Page 77 of Circle of Shadows
Three ryuu had suddenly appeared, riding on a wave. They were all women, and they surrounded him like sirens circling a stray sailor.
“Hello, handsome,” one of the ryuu said. “Did you find some good pearls?”
The diver tried to take a step back, but he bumped into another of the women.
“Hey,” she said, “Tidepool asked you a question. It’s rude not to answer.”
“W-what are you? Where did you come from?”
Tidepool smiled maliciously. “We’re your darkest fantasies come true. And your nightmares.”
The two other ryuu laughed and closed in on him. They put their hands on his chest and his back, holding him prisoner as they began to kiss his oiled skin.
“Stop!” Sora shouted from the cliff. “What do you think you’re doing?”
“Leave them be,” Prince Gin said, approaching behind Sora.
She fell to her knees and bowed. “Your Highness.”
He gestured for her to rise. “The ryuu have been working hard. They deserve a little reward.”
Sora frowned. She wanted to believe him, to agree with his words that warmed her like sweet wine, but something felt wrong. “They’re forcing themselves on him.”
Prince Gin shrugged. “And they’ll kill him afterward. Those three have earned themselves the nickname ‘the Black Widows.’”
“No...” Sora shook her head. Again, that sensation that she wasn’t seeing the whole picture nagged at her. Itwas like that eel of Daemon’s memory, lurking in the muddy water just out of reach.
“The diver is one of our people,” Sora said. “I don’t understand. Aren’t we fighting so we can make all of Kichona happier?”
The ridges on Prince Gin’s face tightened as he pursed his lips together. Was he thinking? Was he considering what Sora had said?
A few moments later, he grunted and walked to the edge of the cliff. “Black Widows,” he said, “stop what you’re doing.” He didn’t have to yell. Somehow, his voice just carried on the wind down to them.
Tidepool pouted. “Why? You’ve always allowed us playthings.”
“That was in Shinowana. But this is our home country, and that diver is one of us. Save your appetites for the war abroad. Then you’ll have free rein to do what you want. It won’t be much longer that you have to wait.”
The women grumbled but backed off the diver. They rode off on a wave Tidepool commanded.
“As for you,” Prince Gin said to the diver, who stood shivering but immobile from his encounter with the Black Widows, “they didn’t hurt you. Everything is all right. Yes?”
The man looked up in wonder. A smile broke across his face, and his body stopped trembling. “Your Highness. You’ve come home.”
“I have.”
The man nodded. “Then yes, everything is all right.”
Prince Gin waved his hand, and the diver quicklygathered his oysters and pearls and dove back into the sea, swimming in the direction of home.
“Is that better?” the prince said, turning to Sora.
She saw him as if through a haze of heat. At the same time, a swell of ambition and purpose washed through her, and she couldn’t recall why she’d protested a minute ago. How silly to question the Dragon Prince. He knew what he was doing. He had Kichona’s best interests at heart.
She looked down at the sleeve of her uniform, where the green triplicate whorls of the ryuu reflected the sunlight off the surface of the water. She smiled and traced the embroidery. So beautiful. Like pride and power woven straight into the threads.
“Yes, everything is better,” Sora answered the prince.
“Good. Because I have a mission for you and Virtuoso.”
