“I doubt it,” I say. “Joon and Quilimar genuinely hate each other. When he forced her to marry, it turned from dislike to bad blood. The ring is likely just part of his plan to acquire all the relics of the Dragon Lord.”
Mikail’s eyes shift. “All of them?”
I nod. “You know we constantly try to take the Water Scepter from Wei. And he already acquired the Flaming Sword.”
“Stolen from Gaya during the Festival of Blood, yes,” Mikail says, his jaw tightening. “But the cost to acquire all of them is enormous. Not to mention that the amulet was lost long ago. Joon is pragmatic to the core, and I don’t think he would believe it’s possible to get all five.”
“Since when has a king worried about what is possible?”
Mikail’s eyes narrow, and then he nods. “Fair point, but these relics are invaluable. Khitan will do anything to protect and keep its ring. And the Water Scepter is Wei’s most prized possession. It has never seemed worth the blood price to try to steal it, because even though Wei uses the scepter to magic their waters, their nation would still function without it. They just wouldn’t have an unsinkable navy.”
“You really don’t know the reason?” I ask.
He glances at me, arching an eyebrow, and I can’t help the rush of warmth in my cheeks as his gaze darts to my lips for the briefest of moments. But then he seems annoyed.
“I’m just surprised,” I say. “I figured you knew, as you usually have better sources than I do.”
Mikail smirks and turns back to guiding the sleigh.
I rush on, eager to capture his attention again. “It’s the myth that once a king unites all of the relics on his body, he will become the Dragon Lord on earth.”
Mikail purses his full lips as he stares into the distance. I missed him. I missed just talking with him this past week. My heart feels lighter, better when he’s speaking to me. Even if he won’t get physically close to me ever again, at least I can savor this moment.
“In other words, he will possessallthe powers of a god,” I add.
“How is that even possible?” he asks.
“Etherum.” I shrug. But he eyes me. What he meant was that he hasn’t heard the rest of the legend. I clear my throat. “The myth is that as he ascended back into the Heavens, his powers were sealed into the relics. Some versions have the god bound to do the king’s bidding once the relics are reunited. Others have it as more of a merger of a celestial and human being. The result, however, is the same.”
“Stars,” Mikail whispers and snaps the reins to urge the califers into a trot. “With that kind of power…”
“He could do absolutely anything. Reshape the entire world.”
We both sit in the horror of that thought. The realms have not seen that kind of power since the Dragon Lord walked the earth. I can only assume that a man can’t survive becoming a god, but we both know that Joon would do it. He is the most ambitious king Yusan has had in centuries.
Mikail eyes me. “Reshape the world, metaphorically speaking?”
I shake my head. “No, he would use the power to sink Wei into the East Sea.”
Mikail laughs, the sound ringing out into the night. “His goal, with all of that power, is genocide? Of course it is.”
“His goal is to eliminate a centuries-old enemy,” I correct.
Even though it happened years ago, I still remember Joon telling me bedtime stories when I was a boy. Due to the death of King Theum and our twenty-two-year age difference, Joon was like a father to me when I was young. And I used to love him like one. He’d sneak me treats when I couldn’t sleep and tell me how all of Yusan would cheer when the Dragon Lord returned and pushed the isles of Wei back into the sea.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t he provoke Wei in the War of the Flaming Sword?” Mikail says.
He’s not wrong. “After he took the sword from Gaya, Joon thought he could conquer Wei, but we were outmatched due to their navy. There was also a rumor that he couldn’t wield the sword, though I don’t believe that.”
“Nor do I,” Mikail says. “Joon is of royal blood, or the crown wouldn’t work.”
I nod, pretending like I haven’t lived in fear of disintegrating to ash due to the Immortal Crown. I’m glad that’s one of the few secrets that didn’t spill out in the throne room. Mikail is disgusted enough that I didn’t tell him about Chul. I can’t imagine how far he’d slip away if he knew I wasn’t Baejkin.
“Regardless, ever since we lost the war, we’ve had to pay Wei an unreasonable tribute. If we didn’t need to send that money, a lot of the problems could be fixed in Yusan, from poverty to laoli addiction. And with Wei eliminated, we would finally be safe.”
“By ‘Wei eliminated,’ you mean hundreds of thousands of people murdered,” Mikail says. “Killing off nearly an entire race. Sinking islands full of innocent men, women, and children into the sea. Those who had nothing to do with the War of the Flaming Sword or the scepter.”
He smacks the reins, and the califers speed up even more.
