Before emotions could escalate, her oldest brother Kyoung intervened, standing before the Tongey prince with an elegant bow. Tall and handsome in his uniform of black and silver, he was a commanding presence. Kyoung efficiently diffused the situation, calming down the rowdy Tongeys and bringing them to a table of honor near the king's station.
"Your brother is not only a gifted leader but a natural diplomat," Brother Woojin said with a pleased smile.
Kira nodded, absently flexing her hands that had been tightly fisted during the confrontation. She noted the worried frown on Taejo's face.
"Don't worry about it," she said with a gentle nudge. "Uncle would not replace you." Under her breath she muttered to herself, "I'd never let him."
She felt a tug at her sleeve. Turning her head she glimpsed Kwan's grim expression. "I don't like the look on Lord Yu's face. He looks like trouble. We need to keep an eye on him," he said.
Kira agreed. Lord Yu had never been happy with Eojin's forced merger of Tongey and Guru. And he was not alone. Kira could already see what was going to happen next. Tongey would urge Eojin to renounce Taejo and take the new Tongey prince as his heir instead.
Whether or not he was a true prince and heir of Tongey was irrelevant. For this, she vowed, would never happen.
4
She could smell the demon somewhere in the palace. The foul odor assaulted her senses, making her eyes burn and tear. But no matter how hard she looked she couldn't find it.
The corridors began to change. She was no longer in the palace grounds.
She was in a cave, lost in a warren of tunnels. The scent was stronger than ever. It was all around her. She held up her sword, ready for the attack, but the tunnels were empty.
The sound of chanting came from behind her. She followed it down a narrow tunnel that was strangely familiar to her. When it opened into a cave, Kira recognized it immediately. This was the cave where she had first seen the Daimyo Tomodoshi speaking with the Demon Lord. In front of the glow of a gaping maw filled with lava stood a man, wearing a grotesque mask and dressed in black silk robes, muttering before the remains of an animal sacrifice. Jewels glittered on his hands and around his neck. Kira knew that she was in the presence of a powerful shaman, but was it the daimyo?
Several guards stood to the sides, overseeing a group of prisoners chained to the walls. All the prisoners were young men, ranging in age from sixteen to no more than twenty years old. They looked healthy and strong but terribly frightened.
"Bring the first prisoner!" the shaman shouted.
A guard unchained a young man, who fought hard to escape, punching and kicking until he broke free and ran wildly for the exit.
"Keep him alive!" the shaman commanded. The guard shot an arrow through the prisoner's leg and dragged him to the center of the cavern.
"Please, just kill me!" The wounded man wept.
The shaman ignored his words, focusing instead on the arrow protruding from the man's leg. He snatched it out with a twist, causing the prisoner to scream in pain. Blood flowed heavily from the wound. The shaman captured the blood in a brass bowl and then tossed the entire bowl into the fiery pit. A large demon shot up from the lava, its grayish-black leathery skin immune to the flames that licked at its feet. As soon as the demon sighted the bleeding man, it tried to lunge at him but came up short. It roared and raged within the confines of the pit but could not leave.
Two of the shaman's guards approached cautiously and picked up the prisoner, holding him directly before the demon. The demon licked its lips and tried to leap once again at the offering placed so close, and then it froze in place, bound by the hypnotic chanting that the shaman had begun.
Kira did not understand the words of the chant. It was a language such as she'd never heard before. It sounded harsh and ugly; a tongue made for speaking only the foulest of things. The shaman paced along the perimeter of the lava pit, continuing his binding magic. Only the demon's black lidless eyes moved as it watched the shaman. The prisoner, who had been whimpering in fear, began to scream in terror as his body floated in the air toward the frozen demon. The shaman's chants had grown steadily louder as he guided the prisoner's writhing body toward the demon's immobile one. At the moment of impact, the shaman slammed his hands together and Kira watched in horror as the two bodies began to meld into one. It was as if the demon body was consuming the human one, absorbing it whole until the screams were silenced forever.
The grayish-black skin of the demon began to bubble and explode, cracking and peeling off to reveal human-looking skin. The binding spell was broken as the demon began to writhe in agony, its body morphing. Curved spine and limbs began to straighten as its head shrank. This was the darkest type of magic. Kira could not look away, riveted by the mutation occurring before her. It was only when the demon stopped writhing that she realized what it had become.
A half-breed.
With a flick of his hand, the shaman moved the half-breed from the lava pit to stand before him. The creature got down on one knee and bowed his head.
The shaman began to laugh. "I will build a new army of half-breeds made from demon fire and human blood. And then we will rule the world!"
At his words, Kira knew who it was. She didn't need to see under the mask to recognize him.
It was the Daimyo Tomodoshi.
And Kira knew that he must be stopped, no matter what. She would bring about his end, or she would die trying.
.
5
Three days later, Kira walked by Taejo's side as they entered Hansong palace's magnificent throne hall. In all her seventeen years, Kira had never been allowed inside the elaborate building. It was two stories tall and built upon a multi-tiered stone base. Its red double doors opened into a large room with a vaulted ceiling painted with two golden dragons. Toward the rear of the room stood the king and queen's thrones on a dais. A painting of the sun, moon, and five mountain peaks, the symbols of the king, dominated the wall behind the throne. Kira had peeked into the throne hall many times, but only now could she appreciate the details of the architecture and paintings.
King Eojin stood on the edge of the dais before Kyoung, Kwan, and Captain Pak. The king's right-hand man, General Kim, stood behind him. As Eojin announced their promotions, each soldier stepped forward to accept a gift of a newly forged sword. Kyoung was raised from lieutenant colonel to general, Captain Pak was raised to major, and Kwan was now a captain.
Kira and Taejo, the only two spectators in the room, clapped their hands loudly as the two Kang brothers grinned and congratulated each other on their promotions. They turned to pound Major Pak on his shoulders with good-humored affection. He was staring at the king's gift, mesmerized by the craftsmanship of the gleaming sword, before replacing it in its ebony sheath.
Then, King Eojin called for Kira and Taejo to come forward.
"Kira, you should have been standing here beside your brothers," he said.
She started in surprise. "Me? You wanted to promote me?"
"Yes, I believed you deserved a title and to be given your own command."
Taejo grinned broadly and nudged Kira. "She would make an excellent officer, Your Majesty!"
Eojin smiled. "I know." He glanced over at the impassive face of General Kim. "But it is not to be. I've argued for many hours with my advisers on this issue and I could not get them to agree."
Eojin sighed. "Our world is not ready for a female leader."
"I'm not surprised," Kira said. "But it doesn't matter. I don't need a title."
"I know that," he replied. "It wasn't for you. It was for others to recognize you and your value. But I fear that they are still intimidated by the Demon Slayer."
The king gave General Kim a pointed look. "There are those who will never accept a woman in a man's world. You shake up their beliefs and they don't like that. They aren't ready."
"As long as you believe in me, that's all that matters." Kira smiled at her uncle.
He looked down at her with worried eyes. "But what troubles me is that I won't always be here."
Taejo gasped and spoke in a hushed voice. "Don't say that, uncle. You must not say that."
The king smiled. "Death is inevitable, young prince. Don't fear it. My concern is more for those I leave behind."
"Nothing shall happen to you while I'm by your side, Your Majesty!" General Kim said with a sharp bow.
Eojin eyed his right-hand man with a concerned expression. Kira perceived a certain wariness in his gaze. It surprised her. She was not fond of the general and he made no effort to hide his dislike of her. But she knew how much her uncle relied on him. There was no doubt that the general would die for the king. His obsessive loyalty was unquestionable and unwavering.
"It is as heaven wills it," Eojin said.
"Even the heavens will see your destiny and dare not take you from us!" the general responded.
Eojin sighed. "Do not taunt the gods, General Kim. They do not like mere mortals such as us to question their powers."
"I do not fear the gods," the general retorted.
"Such hubris is dangerous," Kira said in a quiet voice.