Page 37 of Reign of the Talon
“One sacrifice,” the advisor replies carefully, sweat beading on his brow underneath the intensity of the emperor’s stare, “could…could savemany.”
Rui stares flatly at Kang and considers, in great detail, the ramifications of slamming the advisor’s self-righteous face down onto the surface of his herb-strewn table. One, Kang would be dazed, and the wounded need him. Two, his forehead would crush the herbs, and it would be a pitiful waste of resources. “No,” Rui snaps coldly. “And if you try to instigate my untimely demise, Kang, I assure you that yours will come much faster. We will do our best to stop this Prophecy and win this warbeforeI resort to my death.”
He will stand under the moonlight with Lina again. He will fight by her side again. Hewill.
Kang swallows hard. “Of course,” he says hoarsely. “I understand it.”
“Understanding it is not enough.” The emperor holds his gaze for a moment longer. “See that you remember it.”
Kang nods, and as the emperor leaves, he does not know that his advisor’s eyes stray thoughtfully to the herbs on his table.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Iseul
Iseul has declared herself ageniusand her captors utterfools. The manacles, in a wonderful lack of foresight by whomever made them, do not account for the size of her wrists and ankles when she is in animal form.
And now that her head no longer throbs painfully enough to prevent her from shapeshifting, she is indeed a fox.
Ha. Ha, ha. Hahahaha.
She winks one eye at the white chollima next to her.Goodbye, Iseul the Gumiho thinks and, with a feeling of buoyant triumph, leaps out of her stall and tackles her guard.
What follows is the most fun she’s had in ages.
Oh, how Iseul adores causing chaos.
She runs through Gyeulcheon with wild abandon, wreaking as much havoc as she possibly can. Soldiers stumble away from her, heads in their hands, bright red scratches marring their faces. Men and women scream, yanking their children closer to them as she approaches, cackling in the way that only a fox can.
This really is very opportune, Iseul thinks as she streaks through the palace. She can destroy their medical supplies, perhaps even ruin their weapons, and generally decrease morale. She is so wonderfully good at decreasing morale.
How she’ll leave Gyeulcheon is another matter entirely, but as Iseul bursts into the sickbay and begins to knock over wounded soldiers’ cots, tear through the supplies of clean bandages, she is too ecstatic to care. Who could have predicted her capture would have been so beneficial to Lina’s army? If Iseul creates enough damage here, Wyusan will be easily taken, and they can move onto Bonseyo. Where Iseul will destroy the Jeon family so completely that nothing is left of them but ash and dust.
Her white, nine tails sweep through the air, knocking over jars of medicinal pastes and other concoctions situated on the stands near the overturned cots. Laughing, Iseul prances from the medical bay, nose pointed in the air, smiling as the agonized shouts of the wounded continue behind her.
Now for the weaponry. Once she finds it, she’ll figure out a way to ruin those tricky little swords…
The Gumiho yelps as a pair of strong, calloused hands yank her into the air. She kicks her paws, furious at whoever hasdaredto lay hands…
“Iseul,” Seojin groans as he holds her thrashing body to his panting chest, “what have you done?”
Iseul growls.Damn it.
An hour later, Iseul is grudgingly in her human form, having been presented to Gyeulcheon’s weary-looking emperor and forced to kneel before his throne.
“Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse,” drawls Rui, who really doesn’t seem very happy about this wholesituation. They stand in his throne room, Seojin glaring at her disapprovingly. She is once again manacled, and the fact of the matter is that she wasnotmanacled an hour ago and was having a great deal of fun.
This? This isnotfun. These manacles are far too small for her to slip out of, even in her fox form.
Iseul bares her teeth at the emperor. Oh, how she hates his stupid face. But she hates Seojin even more, Seojin who is standing next to her, Seojin who once again betrayed her.
Rui rolls his eyes. “I don’t have time for this.” He points a finger at Iseul. “You and your leader are pains in my ass.”
“Then why don’t you kill me?” she spits.
His silver eyes are flat. “Because I have never been one to kill Gumiho, nor support a Hunt.”
“You didn’t stop it, either.” She watches as the emperor flinches.
