Witch Fall(43)
“It is an ill omen,” the empress said, her gaze fixed on Lilette.
The emperor’s face was red. “Have our witches fight back! Level Grove City!”
Lilette shook her head. “For a song that powerful to travel such a distance, hundreds of witches must have been singing.” Even she knew that. “You have just over thirty.”
The emperor’s face went even redder, and his gaze focused on her bare head. “That headdress has been in my family for generations. Where is it? What have you done?”
Lilette crossed her arms over her chest. If he had to blame someone, apparently it had to be the witch closest to him.
Chen moved between her and his father. Han edged up from behind. “We must see to the city, Emperor. There will be injured. Collapsed buildings. Fires.”
The emperor began roaring commands, ordering elite into the city and calling for the imperial soldiers to be mobilized.
Lilette watched soldiers running from the palace. With them gone, it would be much easier to escape. She put her hand in her pocket and rubbed her thumb along the chipped edge of the phoenix wing. She just had to slip away.
But she hadn’t taken two steps before Chen found her. He looked around. “Where are the blasted eunuchs when you need them?” He pushed her toward his brother. “See that she’s taken safely to my rooms and keep her there!”
Han grunted. “Where are you going?”
Chen had already started running. “To prepare the witches for a counter song if we’re attacked again!”
Han motioned for Lilette to walk in front of him. “This is only the beginning,” she said once they were out of earshot. He clenched his jaw as they stepped back into the chaos inside. “They will not relent,” she continued. “And you don’t have enough of us to fight them. If you let us go, we can negotiate on your behalf.”
They passed a pair of gold-plated lions guarding the symmetric staircase. “I saw this happen,” she insisted. Han showed no sign that he was listening. “The witches will sink the whole island.”
He spoke through clenched teeth. “You’re saying you’re some kind of seer?”
They’d started up to the second level. “I was shown it, by one of the Creators.”
Han stiffened. “You saw the Sun Dragon?”
If Lilette’s mother couldn’t be called a Sun Dragon, who could? “Yes. And I saw Rinnish sink below the waves, witches and all.”
Han briefly closed his eyes. “Kalari won’t destroy the city, not with their witches still inside.”
Lilette’s shoulders fell. “They will have to in order to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.”
Han paused before an intricately carved door. He pushed it open to reveal a room with an actual bed littered with silk cushions. Beautifully carved tables had tipped over, spilling the glittering contents of jewelry chests across the floor.
She hurried to the opposite door and stepped onto the porch. Parts of the city were burning, smoke rising into the midday sky. Other parts had collapsed into rubble. People would be buried there, their homes becoming their graves. Lilette pressed her hand to her mouth.
This was just the beginning. “I have to free my sister and the others. It’s what I was saved for.”
Han rounded on her. “Save them? They’re guarded by over seventy elite. The guardians are in the enclosure where the lions used to be kept. And only the emperor has the key.”
She swallowed against the tightness in her throat. “Han, you have to let me go.”
“So you can die?” He gripped the banister, his knuckles turning white. “Do you know what you’re asking me? When you’re caught, my father will have you killed. Neither Chen nor I will be able to stop him.” Han stared at her fabulous robes. “My brother will never forgive me. He trusts me. And he’s your husband.” Han’s voice broke on the last part. “Then my own father would kill me.”
He wasn’t going to let her go. “Death is not something to fear, Han.” She reached into the folds of her sash and gripped her knife. She tipped forward as if to kiss him. He took hold of her arms to push her away. “I’m sorry,” she breathed, then swung her arm out in an arc and slammed the butt of the dagger into his temple.
He collapsed in a heap on the floor. Lilette stared at the blood-red stone in the hilt. She should kill him. He would be coming for her when he woke. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Chapter 16
That tremor was a warning from the keepers. We all knew it. And all of us secretly wondered how expendable we were. ~Jolin
Lilette unstrapped Han’s armor and stripped off his clothing, trying hard not to look at the scars that cut across his body like the lines of a map. She tore off her elaborate robes and dropped them on the floor. Standing in nothing but her smallclothes, she wrenched the combs and flowers from her hair. She found a basin of water and scrubbed her face and neck clean of powders.