Page 55 of King Foretold
The captain’s reserve falters as laughter spurts out of her. “Like you said, the sword of light hasn’t been forged yet, which means you can still ask them to make it to the same specifications as your hwando.”
“You’reright.” Wielding my short sword is second nature to me. If they can forge the sword of light to match my hwando, then that will be a game changer. I have very few advantages against Daeseong. I’m grabbing this one with both hands. “Ididraise a good point.”
“Very well then.” Captain Seo summons her twin swords with a flick of her wrists. “Shall werumble?”
“You’re hilarious.” Without giving myself a chance to hesitate, I summon my hwando from my room and sigh in relief when the hilt pushes against my palm. And this time, I launch the first attack.
I don’t win every spar, but I win enough to satisfy us both.
“Let’s take a break,” Captain Seo pants, untying the band around her head and wiping her face with it.
“Oh thank gods,” I say in a heartfelt groan, not bothering to act tough. We spent the last two hours proving to each other that we are bothscarytough.
It feels great to stretch out in the shade of Sunset Pavilion’s main hall, my feet dangling off the side of the raised floor. Captain Seo is decidedly less starchy than before, but not enough to splay out next to me. Instead, she sits with her back against one wall, with her legs stretched out in front of her.
We both sigh after gulping down ice-coldsikhae, a sweet fermented rice punch, that Miok brought out for us. I’m ridiculously happy when the empty bowl immediately fills again. I have the bowl halfway to my mouth when Jaeseok rushes into the courtyard and heads straight toward us.
“Just the dokkaebi I was looking for.” I smile, remembering I need to tell him about forging the sword of light to match my hwando. “Do you—”
He cuts me off in a strained voice. “There has been another assassination attempt.”
I jump down from the main hall, my heart pounding in my throat, and rush toward Jaeseok. Heat radiates from the rune on my back, and I barely stop myself from shaking him by the shoulders. “Is Ethan okay? Where is he? Tell me.”
Captain Seo takes a firm grip on my arm and maneuvers me out of the dokkaebi’s face. “Let’s give him a little room, shall we?”
“The prince will be okay.” Jaeseok rubs a hand down his face. “He took a dagger to his back, but it didn’t hit any major organs. And he started healing as soon as they pulled out the dagger.”
“How the hell did this happen?” I roar, fiery bloodlust wrapping around me. “Weren’t you and Draco supposed to make him a protective vest?”
“They haven’t had much time,” the captain says steadily. “Sunny, remember your lesson.Think.Don’t let the word of power control you.”
I take a shuddering breath and draw my mind away from the pulsating heat of the rune. Jaeseok and Draco have had less than twelve hours to work on the vest. More importantly, Ethan is okay. We have time to figure everything else out. That means I need to calm the fuck down.
“Jihun was guarding the prince because the vest wasn’t ready.” Jaeseok sounds exhausted. He must’ve stayed up all night, working on the protective armor. “If he wasn’t there, it would’ve been a lot worse.”
“Sorry, Jaeseok.” A shiver runs through me as the heat dissipates from my back. “Where is Ethan now?”
“General Bak made a big stink over it, but Jihun thought it best to bring him here.” He shrugs. “I mean, the assassin got to the prince at the general’s estate. It makes sense for us to move him where we can guard him better.”
“Did they catch the assassin?” I ask over my shoulder, already walking toward the east wing. It’s the securest place on the estate.
“Yeah, they caught him.” Jaeseok hisses a frustrated sigh, matching his stride to mine. “But this one unfortunately killed himself as well.”
“Come on,” the captain says from my other side. “Captain Song will have more information.”
We find Ethan and Jihun in the newly rebuilt study. Ethan is wearing his hanbok with the jeogori open at the front. I see the white cloth bandage wrapped around his chest and nearly lose my shit again.Think, Sunny.He’s sitting up, and his coloring doesn’t look too bad.
“What? You haven’t healed yet?” I quirk an eyebrow at him to hide my relief.
“Nearly.” Ethan waves a dismissive hand at the bandage. “I just didn’t want to get blood on another shirt. It probably stopped bleeding already.”
“Don’t get cocky now.” I sit down next to him at the conference table. “You were sloppy enough to get hurt in the first place.”
“An assassin threw a daggerat my back,” Ethan protests. “I don’t have a rearview mirror mounted on my forehead.”
“Notadagger.” Jihun holds up three fingers from across the table, and I belatedly notice the bandage around his biceps. “He threw three daggers at you.”
Ethan glares at him. “You’re not helping.”
