Jay Kristoff - Kinslayer

Even on the darkest day, the world could be beautiful. If only for a moment.

He could feel the little ones inside Yukiko—two tiny sparks of life, shapeless and bright, intertwined with her own heat. They pulsed, too formless to know true fear, but real enough to feel their mother’s terror, shock, sorrow through the Kenning. The fear spilled into him, fear for them, for the one who carried them, for the beating, bleeding heart of his world.

He knew Kaiah could feel them too.

PLEASE.

Kaiah growled, deep in her throat, tail whipping side to side.

—NO. WILL NOT FIGHT FOR YOU.—

Buruu bowed his head, breathed deep, tasted defeat on his tongue. Nothing he could do. Nothing he could say. He could feel the ache in Kaiah’s heart. The ache that drove her to this razored shore. A sorrow too vast to see the edges. Little ones. Precious ones. Loved ones.

Gone.

Taken.

Kaiah padded over to Yukiko, knelt on the stone before her. The girl looked up, swollen, trembling lips and frightened, blackened eyes. An age passed, there in the howling storm, the clawing wind, the driving rain, until at last, the thunder tiger leaned in close, pressed her head against Yukiko’s belly, and listened.

The sun slipped out from behind the clouds.

Just for a moment.

—BUT I WILL FIGHT FOR THEM.—

And the rain about them turned to falling diamonds.

Ka-chunk. Ka-chunk.

The rhythm of the tracks matched the one in his chest, the spectral pulse of the mechabacus inside his head. Kin watched the countryside spin by beyond the beach-glass windows, miles upon miles of lotus fields, the towering six-legged figures of harvestermen cutting through the plants like they were made of smoke, drifting up into a scarlet sky.

The train was filled to bursting, mostly sararīmen and their families; mothers, fathers, children, all crammed together in their little metal shells and speeding down the lines toward the great capital of the Shima Shōgunate. The news that Kigen had reopened her rail yards to admit well-wishers for the Daimyo’s wedding was received with buzzing excitement, and people from all over the country were descending on the Tiger capital to celebrate the holiday and catch a glimpse of the man who would be their new Shōgun.

Ka-chunk. Ka-chunk.

So handsome, were the whispers. So brave. A man who gave his sword arm in defense of Yoritomo-no-miya, who crushed the Inochi Riots almost single-handedly. A man who stepped forward at the hour his people needed him most and wrought order from chaos. A man worthy to marry the last daughter of Kazumitsu and usher in a new, golden age for this mighty nation.

Or so the wireless said.

Kin scowled, stared at the countryside beyond the glass, tried to block out the tinny voice piping in through the speakers. He wondered how many of the people around him actually believed the Guild broadcast. Packed in so tight they could hardly move, the smell and sweat and noise enough to make a person sick. And yet, still they came. To witness history. To be part of something. To escape the drudgery of their little lives for a heartbeat, pressing their faces against the glass, looking in at perfection they would never have.

At least there was one benefit to the cabins being so full—Kin didn’t have to talk to the other Kagé. They were spread out along the train’s length so as not to draw attention. Daichi and Kaori and two dozen others; as many fighters as they could spare without stripping the village of its defenses. Kin knew Isao was amongst them, Takeshi and Atsushi too. But the boys kept their distance, and their stares and insults to themselves.

Ayane had spoken to him as they trekked through the forest to Yama city, his arm about her shoulders. Her voice had been no more than a whisper.

“You did not tell Daichi-sama what happened, did you?” Anguish in her eyes.

“He won’t care. But don’t worry, Ayane. It’s going to be good.”

Ka-chunk. Ka-chunk.

“It’s going to be perfect.”

He looked at the girl now as she stared out of the window beside him, wide, dark eyes reflecting the rolling green beyond, the gray wash of storm clouds above. She was pressed into the groove between seat and wall. A heavy cloak and a large straw hat strapped around her shoulders covered the swell of the silver arms at her back.

He recalled his meeting with Daichi, the hushed voices over the chessboard as he outlined the plan that would spell an end to everything. Kin almost felt pity when he looked into the old man’s eyes, when he considered what was coming. He almost felt afraid of what it would mean. Where it would lead.

Almost.

Ka-chunk. Ka-chunk.

But he pictured Ayane curled bloody and beaten in the corner, the way she’d trembled for hours after the earthquake ended. The way she woke screaming in the night and stared at nothing at all until dawn lit the sky. And he realized that he’d known all along how this would end. The Inquisitors had shown him after all.

Thirteen years old. Breathing in sweet blue-black, the What Will Be laid out before him. A future that, try as he might, he now knew he could never escape. No matter how fast he ran. No matter how deep he dug. No matter how hard he prayed.

Ka-chunk. Ka-chunk.

Ka-chunk. Ka-chunk.

Ka-chunk. Ka-chunk.

Ayane refused to let go of his hand.

The Shadows stepped off the train at Kigen station, Kin among them, fading amidst the crowd and wreaths of fumes. The rail yard was a series of broad concrete platforms, stained beneath black rain, encircled by razor-wire fences and corroding boxcar skeletons. The majestic figure of the Phoenix’s Floating Palace loomed over Kigen like a second sun, the Dragon tall ships swaying in the blackened bay. The refinery could be heard in the distance; steam whistles and hissing smoke, boiling into the sunset sky.

Kin and the Kagé fighters moved swift through the streets, shadows within the throng. Kigen’s citizens were already caught up in the festivities, the sounds of drunken revelry spilling from every saké bar, bedhouse and brothel in Downside. A royal wedding—even a hastily arranged one—would last several days. Tradition held that bride and groom would gather with family and friends to bid a ceremonial good-bye the eve before the ritual. Vows would be exchanged the following morning, just as the Sun Goddess crested the horizon.

Presuming, of course, nothing interrupted the occasion.

“You are well, Kin-san?” Daichi asked over his shoulder, his new walking stick clicking upon the cobbles.

“We’re fine, Daichi-sama.”

“Stay close,” he rasped. “The local Kagé may not look on you kindly.”

Kin glanced into Ayane’s wide and frightened eyes.

“That will be a switch,” he muttered.

They doubled back several times to ensure nobody followed them, Kaori and the other Kagé splitting off on different routes. But eventually, they came to a grubby house in Downside’s western slums, close to the pipeline. Daichi knocked four times, coughing, lifting his kerchief and spitting black on the cobbles, rubbing at his ribs. Kin watched the street around them, every beggar, every corner courtesan, every drunkard stumbling from a tavern or bar. Iron butterflies in his belly. Sweat on his palms, fingers entwined with Ayane’s, her hand trembling.

The door opened, and a small, wiry woman motioned them inside. She was dressed in dark cloth, hair tied in a single braid. She had no eyebrows, and the skin on her face was pink and shiny, as if she’d been recently scalded.