Page 75 of Reign of the Talon
What is this, if not a trap? I cannot hand Haneul back to the gods if it means my death. I cannot kill him, with our fates tangled together. He has given me precisely what I wanted: his capture, his containment. Yet he does it selfishly. Haneul knows I will have no choice but to protect him. And no doubt the Dokkaebi has some plan for disruption and damage, some way to help the sniveling girl locked up in the mind.
I eye him for a moment longer. He’s not even trying to escape. Haneul is practically lounging against Eunwoo, not at all concerned with the knife at his throat. In fact, he looks entertained by it. Cursing under my breath, I wave Eunwoo away, and looking bewildered, the prince steps warily back.
Haneul turns to look at Eunwoo. “I have a question,” declares the emperor, taking in Eunwoo’s raven features. “Do you lay eggs and then feed worms to your young?”
Eunwoo flinches, appearing more hurt than I would expect of any of my soldiers. My lips flatten in displeasure, and I give him a look of warning. Encouraged by the threat of falling into disfavor, the prince hastily replies, “Watch your tongue.”
“If you insist.” Haneul smiles mockingly. And a moment later—“Do you migrate with the change of seasons?”
The prince glares at the ground, shoulders curving in.
“Can you throw your voice like a raven?”
Eunwoo’s head snaps up, and his shoulders straighten. “I can,” he says, proudly, but the sound doesn’t seem to come from his lips—it seems to come from somewhere to his left.
Haneul snickers. “How avian of you,” he drawls.
“Eunwoo,” I say sharply before the bastard prince can embarrass me further. Are thosetearsin his eyes? Ridiculous. “As we discussed.”
With a harsh swallow, Eunwoo nods before loping off with one last venomous, glassy glower toward Haneul, who raises his brows.
“And what general unpleasantness have you sent him off to do?”
I eye him in disgust. What am I meant to do with him?
“Perhapsss you can sssedate him,”Sonagi offers. The emperor, although he does not understand the Serpentine Language, bristles and then sneers.
“Hello, Sonagi,” he says nastily. “You’re looking well-fed. I remember, every Night of the Reaping, you’d gorge yourself on innocents. I do hope you know your palate is incredibly disturbing.”
“It’s a good idea,”I say to Sonagi, not taking my eyes off him.“But I don’t wish to test whether sedating him will also sedate me. The gods are restless. Perhaps they will come looking for him tonight.”
Haneul seems to be enjoying himself substantially more, now that we cannot kill each other and he is relatively safe from the gods. “And you, Prophecy,” he continues. “Isn’t it sad, knowing that you’re not really a person? You’re only a parasite. A pretender. But you do a terrible job of pretending to be Shin Lina.”
My jaw clenches. “I am Shin Lina,” I retort, unable to stop myself. How dare he suggest otherwise? I am Shin Lina. Iam.
“Oh?” Haneul’s eyes gleam. “Interesting. You’ve actually convinced yourself that youareher.”
“Stop,” I hiss. “You know very well that I am Shin Lina, Goddess of Wrath—”
“Child of Venom, the Yeouiju, Empress of Sunpo, Empress of Sanyeongto, etcetera, etcetera,” Haneul drawls. “Spare me the titles. They only expose you for what you really are—a fraud.”
And with that, I know precisely what I will do with Haneul.
“Sonagi,”I say, breathing heavily,“fetch me a gag.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Iseul
When Ijun dies, she dies with a weary sigh. Her eyes flutter closed, and for the first time since she was attacked with Imugi venom, her face relaxes from pain, slack and still.
“No,” Seojin breathes, and Iseul watches numbly as he tries everything, every trick in the book, but it’s no use.
Ijun is dead.
Iseul stares at the woman’s still face with an uncomfortable feeling in her chest.Jae, she finds herself thinking.Where is the boy?
A howl of grief answers her question. Spotting his mother, Jae comes running down the row of cots, tears spilling from his eyes. “Eomma!” he shouts. “Eomma! Eomma,no!”
