could use my power and read the ancient characters, it was little more than a beautiful decoration. I returned it to its cover and placed it next to the swords.
My waist pouch was next, quickly untied and laid beside the compass. Then I struggled out of my over-robe, glad to be free of it, and sat in my thin shift, listening to the faint sounds of the soldiers singing and laughing across the courtyard.
As my watch hours passed, I examined my decision to stop Haddo from entering the stable yard. Dela had called it foolhardy. Admittedly, there had been some risk, but the threat of discovery had been real. I could not have sat by while Ryko was in danger — it was not in my nature. There was a saying that the strength of a man’s steel was only known under the hammer of circumstance. If anyone had asked me a few hours ago, I would have said that nearly five years of boyhood had hammered me into constant fear and excessive caution. But now I realized it had done the opposite. It had shaped me into someone who stepped forward and reached for what she wanted. It was too late for me to tuck my hands behind my back and wait like a good woman.
Finally, at the toll of a distant midnight bell, I leaned over and shook Dela awake. She sat up immediately, groping for her knife.
“Your watch,” I whispered. “Nothing to report.”
She flashed a tired smile. “Didn’t I just lie down two minutes ago?”
“Four.” I returned her smile, glad that sleep had softened her anger and worry.
I settled back on my bed as Dela headed for the night bowl. Slowly, my focus drifted, dipping in and out of sleep, over and over again, as the inn eased into silence around us.
It was the unmistakable clash of blade against blade that brought me up on to my knees, still half asleep. The room was gray with predawn light. I struggled to my feet, listening for the direction of the threat.
Below, in the courtyard.
The sound of footsteps running along the corridor swept away my confusion. Vida was already crouched with a knife in her hand. Dela rolled off her pallet, tense and ready. I fumbled for my swords, their ancient energy burning into me.
The screen snapped open.
We all froze, gaping at the figure in the doorway.
Ryko.
The faint light from the window caught a thick wet shine across his face and chest. Blood. A lot of it.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE BIG MAN staggered into the room, his chest heaving in ragged gasps. He dropped his sword and doubled over.
Dela ran forward. “You’re hurt.”
“No.” Ryko caught Dela’s outstretched hand and held her at arm’s length. “It doesn’t matter.” He took a shuddering breath. “The Pearl Emperor is below.”
“Here?” Vida was aghast. “Why?”
Ryko’s face was stark in the moonlight. “When I found His Majesty, I told him Sethon killed his mother and brother. He went mad. Some kind of blood rage. He killed two of his own guard — and then he came down here, looking for Sethon’s men. He’s cutting down everyone in sight. Everyone.”
“If he is killed, everything is lost,” Vida said.
I stared down at the moonstone and jade hilts in my hands.
Their pale glow blurred into a vision of the Imperial Pearl sewn into the base of Kygo’s throat. I shook my head, trying to clear the image from my mind. It shifted, but a soft hum settled into the base of my skull.
“We must stop him,” Vida said. “Disarm him. Get him out of here.”
“Disarm him?” Ryko said. “We cannot raise a weapon against the emperor.” He wiped blood out of his eyes “Dela, get Lady Eona to safety. Go, while the fighting is confined to the courtyard.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “We have to stop the emperor.” The hum was louder now.
“We can’t stop him,” Ryko said. “We can’t touch him.”
I tightened my grip on Kinra’s swords. “I can.”
I had already hit the Pearl Emperor once. It was less than a week since I had rammed the heel of my hand into Kygo’s throat to stop him from strangling me. He had thought I was Lord Eon, his powerful ally. When I had confessed I was just a girl, his rage had been terrifying.
I turned to Vida. “Find Solly and get us some horses.”
“From where?” she protested.
“I don’t know. Just do it!”
I headed for the door, but Dela blocked my way.
“Let me pass,” I said.
“No. You must not endanger yourself. Not again.”
“Get out of my way, Dela.” I tried to move around her, but she matched my step.
“If you die, Lady Dragoneye,” she said, “the emperor has no chance of reclaiming his throne.”
A rush of energy — not my own — exploded through me. I slammed my elbow into Dela’s chest, punching out her air. She dropped to the floor.
For a long moment no one moved, then Dela took a rasping breath, her eyes wide with shock. My own astonishment pressed me back a step. The violent energy had come from the swords. From Kinra.
“Stop her, Ryko!” Dela finally gasped.
He backed away. “I cannot.” He looked wildly at me as if I was the one stopping him. Fear bleached his face. “I cannot.”
“What?” Dela’s voice shrilled into disbelief. She lunged for me as I pushed past Ryko into the dim passageway. I ran to the staircase and took the steps two at a time. As I rounded the landing, the muffled struggle in the courtyard separated into loud screams and cries above the ring of clashing swords.
“What’s wrong with you, Ryko?” I heard Dela demand. They were following me. “Why didn’t you stop her?”
“I don’t know! I–I couldn’t move!”
I jumped the last few steps and landed heavily, still unused to the mobility of my healed body. Kinra’s determination was thrumming in my mind, driving me toward the battle. Ryko and Dela clattered down the steps behind me.
“Eona, wait,” Dela pleaded.
I ducked away, fighting a wild urge to raise my swords against them.
“Don’t go out there!” It was the innkeeper at the back door, his face a pale blur of fear. “Come this way, sir. Quick, I have a place to hide.” He grabbed Dela’s arm and pulled her toward the stable yard.
The red flags across the front doorway hung limp in the heavy predawn air, obscuring my view of the battle. Although the sounds of combat were close by, Kinra’s experience told me the heart of the struggle was farther across the courtyard. With a deep breath, I slashed through the flags into the first brightening of dawn.
For a moment, all I saw was mayhem: shadowy bodies strewn on the cobblestones, horses rearing, knots of men fighting. Around me, the clang of steel on steel and groans of effort were punctuated with the screams of frightened horses and injured men. The stench of blood and piss made me step back. Then Kinra’s knowledge surged through the swords and made sense of the melee. Kygo was on a horse in the center. He was not wearing armor, only the white mourning robe I had last seen on him at the palace, the heavy silk streaked with dirt and ominous sprays of dark blood. He did not even have a helmet— his long braid, glinting with jewels, swung from the back of his shaven head as he hacked at anything that moved. Scattered around him, four imperial guards were fighting off soldiers, forcing them away from the young emperor. For all of the uneven numbers, the guards were holding their own.
My eyes were drawn to the pale luminescence at the base of Kygo’s throat — the Imperial Pearl, as big as a duck egg. Along with the hum in my head came a flash of sensual memory: my fingers stroking a man’s throat, stroking the pearl, its smooth beauty sewn into the hollow between his collarbones. I heard him moan with
