Page 104 of Cloak of Night
“This is where Fairy comes in,” Sora said, pointing to her roommate, whose eyes lit up with anticipation. “I want you to poison Tidepool with something that would kill her if left unchecked but that could be held at bay if we gave her small doses of an antidote every few hours. Tidepool loves herself too much to let the poison simply take hold. I believeshe’ll do our bidding if it means she can stay alive. Do you have something in your botanicals that can do this?”
Fairy was already unlatching the satchel at her belt. She grinned as she pulled out a small glass jar that clinked with what looked like tiny black, star-shaped candies inside. “This is abrinori. If left unchecked, it dissolves internal organs, beginning with the stomach, then working its way through the bloodstream to the intestines, the kidneys, and the heart. And this”—she held up a slender vial full of a viscous, bright yellow liquid—“is the antidote. One drop every two hours will counteract the abrinori. And I can concoct a permanent antidote if we wanted to cure Tidepool after we successfully get to all the kingdoms and return with their navies.”
“Perfect,” Sora said. “The team for the mainland journey will be you for coercion, Broomstick for force, and Empress Aki for diplomacy. You’ll have five days, which, with Tidepool’s powers, ought to give you enough time to cross the ocean, spend a day each in Brin, Caldan, and Fale Po Tair, and return to Kichona. Everyone on board?”
The three of them pounded fists over hearts.
Papa snarled. It caught everyone off guard, and they jumped back from him. But a moment later, Papa rubbed his eyes as if trying to wake from a strange dream. “I’m sorry about that. I don’t know what’s come over me.”
Daemon spoke up. “This is what’s happening to Kichona’s people with Zomuri’s gloom influencing them. Even the kindest men lash out. That’s another reason we have to kill Prince Gin soon and get Empress Aki back on the throne, so she can reinstate Sola as our patron god.”
Papa looked horrified. Hana hugged him and said,“Don’t worry. You’ll be yourself again soon. We’ll make sure of it.” He relaxed a little. Her word—even just her closeness—seemed to mean so much to him. Sora felt better about allowing Hana to join them.
“Our number one goal is to kill Prince Gin and restore our kingdom and our people to their peaceful ways,” Sora said. “Carrying out the assassination will be a mission for me and Hana.” She looked over at her sister.
Hana gave her a solemn nod.
“We’ll wait five days to give Empress Aki, Fairy, and Broomstick time to return with our allies. In the meantime, Hana and I will head to the Imperial City to make sure we understand the lay of the land. You’ll send me one of my dragonflies when you’re on your way, so that we can time our attacks to coincide with each other. Papa will stay hidden here, where it’s safe.”
“And then what?” Papa asked.
Sora fidgeted with her necklace. She didn’t know.
“I have an idea,” Hana said.
Everyone stared at her.
“Prince Gin doesn’t know I’ve turned,” she said. “As far as he’s concerned, I’m still Virtuoso, his second-in-command. We have to find a way to get the soul back into his body so that he’ll no longer be invincible—I’m the only one who can get close enough to him to do it.”
Sora mulled it over. She’d have to trust her sister completely for it to work.
“Believe in me,” Hana said softly.
Sora stopped playing with the necklace.
This is what Mama would have wanted, for Sora to stretch beyond what a normal person would, to tap intothe well of kindness inside her and believe that Hana could change.
Could she do it?
But she already had, hadn’t she? She’d accepted Hana’s capture of Tidepool as proof of her loyalty, and she had welcomed Hana into the planning.
“All right,” Sora said. “We have a few days to plot out the details of how you’ll get to the prince, but we’ll figure it out.”
Papa beamed at his two girls working together. Sora wasn’t quite that enthusiastic—she was still working herself up to fully believing that Hana was on her side—but she still gave Papa a smile.
Then Sora turned to Daemon, who was guarding Tidepool by the roots of the tree. “And that brings us to the last thing we need to do—learning about the purification ritual. But I have to admit, I’m at a loss here. We could try to contact Liga again, but he’s not that helpful—”
“I’ll go to Celestae,” Daemon said.
“You’ll what?”
“Fly to Celestae. Pound on the gates or shout at the fortress walls or whatever it is that’s supposed to keep me out. And then I’ll find Luna and persuade her to tell me about the purification process. She’s my grandmother and the taigas’ patron god. She has to help.”
“That’s... crazy,” Sora said. Not only the part about him trying to get into Celestae and convince Luna but also the possibility that he’d see his father, Vespre. She remembered how conflicted Daemon had been back in Jade Forest, when she’d originally come up with the idea of reaching out to his father. It had been almost a reliefwhen they’d gotten Liga instead.
Now, though, Daemon crossed his arms. “And since when has the ever-mischievous Spirit been against crazy ideas?”
Fairy laughed. “He has a good point.”
