Page 22 of King Foretold
“It’s all my fault,” Minju chokes out.
Ethan’s fingers dig into my waist as his face ices over with rage, and he turns toward the historian. “Explain yourself.”
Minju gasps and pales at the unmistakable ring of authority in Ethan’s voice. When he’s like this, even I feel cowed by him, my instincts telling me to bend to his will. But my instincts can go to hell on this one.
“It’snother fault.” I glower at him. “I’m the one who blew—”
“No, Sunny. Thank you, but no.” Minju takes a shuddering breath and straightens her shoulders. “Your Highness, it is definitely my fault. I know what happened.”
“Oh my gods.” Hailey, Jaeseok, and Draco run toward us. They must’ve been working on the forge again because their clothes and hair are ashen from fresh dust. But I probably caused the pallor in their faces by blowing up the study.
“Is everyone okay?” Draco asks with a break in their voice.
I turn my head toward them so fast I might’ve given myself whiplash. They’re terrified.Poor kid.They’ve experienced so much loss already. I can tell from their expression that they’re expecting the worst.
“Not a scratch on us, kid.” I cough to clear the emotions clogging my throat, and I quickly turn my sympathy into steely resolve. I can’t let Draco lose anyone else. I won’t. Whatever I did tonight, I’ll do it again to destroy Daeseong. “I can’t say the same for the study, though.”
Draco’s shoulders rise and fall with relief, then their face scrunches back to its moody scowl. “No fucking way. I never would’ve guessed the study was damaged if you hadn’t pointed it out.”
I narrow my eyes at their bratty sarcasm. “Well, now you know.”
Commotion rumbles in the distance as bobbing torches appear in the night. Jihun glances toward the cluster of flames, then swiftly at Ethan. I frown, my eyes jumping between the two of them. What’s Ethan doing here anyway? He obviously wasn’t visiting Draco, who came from the other end of the wing.
Were he and Jihun strategizing on how to take down the King of Mountains? Did they receive more intel from their spy? I hope Ethan keeps his promise and doesn’t do anything stupid without me—like go after his father on his own.
Neither of us have mastered our magic, but together, we might be able to do some damage. And if we can’t stop the King of Mountains without killing him, I won’t let Ethan be the one to do it. No child should have to kill their own father, even an evil, murderous one.
Then my gaze shoots to Jihun. He’sback. I search his face as though I can decipher whether or not he found Daeseong from his expression. But he’s already moving toward the commotion.
“The collapse must have roused the staff from their sleep.” He flares his wings, and my hair flutters across my cheeks. “I’ll have them turn back.”
When Jihun flies off, Hailey looks from Minju to me. “Whathappenedhere?”
“I kind of blew up the study.” I cringe. “But I have no idea how.”
“I’ll explain when the captain gets back,” the historian says in a subdued voice, glancing toward the retreating torchlights.
“I’m back.” Jihun lands on the ground beside me and stands close at my side. The back of his hand brushes against mine and stays there.
I sneak a peek at him from under my lashes, but his gaze is focused on the historian. He must be seeking reassurance that I’m okay in his own stoic way. I nudge his hand with the back of mine, our knuckles brushing.I’m sorry for making you worry.
For some reason, I glance at Ethan on my other side and start when my eyes clash with his. He looks at Jihun, then slowly down atour barely touching hands. When he raises his head, his face is a cold, inscrutable mask.What the hell?Does he think ... that Jihun and I ...
“Please proceed,” Ethan says to Minju before I can tell him it’s not what he thinks.
My heart lurches when I realize I nearly gave myself away. Thank gods he spoke before I could run my big mouth. I’m not supposed to care what he thinks. It’s getting harder and harder to hide my true feelings from him. Maybe it’ll be for the best if Ethan misunderstands my friendship with Jihun. Even so, I pull away from the seonnam and clasp my hands in front of me.
Minju tugs on my arm and urges me to turn my back on everyone. I let her position me however she likes since I’m as curious as the others about what happened. She carefully sweeps my hair over one shoulder so my upper back is visible above my tank top. I know some of the runes branch onto my shoulder blades.
“These runes on Sunny’s back are arcane words of power.” The historian’s voice trembles. “They originate from ... That is ... they are a form of—”
“It’s dark magic,” Draco growls and takes their dragon form in a blaze of blue fire. “That female used dark magic on Sunny.”
Chapter Seven
The entire eastern wing of Jihun’s estate is reserved for his private use. Its perimeters are heavily warded, and no one is granted access without his express approval. The forge, Draco’s hideout, the study—or where the study used to be—and Jihun’s personal quarters are all within the eastern wing.
Ethan and Jihun must’ve been in Jihun’s quarters when they heard the crash. That’s how they got to the study so fast. I still need to find out why Ethan came to see Jihun at this time of night. But I’ll have to wait.
