Page 114 of Circle of Shadows
“You’re at risk of heaping more punishment upon yourself and your friends.”
“I know.” Broomstick took a step closer to her. “And that’s why you should know this is important. The ryuu’s one weakness is sight. They have to be able to see the magic before they can call it to do their bidding. We believe they’ll be here shortly. We have a plan to blind them, but then we’ll only have a short window of opportunity to take them out while they’re vulnerable.”
Glass Lady frowned, but it wasn’t the disappointed one she usually wore when it came to Sora and her friends’ shenanigans. She was thinking over what Broomstick said.
He was afraid to breathe while she considered it, as if even a slight puff of air could nudge her back into dismissing him as an overeager apprentice.
“I thought Sight was what gave them power,” she said.
He exhaled. She was actually listening. “Yes, it is. But ironically, vision is also their weakness. Like taigas have to use their hands to form mudras, ryuu have to use their eyes to control their power.”
She nodded slowly. “And what, exactly, is your plan?”
Broomstick explained how Sora was going to use a crystal wall as a magnifying glass to blind the ryuu when they approached the Imperial City. If they didn’t have Sight, they wouldn’t be able to access their magic. The taigas would have to be ready to pounce on the ryuu before they regained their ability to see. “It might only be a matter of seconds,” he said.
Glass Lady fingered the throwing stars on her belt. “Yes, but before the ryuu showed up, taigas were the most formidable warriors in the world. If the ryuu don’t have their magic, we only need a few seconds to neutralize them.”
“Exactly,” Broomstick said. “And we outnumber them.”
Thanks to Wolf, he thought. It was because of his reconnaissance that Empress Aki could interrupt her brother’s strategy to secretly amass an army. Prince Gin had managed to put together only a couple hundred ryuu on his way here. In comparison, there were now over five thousand taigas at the Citadel.
“They won’t all come to the front gates,” Glass Lady said.
“Most probably will,” Broomstick said. “Even though Spirit brought Fairy back here, the ryuu still don’t know that she wasn’t the empress. Prince Gin will likely march here as planned, believing he is the new emperor.”
“I think that’s right,” Glass Lady said, beginning to walk toward the armory’s exit and gesturing for Broomstick to follow her. “We’ll assemble most of our troops at the main gates, but we’ll leave in place some forces on the perimeters. Spirit’s crystal will have to do the brunt of the work. But I’ll order mirrors stripped from bedrooms for the patrols on the other edges of the fortress walls, in case they also need to blind ryuu incursions.”
Broomstick couldn’t help the stupid grin that plastered itself across his face. She’d really listened to him. His crew was back and safe. They had a plan. And Glass Lady had actually heard what he had to say. “Thank you, Commander.”
She glanced over at him as they left the armory and veered toward Warrior Meeting Hall. “For what?”
“For believing in me. For believing inus.”
Glass Lady shrugged as if it meant nothing. But then shegave Broomstick a small wink, so quick, he almost thought he imagined it.
“I always knew you and your friends had the potential to be great taigas,” she said. “I was just waiting for you to believe in it yourselves.”
Chapter Sixty-Six
Hana woke to the sky purpling with the dawn. She should have been excited about the march to the Imperial City. This was going to be a watershed moment in the dream Prince Gin had plotted for years.
Instead, there was a heaviness in her chest, like a ball of iron right beneath her sternum. Today was also supposed to be the day when she and Sora fought against the taigas, a sister ryuu team.
But that day would never be.
Hana lay on her sleeping mat for a few more minutes, the first morning in a long time that she hadn’t jumped out of bed. Had she made a mistake in letting Sora go?
Why do I care? I gave her a choice, and she chose the taigas over me.
The iron ball in Hana’s chest grew heavier, though. Love was an unwelcome guest in her heart.
And then she thought of something that made a dreadful morning even worse—if Sora had chosen the taigasover the ryuu, it also meant she’d chosen Empress Aki over Prince Gin.
“The body!”
Hana tore out of the tent and sprinted toward the cart at the edge of camp that held Empress Aki’s corpse.
Please let everything be where it’s supposed to be.
