyebrow raised.
“No, because you’re correct,” I say. “You have no reason to be kind to me. I benefited from your suffering, from the torture of the other nineteen girls. It’s only right for me to suffer some of what you did. As Sora did.”
She lunges toward me and stops herself. Barely. Her muscles strain, her fingers spread, and she’s so close I can smell her rose perfume. But she takes a breath and regathers herself. Then she stands straight and exhales, smoothing the skirt of her dress. “Do not speak that name.”
The realization hits immediately: Hana loved her. I wonder if Sora knew, then remember Sora saying something about it being too much to even think of your loved one, but desperately wanting to honor their memory. I thought she was talking about her parents, but that never really made sense.
She was talking about Hana.
My gut twists in a new way.
“You were in love,” I say, my voice weak and raw.
Hana resumes her casual air, even as her gaze burns into mine. She must’ve studied Mikail to act the same way, to be so casually lethal. That shouldn’t surprise me, though. Hana was the smartest girl in my father’s school. I am positive she would make an excellent spy.
“Iamin love with her,” she says, and my chest tightens. “True love doesn’t end just because of death.”
She bangs on the door once, and a guard opens it.
Even if her words hurt, I wish she’d stay so I have someone to talk to, but she is done with me.
Desperation takes hold. I try to think up something, anything that might interest her, might make her stay, but my mind is slow from however long I’ve been in here. I stand with my mouth open, but no words come.
Hana is almost out of my cell when she tosses an envelope onto the stone floor. It lands on the dirty ground near my feet. Then she walks out like it never happened, leaving me with a lantern, a message, and a million unanswered questions.
Chapter Twelve
Sora
City of Quu, Khitan
With so much hanging in the balance, it feels strange to be getting ready for a ball. Yet for the last three years, I’ve done this same routine to prepare to murder, so I suppose it’s normal for me.
I make up and perfume my face, arrange my hair, and don my heavy silver-and-blue dress as if it’s armor. I slide on my rings, necklaces, and earrings. All of the gems are owned by the southern count. All make me something different—a courtesan instead of a scarred girl desperate to save her little sister. Last, I put my fur cape over my shoulders. I debate for a second, then decide to apply poison lipstick, just as a precaution.
Beauty will be my only weapon tonight, as we won’t be able to bring in blades.
Aeri and I will attend a banquet while Royo, Mikail, and Euyn head to the Temple of Knowledge.
Mikail came back last night suspiciously soaked again, but at least this time it was only rain. He had a new plan for us: divide and conquer. We don’t have much time for a variety of reasons, but no one was comfortable with splitting up.
“I thought I was going with the girls,” Royo said, crossing his thick arms.
Mikail shook his head. “We may need your muscle.”
“Shouldn’t we all go, then?” Aeri asked, gnawing on her lip. I’m surprised her lips aren’t chapped from how much she’s been biting them.
“No,” Mikail said. “Unfortunately, both events are pressing. The banquet is tomorrow night, and at least one of you needs to attend. I’d rather not send anyone in alone.”
The Banquet of the Sky King is an annual celebration of the rains that occurs one full day after the start of the monsoon season. Mikail wasn’t sure when we could meet the general, but the ball is the perfect excuse. Even in my border village, we used to celebrate the monsoons and the life-giving water they provide. The rains also cause floods that destroy and kill, but life surges after destruction.
Hundreds of Khitan’s elite will attend the ball in the armory. I thought the men would stay at the inn, but someone murdered a Yoksa recently—a holy priest. As shocking as that is, Mikail feels certain it’s related to our mission here. Someone wants to alter history before we can read it. Which means there’s something to find, and we have to discover what it is before the information disappears.
The three of them already left for Lake Cerome. Aeri and I will try to probe the general for information tonight. And then we’ll meet back here.
