Mortified, Kira bit her lip so hard she could taste blood. She willed her body to remain still even as her mind screamed in outrage and fear. Taejo looked tired, his face carefully blank. But her father"s face showed signs of a recent beating.
The general walked with his head held high, giving no hint of any strain or emotion.
Kira gazed at her father, wishing he"d look at her and know that she and her brother were there. The general marched past, ignoring the soldiers that prodded him with their swords. One lone horseman rode behind the procession, his red-and-gold robes gleaming in contrast to those of his prisoners. Anger coursed through her at the sight of Lord Shin"s arrogant face.
"They"ve got to be heading for the palace steps," Kwan said.
Kira agreed. Royal p.r.o.nouncements were always made on the tiered steps for the citizens to see. And Shin was out to make a spectacle of the royal family.
Kira and Kwan pushed through the crowd and ran into an alley. At the end of the alleyway, Kira found a tunnel entrance covered by a shed.
Kwan began pulling the shed away from the wall. "Come on, Kira, help me already!"
Rage and fear warred within her as his words rang in her ears. Something cracked inside of her. With sudden violence she twisted and kicked the side of the shed, causing it to collapse.
"Have you lost your mind?" Kwan said. Grabbing her by the arm, he yanked her against the wall. "Are you trying to get us caught?"
Her brother shook her hard again.
"Calm yourself," he hissed. "Which way do we go?"
Kira pulled open the door that had been hidden behind the shed. She went down a dim stairway, into a hallway that forked off into a series of dark tunnels.
"Oppa, stay close," she said. "You can"t see in the dark like I can."
At the end of the hall, she entered a very narrow pa.s.sageway. It was only wide enough for one person to pa.s.s through at a time, and it was pitch-black. The only sound she could hear was Kwan"s breathing behind her and the slight echo of their footsteps. She stepped out into a tunnel that ran parallel with the city"s underground sewage system. The foul stench was overpowering.
The tunnels forked, but Kira didn"t hesitate, veering left. At the end of the tunnel, steep stairs led up to another drainage ditch, which opened to a side alleyway near the palace compound.
A large crowd of people stood outside the palace walls. There was no sign of the royals or of the traitor. Kira and her brother walked into the crowd, but no one paid any attention to them. Everyone was watching the raised platform before the grand entrance to Hansong palace as military leaders and senior advisers to the king were dragged forward in chains. Yamato archers marched before them, readying themselves for the public execution.
One of the prisoners cried, "For Hansong! For King Yuri!" The crowd took up the refrain, their mighty shouts silencing the deadly thud of the arrows.
Kira could hear Kwan cursing as servants carried away the bodies.
The sudden pounding of drums heralded Lord Shin"s arrival. He strode up the stairs and seated himself in the king"s sedan chair. Behind him came the exhausted royals and the greatest general of Hansong.
"People of Hansong!" Lord Shin cried as he rose. "Here is your famous king before you now!"
He grabbed Yuri by the neck and threw him onto the ground in front of the crowd.
"My old friend!" King Yuri sneered as he fought against the chains that bound him.
Shin laughed as Yamato soldiers hauled the king to his knees. "My good friend," he taunted. "How many years has it been, Yuri?"
"Traitor!" Yuri roared.
"It took you thirty years to discover this? How foolish you must feel."
"I trusted you! You were like a brother to me!"
Shin stroked his beard as he contemplated the king. "Then you"re a fool. I"ve been planning this ever since the old king turned his back on me and my rightful claim," he said. "Instead of returning to Kudara, I stayed, biding my time. And now, Kudara and Yamato have united under the daimyo to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. My patience has been rewarded. Hansong is mine."
"May the G.o.ds curse you and your entire clan! May your name live only in infamy!" The king raged against his chains like a madman.
"Yes, yes, but first I will get to see you die."
A Yamato soldier drew his sword and approached the king.
The crowd"s protests grew louder. Kira started forward, only to be hauled back by her collar.
"No, Kira," Kwan said. "There"s nothing we can do."
She jerked convulsively at the high-pitched whistle of the sword, the sound of Queen Ja-young"s agonized scream, and Taejo"s sobs echoing in her head.
Lord Shin made to pull the fainting queen into his arms.
"Don"t touch her!" Taejo yelled. He leaped at the older man, punching and kicking like a crazed animal. Shin flung Taejo away and cursed at him.
Kira bit her lips, trying to control herself. Taejo was now a horse length away from her.
"We have to do something now or they will kill him," Kira said to Kwan.
"We need a distraction," Kwan said.
Kira edged closer to the prince. Pushing her hat up, she gazed across the platform and caught the general"s shocked gaze.
"Father."
The crowds faded away, and all she could see was her father"s face. He nodded at her. In his eyes she saw all his love and pride and she knew at that moment what he would do and what she must do.
The general let out a war cry, knocking down his captors with his chains. Grabbing a sword with his bound hands, he sliced and stabbed his way toward Lord Shin. As the traitor hid behind his guards, Kira saw her chance. Leaping onto the platform, she grabbed Taejo and tossed him down the stairs toward her brother.
"Go now!" Kira shouted.
Kwan caught the prince as if he were a sack of rice and ran toward the alleyway. Kira held out her hand to her father.
"Father!" she cried.
"No, Kira! You have to leave me!"
The general threw down his weapon.
Kira started. "No, Father!"
Suddenly, a sword impaled him from behind.
A scream ripped from her throat as she watched her father"s eyes glaze over.
14.
Kira barely noticed the Yamato soldier lunging at her. Twirling, she flung her straw hat in his face and swiped his sword. She then reverse side-kicked him so hard, he flew into the air and landed in a heap in front of the other guards.
"Stop them!" Shin yelled.
Kira took one last look at her father"s body and jumped into the crowd, forcing a pathway through the spectators. Behind her, she could hear the guards giving chase. Kira ran for the tunnels, when a huge roar of a thousand voices filled the air.
"Save the prince!" It was a rallying cry that erupted from the ma.s.ses.
Glancing back, Kira was shocked to see the citizens of Hansong fighting the Yamato soldiers, blocking their progress. Arrows flew into the crowd as the Yamatos cut down those who tried to stop them. But with every death, more citizens came forward, impeding the enemy so they couldn"t follow her.
Kira turned into the alley, leaped into the tunnel, and closed the stone covering above her. The memories of her father"s death kept replaying in her head. She swallowed her tears. This wasn"t the time to mourn.
Up ahead, she could see Kwan and Taejo running. With a burst of speed, she caught up with them just as Taejo began to stumble. She held Taejo"s arm and dragged him along. She knew they had a good chance to escape if they didn"t slow down. Only the royal family knew about the underground tunnels. Shin would not know where they were or where they would come out.
The tunnels seemed endless, causing her alarm to grow. She kept hearing the echo of military boots chasing them. She didn"t know if they came from behind, in front, or above. Finally Kira could see the exit. They ran up the staircase and into the marketplace alley, heading straight for the sewage tunnel.
Once out of the tunnel and on the other side of the city walls, they moved swiftly through the woods. Not far away, Captain Pak and his men waited with their horses.
"They"re after us! We"ve gotta go now!" Kira shouted.
Jindo whined as a soldier lifted him quickly onto a horse.
"Jindo!" Taejo climbed behind his wounded dog, burying his face in Jindo"s fur.
Kira and Kwan threw off their disguises, rearmed themselves, and clambered onto their horses. They rode furiously toward the main road.
Behind them, Kira heard the loud creaking of the city gates. A small contingent of mounted Yamato soldiers charged after them.
As she rode, Kira grabbed her bow and unlatched her arrow case, attached to the front left side of her saddle. She nocked her arrow and twisted back. She zeroed in on the lead rider and let it fly. Nearby, she saw Kwan and two other soldiers twist and loose their arrows.
They took out half the Yamato contingent by shooting backward. Kira was grimly amused to see how bad the Yamato shots were.
A sudden commotion up ahead caught her attention. It was another contingent of Yamatos, surging from the northern woods in a surprise attack. They were a mix of mounted men and infantry, fifty in all.
"Ambush!" she shouted.
Kira"s senses were a.s.saulted. Nearly all the foot soldiers were demon possessed.
"Make for cover!" Captain Pak ordered. He whipped out his twin swords as the enemy rushed forward.
"Captain!" Kira yelled. "Aim for the neck!"
Pak crossed his double swords like scissor blades, slicing off the heads of the demons with remarkable ease. With deadly accuracy, Kira shot off her bow in rapid succession, dispatching several attackers in a row.
"Get out of here now!" Pak yelled.
Kwan slapped Taejo"s horse, guiding him away from the attack and toward an open break in the eastern edge of the forest. Brother Woojin rode close behind them. Half the enemy soldiers broke away from the main fighting, trying to cut them off.
Dusk had descended, making it hard to see for everyone except Kira and the demon soldiers. Kira raced after the others, twisting in her seat and choosing her targets carefully, knocking a pair of them off their horses and impeding the progress of the others. But still the Yamatos pursued them.
Urging her horse ever faster, Kira maneuvered through the forest, dodging low-hanging branches that threatened to knock her off. She came to an abrupt halt in front of a large riverbank.
The others had already plunged their horses into the fast-flowing river. Kwan was in the lead as arrows rained down upon them.
"Jindo!" Taejo shouted.
The dog had jumped off Taejo"s horse and began swimming for sh.o.r.e. As Kira urged her horse into the water, she saw Jindo had made it across and was limping into the forest, barking loudly.
Sudden anguished yells of surprise signaled a change in the situation. Arrows flew across the river, killing their pursuers. Kira reached the sandy sh.o.r.e close behind the others, when Jindo reappeared, limping over to Taejo"s side.
Kira gasped in shock as a man stepped out of the shadows.
"What are you doing here?" she asked bluntly.
15.
Kim Jaewon, the baduk player, bowed in greeting.
"Helping, I think," Jaewon said with a quizzical look. She could hear the laughter in his voice. It fl.u.s.tered her.
"Kira, do you know him?" Kwan asked.
Before she could respond, Jaewon cut in. "Why don"t we move into cover first?" he said.
Jaewon waved them over to a clearing into the woods, where Seung stood next to two grazing horses.
"Young mistress! It"s so good to see you again!" Seung said.
Kira had to smile at his happy face. She quickly introduced the pair and explained how she"d met them at the inn.
"Thank you for saving us!" Taejo said to their rescuers.