Eona (40 page)

Did I really want to have that kind of power over Ido? Yet he was already pushing against my
Hua
, looking for a way to turn it against me.

I had no choice. With a sob, I released my fury through the pathways of desire so newly blazed. Ido gasped as my power rolled over his defenses, burning away the silver in his eyes. The shock rocked his body forward. He collapsed flat on to the ground, his silent scream ripping through my
Hua
in a backlash of pained pleasure.

Ido's will was mine for the taking, and I took it, fusing his hammering heartbeat to mine.

“Eona!” His voice cracked; part plea, part warning.

I forced his head up, the amber eyes wide and dark.

“Call Dillon,” I said.

His command to the Rat Dragon shifted through me like a hand sliding across my skin. The power reached, searched, found its goal. I felt Dillon's hate respond, its sharp barbs clawing into Ido like a soldier's grappling hook, anchoring the boy to his master and pulling him inexorably toward us. Dillon and the black folio were on their way.

Then the power curled back upon me, its razor edge sending a shiver of pleasure through my body.

Abruptly, I released my hold on Ido's will. He slumped, the rasp of his breath loud in the sudden, eerie quiet. All the birds and clicking insects around us were silent as if they marked some irrevocable event.

Ido slowly raised his head, but I turned on my heel, unable to look him in the eye. I got as far as the jasmine bush, its white blooms hanging heavily in the hot air. The cloying perfume caught in my throat. I could still feel his presence in my
Hua
.

“Addictive, isn't it, Eona?”

I knew I should ignore his soft voice. Just keep walking. Yet I stopped and looked over my shoulder. He was on his knees, the back of his hand stemming the flow of blood from his nose.

“What's addictive?” I asked.

His smile was a caress. “Getting what you want.”

As I pushed my way through the bushes toward camp, my mind was caught in a loop of horror: the pearl, Kygo, Kinra, Ido, me, all of it circling around and around the red folio's portent. I slapped past branches, feeling the sting as they lashed back against my skin. Was Ido telling the truth? A bird flew up from the bushes at my feet, screaming an alarm. No! I had to believe he was lying. The alternative was too terrible. I ground my teeth. His presence still hummed in my blood.

“Eona, are you all right?”

Kygo stopped in front of me, sword drawn; a tall blur through my tears. I reared back and lost my balance. He caught my arm with his free hand and held me upright, the strain digging his fingers into my flesh. Behind him, Caido and Vida crashed through the scrub, swords at the ready.

“What's wrong?” Kygo said. “Did Ido do something? Ryko felt you compel him.”

My eyes locked on the pearl.
The
Hua
of All Men
.

“It was nothing.” I pulled my arm free. “Just training.”

Kygo lowered his sword and turned to Vida and Caido, sunlight sliding across the pearl in a shimmer of colors. “False alarm,” he said.

Caido scanned the bushes around us. “We shall escort you and Lady Eona back, Your Majesty.”

“No.” Kygo waved them away. “It is only a few lengths.”

They bowed and retreated through the bushes, leaving the smell of churned earth and the green snap of broken twigs.

Kygo resheathed his sword. “Are you sure you are all right?”

I stared down at my dirt-smeared feet, away from the lustrous power at his throat. Did Kinra try to steal the pearl in order to save the dragons? It would mean that the energy beasts had been losing their strength even in her time. I was so new to the Mirror Dragon I did not even know if she was diminished. The thought that she could be fading sent a piercing pain through my spirit.

I pressed my hand against my forehead. “I'm sorry to have disturbed you, Your Majesty.”

The pearl was too close to me. He was too close. What if Ido was right?

“I wanted to speak to you anyway,” he said. “Alone.”

I lifted my head and forced my eyes past the pale glow to the sensuous curve of his mouth. The memory of his lips against mine reverberated through me. I stepped back. “Your Majesty, I beg pardon, but I am very tired.”

“It will not take long.” He cleared his throat, the hard swallow forcing my gaze back to the jewel at its base. “I have come to understand that I have offended you with my honesty about your power,” he said. “I am not accustomed—” He paused and rubbed his chin. “I mean, apart from my father, there has been no one whose opinion I was required to consider. And I've never had to”—his finger traced the edge of the pearl—“pursue a woman.”

Was the emperor apologizing to me?

He took a deep breath. “I cannot take back those words—we both know they were the truth—but I regret that they caused you hurt.” He reached across and took my hand. “And they did not take into account the importance I place upon your role as
Naiso
. Eona, you are the moon balance to my sun.”

For a moment, I could not speak. His balance? My heart ached with the trust in his words. I wanted to be his balance, but I was more likely to be his death.

“I am honored, Your Majesty,” I stammered.

“Kygo,” he corrected softly. “I am sorry I hurt you, Eona.”

His sincerity sliced through me like a knife. I tightened my hold on his hand and felt hard metal pressing into my skin; the blood ring was back on his finger. Good. He needed the protection. “You know I would never hurt you, Kygo.”

“I know.” His head tilted; a smile quickly suppressed. “Of course, you have already punched me in the throat and tried to stab me with a sword, but I know you would never hurt me.”

I closed my eyes, but it did not stop the tears. He did not know how much truth was in his jest: at the inn, I had barely held back Kinra's murderous desire for the pearl. And that was even before I had been touched by the madness of the black folio.

“Eona, I'm only teasing,” he said. The soft touch of his fingers stopped the track of my tears.

I pressed my wet cheek into his hand, unwilling to open my eyes and see the pearl. Unwilling to see the truth. But I knew Ido was right. The pearl was the way to save the dragons. To save our power. Even as he had said it—even as I had denied it—I had known it to be true. Like a part of a wooden puzzle locking into place, creating a picture of pain.

I took a shaking breath. Kinra had not been a power-hungry traitor, after all; she had been trying to save the dragons. There was no taint of treachery in my blood. Yet that did not change the fact that she was still trying to take the pearl through me— her Dragoneye descendant—and it was endangering Kygo's life. I was not going to be a puppet of my ancestor or the gods or whoever held the rods of this shadow play. Not without a fight. There had to be another way to save the dragons. Another way of mastering
Gan Hua
. And I could think of only one place it might be: the black folio.

I opened my eyes. “I know,” I said, but my gaze had already locked onto the pearl.

Always the pull of its power nestled in the back of my mind. Now I knew why. Kinra. I had to protect Kygo and the pearl until Dillon brought the black folio. Until I found a way to save the dragons without the
Hua
of All Men.

I had to protect Kygo from Kinra. And I had to protect him from me.

I pressed my lips against his palm, into the soft gateway of energy, imprinting his touch and smell upon my spirit. Then, forcing a smile, I stepped back. Away from the sun that balanced my moon.

Ryko was the first person I saw as I followed Kygo back into the circle of our camp. Apart from the sentries stationed around the edge, the islander was the only one on his feet. Everyone else was preparing for sleep or hunched over food and eating with tired intensity. In contrast, Ryko was shifting from foot to foot, all of his attention focused on Ido at the other side of the scrubby clearing. The Dragoneye had been escorted back from our training session, and one of the guards—Jun the archer— was tying his wrists again. Ido looked across at me as a rustle of soft greetings announced our arrival, but I turned away from his scrutiny. I did not want to see what was in his face.

With a quick bow to Kygo, I headed toward Lady Dela. She was leaning against a supply pack slowly eating a dried plum, her fatigue like a heavy cloak across her shoulders. “I have a favor to ask,” I said.

She wiped her mouth delicately with two fingers. “Anything, as long as I don't have to get up.”

I leaned closer, lowering my voice to a mere breath. “I need you to find out if the folio has the reason why Kinra was executed.”

Dela frowned. “We know why,” she whispered, touching the book bound to her wrist. “For treason.”

I had not told Dela that I believed Kinra had attempted to steal the Imperial Pearl. If it was in the red folio, then she would find it. And if it was not, then she did not have to know. Not yet, anyway. For a moment, I felt an overwhelming urge to tell her the meaning of the
Hua
of All Men. To share the horror. But she would tell Kygo—that was a certainty—and he would have to protect the pearl.

Unbidden, a terrible thought shivered through me: Emperor Dao had executed Kinra to protect the pearl. Love against power, and power had won.

I needed more time to master
Gan Hua
. More time to find another way to save the dragons. Then I would tell Kygo everything.

“Yes, we know it was treason,” I said softly. “But I need to know exactly what she did, and why.”

Especially
why
. I needed proof.

Dela nodded. “I'll look. There were no specifics in the note at the back, but it might be within the coded sections.” She started to unwind the pearls, then paused. “I did glean another piece of information. At the very beginning of our bargain with the dragons, there were always
two
ascendant dragons each year, not just one—the male dragon who was in his Ascendant year of the cycle
and
the Mirror Dragon. She was always ascendant—whether with a male dragon or on her own in the Mirror Dragon year—until she went missing after Kinra's death.”

Another piece of the puzzle, but where did it fit?

“If she was always ascendant, does it mean that dragon power has been halved since she left?” I mused. “Is that part of the reason why the dragons need to be saved?”

Dela shook her head. “I don't know,” she said tiredly. “I just decode it.”

“And I appreciate all your hard work.” I clasped her arm in thanks.

As I withdrew, she caught my hand. “You're upset, and so is Ryko. Has something happened?”

I squeezed her fingers. “Everything is fine.”

I turned to leave, but was stopped by Ryko. “Lady Eona, can I speak to you?”

I was fairly sure it was nothing I wanted to hear, but I allowed him to steer me away from Dela. He led me to the edge of the camp at a careful distance between two perimeter guards.

“What was that?” he demanded. All of his usual stolid composure was gone.

“What?”

He leaned down. “Don't treat me like an idiot. I know what it feels like to be compelled by you. You have done it to me enough times. And I know you compelled Ido just now, in such a way that”—he pressed his two fists together—“Eona, what have you
done?”

Heat rushed to my face. “I did what I had to do,” I said, lowering my voice. “Lord Ido found a way to block my compulsion. I found another way to his will. It is no different.”

“No different?” His long islander eyes held mine. “Do you really believe that? You must know you are playing with fire. You heard what Momo said.”

“Would you prefer that I not have any power over him?”

His chin jutted mulishly. “I would prefer him dead.”

I glared at him.

He conceded with a reluctant tilt of his head. “Just be careful. Dela is worried sick about you.”

“She is worried sick about you, too.” His hard stare warned me away, but right then I had no patience for unnecessary suffering. “You are a fool if you think she cares about rank and fortune.”

“I know she does not.”

“Is it because she is physically a man?”

He gave a sharp laugh. “I grew up around stranger couplings. That is not the reason.”

I crossed my arms. “What is, then?”

He rocked on his feet and, for a moment, I thought he was going to walk away.

“I am not meant to be alive,” he finally said. “Shola allowed you to pull me back from my death. Do you think it was out of pity?”

I swallowed, remembering the fisher village. He had truly been walking the pathway to his ancestors.

“I am here for a reason,” he said with determination. “I do not know what it is, but I doubt it is to find my own happiness. I am marked by Shola, and she will reclaim me when my part is played in this gods' game. I do not have the right to pull Dela close or make plans. It would not be honorable.”

“You are here because I healed you, Ryko. My power brought you back from death. If anyone has a say in your life, it is me.” I jabbed my finger into my chest. “And I say take happiness while you can.”

At least one of us could have it.

“Are you so powerful now that you count yourself with gods?” he demanded.

“No! You know I did not mean that.”

“You may have control of my will, Lady Eona, but you do not have control of my honor. It is all that I have left. It is all that I can give Dela.” He gave a stiff bow. “With your permission.” Without waiting, he turned and walked away.

I watched Dela's pale face turn to follow him as he strode across the camp. So much unhappiness in the name of duty and honor.

The village of Sokayo had a bathhouse.

It was a small, foolish thing to be excited about, but the report from Caido—recently returned from scouting the village—still lifted my spirits. We were less than a full bell's walk away, and had taken temporary refuge in a ravine with a small stream at its base. Although it was midmorning, Kygo had decided we could cautiously cross the final distance. Opposite me in the circle of intent listeners, Vida was grinning too, although I doubted it was from the thought of a hot bath; she would soon be reunited with her father.