Chapter Nineteen Sunny
Chapter Nineteen
Sunny
I refrain from sticking my tongue out at the snooty receptionist as Gyun and I walk past her into the breathtaking throne room of the Jeoseung Palace.
Three of its walls are floor-to-ceiling glass with a spectacular view of the glittering city below. An onyx throne with an impossibly high back—edgy, both figuratively and literally—stands on a dais at the opposite end of a black carpeted path. But no king sits on the throne.
“This way,” Gyun says close to my ear.
We find the King of Underworld working over a cluttered desk strewn with glittering cogs and gears, nuts and bolts, and a thousand other bits and pieces I don’t recognize.
He’s wearing a rumpled black T-shirt and loose black jeans, muttering at an intricate contraption in his hands.
His onyx crown rests atop a riot of shiny, black curls, tipping precariously to the side.
The King of Underworld is nothing like I expected. The male standing before me can only be described as a hot nerd, both endearing and weirdly sexy. Not intimidating at all.
“Your Majesty.” When the king doesn’t respond, Gyun smiles with indulgent affection and repeats, “Your Majesty.”
“Gyun.” The King of Underworld looks up with a wide smile and trips in his hurry to give the Judge of Ten Hells a hug. “It’s been too long. You have to look at this calculator I’m working on . . .”
“The calculator might have to wait,” Gyun interjects when the king takes a breath. “This is Sunny, Your Majesty. She has something to tell you.”
“Wow. You’re a gumiho.” The king focuses his gaze on me with disconcerting intensity. At least he stopped using his earthquake-inducing voice. “If it isn’t an imposition, I would love to see your fox form. I imagine you are quite glorious.”
“Your Majesty.” Gyun rests his hand on the king’s arm. “That will also have to wait. I’m afraid this is quite urgent.”
The chaotic energy around the king abruptly settles into an intense quiet. He nods once to the Judge of Tenth Hell and turns toward me again. I didn’t see it before, but he truly is the King of Underworld. Beneath the mess of curls and disheveled clothes, he is all power and authority.
“Tell me.” His command reverberates through me.
I might not have his full attention for long, so I go straight for the kill. “The Gray Void has been destroyed, and the Amheuk has breached the Realm of Four Kingdoms.”
“Gyun.” The king keeps his narrowed eyes on me. “Please question her for me.”
Of course. He wants to make sure I’m telling the truth. Considering the gravity of the situation, I’m not too insulted.
The judge complies with the king’s wishes in an even tone. “Has the Amheuk breached the Realm of Four Kingdoms?”
“Yes.” I level an acerbic look at the king. I should probably be more respectful, but I’ve had a long day.
“Ask her what destroyed the Gray Void,” the king says.
“I did.” I slash my hand across the air when he turns to Gyun. “Stop wasting my time. I am telling the truth.”
“But why did you destroy the Gray Void?” the judge asks in genuine confusion.
“It wasn’t a conscious choice. I entered the Gray Void with a word of power branded on my back, and it tried to destroy the rune’s dark magic, which would have killed me.
” I harden myself against the onslaught of memories.
The unforgiving cold of the Gray Void. The fire of the ancient rune burning through me.
The pain as the two forces threatened to tear me in half.
“But my survival instinct kicked in, and I somehow destroyed both the ancient rune and the Gray Void.”
Then I remember the desperation of the stranded and their heartfelt gratitude at being freed.
“The Gray Void contained countless stranded souls. They were all trapped there . . . suffering,” I murmur past numb lips. “When I destroyed the Gray Void, I ended up releasing them from their captivity.”
The Judge of Tenth Hell pales, horror filling his eyes, but the King of Underworld simply looks resigned.
“You knew about the stranded.” I don’t pose it as a question—it’s a sharp-edged accusation and condemnation—but he answers anyway.
“Yes.” His Adam’s apple bobs.
“Your Majesty.” Gyun’s voice breaks. “To exist in a timeless void with no agency, no hope, no end in sight . . . That is a fate worse than any punishment in the Ten Hells. Their very existence must have been pain. You knew? Yet you did nothing?” Disappointment bleeds into his words. “How could you, Taeyoung?”
“I have no excuse.” The king drops his head.
“Ever since I took the throne and inherited that bloody legacy, I have been doing everything in my power to find a way to free the stranded without destroying the Gray Void. But I couldn’t figure out how any of it works.
I don’t even know where those stranded souls came from . . .”
Curiosity and impatience war inside me. I want to understand the truth of the Gray Void. I want to make sense of all that suffering. But . . . the stranded have already been freed. Saving the Realm of Four Kingdoms has to come first.
“Now isn’t the time to seek absolution.” I cut him off.
“You’re right.” The king offers me a solemn nod. “If the Amheuk has truly breached the Realm of Four Kingdoms, we have no time to waste.”
“One last question, Sunny.” The Judge of Tenth Hell scrubs his hands over his face. “How did you destroy the Gray Void?”
“I have . . .” Have seems like such a passive word to describe the connection between the Yeoiju and me. But I don’t have a thesaurus on me, so I continue, “I have the Yeoiju.”
The king and the judge exchange a startled glance, and Gyun murmurs, “The prophecies are coming to pass.”
The prophecies in the plural again. I only know about the prophecy of the King Foretold, and the Yeoiju doesn’t come into it. What does the second prophecy have to do with the Yeoiju? With me?
I rub my forehead. “What prophecies?”
“Both the prophecy of the King Foretold and the prophecy of the End of Days,” the judge answers.
“How do you know about the prophecy of the King Foretold?” I ask to hide my ignorance about the other one.
“Our diviners have been barraged with visions of the two prophecies for the last few months.” The King of Underworld has that eager, nerdy excitement back on his face.
“If you truly hold the Yeoiju, and you must, since you cannot lie to Gyun, then you are part of the prophecy of the End of Days. But I disagree with the prevalent interpretation—”
“Th-that’s not important right now.” I take a choked breath. I don’t want to know about the prophecy of the End of Days. “But if you know about the prophecy of the King Foretold, then you must know what must be done.”
“The four kingdoms must be united under the King Foretold in order to defend the realm against the Amheuk,” the king answers without hesitation.
“Then will you help stop the Kingdom of Sky’s invasion on the Kingdom of Mountains?” Pleading enters my voice. I don’t care if I’m begging if I can help Ethan. “Will you bend a knee to the King of Mountains?”
“If I make this quick and easy”—the King of Underworld smiles wanly—“do you think there will be time for you to give me a glimpse of the Yeoiju’s power?”
“Taeyoung.” Gyun shoots a startled glance at his king. “This is not a decision to make lightly.”
The King of Underworld slowly faces the Judge of Tenth Hell, straightening to his full stature. The two of them are about the same height, but the king suddenly seems to tower over the enormous judge.
“You do not know me if you believe I make this decision lightly.” His voice rumbles like thunder, and I clap my hands over my ears. I definitely should be more respectful toward him.
“Forgive me, Your Majesty.” The judge bows low, well and truly chastised. “Wherever you lead, I will follow.”
“I know you will.” The king’s expression softens. “Assemble the generals. We have a war to win and a realm to protect.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” With a quick nod my way, Gyun hurries toward the doors.
“Gyun, wait,” I call out and run up to him. “Tell the Judge of Fourth Hell . . . What’s his name? The one taking Cheyun to the portal to the Kingdom of Mountains? By the way, you guys really should go by numbers.”
“Mun.” Gyun, a.k.a. Number Ten, arches an eyebrow.
“Yes.” I hold out both hands. “Can you ask Mun to tell Cheyun to wait? She can guide the Kingdom of Underworld’s army to the Shinsi Palace.”
“Understood.” With a sharp grin and a two-fingered salute, the Judge of Tenth Hell rushes out the door.
I return to the King of Underworld’s side and belatedly remember my manners. “Um, thank you, Your Majesty.”
“I am merely doing what is best for my kingdom and this realm.” The king seems back to his disheveled, nerdy self. “So about that glimpse . . .”
I don’t fully understand this powerful yet endearing king, but my instinct is to trust him, as I trust Gyun. Trust isn’t something I give easily, because it makes me vulnerable. But I’m starting to understand that it also makes me stronger.
“With all due respect, Your Majesty.” I shake my head in teasing resignation. “You are kind of a nerd.”
“I will own that proudly.” The King of Underworld offers me a lopsided grin.
Rolling my eyes at him, I summon a small white orb to my palm. My smile falters when the light flickers, a dull ache squeezing my heart.
“Fascinating.” The king leans in, unaware of my discomfort, and stretches out a hand toward the light.
“Careful with that.” I fist my hand and extinguish the light before he hurts himself, and to stop hurting myself.
“My apologies,” he says sheepishly. “I get carried away when I encounter something unique.”
“Sounds like a friend I know.” I hope Minju is doing okay at the Suhoshin headquarters. “May I ask you a question?”
“Certainly.”
“Are you on relatively good terms with the King of Water?” I know the four kingdoms have been in some sort of a feud for centuries.
“Queen,” he murmurs. “The Queen of Water. And we are not exactly on good terms.”
“Like mortal-enemies ‘not good’?” I worry my bottom lip. “Or different-tastes-in-literature ‘not good’?”
“She and I . . . do not get along.” A muscle bunches in his jaw.
“So there is no way for me to get an introduction?” I ask weakly.
By some miracle, we have the Kingdom of Underworld on our side, but we need the Kingdom of Water as well.
I was able to convince the King of Underworld that everything I said was true, because we had a living, breathing lie detector in the room.
I don’t know how I’m going to convince the Queen of Water.
I was hoping the king could put in a good word for me.
“Not from me, I’m afraid.” The king cocks his head to the side. “Do you know anyone from the Kingdom of Water? Preferably a friend?”
“Yes,” I breathe. “I do have a friend from the Kingdom of Water.”
I don’t want to put that annoyingly kindhearted in’eo in danger, but Haesan might be my only hope of enlisting the Queen of Water to our side. Besides, everyone in the Realm of Four Kingdoms is already doomed. What’s a little more mortal danger?