Anger flared in me, to hear him speak so of Prince Yanming and his despicable plans—yet I was glad for it to bolster my wavering will. I stared at the yellow gem against his chest. This close, a strange power emanated from it, raising the hairs on my skin.
“What makes you think you’ll win?”
“The merfolk obey my every command, as do the sea creatures. You have nothing to fear with me by your side.”
His words spilled through me like liquid honey, even as my insides recoiled. How tempting it was to agree with him, to earn his approval. No, I could not succumb; I could not end up one of his unthinking minions. My nails dug into my palms as I channeled a surge of energy into my ears to seal off my hearing. Cloaked in sudden silence, I could barely hear my own breathing. My gut twisted at the thought of fighting him this way, but I feared more falling under his control.
I fixed my gaze upon him. There would be no telltale rustle of a step or the whistle of a sword to alert me. A risk, though a necessary one. As he moved toward the bed, I grabbed the dagger from my sash and hurled it at him. He swung aside, the blade slicing his cheek. Without a pause, he lunged forward, tearing the covers from the bed—snarling to find it empty. At once he spun to me, but I darted for the nearest bow, drawing and releasing an arrow in the same heartbeat. With a sweep of his shield, he batted it to the ground. I shot one after another in a frantic pace, until my fingers stung from the grooves riddled across their tips. He was quick, though, evading each one with startling speed. My elbow slammed into a shelf as I groped for another arrow. As his knuckles whitened around his spear, I flung up a shield—just as his weapon slammed against it.
My last arrow sank into his shoulder. I dove for a new quiver, so intent upon it that I did not sense the shift in the air until something stabbed my calf, spreading like wildfire. Two silver needles protruded from my leg, pinning the silk of my dress to my flesh, stained with the greenish liquid I had seen once before. Sea scorpion venom, rushing through my veins. My shield was no more—dispelled—leaving me as helpless as a rabbit snared in a trap while the hunter stalked ever closer.
His lips peeled back, stretching wide, yet all I heard was a faint humming. I loosened the seal over my ears, until the faintest whisper slid through. All I had left to slow him with were words.
“Coward,” I hissed, trying to delay the inevitable end, to goad him to rashness. “Fight me without such tricks.”
“Losers complain and winners . . . well, winners have better things to do.” He spoke with a smug complacency that sent fear shooting down my spine.
The pull in his voice was still there but fainter now; I could barely hear it. I reached for my powers, struggling to steady myself against the searing agony of the poison.
The gem around his neck glowed like sunstruck gold. As I stared at it, I asked, “Your pendant, is that how you’re controlling the merfolk?” My voice sounded as though it came from far away. “Such magic is despicable.”
“Despicable, because you cannot wield it? Because you fear it?” He cocked his head to one side, though I did not think he expected an answer. “The merfolk have always harbored such suspicions against the Sea Immortals. I merely lit the spark of their prejudice, nudged their will to mine. How is this any different from holding a sword to your enemy’s throat? Why should one victory be deemed honorable and the other, not?”
“It’s not the same,” I ground out. “You’ve taken away their freedom to choose, to judge on their own. To compel them to acts they might rather die than commit.” I fixed him with a scornful stare, even as I shrank away inside. “But no enchantment is unbreakable. You’ll pay when they break free.”
“Death is the only release for those under my control.” A cruel light gleamed in his eyes. “There were a few who angered me with their incompetence, others who were too difficult to dominate. Just before they died, such clarity shone in their faces. Rage, too, that they had been taken for fools. It made their end all the sweeter. As yours will be.”
His spear flashed. Fighting through the pain, I seized my powers—but then his fist slammed into my temple. Pain engulfed me, my energy dispersing. If my feet could move, I would have fled, but I could not even choke out a scream through the crushing numbness which sank over me.
My arrows, I still had them. While my legs were rooted fast, my arms were still free—at least for now—until the poison spread. I grasped around my back, fumbling inside the quiver. As I seized one, the governor snatched it from me and snapped it into two—grinding the metal tip against my palm, until he drove it through my flesh. The agony stripped my mind bare. I could not cry out, I could hardly breathe. With a malicious sneer, he wrenched the bow from my grasp, throwing it beyond my reach. Picking up his fallen spear, he pressed it to my chest, exerting just enough pressure to pierce my skin with its venomous tip. Blood blossomed on the silk like a crimson hibiscus unfurling its petals. I gasped then, my upper body convulsing before it froze. From the curl in his lips, I knew he relished my suffering.