Chapter Twenty-Five Ethan
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ethan
As soon as night falls, Jihun and I moon shift the Queen of Sky to the Shinsi Palace.
We sent word to Captain Ha ahead of time so he could set out a bowl of water in front of the jimil for the shift.
When we step into the inner courtyard, the captain receives us with the royal physician and the uinyeos at his side.
“Your Majesty.” He executes a swift bow before reaching out to take the queen from Jihun’s arms. “Please allow me, Lord Adviser.”
“Thank you.” Jihun carefully transfers her into Captain Ha’s arms.
The captain carries the queen inside the opulent hanok with hurried steps, and the royal physician and the uinyeos follow closely behind him.
I run a weary hand across my eyes. I haven’t been back to the jimil since I first infiltrated the Shinsi Palace to take down my father. It doesn’t exactly bring back pleasant memories. But I have to stop thinking of it as his inner chambers.
“Let’s go inside.” Jihun claps me on the shoulder. “We might as well get some rest.”
My chambers are pristine, with no signs of the damage we wreaked mere days ago. Magic makes quick work of both destruction and restoration in this realm. But even magic can’t restore a life lost.
I shake away the morose thought and make my way deeper into the room. I sink onto the seat cushion in front of the silk folding screen and groan, long and loud. Everything hurts, but it also feels so fucking good to sit.
Jihun remains by the doors. “I will stand guard outside, Your Majesty.”
“Like hell you will.” I tilt my head left and right, stretching out my stiff neck. When the stubborn ass hesitates, I add, “Don’t make your king waste his energy arguing with you.”
With a quirk of his lips, Jihun comes and sits down on the cushion across from me, and he groans, half in pain and half in relief.
“Right?” I chuckle.
A comfortable silence settles between us as we enjoy the luxury of . . . sitting.
“Your Majesty,” a court lady says from the other side of the hanji-pasted doors. “Captain Ha wishes to speak with you.”
“Send him in,” I answer, exchanging a glance with Jihun.
The captain of the royal guards enters the chambers and stands with his hands clasped in front of himself. I motion for him to have a seat on the last cushion, but he kneels on the hard floor across from me.
I hold back a sigh, but Jihun gives me the slightest shake of his head. Insisting the captain make himself comfortable will only make him more uncomfortable.
“How does the Queen of Sky fare?” I inquire instead.
“Even after initial treatment, the queen remains unconscious.” Captain Ha drops his head.
“Will she be . . . Will she live?” Jihun’s voice is rough with concern.
“The royal physician believes she will, Lord Adviser.” The captain nods. “Her pulse and gi are stable, and the uinyeos are at her side to tend to her. For now, they said she needs time and rest.”
Impatience vibrates in my chest. The sooner she regains consciousness, the sooner we can end this war. If that’s what she wants. So far, all Jihun and I have is hope and conjectures.
“We should head back to our battalion.” I push to my feet, and Jihun and the captain also stand. I’ll lose my mind if I sit around for another second.
“You need more—” The commotion outside drowns out the rest of Jihun’s sentence.
“There is no time to announce us,” Hailey growls.
“Sorry, ladies. If you’ll excuse us,” Jaeseok says in a more cordial tone, then slides the doors open before the court ladies can object again. “We really are in a hurry.”
Hailey makes a beeline toward us, leaving Jaeseok to catch up. “Jihun, we have to get the king to safety.”
“What’s happening?” I ask, my gaze jumping between Hailey and Jaeseok.
“The Kingdom of Sky is laying siege to Shinsi,” he answers. “The battle battalion approaching from the east is almost at the walls. And the enemy’s main forces have cut across the northeast quadrant and are rapidly razing through the southwest quadrant. They will soon reach the capital.”
“Where is General Im?” Jihun says.
“He’s at the front lines, fortifying the city walls.” Jaeseok runs a weary hand down his face. “But no amount of magic can hold off an army that size for long.”
I rake my fingers through my hair, then grab a fistful in a punishing grip. We can’t seem to get a fucking break. We need to get back out there.
“I’m grateful for General Im’s efforts.” I release my hair from my fist and force myself to take a calming breath. I can’t afford to lose my shit right now. “How are our forces in the northwest and southeast quadrants doing?”
“They are faring better than the northeastern division, but not by far,” Hailey reports. “They don’t have the numbers to overpower the enemy from behind. The best they can do is buy the capital some time.”
“I will not sacrifice them to buy us time.” I clench my jaw. “We need to tell General Jo and General Hong to retreat.”
“I don’t think they know the meaning of the word.” Jihun meets my gaze. “The Queen of Sky is our only hope.”
“The Queen of Sky?” Hailey’s round eyes shoot toward him.
“You heard right.” I quickly bring her and Jaeseok up to speed on our adventures this morning. “If General Bak indeed poisoned her, that means the queen opposed this war until the end.”
Jaeseok’s uncharacteristically grim face brightens by a fraction. “So once she wakes up, she can order the Kingdom of Sky’s army to withdraw.”
“If she wakes up,” Jihun corrects.
“She will.” I glare at my wet blanket of a royal adviser. “She has to.”
“Maybe all she needs is a little encouragement from a former idol.” Jaeseok puts on a brave smile and shifts his body in a casual half dance, subtle yet masterful.
I laugh under my breath. It’s not hard to believe he used to be in a Korean boy band. He certainly has the looks and the moves.
“I thought your band broke up even before you debuted,” Hailey teases.
“The hype about our debut already made us famous.” The dokkaebi winks. “But the mystery behind our breakup made us legendary.”
“I hope the breakup had something to do with you returning to your actual duties as a suhoshin.” Jihun sounds as dry as the desert.
Even the crushing weight of my responsibilities—of my potential failure—feels lighter with the Sentinels by my side. They are the family I chose. The pain of my grandfather’s betrayal pales in comparison to the strength each of them lends me.
“Let’s head to the walls.” I head out of my chambers. The Sentinels have never let me down, and I don’t plan on letting them down.
“But Your Majesty—” Hailey begins.
“Don’t bother.” Jihun stops her mid-protest. “Have you ever known our king to put his safety first?”
With Jaeseok guiding us, we moon shift to a well at the edge of the capital.
My eyes widen as we approach the chaos at the wall.
Night has fallen, but the sky is lit an eerie orange from the fires burning outside the capital.
Foot soldiers run to and from the wall, transporting cannons and catapults, and archers line the top of the fortification.
So this is what a war looks like.
The scene is horrifying yet surreal, like my mind took a step back to distance itself from the promise of violence.
“Have you heard from Captain Seo since the last message?” I ask in a low voice when Jihun comes to stand at my side.
“No.” A muscle jumps in his jaw. “And not knowing where they are, it’s impossible to send them even a short message from our end.”
“Gods.” I wipe a hand down my mouth. “We can’t have them just walk into . . . this.”
“Sunny and the others are smart and resourceful.” Jihun squeezes my shoulder. “Being dropped into the middle of a raging war isn’t ideal, but they can handle themselves.”
“I can’t argue with that.” Even so, my hands twitch at my sides, ready to pull her into my arms—to keep her close, to keep her safe.
I raise my eyes to the orange sky. The soldiers of the Kingdom of Sky are seraphim. Although Shinsi stands at the top of a mountain, there are no trees tall enough to hide the walled city from the sky.
The enemy will attack from the air, but beings of Mountains are faster than our winged foes. We can shoot them down before they breach the wall—more often than not. This will be a bloody battle for both sides.
“Who are those soldiers behind the archers?” I ask Hailey.
“They are soldiers with elemental powers—mostly wind, fire, and lightning,” she explains. “To counter the air attack.”
“Whoa.” Jaeseok rushes to help two soldiers, whose crate of cannonballs tips dangerously to one side. “Easy there.”
“I should go join the archers.” Hailey offers Jihun a solemn nod, then turns to me. “Your Majesty, please stay safe.”
“I will.” I hear Sunny’s admonition. Don’t do anything stupid without me. “I won’t do anything stupid. I’ll see you on the other side, Hailey.”
With a quick bow, she sprints up the stairs to the top of the wall, but not before I see her bottom lip wobble. Sunny will kick my ass if I let Hailey get hurt—if I let any of the Sentinels get hurt.
My eyes scan the frantic scene before me. Even with the gi of the Mountains flowing through my veins, I can’t take down the army heading toward us. I have to find another way to keep my people safe.
“I need to find General Im.” I crane my neck, but I’ll never spot him in this pandemonium.
Jihun stops a soldier rushing past us. “Where is General Im?”
“He doesn’t stand in one spot.” The soldier jerks an impatient thumb over his shoulder, not recognizing who we are. “But I last saw him somewhere over there.”
“Thank you,” I murmur and immediately head in the direction the soldier indicated.
But Jihun pushes me behind him as an uproar erupts from the wall. A seraph has taken to the sky. It’s too soon. Did General Bak send someone ahead of his army? The archers scramble to nock their arrows, but the lone angel dives toward the capital much too fast for them to take aim.
“Halt,” Jihun suddenly shouts, frantically waving his arms. “Hold your fire.”