Page 79 of Cloak of Night
Gin smiled generously. He could feel his hook sinking in, the prize fish at the end weakening in its fight. “Of course,” he said, motioning for his ryuu to back off and give the prisoners a facade of privacy. He, too, stepped farther down the beach.
Tidepool followed. “With all due respect, Your Majesty, you’re not really going to negotiate with Tsarina Austine, are you?”
“How much of an imbecile are you?” Gin asked. “We’ll bring the tsarina and her advisers onto my ship, and once we’ve returned to Kichona, we’ll summon Zomuri to claim her heart.”
“B-but then why bother with this pretense of good will in front of the prisoners? Won’t they know soon enough that their tsarina is dead? And what about the other kingdoms? This will incense them before we’re prepared to fight the entire mainland.”
“We’ll inform them that, during our negotiations withTsarina Austine, I proposed marriage, and she accepted my offer. She’ll wish to stay in Kichona as the seat of our united empire, of course. But one day in the near future, she will die tragically of an illness while pregnant with our first child. The other kingdoms will not be suspicious for a while.”
“That’s pure genius,” Tidepool said.
“I know.”
The prisoners were engaged in a lively debate. Gin allowed it to continue. Tsarina Austine was being given ample time to prepare her things and her entourage for the summit (under careful watch of the ryuu, of course), so a few extra minutes on the beach meant nothing.
He walked down to the shore and finally took in the clear turquoise of the lagoons. The water was so clear he could see straight down to the corals on the sandy ocean floor, the sea teeming with colorfully striped fish. He could do worse than have this island as a gem in his crown.
Where the sky met the water, though, something white sped toward Gin. Was it a seagull skimming the surface?
“Tidepool,” he said, “intercept that for me.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
A moment later, a wave leaped up and caught whatever it was in a fistful of water and rushed it to shore in a surge of foam. Tidepool grabbed it first to make sure it was safe.
“A seagull bearing a message,” she said, releasing the bird and unfolding the paper carefully. It appeared to be enchanted with ryuu magic, but caution was advisable nonetheless.
Tidepool undid the complicated folds. “It’s fine, Your Majesty. A note from Menagerie.”
Gin took the paper, which, having been opened, now flattened out its own creases.
Your Majesty,
We found where Virtuoso’s sister and friends have been hiding, but they foiled our attack. We’ll redouble our efforts and make sure they won’t be a problem for us anymore.
Ever your servant,
Menagerie
Gin crumpled the note and hurled it into the ocean. Spirit and her friends had drilled holes into his ships and set back his timeline for this attack on Thoma. They also had a copy of the map from his study. Had they figured out where he was keeping Aki? Gods, they were pests.
“Send word to Skeleton and Skullcrusher to prepare their crews for immediate departure,” he said to Tidepool. “I want reinforcements at Dera Falls to guard Aki’s prison.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” Tidepool jogged off to carry out his orders.
But how should he deal with Spirit? She was a fly to his bull, but even so, she could interfere again with Gin’s progress toward the Evermore.
I could capture Spirit and her wolf gemina.Their powers could be harnessed for Gin’s own purposes. In fact, he probably should have tried to do this earlier, but he’d been too busy with taking the throne and seizing control of the Society to bother with four rogue taigas. Now, however, if Gin guessed correctly, Spirit and her friends would attempt to rescue Aki.
And he could be there waiting for them. Dera Falls was on the way back to the Imperial City, and it was probably time that he paid his sister another visit anyway.
One of the ryuu who’d been guarding the Thomasian sailors ran down the shore. “Your Majesty, the prisoners have come to a decision.”
Gin took a deep breath, put on a mask of benevolence, and walked calmly back to the sailors.
The older man with the sunburned skin stepped forward. “As men and women of honor, we respect the customs of war, and we accept that we are at your mercy. If we may make a request, it is that you will take care of our families. Then we pledge to be your humble servants on the seas in the bid to bring your Evermore to earth.” He knelt in the sand and bowed his head. The rest of the sailors followed.
A smile bloomed on Gin’s face. He hadn’t needed to hypnotize these sailors to convince him of his cause. And they’d also given him an idea for making sure Spirit surrendered to him.
