“I don’t understand,” I say, frustrated. “Every bride arrives with a Red String of Fate.”
Lord Yu refills both cups, then pushes mine toward me. He doesn’t speak until I’ve emptied it of the golden liquid. “All brides share a Red String of Fate with the Sea God, but that is only a spell to protect them. Otherwise Lord Shin would not be able to cut the fate, as he does every year. After all, a true fate cannot be broken with the edge of a blade.”
I nod slowly; the fox goddess said as much.
Lord Yu continues. “The bride who loves him, the one he loves in return—only she has the power to turn myth into truth. Should this fate form, it will be invisible to all but the Sea God and his bride.”
Instinctively, my eyes dart to the Red String of Fate tying me to Shin. An invisible fate. Lord Crane doesn’t seem to notice the direction of my gaze, pouring a third cup.
“Then it’s hopeless,” I say. “Until the fated bride is thrown into the sea, the Sea God will not wake.”
More girls will be sacrificed. More lives will be lost to the storms.
“Not so hopeless as it seems,” he replies. “It is possible to form such a fate. After all, attachment, or what the poet-scholars call love, is also a choice. Two people can choose each other out of necessity. Or duty. In this way, even a Red String of Fate can be unmade, if one party should form a stronger connection with another.”
A month for you to figure out how to save the Sea God and a month for me to figure out how to be rid of you. This is the answer Shin has been searching for.
Lord Crane pushes the cup toward me. Is this my third or fourth cup? When I move to pick it up, I’m struck by a brief spell of light-headedness.
“You have your answer on how to break the curse. Form a Red String of Fate with the Sea God. That is, if you haven’t already with someone else.”
I look up, alerted to a change in Lord Crane’s voice. He was speaking in a rhythmic cadence, almost hypnotizing in its quality, like that of a storyteller’s. But now there’s something false about his voice, a spark of avarice.
His eyes linger on my hand. “I heard a curious rumor that Shin, like the death god Shiki before him, found himself bound by an unexpected fate.”
Suddenly he lashes out, grabbing my wrist. I try to pull away, but his grip is viselike, powerful for an elderly scholar. But that was my mistake for thinking he was anything other than a spirit with inhuman strength.
At the same time, the Red String of Fate starts thrashing. Something must be happening on the other end. Shin! Is he being attacked?
I try to tug my hand away, my heart racing, my head clouded from the wine-spirits. Why was Lord Crane here, when he should have been meeting with Shin?
“I sent a missive to Lotus House with every intention of parting Shin from your side,” Lord Crane seethes. “How furious I was when I discovered you accompanied him here. Luckily, you separated yourself from the Silver One. It’s been a long time since I was human. Was I ever such a fool?”
“You are still a fool,” I grit out, “if you think to kill Shin through me. Afterward, when I’m left bleeding on the floor, Shin will be very much alive, and he will have his revenge.”
My words must pierce through his triumph, because Lord Yu looks doubtful. He loosens his grip.
Seizing this opportunity, I reach for my knife, slicing it through the air between us. Lord Yu howls, stumbling back, his hand to his cheek, where my blade has left its mark.
I fall, hitting the floor just as a shout rises in the hall and the door bursts open.
19
Shin barrels into the room. He takes one look at me on my side, the table turned over, and the tea set now in pieces on the floor, and an incredible fury seems to overtake him. He grabs Lord Yu by the collar and throws him up against the wall. “I should kill you for this!”
Lord Yu appears almost gleeful as he gasps, “You found her quicker than I thought. It’s as if you were guided by an invisible fate. I wasn’t certain before, but I am now.”
“Mina!” Namgi’s by my side, helping me to stand. “Are you hurt?”
Outside in the hall there are the sounds of battle, shouts and steel against steel. Kirin must be holding off the guards.
“I’m fine,” I say. “I nicked him with my knife.” Lord Yu’s cheek bleeds freely now.
“Let’s go,” Shin says, dropping Lord Yu to the floor. He turns, reaching for me. I wince as his hand closes over my wrist.
He pushes up the sleeve of my dress. A great bruise has already formed beneath the skin where Lord Crane grabbed me.