Page 77 of Burning Crowns

Rose

CHAPTER 24

As Shen led them through the Palace of Eternal Sunlight, Rose couldn’t help but marvel at the beauty around her. The pale marble floors, the red and gold gilded walls, the intricate carvings of suns and moons across the ceilings. And it wasn’t just the palace that stole her breath. She couldn’t stop looking at Shen. She loved seeing him walk with such purpose, with such a sense of place in his own palace, his own kingdom.

‘This way,’ he said, guiding them back outside into another, smaller courtyard that was hemmed in by the palace itself. He paused at a wall of feathergrass, pushing it aside to reveal a narrow wooden door, and ushered all three of them inside.

The armoury was even more spectacular than Rose remembered. It was lit by everlights, and the weapons shone in the flickering light. Overhead, axes and swords hung from the ceiling. Whips and staffs lined the walls, and there was an entire section for bows and arrows. In the centre of the room was a large table displaying impressive daggers of varying sizes.

Rose knew from her previous visit that the drawers under the table held smaller, more discreet weapons that were no less deadly.

‘Oh, I like this room,’ said Anika, gazing at a mace with a shimmering diamond head. ‘Alot.’

‘I remember Lei Fan saying that the blacksmiths of the Sunkissed Kingdom take great pride in their work,’ said Rose. ‘They believe that in battle, as in death, there must always be respect.’

Shen caught Rose’s gaze. ‘I’m surprised you remember that.’

‘I remember everything I’ve learned about your kingdom,’ said Rose, softly.

‘Did you learn precisely what kind of weapon can take down an undead evil witch?’ asked Anika.

‘The older the better, I’d guess,’ said Celeste, tracing the golden hilt of a dagger. ‘Looks as if we’ll have no shortage of choice.’

‘Then let’s take as many as we can carry,’ said Anika, eyes gleaming.

‘It certainly won’t hurt our chances,’ said Rose. She gazed at the table full of beautifully crafted weapons. Which would be the one to destroy Oonagh?

In the flickering everlights, one blade seemed to shine brighter than the rest. A medium-sized dagger with a glimmering golden blade and a ruby-encrusted handle. Rose felt drawn to it in a way she couldn’t explain.

‘May I?’ she asked Shen, gesturing at the dagger.

He smiled at her. ‘Please.’

Rose reverently picked it up, and as she did she felt the magic thrumming inside it. ‘Oh!’ she breathed.

The sharp end glinted in the light, and she knew that it could pierce anything.

Even the heart of Oonagh Starcrest.

‘You’ve chosen well,’ said Shen, his smile growing. ‘That dagger is called Daybreak.’

‘Daybreak,’ Rose repeated, and the hilt buzzed in her hand in answer.

‘Grandmother Lu showed me this dagger when I first returned to the Sunkissed Kingdom,’ said Shen. ‘It belonged to my mother. My father gifted it to her, as his father had given it to his mother. Legend says it was forged by the Sun himself and left behind as a gift for Eana, his greatest love, so that she would think of him and be strengthened, even in battle.’

Their gazes locked.

‘I think my mother would want you to have it,’ he said, quietly.

‘It would be my honour.’ Rose looked down at the dagger, at Daybreak, and she felt with a sudden surety that she had found the weapon she was looking for.

Rose turned her gaze back to Shen. ‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘For this. For everything.’

The moment around them seemed to swell, and then Anika cleared her throat.

‘Our turn to choose! Celeste, come and look at the archery section with me,’ she said, slipping her arm through Celeste’s and leading her away. ‘I think you’d look very fetching with a bow and arrow.’

Celeste laughed. ‘I do have excellent aim.’

---