Page 9 of Reign of the Talon
She props a small hand on her hip. “Youwere the one who said he was bored!”
“Yes, but…” As Eunbi skips back toward him, her light pink hanbok glittering in the pale blue sunlight, I blink back hot tears. It is just so easy, sometimes, to believe that this isreal. That this truly is Jeoseung, that my sister has found some beauty in death, that my old friend is grumbling his complaints about this “horrible game” Eunbi has so mischievously concocted. When Eunbi places her hands in his again, and as they begin to spin underneath the cherry blossom tree, I walk closer, wanting to drink in everything about this. The way Eunbi’s eyes are squeezed shut. The unruliness of her hair as it flies through the air. The little blossoms caught in it, matching the hue of her hanbok.
I’ve never drawn this close to her before. Always I hold myself back, unwilling to be more selfish than I already am. Yet the Aglyeong’s torments drive me closer and closer every night.
“Now!” cries Eunbi, and as Sang releases her, her eyes fly open…
Andlock with mine.
My heart freezes in my chest as Eunbi tumbles to the ground, her mouth open in a small “O” of shock. As Sang rushes to her aid, helping her up, Eunbi stares directly at the spot where I stand underneath the tree. My head is suddenly painfully light, as if all the blood has drained from it. Perhaps it has.
Can Eunbi…
Can Eunbisee me? This has never before happened in any of these dreams.
For a moment, hope swells in my chest, only to deflate as she blinks, looking away, and shaking her head to clear it. No. No, of course not… Anything that happens here, in this dream, is only a creation of my own mind.
“Are you all right?” Sang asks softly, gently dusting the petals from her hair.
“I thought I saw…” Eunbi mumbles, rubbing her head and looking back toward where I sway in a mixture of confusion and disbelief—but this time, her eyes go right through me. “Nothing. It’s nothing. I think I’m— I think I’m too dizzy.”
“I wonder why?” Sang asks wryly, and as he takes her hand, leading her away from the cherry blossom tree, Eunbi peeks over her shoulder once again. Her eyes skim over me, but her mouth opens, almost as if she’s going to whisper my name.
Yet she doesn’t, and in a swirl of color, the dream fades, leaving me to wake gasping in a cold sweat on the damp floor of my cell. The Aglyeong cocks its egg-like head at me as I pant, dragging a shaking hand down my face.
It was only a dream, I tell myself, but suddenly, I am not too sure.
I am not too sure at all.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Prophecy
Night falls, and I savor the silence.
Although we are only a day’s ride away from the Wyusan Wilderness, where the tree leaves are still brittle and orange, the snow where we have made our camp for the night on the mountain is thick and glittering white. It dulls the sound of Bomin’s desperate attempts at wooing Iseul as they sit around a fire, eating the rabbit I shot down for them.
“Ssso close,”Sonagi hisses.“Can you tassste it, Child of Venom?”Her dark, forked tongue—the same as mine—flicks out to sample the night air.
“Haneul is planning something,” I reply darkly, toying idly with the red thread as I will it into existence, passing my fingers through the insubstantial scarlet material. “I feel it.” If I concentrate, his emotions—anticipation and determination—are mine to experience as well.
“Bessst find out,” Sonagi murmurs.“Undoubtedly he is gathering alliesss. What is it Bomin said?”
“Empress Moon is in correspondence with the Dokkaebi. She is training her troops.”One of Bomin’s latest pieces of intelligence concerns Wyusan, from a general who owes Bomin many favors—and has been promised leniency when I arrive (a lie, really, but he doesn’t need to know the futility of his efforts). I sent missives of my own, of course, detailing in exquisite detail the benefits of Moon’s surrender. I only received one letter back.
Fuck off, Empress Moon had scrawled back. There was not even a signature, nor a royal seal.
And that was that in terms of the Wyusan negotiations. I have not yet heard a word from Bonseyo. I was not surprised. Empress Moon Dahee is known to be ruthless. She married Emperor Soo Hyunjin of Wyusan, briefly becoming a part of Wyusan’s ancient Soo Dynasty. And then, before the emperor could get an heir out of her and solidify the dying Soo line, she killed him and took the throne—as well as his army—for herself, founding the Moon Dynasty.
Rather impressive, honestly.
In terms of the Jeon Dynasty further north, I have not yet heard a word from Bonseyo. Either they have something interesting planned, or nothing at all. Judging by what I know of small-minded mortals, it is likely the latter.
I sigh, stroking one of Sonagi’s diamond-hard scales.“I will pay Haneul a visit.”There is a trick to this soul-stitching of ours. If I so desire, I can spy on my enemy.“But Moon is a fool if she expects to find a solid stand against us.”
Snow quietly crunches under light feet as Iseul abandons Bomin in favor of joining my side. The Gumiho is smirking. She finds Bomin’s extravagance amusing. I don’t. “Mmm,” the Gumiho says, licking her fingers. “That wasn’tquiteas good as human liver, but I suppose it’ll do in a pinch.” Without waiting for an invitation, she takes a seat next to me on my cloak, patting Sonagi with a grin. This far from the fire, Iseul is shivering a bit, but I am not. My scales run up my arms and legs, and frame my face, blocking out most of the cold. “Do I hear that you’re paying yourdearhusband a little visit? If he’s meeting with that horrid Empress Moon, I might give you an, ah,warning.”
“Oh?” The Gumiho has been one of my most valuable allies thus far. Any advice she offers, I will listen to.
