must be vanquished, and The Lady crowned—” He broke off, glancing at me in alarm.
“Crowned empress,” I finished for him. “I know who The Lady is, Woo In.”
Kirah peered at me, reading the surprise and guilt on my face. “Tar … How long have you known that you’re a Kunleo?”
“How long have you?”
Kirah exchanged a glance with Sanjeet over my head. “Years,” she admitted. “I mean, I didn’t know for sure until Woo In told me. But Jeet and I always suspected you had the Ray. Some clues were small: tics, mannerisms you share with Dayo. But there was something else. A haze around you sometimes, when you’re angry, or happy. Or sad.”
I shifted my feet. “You shouldn’t have come looking for me. It isn’t safe.”
“I didn’t have a choice.” Kirah searched her pockets and produced a calfskin scroll. The seal had been broken. “I had to make sure it was urgent,” she said. “Jeet, there’s one for you too. Our whole council has been summoned to the capital.”
I scanned the familiar burnt script of Thaddace’s Hallow-writing.
IMPERIAL SUMMONS
His Anointed Honor, High Judge Thaddace the Just, in the name of His Imperial Highness, Olugbade of Aritsar
Bids Tarisai, Apprentice Delegate of Swana and High Judge Apparent
To present herself at An-Ileyoba Palace
In preparation for her First Ruling Ceremony
Which shall take place
On the 75th day of Dry Season.
“THE SEVENTY-FIFTH?” I SAID. “BUT THAT’S …” I counted in my head. “Four months from now. I’ve barely trained for six. Thaddace said my First Ruling wouldn’t happen for years.”
Kirah looked suspicious. “What ruling does he expect you to pass?”
I shrugged. “It’s stupid. ‘Orphan Day’: a holiday for rich people to spoil poor children before tossing them back on the streets.”
“Sounds like a move to please the nobles,” Sanjeet said. “Maybe Thaddace needed a distraction from The Lady’s arrest. Something to amuse the court, so they don’t gossip about a second Raybearer.”
“But why summon our whole council?”
Sanjeet frowned at his scroll. “Looks like we all have duties. High General Wagundu wants me to drill with the emperor’s personal guard. Later this year, I’m to help lead a campaign.”
Kirah cocked her head. “Against who? No one has attacked the continent in decades.”
“Against our own people,” Sanjeet said grimly. “We’re to lay siege to any city that fails to comply with the Unity Edict.”
Kirah shuddered. “The emperor summoned me to help Mbali write new chants of prayer,” she said. “All priests and priestesses are encouraged to adopt a Book of Common Song, faith traditions no longer separated by Clay, Well, Ember, and Wing.”
“That sounds like a disaster. How could the emperor—” I began, but stopped when I remembered Woo In. It didn’t feel right to criticize Olugbade in front of someone determined to bring him down. I hated how the emperor had treated my mother, but the candidate catechism still echoed in my ears. “I’m sure the emperor and his council don’t mean to harm anyone,” I mumbled, correcting myself. “They only want peace.”
“Peace,” Woo In said, “is different than silence.” His face had grown paler. Hyung’s yellow eyes flashed, and Sanjeet’s hand went again to his scimitar. But the beast only bent its massive head, licking Woo In’s cheek.
When Woo In succumbed to a violent round of coughs, I gestured to Melu’s canopy. “You should lie down.” I still hadn’t forgiven Woo In for setting the palace fire, but we shared an uneasy kinship. We both had loved The Lady, and tried to kill for her.
He nodded and staggered over to a pile of cushions, smiling. “Don’t worry, Lady’s Daughter,” he said. “Help is on the way.”
Sanjeet’s head snapped up, locking on a figure approaching from Bhekina House: a rippling smudge of green. Energy crackled faintly in the air, almost like someone was … Ray-speaking.
“Don’t have a conniption,” Woo In said aloud, in apparent response to a voice I could not hear. “Am’s Story, you’re almost as bad as my real big sister.”
The stranger’s cloak blew around her as she stormed under the canopy, doffing her deep green hood. “Honestly, it’s no wonder Crown Princess Min Ja disowned you,” the woman sniffed.
“Kathleen,” I breathed.
She ignored me, placed her hands on Woo In’s chest, and shut her eyes. The crackling energy intensified, and healthy color flooded Woo In’s lips. Kathleen examined him, and when it was clear his strength had returned, she slapped him.
He only laughed. “I’ve missed you too, Kat.”
“Really?” Kathleen demanded. “Really? First The Lady gets captured, then you disappear for three weeks without contacting a single