Page 26 of King Foretold
“You two have been talking?” A muscle shifts in his jaw.
“Yes.” I throw my hands up. “Quit stalling.”
“Our spy couldn’t explain the king’s illness, but she said he grows more paranoid and desperate with each passing day.” Jihun’s voice dips grimly. “He has been summoning physicians from all across the Kingdom of Mountains, but none of them have been able to heal him.”
“That might be for the best, though,” I murmur, thinking of Ethan’s untamed powers. “The tyrant will be easier to defeat if he remains ill.”
“Perhaps,” Jihun says with a conflicted expression. “But the king blames the physicians for his illness. None of them have made it out alive from the palace.”
“Dear gods,” I rasp, and Hailey reaches for my hand. I give her what I hope is a reassuring smile, then glance toward the sliding doors. “Where is Ethan anyway?”
Even as I worry about how he’s dealing with the new intel, my heart skips a beat, expecting him to walk in with a crooked smile.
“He had to return to General Bak’s estate before the guards discover he’s gone,” Jihun says.
Disappointment washes over me, but it’s for the best. The less Ethan and I see of each other, the better. For both our sakes. Who knows? I might get used to missing him. I honestly can’t imagine getting used to this hollow ache in my chest, but it can’t hurt this much forever.
“Wait.Discover he’s gone?” My eyebrows shoot up as I belatedly register what Jihun said. “Why? Did his grandpa put a curfew on him?”
“A curfew? No way.” Hailey giggles nervously. “What’s going on, Captain?”
“The general is ... protective of the prince.” Jihun breathes a weary sigh. “Perhaps overly so.”
“What does that even mean?” Unease tightens my scalp.
“The prince’s quarters are heavily guarded. At all times,” he says darkly. “And he’s forbidden from leaving General Bak’s estates without an escort.”
“You can’t be serious,” I breathe, shaking my head. My heart twists as I understand the extent of Ethan’s frustration, which I only glimpsed the other night. Gods, he must be suffocating.
“I mean ... I guess that’s understandable? It’s no secret the general was devastated when the Queen of Mountains passed away.” Hailey worries her bottom lip. “She was said to have died during childbirth, along with the baby, so General Bak thought he’d lost both his daughter and his grandson on the same day. But now that he has his grandson back ... it kind of makes sense that the general feels overprotective of the prince.”
“He didn’t know his grandson was alive?” I glance between Jihun and Hailey. “The two of you, Jaeseok, and Minju all knew about Ethan. You werewaitingfor him, like ‘the King Foretold will cometh,’” I chant, waving my hands by my face. “You talked aboutlong-awaitedplans to carry out when he returned to the Realm of Four Kingdoms. How could his own grandfather not have known that Ethan was alive?”
Jihun gives Hailey a significant look, and she hurries to check all the doors and windows. When she nods, he answers in a low voice, “Only a select few know about the prophecy of the King Foretold—those chosen by the Queen of Mountains before her death.”
“What?” I rear back. “How?”
“To ensure her son’s survival, the queen created a list of those who could be trusted with the prophecy. Only those on the list—those who understand the true extent of his destiny—were told that the prince lived. My great-uncle is not one of them.” Jihun leans forward in his chair, planting his elbows on his thighs. “When we returned to the Kingdom of Sky, it seemed cruel not to reunite him with his grandson, but the general is still in the dark about the prophecy.”
“It wascruelto let the general believe his grandson was dead for all these years. Why didn’t the queen include her own father on the list?”I’m so sick of all this cloak-and-dagger bullshit. General Bak is our one true ally in the Council of the Suhoshin, and Ethan trusts him with his life. “What the hell was her criteria?”
But if the general isn’t trying to help Ethan fulfill his destiny, then why is he dead set on starting a war with the Kingdom of Mountains? I click my tongue. He obviously wants to see Ethan on the throne. And the old general probably didn’t even consider other ways to put his grandson there since war is all he knows. I don’t want to mistrust Ethan’s only family just because he didn’t make it onto the queen’s list.
“We have no way of knowing her criteria,” Jihun says with grim acceptance. “Trying to figure it out will only drive you mad.”
“Are you serious?” My eyebrows shoot up. “Thenotknowing should be driving you mad.”
“I know it’s a lot of information to process.” Hailey sits back down next to me. “But trust the captain on this one.”
“What? No.” It’s just too much. Why does this fucking dumpster fire have to be Ethan’s lot in life? I hate it for him. “Minju, Jaeseok, and the two of you are obviously on the list. What do you guys have in common? You’re all shinbiins from the Kingdom of Sky and the Kingdom of Underworld—what humans consider heaven and hell.”
“Sunny.” My name is a quiet warning on his lips. “The queen’s list has been in my keeping since my mother passed it on to me. There is no possibility we haven’t considered.”
“Or ... maybe it depends on your affinity to the elements,” I continue, ignoring him. “Between you, Hailey, and Jaeseok, you already have air, water, and fire. You’re only missing earth and wood. But you said there are others, right? Who else is on the list?”
“You.” Jihun glares at me, and Hailey gasps next to me. “Youare on the list. So how doyoufit in? Please enlighten me.”
My mouth opens and closes several times before I manage a choked wheeze. “Fuck ... me ...”
