The Moonburner Cycle

by Claire Luana

  Jurou looked at him for a moment with his piercing blue eyes.

  “Your father is concerned about the Oracle’s prophecy. It’s coming true. Since the peace treaty between Kita and Miina, strange things have been happening. The drought, the spotted fever, but more than that. Things you have not heard about yet. Things we have been trying to keep quiet. A horde of locusts descended on some farms in Western Kita. But they didn’t just eat the crops. They were flesh-eating. They destroyed the cattle, the livestock—even people who were unfortunate enough to be caught outside.”

  Hiro’s stomach turned.

  “There is more than I can even recount. We cannot ignore that these horrors may be caused by the gods’ anger.”

  “You can’t believe that superstition,” Hiro protested.

  “We can’t afford not to,” Jurou retorted. “Of course, I am looking into alternative explanations. But often the simplest explanation is the right one.”

  Hiro nodded reluctantly. “We have reached the same conclusion here. We have to be open to the possibility that the disasters are caused by the gods. But that brings us no closer to a solution.”

  “My first mission is to see what I can find in Miina’s library. Maybe there are texts that reveal more about Tsuki and Taiyo’s proclivities and how to placate them.”

  Relief flooded him. Jurou was here to help. Then Hiro remembered the man had said first mission.

  “Your second purpose for being here?”

  “Yes. The secret one. I am to evaluate the citadel’s leadership and defensive capabilities. If worse comes to worst… your father is willing to break the alliance.”

  “What?” Hiro exploded. “How could that be on the table? It’s the first time we’ve had peace in hundreds of years. We finally sent our soldiers home to their families. Now you want to call them back?”

  “The king is being practical, examining all options. War is preferable to starvation. These gods know how to hit us where it hurts.”

  “It’s not natural,” Daarco said from his chair, still looking into the fireplace. “Peace between sun and moonburners. It’s not natural.”

  Hiro rolled his eyes. “Your mother was a moonburner. None of us would have been here if not for a moonburner and a sunburner getting along, at least for a short while. Just because you don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not natural.”

  Daarco stood, setting his empty glass down. From his red-rimmed eyes, it hadn’t been his first drink. “Moonburners killed my father. I saw his body, burned and blackened by their evil. I vowed that day to make them all pay. So you’re sure as hell right that I don’t like it.”

  Hiro massaged the bridge of his nose, holding his frustration in check. He hardly recognized Daarco anymore. “Jurou, I will keep your orders to myself…for now. But I trust you will do everything in your power to ensure that you find a solution in the library. That is the only type of solution I will accept, understand?”

  “Understood, Prince Hiro.”

  “Daarco, I’d like to talk to you in the hall for a moment.”

  “Yes, Your Highness,” Daarco said with a mocking half-bow.

  They closed the door to Jurou’s chamber, and Hiro pulled Daarco by the arm down the hallway.

  “We’ll be less than one hundred paces away,” Hiro said to the guard as she moved to follow them. As soon as they turned the corner, Hiro rounded on Daarco, slamming him into the wall. “Why are you here?” he hissed.

  Daarco seemed taken aback, sobering up for a moment. “Your father sent me. To teach me….tolerance,” he mumbled.

  “How is that going?” Hiro asked. “It seems to me that so far you’ve managed to get drunk and continue to hate moonburners.”

  Daarco glared at him.

  Hiro softened, taking his hands from his friend’s shirt collar. “Everyone lost someone in the war. I know it stings, but…it was war. My father’s decree resulted in Kai’s father’s death, and she has found a way to forgive.”

  Daarco opened his mouth to say something, but Hiro held up a finger to silence him.

  “Despite what Jurou says, our future is peace with the moonburners. If you want to be a part of that future, you have to find a way to get past your hatred.” Hiro looked at his friend, seeing the small boy he knew as a child grieving over the loss of his father. “You have hated for so long. It drains you. Try to lay it down. Or you can’t stay.”

  Daarco nodded, averting his eyes from Hiro’s. “I’ll try. That’s all.”

  “That’s all I ask,” Hiro said. Hiro didn’t need Ryu’s abilities to see that his friend had been drowning his sorrows in sun whiskey. Daarco’s warrior’s physique had softened and he had put on weight around his middle and under his chin. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin was blotchy.

  Hiro felt a stab of guilt. He had been away too long. He had left his friend to his own devices and this is what had happened. Daarco’s hatred of the moonburners was slowly killing him.

  But now that Daarco was here, Hiro would do his damnedest to make it right. He would drag Daarco into this new era—kicking and screaming if he had to.

  “You should have something to do while you’re here,” Hiro said, racking his brain. How could he keep Daarco occupied? Who could put up with him?

  A brilliant idea dawned on him. Someone just as tough as Daarco who wouldn’t take any flack.

  “Would you consider helping in the armory? Assisting with teaching weaponry and tactics and such?”

  “Fine,” Daarco said, apparently defeated for the time being.

  “You’ll help Chiya,” Hiro said. “That’ll be perfect.”

  CHAPTER 9

  The next night fell quickly, and Kai could have sworn that there was a crisp of autumn in the air. Perhaps she was imagining it, but she felt hopeful nonetheless. She had slept the full day, spared from the worried tossing and turning that had filled her nights as of late. Her steps were light as she and Quitsu made their way to the stables for her weekly ride into the city.

  Her mood was further buoyed when she encountered Hiro in the stables, saddling his tall chocolate stallion.

  “Going somewhere?” she asked, straightening the buttons of the fitted leather vest he wore.

  “I was hoping I could accompany you this evening. If you’ll have me,” he said, gazing down at her.

  Kai examined the ceiling, pretending to consider. “I suppose, since you did help save my life yesterday, I could bear your presence for one ride.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” he said, his voice filling with emotion. “You saved yourself without any help from me.”

  “Nonsense,” she said. “Emi told me how you went for the crown and worked with her to try to save me. It was inspired.”

  “It didn’t work,” he said.

  “You don’t always have to be the one to save me,” she said softly.

  “It’s my job,” he said. “If I can’t protect you, what am I good for?”

  “Plenty,” Kai said. “I don’t need another bodyguard. I need someone who will make me laugh when I’m in one of my moods.”

  “I suppose I have some practice at that…There have been enough moods,” he said.

  “And encourage me go for morning runs about the citadel when I’d rather loaf under the covers.”

  “Your endurance is getting much better. Though I’m not categorically opposed to loafing.”

  “And I need someone to explain the finer points of Kitan military strategy to me.”

  “Master Vita could do that.”

  “But Master Vita doesn’t make my heart race when he explains the famous Phoenix Flanking Maneuver,” Kai said, running her thumb across Hiro’s rough palm.

  “I would hope not,” he chuckled. “I wouldn’t stand a chance with that type of competition.”

  “I’m serious. I need someone who knew me before all of this madness. A friend. And…” Her tongue always tied itself in knots when the subject tilted towards the physical. “And a lover?” The statement
came out like a question.

  Hiro looked at her for a moment, his green eyes smoldering, seeming to bare her down to the soul. He pulled her into a tight embrace, burying his nose in her neck.

  Kai melted into him, relishing the moment of tenderness. With his very presence, Hiro had a way of making her feel like everything would be all right. He pulled back and his mouth found hers, his tongue gently searching, parting her lips with sweet insistence. And then she stopped thinking of how he made her feel and just felt it, her mind drifting into a bliss empty of worry about gods and droughts and fevers. He invaded her senses and left her reeling. The musky scent of him, the feel of his hard muscles pressed against her body. Her body ached for him.

  But, as he always did, he pulled away, leaving her breathless and quivering. Though they had spent months together and had shared countless passionate kisses, he seemed unwilling to cross some invisible line. She’d almost begged him to continue a dozen different times, but her pride had killed the words on her tongue.

  A cleared throat sounded behind them and Kai whirled around, her face red. Ryu and Quitsu stood in the hallway, bland expressions on their furry faces.

  “Let’s get my horse saddled,” Kai said, smoothing her hair and heading to the next stall. She risked a glance back at Hiro and was rewarded by a stormy look of longing on his face. Though it stirred her own emotions once again, she felt a touch of satisfaction. Good. Let him stew.

  Kai and her retinue made their way out the big oaken citadel gates and into the city proper. Though Nanase insisted on Kai having at least two master moonburners and four other guards with her, it still was preferable to remaining cooped up in the citadel.

  Kai held court once a month, during which her subjects could come to her to present a problem or complaint, but she had taken to riding through the city at least once a week to let the people see her. Sometimes she visited Tsuki’s temple or the merchant’s guild headquarters. Other times she’d go to a school or library. Last week, she had visited a boarding house Emi had set up, where vulnerable women could learn a real trade and escape a life of prostitution. That visit seemed like a lifetime ago.

  Tonight, having Hiro at her side was a welcome addition. With Quitsu and Ryu trotting along beside them, they drew quite a few stares from Kyuden’s citizens. Often her passage was met with cheers and hollers, but this ride was different. The faces she saw were withdrawn, guarded. Hungry.

  They made their way through the well-kept streets that bordered the citadel into the Meadows, the rundown neighborhood where Kyuden’s poorest citizens lived. Kai had made efforts to better the situation for those who lived in this area, opening an orphanage and kitchen paid for with royal funds. It was a start, but there was very far to go.

  Tonight they were headed to the city’s granaries situated on the docks of the Nozuchi River. Kai had read reports about the sorry state of Kyuden’s food stores, but she’d had to see it for herself. Hanae had arranged an appointment and tour with the dockmaster.

  Kai glanced over at Hiro, who seemed lost in thought. He worried at the reins with his hands, his attention far away.

  “What’s on your mind?” she asked him.

  He started, as if he had forgotten she was there. “Daarco,” he admitted.

  “About that,” Kai said sharply. “I don’t want him here. We have enough to worry about as it is.”

  “He won’t try anything,” Hiro said. “He knows he has to behave or he will be stripped of his rank and discharged.”

  “The man tried to kill me,” Kai said. “I don’t trust him.”

  “I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t either if I were you. But at the time, he was doing what he thought was best for the sunburners. I have made it very clear that what is best for the sunburners now is peace. Our alliance.”

  “Will that be enough?” Kai asked.

  Hiro sighed. “Daarco wasn’t always like this. Once, he was like a brother to me. Now…I’m losing him. This hatred is consuming him, and if I don’t try to bring him back from the edge…”

  “You’ll lose him forever,” Kai finished.

  “I know I have no right to ask you to let him stay, especially with all that is going on. But just give me two weeks. To get through to him. If there’s no improvement…we’ll send him home.”

  “Two weeks?”

  “Two weeks.”

  She blew out a breath, fluttering her silver hair. “I can’t refuse you anything.”

  “You are a most magnanimous queen,” Hiro said with a chuckle. He took her hand and kissed it. “Thank you. Besides, I gave him to Chiya to look after. I figure if those two don’t tear each other apart, she’ll whip him into shape.”

  Kai laughed. “I’m impressed. They’ll probably glare at each other until one of them goes cross-eyed.”

  “Indeed. We can just sit back and watch.”

  Kai’s smile grew wistful. “I wish everyone believed it as strongly as we do.”

  “What?” Hiro said.

  “That what we’re doing is right. The alliance. I know it in my bones. But how to show people?”

  “We will,” Hiro said, squeezing her hand.

  As they crested a hill, the view of the city stretched out beneath them. The lights below punctuated the inky darkness of the evening, and the stars above them seemed a mirror, reflecting the beauty of her city. A split in the road veered to the right, ending at a small grassy park designed to take in the view.

  “Let’s stop for a moment,” Hiro said. He had a strange gleam in his eye. Kai considered rejecting the idea, but he had already swung down from the saddle, handing the reins to one of the guards. A short break can’t hurt, she thought. The park, despite the warm evening, was deserted.

  Kai dismounted, landing on the cobblestones of the road. She wore fitted black trousers and a violet silken tunic with a high neck. She was still more comfortable in pants than anything else.

  Hiro took her hand and led her into the park, where he looked into the distance for a moment.

  “Gives Kistana a run for its money,” he said, referring to the Kitan capital where he had grown up.

  “Kyuden beats Kistana hands down,” Kai said.

  “You’ve never even been to Kistana!” Hiro retorted.

  “I don’t have to,” Kai said. “I know that Kyuden is the most beautiful city in the world.”

  “Agree to disagree,” Hiro said, turning to her. “Neither of them hold a candle to the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen.”

  “And what might that be?” Kai asked, arching an eyebrow.

  “You,” he said.

  She chuckled, playfully swatting at him, but the intensity of his expression stilled her.

  “I mean it,” he said. “Inside and out. I can’t imagine my life without you. I don’t want to have to.” He pulled something out of his pocket.

  “Kailani Shigetsu, Queen of Miina. Will you marry me?” He held up a ring that glittered in the starlight. It was simple, formed of interwoven bands of silver and gold, studded with tiny winking diamonds. It was perfectly lovely, unlike the gaudy gems that were all the rage among the nobles. Somehow he had known that this would be exactly what she would want.

  Kai’s breath caught in her throat, her mind racing with excitement. A life with Hiro was a dream that she had hardly dared dream, for fear that thinking of it would cause it to slip away. She loved him with force that she felt like a physical thing.

  But a flicker of guilt flitted through her mind. War was coming. The very earth was rebelling against them. How could she play the happy bride when her people were starving? Dying?

  Hiro seemed to understand the doubt in her face. “I know the timing seems strange. The truth is, I’ve been carrying this ring in my pocket for months, trying to find the perfect time. But there is no perfect time. You almost died yesterday. When I thought I had lost you, I kept thinking what a fool I had been, that I hadn’t told you how I felt. That I had missed my chance. I’m not going to miss my chance agai
n. I love you, Kai. Even if Taiyo scorches the earth tomorrow, I want to spend today with you.”

  “I love you too,” she whispered, her thoughts tumbling inside her. She wanted it too. To marry Hiro. To have one piece of happiness to hold on to while the world crumbled around her.

  So she threw her arms around Hiro and kissed him, deep and long, giving him her answer without a word passing her lips. When she pulled back, both of their faces were wet with tears.

  “Yes,” she said.

  He slipped the ring on her finger.

  CHAPTER 10

  Ryu and Quitsu plowed into Hiro and Kai with bounds of happiness, nearly knocking them off their feet. Ryu had his paws on Hiro’s shoulders and Quitsu sat on Kai’s head and they laughed and shooed at their seishen with happy tears shining in their eyes.

  “Don’t tell me we’re stuck with the fox,” Ryu rumbled as he dropped back to all fours.

  “You would be so lucky,” Quitsu said with mock affront. “You have the sense of humor of a bale of hay, and the look of one too! I could teach you a thing or two!”

  “Now, kids, don’t fight,” Kai said with a laugh, her gaze meeting Hiro’s with the sudden joy of possibility. He could see it too. Children. A family. A life to build.

  Hiro circled behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her silver-topped head. They looked over the sparkling lights of Kyuden, reveling in the moment. His spirit soared. She had said yes.

  Kai wasn’t one to play games, and Hiro had thought he’d known what her answer would be. But a small part of him had been terrified. He wasn’t used to feeling so exposed.

  Now, holding her in his arms, Hiro felt silly for doubting their love. They had been through so much together already.

  “I never thought I’d get to marry for love,” he said.

  “You assume your father will approve?” she joked.

  “You know he respects you,” Hiro said. “He thinks you’ll keep me in line.”

  “He’s not wrong,” she said.