Chapter Twenty-Six Sunny
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sunny
As we stand outside the Queen of Water’s inner chambers, the night deepens over the Dragon Palace, and the tentacles of darkness slither frantically against the curve of the dome—a few strands licking at the barrier like black, forked tongues.
Something about the movement feels . . .
obscene, like the Amheuk is aroused. Bile churns in my stomach as fear and disgust choke my throat.
“Has the Kingdom of Sky responded to your request?” I turn to the Queen of Water. “Will they offer asylum for your people?”
“I have heard nothing from them.” Her gaze remains fixed on the Amheuk’s frenzy. “While relations between the four kingdoms are often tense, the Queen of Sky and I have always remained cordial. This isn’t like her.”
The Kingdom of Water doesn’t have time to wait patiently for an answer. Its people and the kingdom itself will be gone by tomorrow. I scrub a hand over my face. Gods damn it. I need to go there myself.
I have no idea how a lowly cadet will get an audience with the Queen of Sky, but I have to try. Or maybe I can sweet-talk that curmudgeon, Keeper Bae, into letting the people of the Kingdom of Water come through. I can get permission for them to stay once we get everyone to the Kingdom of Sky.
Too bad I don’t speak “sweet talk” and Keeper Bae is persnickety about proper documentation.
Now, if I were in the Mortal Realm, I knew a guy who knew a guy that was a master forger.
For the last few decades, assuming a new identity in a new city became much smoother. But he might be retiring soon . . .
Shit. I’m really doing this.
I glance back at the Queen of Water’s inner chambers, my mind’s eye zeroing in on the mirror of water. I have to call Ethan tonight. This might be my last chance to see his face, to hear his voice.
What if he isn’t my fated love?
I shake away my doubts. He believed we were, and I believe in him. I believe in us. I’ll come back after I convince someone in the Kingdom of Sky to grant asylum to the people of the Kingdom of Water. I just have to make it back in time.
“I’ll go to the Kingdom of Sky and talk to the queen . . . or to anybody who will listen,” I say before I can change my mind.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.” The Queen of Water finally looks away from the looming darkness and meets my eyes. “Keeper Ahn was standing post when the Amheuk came for the Kingdom of Water.”
“Gods.” I don’t need her to tell me that the keeper is dead.
The portal is in the water outside the protection of the dome.
There is no other possible outcome. My heart constricts.
Now Haesan will never get that drink with his childhood nemesis.
“A-and the other keeper? Each kingdom has two, right?”
“Yes,” she sighs, “but I had to deploy my army to the Kingdom of Mountains.”
I struggle to swallow. I didn’t have time to think about the ramifications of deploying the troops with the Amheuk in the water.
“That must’ve been a bloodbath,” I whisper.
“Yes.” The queen nods grimly. “And our remaining keeper died to get as many of our soldiers through as possible.”
“None of us can leave,” I murmur, my lips barely moving, “unless the Kingdom of Sky opens the portal from their end.”
I spin away from the Queen of Water and pace the courtyard outside her jimil.
How am I going to get into the Kingdom of Sky now?
Is there no hope? Then I freeze on the spot.
I forgot about the token Keeper Bae gave each of us that night Ethan, Jihun, and I infiltrated the Kingdom of Mountains to overthrow the tyrant.
“I have a . . . I have a token to . . . to the Kingdom of Sky,” I stutter, hurriedly pulling out the small pouch hanging around my neck underneath my T-shirt.
The queen gasps and reaches for the pouch, but then she shakes her head sadly. “That is indeed a token to the Kingdom of Sky, but only via the Kingdom of Mountains. Did a keeper give that to you as a return passage?”
“Y-yes.” Why does everything have to be so complicated in this fucking realm? “But this has to be better than nothing, right?”
“Perhaps.” The queen does not sound at all convinced.
“Well, I have to try.” I dig my heels in, trying to convince myself at the same time. “We can’t just stand here and wait to die.”
“If you do this, my people will forever be indebted to you, Sunny.” She clutches my hands. “I will be indebted to you.”
“No debts. We’re all in this together.” I clear my throat and quip, “Besides, there’s a good chance I’ll get myself killed for nothing.”
“The fact that you are trying despite that risk means everything.” The Queen of Water squeezes my hands, then lets them go. “I . . . I have the power to expand the dome to allow you to reach the portal without swimming through the Amheuk-infested water, but . . .”
“You need to save your gi for when you evacuate the entire kingdom,” I finish for her, everything clicking into place.
That’s why she couldn’t protect her troops.
A trained soldier has better odds of surviving than a civilian, so she had to make an impossible choice.
“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. ”
“Thank you,” the Queen of Water says in a wavering voice before she regains her regal composure. “I can at least keep you dry. Will you let me do that much for you?”
“Hell yeah.” The water is so freaking cold. “You definitely can.”
“Well, then.” With an elegant wave of her hand, she draws a loose outline of my body in the space between us.
I blink when nothing happens, but then, the air gently tightens around me, like I’m being vacuum sealed.
“Wow.” I stare down at the shimmering blue gi coating my body. “Is this like an invisible wetsuit?”
“A wet what?” The queen squints.
“Never mind.” I take a bracing breath. “I better get going.”
“Let me escort you to the main gates.” The Queen of Water looks as though she is on the verge of grateful tears.
“That’s all right.” I’m tired of saying goodbye. I’m tired period. “It’ll be faster if I go on my own.”
I step back from her and take my gumiho form. When she gasps and claps in delight, I huff—half in amusement, half in relief—and dash out of the courtyard, fast enough to be a white streak.
I’m in a hurry, but I mostly don’t want to be seen. Unlike the Queen of Water, your typical shinbiin fears, or hates, animal spirits. And I don’t have time to deal with a panicked stampede.
When I reach the main gates of the walled city, I hide behind a building and shift back to my human form. If the guards see me in my gumiho form, they’re as likely to spear me as they are to open the gates for me. Plastering a bland smile onto my face, I casually approach them.
“Good evening.” I nod politely at the two guards. They’re not the same ones from this morning. “I need to leave the palace on an errand for the queen.”
They gape at me in wordless shock. I don’t blame them. I, too, think it’s dumbfoundingly foolish of me to venture into the water with the Amheuk slithering around out there. But I don’t have much choice, do I? Besides, doing incomprehensible, bonkers shit is so on brand for me these days.
“Please step aside.” I pray they don’t give me any trouble. I lack the patience to deal with pearl-clutching shinbiins at the moment.
The female guard does as I ask without hesitation, but her male counterpart sputters, holding his ground.
“She isn’t lying,” she says wryly. “Can’t you see the queen’s armor around her?”
Armor? I thought it was a wetsuit.
The male guard squints hard at me. “You’re right.”
“Then step aside.” I’m a little less polite this time.
He complies with a scowl, making sure I know he isn’t happy about it. I can’t think why. I don’t give a shit whether he’s happy or not. The female guard’s eyes nearly roll to the back of her head. She and I are in agreement.
The guards open the gates, revealing the dark water beyond. Yet not a single drop enters through the impenetrable dome.
“So how do I get out?” I pinch my nose with the King of Underworld’s clothespin. “Do I have to push through it?”
“Going out doesn’t take much effort at all,” the female guard explains. “Just step out as though you are walking through.”
“Thank you.” I face the gates and inhale, ignoring how my breath seems to rattle. I shake out my arms, then mutter under my breath, “Stop stalling, Sunny.”
I step out and plunge straight into the icy water. Swallowing my gasp, I kick toward the portal, not looking over my shoulder. I don’t want to see the Amheuk’s slithering tentacles, or its slimy tongue, branching out toward me.
I block out everything and swim. The queen’s wetsuit, or armor, works wonders. The water feels cold against me, but it doesn’t seep into my clothes and chill me to the bone. But I jerk to a stop with a watery scream when a tentacle grabs me by the ankle.
Gods damn it. Maybe I should’ve looked back.
It swiftly wraps itself around my calf, while several more serpentine strands flap toward me. I’m done for if I get snagged by the rest. I summon the Shin’gwangdo and slice off the tentacle climbing up my leg. The Amheuk roars in fury—I can’t hear it, but the sound vibrates through me.
I swim toward the portal again, working my limbs so hard they burn. This time, a dark arm snakes around my waist and squeezes the breath out of me. I kick and thrash in panic as it slithers and tightens around my entire torso.
I hack at the tentacle until it loosens enough for me to swim free. The Amheuk must be distracted with its attack on the Kingdom of Water. If I had the privilege of its full focus, I would be dead by now. I’m sure of it.
“Fuck.”
Four tentacles grab my arms and legs and wrap around them like corkscrews. Then they stretch my limbs out to the sides, holding me spread-eagle. I twist and thrash against their grip, but they only pull harder, and my left shoulder pops out of its socket. I groan, gritting my teeth.
They’re going to tear me apart.