A few clouds drifted high above the earth, but barely a breeze could be felt on the ground. From the distance came the faint sound of bells. The procession drew nearer.
Sae adjusted her grip and checked the tension of her bowstring. Good thing there’s no wind.
The Kinma dogs possessed extraordinary reflexes. Although her father had placed his best archers here, she had worried there might be a side wind, increasing the risk of shots straying wide.
If we miss and some of those dogs get away into the forest… The thought of what might follow made Sae’s stomach knot.
She’d been summoned by her father immediately after parting from Milalle. Although surprised by his plan, she’d also been relieved. As usual, he’d simply said what to do without touching on the background, but Sae realized that if he knew from where Shikan intended to spring his attack, then he’d surely been aware all along that Shikan and the Kinma dogs had left Aquafa. The thought that, despite this, he’d calmly ordered his own daughter to kill Ohfan and his companion hung dark and heavy in her chest.
In Sae’s mind, she saw Van’s face, felt his gentle hand stroking her back, heard his quiet voice… He’d claimed that talent was a cruel thing. She closed her eyes for a moment, took a breath, and then opened them again.
We must stop this terrible disease here.
The procession would soon be upon her and the other Molfah. Any moment now, the attack would begin. Sae had taken position here some time ago, choosing a spot where she saw the soldiers guarding the procession while she herself remained concealed. The cliff and the road before it were visible through the trees. Commoners had been forbidden to use the road during the passage of the Emperor’s Eyes. There was no one on the path, just the early afternoon light gleaming on its surface. The cliff beyond rose tall and almost perfectly sheer.
The Cliff of Alulufan… Could the Kinma dogs really charge down such a precipitous incline?
Out of the corner of her eye, Sae spotted a flash of metal—sunlight glancing off the spear tips of the lancers leading the procession. The road narrowed here between the cliff and the forest, forcing the procession to stretch, increasing the distance between soldiers. No worry showed in their expressions. Even if archers at the top of the cliff aimed straight down, they could not hope to strike their targets. A sturdy wall had been erected along the edge of the road near the cliff to protect it from falling rocks, and the soldiers guarding the procession were concentrated solely on the forest side.
Horse-drawn carriages rumbled into view—one, two, three carriages. All of them were of the same type, large and magnificently ornamented. Curtains covered the windows, and it was impossible to tell which one hosted the Emperor’s Eyes. Sae had been told that he wasn’t Shikan’s target, but she remained tense as she watched the carriages. Warriors astride splendid mounts tailed them. The Zolian nobles, including the prince elector, took pride in their bravery and refused to ride in carriages.
Sae narrowed her eyes and scanned the faces of the riders as they passed. At last, a large man astride a black steed appeared. Catching sight of the family crest on the shields his men bore, Sae tightened her grip on her bow. It was the prince elector, the governor of Oah.
He rode past Sae slowly. She frowned. There was still no sign of the Kinma dogs. Soon, the last of the men would pass beyond the cliff. After that, the road widened and the soldiers would once more surround the procession, making it much harder to attack, even for those beasts.
An icy finger brushed Sae’s spine. Something was wrong. She and her fellow Molfah had missed something. Her heart pounded as a thought flashed through her brain.
Could this be another dropped knife? Was Shikan playing the same trick that Ohfan had employed so well?
The procession passed without incident and disappeared around the end of the cliff.
From the cliff top, Mukata, son of Malji, watched the procession passing along the road below. His face tense, he glanced at the profile of the young man hiding in the thickets.
What’s he doing? His chance to attack was rapidly slipping away.
Twenty dogs crouched behind him, waiting quietly for his command, and beside him was a black wolf. With one hand resting on the creature’s back, the young man kept his eyes trained on the road. At his order, the whole pack had been drugged before being led to this spot. He must have calculated the dose perfectly because they woke not long before and now displayed no effects from the sedative.
The wolf kept flicking its ears in Mukata’s direction. The Molfah were downwind, so the wolf couldn’t be aware of them, but it still made Mukata uneasy. Each time the wolf moved its head, the young man stroked its back, urging it to be still.
The tail end of the procession below passed beyond the cliff.
Why isn’t he moving?
The young man rose.
Ah. Finally.
However, Shikan turned abruptly from the cliff and flashed a grin toward the bushes where Mukata and his men hid. The wolf rose to its feet, followed by the Kinma dogs. Their gleaming eyes all trained on the same spot.
Shock ran through Mukata as if a bucket of icy water had been dumped over his head, and he raised his bow at them. However, the pack launched toward the Molfah before he could draw the string taut. One arrow found its mark, and a dog flipped squealing into the air. However, those arrows loosed by Mukata and the rest found no target. The beasts dodged the missiles as though they could read their flight paths. As the raw scent of beast descended upon him, Mukata heard the young man laugh. “Traitors! You sold out your own people! Taste our wrath!”