Page 52 of Circle of Shadows
He opened the drawer and... there was nothing in it.
Daemon ran his fingers over the bottom of the drawer, but it was perfectly smooth. He slid his hands into the back corners of the drawer, feeling for anything out of the ordinary but finding only wood and an abandoned stopper to an inkwell that had dried up and been discarded long ago.
Hmm. It was possible that it really was empty. But why would Prince Gin bother locking his desk then?
No, there had to be something inside. Daemon knelt down so the drawer was at eye level. He retrieved a small metal pellet—scatter shot, a new, discreet kind of throwing weapon that one of the taiga weapon masters was testing—and placed it on the right side of the drawer. It rolled toward the front.
But the ship was rocking from side to side.
If there was a false bottom on the drawer, its contents could be pushing up on the panel unevenly, hence the pellet rolling forward. Since there was no obvious release switch, though, maybe this one was pressure-mounted.
Daemon placed his palms flat against the bottom of the drawer and pushed down gently.
It gave a little, then lifted up with a tidy pop.
Cheers to me,he thought.
There was, indeed, a pile of papers tall enough to cause the unevenness in the false bottom of the drawer. Daemon flipped through them. They appeared to be profiles of each ryuu: height, weight, age, and most important, details about their “specialty.”
Tidepool could command the sea.
Insects responded to Beetle.
Firebrand was the orb of flames.
For all that is good and holy...Daemon felt ill and had to hold on to the desk for a minute, but it wasn’t from seasickness. Skimming ryuu profile after ryuu profile hammered home the fact that if the Dragon Prince were allowed to build his army even bigger, they would be virtually invincible.
A warrior who could grow ice.
One whose hands became powerful magnets to attract away enemy weapons.
Two who could break bones, just with their minds. Even when the bones were still inside a living person.
How did the taigas stand a chance?
Stay calm,Daemon thought.The Society needs this information, and I’m the only one that can get it to them.He couldn’t steal them right now, though. If Prince Gin checked—which he might, because he would have profiles to add for the new recruits—it would be too obvious if they were all gone.
But Daemon would come back later to get them. Sometime, somehow.
He set the profiles back into the desk and was about to replace the false bottom when his fingers grazed a ribbon onthe underside of the panel. Puzzled, he flipped it over.
There was a large map of Kichona. Colored dots marked various points around the kingdom, each connected by a green ribbon, beginning at Isle of the Moon, then Paro Village, Sand Mine, Kaede City, and onward.
Were those Prince Gin’s targets?
He touched the map. Each colored dot had a corresponding number written on it.
Isle of the Moon, 5
Paro Village, 26
Sand Mine, 30
Kaede City, 54
Tiger’s Belly, 200
Striped Coves, 300
