She needed to do whatever it took to get her head in order. Those who’d lost their lives in the Ceremony of Two Hundred Hearts should not have died in vain. And Sora had to stop this war before it began, or her fellow taigas and too many citizens of Kichona would die under Prince Gin’s command. Her kingdom needed her.

If stashing the soul pearl in Zomuri’s treasure vault kept the Dragon Prince safe, Sora would have to change that.

“Listen,” Sora said gently, trying to change tack to persuade Daemon, Fairy, and Broomstick that they still had a fighting chance. “We’re going to find Zomuri’s vault to retrieve the soul pearl. If we can reunite it with Prince Gin’s body, he won’t be invincible anymore, and we can kill him. It’s the only way to stop this madness.”

“I’m sorry,” Daemon said. “Did you just say we’re going to steal from a god?”

Sora flushed. “Um, yeah.”

He jabbed his twig at more mushrooms near his feet. “Tell me, assuming we could pull off a theft like that, how do we even find the soul pearl? Where does a god stash his treasure?”

“I . . . don’t know.” Sora deflated. She hadn’t gotten that far yet in her plans.

“This is not a good idea, Sora,” Daemon said.

Fairy perked up. “Is there anything you remember from your mother’s books?” Mina Teira was one of Kichona’s most famous authors, known especially for her volumes on the kingdom’s myths and legends.

Sora shook her head. “I thought about it the whole trek here from the castle. But nothing jumps out at me.”

Broomstick picked up some chestnuts that had fallen from the tree. He started throwing them one by one in frustration.

Daemon growled. “That’s not helping.”

“Oh, because the sound of a few nuts is distracting you from a brilliant revelation?” He chucked one at Daemon’s head.

“Guys—” Sora began.

“What the hells,” Daemon said. He grabbed a chestnut from the ground and hurled it. But Broomstick rolled out of the way, and it smacked into Fairy instead.

“Stop it, both of you!” She scowled at Daemon and whacked Broomstick on the back of his head. “If this is what the last hope for Kichona looks like, I might as well start writing my tombstone now.”

“Sorry,” the boys mumbled under their breaths.

“I didn’t hear that,” she said.

“We’re sorry, Fairy,” Daemon and Broomstick both said.

“Damn right you are. Now sit with your hands folded in your laps and do something useful.”

In other circumstances, Sora would have laughed at the two boys sitting with legs crossed beneath them and heads bowed like chastised tenderfoots.

But instead she groaned as she thought of something that could spell the end of their plans.

“What is it?” Fairy asked.