Emperor Gin merely shrugged. “There’s always a price to pay. Weren’t you the one who told Aki that? You said that leaders who were truly great weren’t afraid of paying it. And that is what I did. I know you understand.”

Hana looked up at him and the jeweled flames above his head. They no longer seemed beautiful. They were only a promise of her future in the hells if she died while fighting these wars against the mainland.

And yet she’d always known that fighting for a cause came with sacrifices. The Evermore was worth it, right?

“Now it’s time to get back to work,” the emperor said, patting her cheek affectionately, like a proud father. “But let’s keep this Kitari story between you and me, all right? The other warriors are not as wise as you, Virtuoso, and may not take to it as well. I’d prefer not to have to hypnotize my original ryuu if possible. I like having a loyal, passionate contingent of visionary warriors who understand, of their own accord, the need for the Evermore. But I will take their minds if necessary. Understood?”

Hana, schooled to be obedient, bowed her head as if in complete agreement, even though she was rattled by what was clearly a threat to control her mind if she didn’t do what he wanted. The emperor only ever used his powers on people he considered his enemies, or on unreliable, ordinary people, like when he’d hypnotized the subjects in Paro Village during the ryuu’s initial campaign into Kichona.

But now he considers me a potential enemy? She was his second-in-command, the most loyal of the loyal. Was it that easy for him to turn on the ones who were ready to give their lives for him and his pursuit of the Evermore?

“Get a team to inspect and fix my new warships,” Emperor Gin said, his voice no longer kind but back to business now. “And take Firebrand and Menagerie to smoke out those taigas.”

Hana rose slowly. She wasn’t sure how she felt or what she was going to do, but she needed time to sort through all this new information. At least if she had an excuse to go after Wolf and Fairy, she could interrogate them to see if they’d gotten in touch with this Liga person, whoever he was, and learned anything more about the damnation or a way out of it.

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Hana said, saluting despite the confusing swirl of feelings in her head. “You can count on me to find them.”

Chapter Twenty-Five