needs us to take Empress Aki out of the picture, so that he can claim the throne. He ordered us to do this.”
The warm tide coursed through Sora’s body again. It was like a kiss of heat that began in her heart, then spread down her spine, through her limbs, to the very tips of her fingers and toes. She smiled and nodded. “I can kill her.”
Hana sat back up. “What?”
“I understand what you’re going through. It’s possible to believe in a cause but still have trouble doing what you’re supposed to do. That was my life story in the Society, remember?”
“You did have a hard time following their rules.”
“Yeah,” Sora said. “So I understand how you feel. You want Prince Gin to be emperor, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to carry out what he’s asked you to do. I have no qualms, though.” The warmth had become a self-assured blaze inside her now. “If you can take out the Imperial Guards at Copper Bluff, I’ll take care of assassinating the empress. I’ll do it so you don’t have to.”
Hana looked like she might cry, but it was a happy sheen of tears over her eyes. “You’d really do that? Even after I was nasty to you?”
“I’m your sister. Anything within my power, I’d do for you.”
Hana laughed dismissively, but she nestled her head back into the crook of Sora’s neck.
Sora brought her in more tightly and buried her nose in Hana’s hair. She smelled of dirt and sweat, but Sora didn’t mind. She had thought her little sister was gone forever. But here she was, alive and in her arms.
I will never lose you again.
Chapter Forty-Six
Daemon wiped the sweat from where it dripped off his soaked headband. He’d gotten Broomstick’s dragonfly, and he was on his way to meet them.
The desert was brutally unforgiving. Daemon wore a straw hat, but he’d also tied a cloth around his hairline to keep the inevitable additional sweat out of his eyes. And yet it trickled through anyway, first a few droplets, and now a steady stream. It was nothing short of blistering here.
Disappointingly, he hadn’t found anything in the Tiger’s Belly library to explain his immunity to Prince Gin’s charm. The closest thing was an ancient legend about a taiga who had allowed himself to be possessed by a demon named Dassu. Dassu combined taiga magic with devilfire and tried to bring the hells to earth by magically torching Kichona. He managed to burn down a large part of the center of the island before the gods found out (they did not pay much attention to the daily lives of humans, as a general matter). Luna was livid that the magic she’d granted to the taigas had been distorted. So she smothered him, suffocating both the warrior and Dassu inside.
Daemon had shuddered when he finished reading the story. I really hope I’m not the spawn of the devil, he’d thought. He didn’t want Luna to smother him for being able to do more than what a taiga was usually able to do. Maybe there was an argument for not being special.
He shuddered again now as he rode through Dassu Desert, named after the old legend that had otherwise been forgotten.
After two days of travel, Daemon finally arrived at a reddish brown plateau that shimmered under the sun, the only rise in the flat topography of the desert. He cried out at the sight of it and sagged forward in his saddle, nearly falling off his horse out of both exhaustion and relief. Empress Aki had chosen an oasis in which to conduct her negotiations with Prince Gin. As soon as Daemon got above the scorching sand, the temperature dropped twenty degrees. Acacia trees provided ample shade, and a sprawling watering hole sparkled like a pale sapphire in the midst of it.
“Halt!” an Imperial Guard shouted at Daemon’s approach. “Identify yourself!”
I guess I don’t get to fall off my horse quite yet, Daemon thought.
He held both hands in the air to show he had no weapons. “I am Wolf, Level Twelve apprentice, here to join your forces.”
“Dismount. Slowly.”
Daemon followed the directions, keeping his hands in clear view.
The Imperial Guard studied him carefully.
“Wolfie! What are you doing here?” Fairy sprinted past the Imperial Guard and hurled herself at Daemon.
“Oomph,” he said, as he caught her against his chest. She was tiny, but she definitely made an impact.
“I take it you know this apprentice,” the Imperial Guard said.
“Yes. I verify that this is Wolf.”