Come find me, Princess. Before you have only five brothers left. The demon pressed a sharp nail against my brother’s chest. Let’s see if you remember how to fly.
Then he pushed Benkai off the mountain.
The mirror went dark.
I felt too sick to scream. Impulsively, I sprang up to help him, but Andahai dropped a heavy hand on my shoulder.
“Don’t go anywhere,” he said. “Reiji and I will find him. We’ll bring him back. Be ready for our signal to cast the curse.”
I had to fight every instinct not to argue. “Hurry” was all I said.
As Andahai and Reiji made for the breach, I opened my satchel—just a pinch—to return the mirror. A loud hum came from the pearl, and it jostled the satchel, hard.
“Stop that!” I said, smacking my bag and warning the pearl to be still. Defiant streaks of light fanned through the seams of my fingers. “Stop. You’ll give us away.”
The pearl didn’t listen. It writhed against my grip and wrestled out of the satchel. Wandei tried to grab it, Hasho too. Takkan threw his cloak over it, but the pearl wouldn’t be stopped. It bludgeoned Takkan down and shot into the trees.
I ran after it, tracking its mercurial glow until it dipped into darkness. Where was it going? I’d lost the trail, and I scrambled through the forest until I skidded down a hillock into a clearing, practically knocking into it.
“Got you,” I hissed, scooping the pearl back into the satchel. Raikama had been right about it having a mind of its own; best to keep it locked away before it got me into trouble.
No sooner had I snapped the satchel closed than I heard the crack of a twig behind me.
It happened so fast I didn’t even have time to curl my hands into fists. A sentinel’s arm came swinging at me, his metal gauntlets whistling in the air, and a moment later my back cracked against the pommel of his sword.
Down I went.
* * *
When I opened my eyes, I was a prisoner. Ropes secured my wrists and ankles, and a dozen sentinels raised their swords, fencing me in with their steel blades. From the grimaces they wore, they looked uneasy about their orders, but no one dared speak up.
Stupid, stupid, Shiori. I gritted my teeth and kicked at the dirt. My satchel was missing, of course. Where had it gone?
The only good news was that Benkai was alive.
I’d been planted across from him, no more than ten paces away. His black sleeves were ripped, and there were new scratches on his proud face, along with leaves in his hair. A tree must have broken his fall.
Benkai commanded the army. Why would his own men restrain him? Who had Bandur possessed this time?
I uncurled my fingers, willing the tiniest thread of magic into my ropes. But my head was still roaring from the strike to my back, and the world spun. I couldn’t focus.
“I’m afraid that your release would be against His Majesty’s law, Lord Commander,” someone behind me was saying. “The only way I can explain your sister’s presence is that the Demon King has taken her mind. Yours too, it appears, as you are her accomplice.”
I strained my neck to find Chief Minister Hawar standing behind me. His long sleeves were folded back so the dirt wouldn’t soil the pristine silk, and my satchel dangled from his wrist. He held it far from him, as if it contained locusts and bones rather than a magical pearl.
His eyes were clear. Bandur didn’t reside in him. Still, I wished I could punch the smug expression off his face.
“Release us, Hawar,” said Benkai. “Do you not fear my father’s wrath?”
“Should I?” Hawar replied. “Perhaps we can speak to His Majesty together.”
At that very moment, a golden palanquin arrived, and the emperor stepped out, his white mourning robes a stark contrast against the breach’s scarlet light. The soldiers parted for him as he strode in my direction, worry and anger creasing his brow.
“Father,” I appealed. “I can explain—”
My words died in my throat. The air went cold with an invisible snap, and smoke hissed out of the forest. It settled over Father and slid around his neck.
“No!” I whispered. Dread and horror festered in my gut as Bandur merged with the emperor’s flesh. Bandur, don’t!
Then Father blinked, and he was my father no more.
Bandur chuckled in a way my father never did, the laughter tumbling out of his throat in a slow, wicked roll.
That isn’t Emperor Hanriyu, I wanted to shout. That’s the Demon King! But I held my tongue. Rash decisions had brought me thus far, and no one would believe me if I said the demon had possessed my father. They believed I was the one possessed.
“I warned you not to come to the Holy Mountains,” uttered Bandur through my father’s mouth. “The demons want your blood, and you come here, practically offering it to them. What madness has overtaken you, daughter? And to bewitch your own brother into joining your treachery?” He glanced at Benkai, still in chains. “You must be taught a lesson.”
The Demon King’s stare bored into me, but only I could see the red in his eyes, taunting me. Don’t look so stricken, Shiori. I told you I wasn’t your only enemy. Hawar did most of the work.
Get out of him, I said, seething. Get out.
I have to say, I quite like being an emperor. The power, the respect…the effect on you. He forced my father’s lips into a sneer. You should have seen his face when Hawar told him where you’d gone. He raced a carriage here himself—he was worried I might come out and bite.
Rage boiled in my chest, rising up white-hot. It hurt to hold it in, and I ground my teeth. Let Bandur taunt me, I would not give in. He wanted me to make a spectacle in front of the sentinels. I wouldn’t fall for that trick again.
Instead, I reached out to Father directly. Father! I screamed into Bandur’s mind. Father, I know you’re there. Fight him. Don’t let him win.
The emperor’s chin lifted. He straightened and squared his shoulders, his eyes rolling lazily in my direction. It was no use. Bandur was too strong.
But I wasn’t about to give up. “Father!” I shouted, lunging toward him. “Stop!”
As I moved, the ground trembled. Little rocks and pebbles spilled down the breach, which glowed brighter than before. The sentinels wrenched me away from the emperor, their blades now pointed at my throat.
Now, now, Your Highness, taunted Bandur. You must control that temper. You’re exciting the demons.
“See how the mountains react to her presence?” Hawar cried. “It is as I warned, Your Majesty. She is calling the demons forth!”
Bandur pretended to be shaken by my attack. He staggered back and crossed his long embroidered sleeves. “You are right, Minister Hawar. It is time I taught my daughter a lesson.” Bandur mimicked Father’s smile, giving it a wicked slant. “It’s time to come home, Shiori.”