Soon, Sora hoped.

The room was small and cylindrical, with a bare stone floor. A lantern flickered, casting dancing shadows on the walls. Prince Gin stood outside on the balcony, his back to the door.

“Virtuoso,” he said, his arms crossed calmly behind his back. “What have you done?”

Hana stepped tentatively into the room. Although invisible, Sora crept closer to the shadowed walls. Hana proceeded to the balcony. “What do you mean, Your Majesty?” she asked.

“I mean,” Prince Gin said, “why am I being attacked?”

Sora shivered from where she stood, unseen. The eerie evenness of his voice belied something much worse than the anger she’d expected.

“I had nothing to do with the Faleese, Brin, and Caldanian navies,” Hana answered him.

He sighed, as if annoyed by a mosquito. “Never mind them. The ryuu will finish them shortly.” He gestured to the smoke and chaos coming from the Citadel and the road leading up to the castle. From what Sora could see, the reinforcements from Ria Kayla, Emperor Geoffrey, and Queen Meredith scrambled to stay in formation in the face of the ryuu defense. They may have had numbers on their side, but it still wasn’t looking good. Why had Sora thought this would work?

Prince Gin kept talking to Hana. The lantern light accentuated the scarred ridges of his face, and his skin really did look like dragon hide. “How did my prisoners escape from Dera Falls? Or . . .”

“Or what, Your Majesty?” A quiver found its way into Hana’s voice.

“Or did you let them go on purpose?”

“I would never.”

“Then why is your sister lurking behind you?”

Hana blanched. “You can see her?”

Prince Gin scoffed. “No, but I called your bluff, and now I know you’ve betrayed me.”

Sora let go of her spell and stepped out onto the balcony to join them.

“It’s rather foolhardy of you to come without your wolf,” Prince Gin said, his tone hardening now that he’d revealed them. “I can control your mind if I want to.”

“Daemon protects me through our bond,” Sora said.

Where is he? She could really use him here right now.

“But your gemina doesn’t protect your sister.” Prince Gin seized Hana.

Sora panicked for a second. Then she remembered she and Hana had a plan. It hadn’t involved the Dragon Prince threatening her life, but it did rely on Hana being close to him. Sora just had to keep him distracted.

“You’re going to die before you kill me.” Hana produced a gold pearl from the hidden pocket in her sleeve and held it up so he could see. “Because I have your soul, and I’m going to destroy it.”

Prince Gin laughed. “I don’t know how you got that, but you can’t destroy it. My soul is protected by god magic, and I’m invincible.”