Page 63 of Reign of the Talon
And it will keep coming for me.
Until this ends—one way or another.
The impossible strength and stamina I’ve carried within me for however long I’ve been running has finally begun to run out. I’m stumbling by the time I finally reach a silent clearing of snow and starlight.
This clearing is surrounded by frost-gleaming trees. As I stagger forward, breathing hard, a cozy chogajip appears. Puffs of smoke drift out from the chimney. Glancing behind me for any sign of the Dalgyal Gwisin, I hurry to the door and slip inside, where a crackling fire awaits…along with a blanket-heaped bed.
Thank the gods. I sway on my feet and slowly sheathe my sword after ensuring the door locks and that there is no hint of the Dalgyal Gwisin beyond the small windows.
Thankful for the warmth of the chogajip, I curl up on the bed and hug my knees close to my chest before un-focusing my gaze to look through the Prophecy’s eyes. It is the same as it has been—war and carnage. She is fighting to take Sanyeongto, working against a fair bit of resistance toward the kingdom’s northwestern sector. She has had some minor injuries but nothing dangerous. As for Rui, he has only suffered small cuts and bruises as well…and for that, I am grateful. It could be so very much worse.
Pulling my gaze from my body, I burrow underneath the blankets. Rui has not been able to visit in so long, faced with the fight for Sanyeongto. I’ve not seen him since I escaped my cell. Have not had time to miss him, not between being chased by a Dalgyal Gwisin and facing my own fears disguised as levels to this prison.
Willing the red thread into view, I curl my fingers around it, knowing that my soul-stitched lives, and fights, on the other end of it. Although it may be a futile hope, I tug gently on the thread. Perhaps it will guide him to me, as it did that first time.
The fire crackles and pops. My eyes grow heavy as the minutes tick by, only opening whenhearrives.
The door from which Rui appears materializes on one of the chogajip’s walls, shining and golden. I am sliding shakily out of the bed a half moment later, staring at him, drinking him in. He still wears the Imugi scale-plated armor, the hilt of a firesword sheathed at his waist. Mud flecks his face, and his hair is held back from his face with a silver helmet that he removes with dirt-crusted hands.
Rui, I find myself signing.You came. I’m glad.
“Lina.” He smiles tiredly but fondly, looking around the chogajip. “Well…I have to say, this is certainly a step up from the cell. Where is our friend, the Dalgyal Gwisin?”
Delayed, but not for long.
“Delayed how?”
I chopped off one of its arms.
Rui looks indescribably delighted.
Yet I swallow hard, unable to miss the way he is swaying haggardly on his feet. It is the same way I am swaying, unsteady and exhausted.You should sit down, I sign awkwardly, gesturing to the bed.
Rui snorts. “I’m covered in grime and blood. I doubt you want that.”
I don’t mind, I reply honestly. He smiles, a half-moon curve of the lips, and rakes a hand through his hair.
“I can’t stay long. I only wanted to check on you. I felt you call.” Rui steps closer, hesitation flitting down the red thread. “Are you well, little thief?”
No. Not at all. Yet… Yet I feel steadier than I did before. Calmer.As…well as I can be. And you?There is something he is not telling me, something that weighs upon his shoulders. I can feel it. A bitter mix of betrayal and fury pierces me from the outside, and Rui—after a beat of silence that holds more than I expected it to—clears his throat.
“About that,” he says and shifts on his feet.
My fingers spasm in trepidation.What happened?
“Well.”Rui’s eyes glitter. He cocks his head. “I’m afraid that Kang tried to poison me. And then when that failed spectacularly, he tried to, ah, behead me.”
I gape, shock striking through me.What? Are you sick? Are you hurt?I cannot stop myself from rushing closer to him, taking his face in my hands and tilting it from side to side, scouring for any hint of injury or sickness. I have not felt anything but minor wounds from him, but what if the bond between us missed something?
Rui goes so very still under my touch, and I realize that this is the closest we have been in…so long. So very long. I stare up at his silver eyes, heart in my throat. My hands flutter nervously on the sides of his face before I make to move back…
He raises his hands to mine, gently keeping them in place. “Please,” he whispers. “Please, don’t go.”
My heart breaks in my chest. How can he still want me? After all the pain I have caused him, all of the selfish, terrible decisions I have made… How does he believe that I am worthy of him?
His skin is so warm underneath mine. Rui leans into my touch, nuzzling my hands. The thought that Kang tried to poison him makes me sick to my stomach. Yet I know that Jeong Kang is no stranger to bloodshed. He brought my sister to hers.
I want to rip him apart. Slowly. I do. And perhaps at the end of this, I will.
