Cloak of Night (Circle of Shadows #2) - Evelyn Skye Page 0,48

Kichonans, including our new subjects on the mainland, will live forever.

“But in order to do so, I needed a drastic change. Just being taigas wasn’t enough; you saw how we were defeated by my sister ten years ago. And so, when I had the opportunity to take the knowledge of more powerful magic from the afterlife, I did it. And I shared the new powers with all my warriors, even if it costs us, because it was the means to the Evermore. Do you understand?”

Hana’s mouth hung open. The emperor had done the opposite of what she’d expected—he’d confirmed Wolf’s reading of Kitari’s story. “B-but . . . you damned us to the hells. Why would you do that to someone? To me, when I was just a child?”

“I didn’t know,” he faltered. “I found out about the consequences later. But don’t you see that it’s still worth it?” Emperor Gin stroked her cheek like she really was still a child. “I love you and all my ryuu. I want the Evermore for you, and when we achieve that goal, it won’t matter that we were marked for the hells, because we’ll never die. We will be immortal in paradise.”

She wanted to pull away, but she was in too much shock. “What about the ryuu who died in the last battle, though? They don’t get to live in the Evermore, and they don’t get to rest in the afterlife either.”

Emperor Gin merely shrugged. “There’s always a price to pay. Weren’t you the one who told Aki that? You said that leaders who were truly great weren’t afraid of paying it. And that is what I did. I know you understand.”

Hana looked up at him and the jeweled flames above his head. They no longer seemed beautiful. They were only a promise of her future in the hells if she died while fighting these wars against the mainland.

And yet she’d always known that fighting for a cause came with sacrifices. The Evermore was worth it, right?

“Now it’s time to get back to work,” the emperor said, patting her cheek affectionately, like a proud father. “But let’s keep this Kitari story between you and me, all right? The other warriors are not as wise as you, Virtuoso, and may not take to it as well. I’d prefer not to have to hypnotize my original ryuu if possible. I like having a loyal, passionate contingent of visionary warriors who understand, of their own accord, the need for the Evermore. But I will take their minds if necessary. Understood?”

Hana, schooled to be obedient, bowed her head as if in complete agreement, even though she was rattled by what was clearly a threat to control her mind if she didn’t do what he wanted. The emperor only ever used his powers on people he considered his enemies, or on unreliable, ordinary people, like when he’d hypnotized the subjects in Paro Village during the ryuu’s initial campaign into Kichona.

But now he considers me a potential enemy? She was his second-in-command, the most loyal of the loyal. Was it that easy for him to turn on the ones who were ready to give their lives for him and his pursuit of the Evermore?

“Get a team to inspect and fix my new warships,” Emperor Gin said, his voice no longer kind but back to business now. “And take Firebrand and Menagerie to smoke out those taigas.”

Hana rose slowly. She wasn’t sure how she felt or what she was going to do, but she needed time to sort through all this new information. At least if she had an excuse to go after Wolf and Fairy, she could interrogate them to see if they’d gotten in touch with this Liga person, whoever he was, and learned anything more about the damnation or a way out of it.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Hana said, saluting despite the confusing swirl of feelings in her head. “You can count on me to find them.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Pain jerked Aki awake. After Virtuoso had left, Aki had squeezed through the crooked, narrow opening into her tiny cell. She’d collapsed on the bed, a wooden pallet and lumpy sack of straw, and smeared a thick layer of seaweed salve on her burns. After that, everything was a haze as she tumbled in and out of consciousness.

It had probably been a few days since Gin had held a bucket of acid over her head and Virtuoso had beaten her. Aki’s hands flew instinctively to her tender cheek. The touch