held her back, conscious of all the eyes on them both. “Ah…apologies, but…”
She looked hurt and confused, but he had to go on.
“You’re…not Yerin.”
Ruby dropped back down. For a second, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and then she nodded. “No, I’m not…I’m not. I’m me.”
She forced a smile that was painfully different from the last. “Bye, Lindon.”
Then, in a flash of moonlight, she vanished.
Leaving Lindon standing in a circle of onlookers.
[Oh, that was cruel. Just shattering a spirit’s heart right before the biggest fight of her life. You’re not going to do that to me, are you?]
“Don’t try to kiss me,” Lindon muttered.
Little Blue chimed in her encouragement. He was right to turn her away.
“You did the right thing,” Mercy agreed. “But poor Ruby! But you had to let her down. But that must have hurt so much!”
That didn’t help Lindon feel any better.
Eithan waved a hand vaguely in the air. “It makes me wonder about the ethics of the whole situation. Is a copy of Yerin still Yerin? From a certain point of view, the heart you broke may have been Yerin’s. Do you think she feels a sense of absolute, crushing rejection right now without even knowing where it came from?”
Lindon walked away.
Calan Archer had seen Reigan Shen before, but he’d never met the Monarch in person.
The Monarch transported him to an opulent, gold-paneled display hall where weapons and constructs of every description were sealed in transparent cases or hanging from the wall.
Under other circumstances, he would have enjoyed looking at each one, but it seemed he was last to arrive.
Aekin stood nearby, still totally covered with one eye of his stone mask glowing yellow. Shoumei was next to him, and she glanced up at Calan through her long black hair. The Blood Sage crouched on his heels at the feet of the Monarch.
Reigan Shen looked over them all, his hands clasped behind his back. He nodded his white-maned head to Calan, so Calan immediately bowed and saluted.
“Now that you’ve all arrived, I’ll get right to it. You have each done me and your masters proud. No matter who ultimately wins, the world will know that three of the eight Uncrowned belonged to me.”
Calan didn’t feel like he’d been given any support from Reigan Shen at all, but he knew that even the thought was dangerous.
There was no contradicting a Monarch. If he claimed responsibility for Calan’s success, then he was responsible.
“I have one final assignment for you. I will provide you with a gatekey that I created long ago. When the tournament concludes, you will travel through it.” He held up the key. “And you will kill Malice’s youngest children.”
Calan’s mind immediately flashed to Mercy’s fight against Sophara.
There was no way he could keep up with that.
If Shen had some way to prevent Mercy from getting any backup, then the three of them combined could probably kill her. Maybe.
He had to speak up.
“I apologize, Monarch, but I’m not sure we’re capable.”
Shen turned to him, and to Calan’s relief the Monarch didn’t seem angry. “I have agents in place. One of them will summon you when Mercy and Pride are as isolated as possible, and you will be accompanied by Overlords who will deal with any interference. The Sage of Red Faith will lead your expedition, and he will prevent higher-level intrusion while I hold Malice here.”
Calan tried to rearrange his thoughts, to ask for clarification without looking like he was questioning the Monarch, but Reigan Shen waved a hand covered in jeweled rings.
“Malice crossed me,” he said simply. “She interfered with a message I meant to send, so now my Uncrowned will kill hers. This has nothing to do with Penance, so the heavens will not stop me. And if anything goes wrong…well, that’s why Red Faith is there. Not to mention the other sects.”
Calan felt like a worm while the fisherman explained why he was being placed on a hook. Whatever justification Shen had, Calan was going to be personally responsible for the death of a Monarch’s daughter.
“Please forgive one more question, but if you’re sending a Sage, why do you need us at all?”
“As I said, I don’t need you. I have chosen you because the parallels are pleasing to me.”
He supposed that was as much answer as he would get.
“And when you return,” Shen went on, “I will give you anything you desire.”
Calan’s breath stopped.
“Shoumei, you can have Anagi’s head on a plate. Calan, you grew up in my