Daemon studied the cramped notes written in the margins of the story. They’d clearly been added to over the years, beginning with Prince Gin’s childish block printing then graduating to a more mature, impassioned script. Were there any clues here that could help them stop the pursuit of the Evermore?

The fable was about Emperor Mareo, the first to swear his loyalty to Zomuri in an attempt to win paradise on earth. It included the Ceremony of Two Hundred Hearts, which Prince Gin had already conducted. After that, though, the story concluded with Mareo setting off to attempt to conquer the kingdoms on the mainland. It was the same part of the tale that Prince Gin was currently in—nothing that would help them now. Besides, Mareo, like all the emperors who followed in his footsteps, had failed to come even close to achieving the Evermore.

“How’s it going?” Fairy asked.

“I’ve found nothing. No clues about Empress Aki or much else either.”

Fairy rolled up her scroll, her sketched copy of the map complete, and came over to his side. “Maybe there’s nothing else here to find.”

“Maybe,” Daemon said, “but Zomuri told Prince Gin to read up on old legends, so I feel like there might be something here.” He set The Book of Sorrow on the desk while Fairy began investigating the walls of the study, tapping to listen for hollow compartments and checking for disguised buttons.

He picked up one of the other books. Its burgundy leather cover and the gold flames on the spine looked familiar. The title on the cover was Obscure Folklore.

This is the one, Daemon remembered. He’d seen another copy of this book before, when he was at the Society outpost in Tiger’s Belly, after Sora had been hypnotized on the Dragon Prince’s ship and Daemon had been left behind. This book contained the legend of Dassu, about a taiga who combined his magic with devilfire and burned down the middle of Kichona. When Daemon last read it, he’d been preoccupied with finding an explanation for why he was immune to Prince Gin’s mind control. But now, because of Zomuri, Daemon knew there was something else important in this book.

A few of the pages were dog eared. He opened to the first one: “Dassu and the Warrior.”

Daemon’s heart beat faster—this was the story he was looking for.

It was almost as he remembered. A taiga wanted more power, so he made a deal with a demon, Dassu, allowing Dassu to blend the taiga’s magic with his own. But when the gods found out what he’d done, Luna sent the demon back to the hells, and she smothered the taiga to death.