Chapter 25
It took just over two days for me and my army to arrive at the capital.
I rarely stopped for food or rest, sustained only by cold, numbing hate.
I didn’t care who saw me either. Farmers dropped their tools and ran at the sight of the rot-brown skeletons.
Villagers shrieked and dashed inside their homes.
Fellow travelers scurried off the roads, tripping over rocks and underbrush to scramble away. I ignored them all.
We arrived at the gates of Hulin just as dawn peeked over the mountain range. The horizon line simmered red, as if anticipating a day of blood. I could already taste the iron on my tongue.
The city guards failed to notice my approaching army until we’d reached the entrance. When they glimpsed the grinning skulls behind me, the unit tasked with inspecting visitors stumbled over themselves. There was no time for them to shut the gates.
I shook my iron bells and commanded my army to retaliate against anyone who dared attack.
And most of the guards did—those patrolling the parapets of the city’s high walls and the ones guarding the main entrance.
They fired arrows and threw daggers, but their aim was halfhearted.
The moment they allowed their fear to overtake them, they’d already lost.
I hardly glanced at the guards or the undead soldiers, continuing toward my target.
Terrified shouts and whistling blades filled the air, but I didn’t flinch.
The skeletons nearest me easily deflected any stray missiles, their rib cages and bones bearing arrows that drew no pain.
If a skeleton fell, it quickly picked itself back up and resumed its march.
Perhaps, as Lilan had said, I should’ve felt guilty for using the dead in such a manner. But I no longer cared what was proper or not. The eldest prince had taken everything I loved. I’d willingly sell my own soul to make him pay the price.
The city of Hulin woke to a grisly sight that morning.
I felt the waves of horror ripple over me from cowering passersby as I made my way through the varying districts to the palace carved into the side of Mount Long.
I’d never visited the capital before, and in a different time, I would’ve admired the towering buildings, the eateries steeped in history and charm, the diverse fashions, and the overlapping smells of food, smoke, and sweat.
But all I could see was a city built on the backs of commoners like me, people who labored and lived far away in quiet towns, never able to glimpse the wealth planted by our own hands.
Soon we arrived at another set of gates, this one to the royal palace itself. The walls loomed three stories high, crowned by battlements and fortified with red stone.
The imperial guards must’ve expected my arrival, because unlike the city watch, they were prepared to meet my advancing skeleton army at the gate.
The archers on the parapets raised their bows, strings pulled back and ready to fire on command.
A line of soldiers was positioned outside the gate, spears and swords in hand.
Their golden armor gleamed in the rising sunlight, the plates elegantly shaped like feathers and their helmets adorned with red plumes.
They all watched me warily, too afraid to meet the skeletons’ gaping eyes. Not that that’d do them any good.
I counted at least a hundred men, almost twice as many as I had. But my skeletons couldn’t die or feel physical pain. They experienced no such thing as fear or anger—or superstition. And I could tell that if not for their orders, these men would’ve fled long ago.
I decided to give them a final chance.
“Open the gates,” I demanded. “I’ve come for an audience with Prince Liqin.”
One of the soldiers stepped forward, an older man with more elaborate armor. Likely the captain of the guard.
“You dare ask for an audience while leading such a monstrous army?” he barked. “Who do you think you are, girl?”
I lifted my chin. “I’m Kang Siying, priestess of the Moon Cloud Monastery. If you won’t move, then I’ve no other choice but to cut through you.”
In response, he unsheathed his sword and pointed its blade at me. “You’ll be punished for your insolence.”
Sighing, I stamped my staff against the pavement. The bells rang sharply through the morning quiet. Focusing on the skeletons beside me, I glared at the king’s guards and said, “Attack.”
My army raced past me, chilling in their voiceless onslaught.
Their bones clacked against the ground, their blades hissing through the air, but they gave no battle cry, no shout of fury.
Instead, they emotionlessly met the swords and spears of the enemy, their supernatural strength greater than the average man’s.
I gritted my jaw to maintain concentration. My link to the skeletons dragged at my energy; a vague ache had begun to grow in my skull over the past two days. But I ignored it and focused on my soldiers.
I watched as the archers above shot down at the skeletons, their arrows grazing bone and piercing into the flesh of their own comrades.
I watched the mortal men recoil at the Fu talismans and dried skin still attached to the skeletons’ frames, the way their resolve faltered when they realized their opponents were unkillable.
When one soldier ran, others followed. The guards’ terror of the unknown was proving to be as dangerous as their undead opponents.
But I hadn’t come to defeat an army.
I’d come to kill a prince.
As my warriors continued to shove against the human soldiers, I advanced toward the gate. Two of the skeletons flanked me as I navigated through the battle.
I’d just reached the front steps when an arrow whisked past, barely slicing my shoulder. My eyes cut to an archer stretching back his bowstring for another shot. Though his hands trembled, there was a desperation in his gaze that made my heart lurch.
He let loose his arrow.
A sword knocked it away just before it pierced my left eye.
But the weapon didn’t belong to one of my soldiers. As I lowered my head, I recognized the flushed face of Anshi, the Wen governor’s assistant.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted.
Anshi grabbed my arm and yanked me under the gate’s overhang, out of the archers’ range. She looked as travel-worn as I did, the skin beneath her eyes shadowed and her clothes dusted with dirt.
“I followed Liqin here, of course,” she said. “He arrived just hours ago, and I’ve been searching for a way inside.” She glanced over her shoulder at the chaos of the living and the dead. “Did you do this?”
“Yes,” I said. “I’ve come for the prince as well.”
Anshi shook her head, looking horrified. “All this for the seal?”
“I care nothing for the seal. I only want the prince’s head.”
She nodded at that and placed her hand on the wooden doors. “Then shall we?”
Together we shoved the doors open, stepping into a spacious courtyard framed by offices and halls. More guards were stationed at the buildings, behind the embossed pillars and along balconies. They shouted when they saw the gates open.
I didn’t make myself an easy target. As I strode forward, my skeletons flooded in after me. Any guards nearby were too distracted by the undead soldiers to focus on two young women hidden in the skirmish and running toward the main hall.
“What’s your plan?” Anshi shouted through the mayhem.
“I don’t have one,” I yelled back, struggling to retain my control over the skeletons while also dodging flying weapons and falling men. “Only find the prince and—”
“—kill him?” Anshi finished for me. “Are you sure you can do that?”
“I will.” I clenched the peach staff in my hand, the only thing left of my father. “I must.”
Anshi said nothing more as we raced up the long flight of stairs toward the hall. We were halfway there when a robed figure appeared at the top landing and rushed down to meet us, followed on both sides by heavily armed guards.
As we drew close, I recognized the sneering, whiskered face of Official Yi, the man who’d sent me on this journey just three weeks ago.
Looking to be in his sixties, he was dressed in a belted deep-violet pao with a silver crane emblazoned on his chest. He didn’t even glance at the battle at the bottom of the stairs.
“Mistress Kang,” he greeted, looking down his nose at me. “You shouldn’t be here.”
I gave him a daggered smile. “You haven’t paid me the remaining balance of your debt.”
“It will be sent to your home.”
“I’ve decided I want something other than money.”
He tucked his hands into his flowing sleeves, scowling. “And what is that?”
“I’ll tell you after I’ve seen Prince Liqin. It’s something only he can give.”
“The prince is currently in a meeting with his ministers. You’ll have to come back another time.”
“A meeting?” I exchanged a look with Anshi. Surely this meeting had something to do with the royal seal and Liqin’s claim to the throne. “Is the king there as well?”
“The king recently suffered a stroke and has been confined to bedrest,” said the official, not looking very concerned. “Prince Liqin has temporarily taken on his duties. As I said, he is very busy and has no time to see you.”
A stroke? Had Liqin gone so far as to poison his own father too?
I was no fan of the king, but if he wasn’t strong enough to control his eldest son, what might Liqin do? If the officials accepted him as heir, the states of Sian and Wen would both suffer. We couldn’t let that happen.
“He must be in that hall,” Anshi murmured, gesturing with her head at the grand building behind Official Yi. “We have to get inside now.”
I nodded, taking another step up. “My apologies, Official Yi, but the prince’s meeting will have to wait.”
“Ah-ah.” The official held up a hand, which prompted his guards to raise their weapons. “Are you sure you want to go barging in on the prince when there’s another matter that requires your attention?”
I halted. “What matter?”