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Why’d you stay? Ukar cuts in. You could’ve left Shenlani easily, from the looks of it.
The question makes Hokzuh tense. “Because of your Demon Witch.”
It’s the first time that he’s acknowledged that Queen Ishirya is Angma. “If you knew she had your pearl, why not take it from her?” I ask. “Why pretend to be under her thrall?”
Hokzuh’s eyes dilate with displeasure. “You think it’s as easy as stabbing her in the heart and cutting out my pearl?” He snorts. “Maybe if I had the other half—the dragon half—I’d stand a chance…. But only Angma knows where that is.”
“The dragon half,” I repeat. “Did she give any hints about where it might be?”
“If she had, I wouldn’t be here.” Hokzuh forges ahead. We’re almost at the hills, and I can see the rooftops that make up the village of Yappang. “She loved to torment me with what she knew, and what I didn’t. In the end, she only said she’d have it soon.” He scoffs. “Who knows? She’s been so preoccupied with making Meguh attend your sister’s auction, she’s hardly mentioned it.”
My mind is reeling. There’s something to be unearthed here—I can feel it. A weakness or a secret that the Demon Witch has buried. “Going to the auction was the queen’s idea?”
“She encouraged Meguh to go. Told him to offer as much gold as needed.”
Hokzuh pushes aside tall elephant grass as we climb up a low hill. The grass tickles my arms, and wind sweeps over the sweat beading on the nape of my neck.
“Did she say what she wanted with Vanna?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” says Hokzuh. “A young and beautiful maiden who’s captured the attention of every king in the isles. My guess is the Golden One was going to be her next body. Ishirya’s was getting…worn.”
I remember how Ishirya’s skin melted when I destroyed her shell. It makes sense that Angma would covet my sister’s youth and beauty. But Angma has wanted my sister since she was a baby. Any idiot would guess it has to do with the light in Vanna’s heart. It’s strange that Hokzuh hasn’t once mentioned it.
Strange indeed. My ribs pinch with sudden revelation.
“Who’d think a Demon Witch would be so vain?” I say, as casually as I can. My heart is thundering, and I hope Hokzuh doesn’t hear.
He snorts. “I told you she was a witch. Beauty and youth are all those old crones ever care about.”
“You didn’t see anything…special about Vanna?”
“Special?” The dragon frowns. “What I saw was a spoiled, vapid girl who didn’t even stand up for her sister, let alone herself.”
Ukar and I exchange a look. Could Hokzuh not see the golden light bursting from Vanna’s heart?
Ukar coils himself around my shoulders, his skin pulsing against my neck. I don’t dare speak to him, in case Hokzuh hears.
I lengthen my stride, so the dragon and I can walk side by side. “You said you didn’t know what your pearl looked like. What if the dragon half’s deep in the bottom of the ocean or tucked away in a cloud? How will you know it?”
“That’s the cruelty of this,” says Hokzuh with a pained laugh. “I wouldn’t know it even if it were right in front of me. It’s my curse.”
“But you found the demon half.”
His nostrils flare. “Only because of what it did to Angma.”
“What would the dragon half do to someone?”
“A dragon pearl is the very essence of pure and perfect power,” he replies. “Should any creature possess that half of my heart, they’d become…extraordinary.”
Extraordinary. Like Vanna.
That gnawing feeling inside me intensifies. I can barely steady my voice as I speak, “And to get it back, you’d have to…to…”
“Kill them,” Hokzuh states coldly. “I’m counting on your blood to help me slay Angma. With any luck, we’ll get the bastard holding my dragon half too.”
I force a smile, but inside, my world is crumbling. I am sure of it, as sure that the sun brings day and the moon harkens night, that the pearl Hokzuh so desperately seeks…is the light in Vanna’s heart.
Of course, Hokzuh has no idea what I’m thinking. He regards me curiously. “Why so glum, Channari? You’re no stranger to sacrifice. You’ve killed to get where you are today.”
