No. Please, gods. Not Daysum.
This is worse than any poison I’ve ingested. Worse than anything I had to watch and endure in a dozen years. Because it is my sister. Because it is my fault. Just as we had freedom within our grasp, I failed her. I was supposed to save her, heal her, protect the only family I have, but I didn’t kill the king, and now she is a brothel indenture. Now she is alive in the deepest hell.
“You should’ve thought about her welfare before you fled,” Seok says. Then he smiles. Actually smiles.
Fury I’ve never felt before builds up in me until it burns. I’ve hated and feared Seok since I was a child, but this is something else. This is molten. Nothing matters more than hurting him. I would burn down the three realms just to see him singed.
I smile, but it’s more of a lioness baring her teeth. My lips shake because I want to kiss him so badly. But I wait. I make myself wait. If I killed him now, I’d doom the others. And a fast death would be too kind for Seok. He will suffer. He will plead to deaf ears.
“And you?” I say, staring into his eyes. “Have you thought about the welfare of your own?”
Seok falters a step—just one. He doesn’t know. He didn’t get my eagle post because he was here and not in Gain. No one has told him about his son.
“You wouldn’t dare.” He’s all bravado, but there’s a hint of uncertainty in his eyes.
Suddenly, I wish I had killed Tiyung. My feelings for him be damned. I wish I could tell Seok that his only heir died by my lips or at the end of my blade. I wish I could watch him crumble.
“He is rotting in Idle Prison,” I say. “Ifhe is even still alive. For all your schemes, you were outplayed by the king from the start. Tiyung will be tortured to death in there. Or maybe he’s been eaten by the iku.” I force myself to shrug about the fear that’s been torturing me since the throne room. “Either way, I wish you a long life, Seok, now that your title and your bloodline will die with you.”
With that, I walk away.
I make it three feet.
Chapter Thirteen
Tiyung
Idle Prison, Yusan
As soon as Hana leaves, I dive at the envelope, scrambling on my hands and knees across the dirty floor. I’m so eager to get to the message that I have to stop myself from tearing the paper.
The letter was already opened, but strangely, it is my seal on the envelope. Puzzled, I turn it over in my hands. Why would Hana give me a letter I wrote? Then I realize that Sora must have my seal. It is a message from her.
My heart overflows to the point that I think it will burst. I feel happiness for the first time since being thrown in this cell. And more than that—the light of hope is rekindled inside me.
I slide out the paper, ready to read her words, but the letter isn’t addressed to me. It’s to my father.
Seok,
It was his plan. Tiyung is idling the day away. Within a month I will keep my word. Keep your word.
Disappointment hits. It’s not exactly the heartfelt message I hoped for, but I still feel bolstered having something written by Sora’s hand. She must’ve penned this within the last day or so and sent it by eagle post. Which means she survived the throne room.
This is proof she is alive and free.
I read it again and revel in how clever she is. Sora wrote expecting that the letter could be intercepted and read. There is nothing incriminating in the note, but she is telling my father that our assassination plan failed because it was the king behind the plot all along. She is also letting him know that she still plans on killing King Joon within a month. And she wants to ensure her sister will be safe in the meantime.
But all I can focus on is the fact that she is trying to tell my father that I am in Idle Prison—Tiyung is idling the day away. She is warning him and trying to help me. The same way she begged for my life in the throne room of Qali.
She cares. Maybe it isn’t love, but she is still doing all she can to free me. She still believes I can make it out of here.
Tears fill my eyes, and warmth spreads down my chest. She doesn’t have to care. I wouldn’t blame her if she walked away from my suffering the way I walked away from hers many times as a boy. But Sora is better than me—she always has been. I won’t let her brave efforts be in vain. I will make it through this for her. Even if she may love Hana, not me.
I draw a breath and sigh, holding the letter to my chest. But soon my smile fades. Something is off about this whole thing. Namely, the fact that I have it. This message never reached my father, so why did Hana give it to me? She hates me and my family. Why did she leave me a lantern and the letter?
Maybe she is trying to get me to trust her. But to what end? I don’t have a lot of options in here.
I puzzle over it for a long while, trying to solve the riddle. I would think that it’s just kindness, but Hana isn’t Sora. She has no reason to be kind; therefore, she is not.
