The online Kingmaker discussion boards were flooded with posts about a single subject: the next royal regicide. Yutai had spent the entire sleep-cycle restless in bed, scrolling through the endless megathread of theories and arguments. He watched legates, tribunes, praefects, and even centurions tear each other apart in thread after thread as they tried to answer two questions: which district would be targeted, and who the chosen four Kingmakers would be.

  Yutai needed no reminder of the significance of a regicide. It was their very namesake, the only time they made Kings. The last had taken place twenty-eight annui-cycles ago in a small South Kowlooni district, and its consequences had driven almost every southern district into open revolt. Every Kingmaker knew what it meant when the Dragons called four names. Those chosen were immortalised as the powder kegs that ignited the greatest shifts in Kowlooni geopolitical history.

  He sat hunched on the edge of his bed in the darkness of his dorm room. The pounding in his skull was the price of a sleepless night spent obsessing over the regicide. On the discussion boards, the consensus was shaping in a single direction. The likely target was Warlord Xinjian, Lord of Ho Man Ting. Yutai needed little convincing. This was the district that had abducted and tortured him and recently cut all contact from the tower. More than that, it was where his nightmares had begun. To Yutai, the end of Xinjian meant more than replacing Ho Man Ting’s leadership with a Yaozhi puppet. It meant an end to his nightmares from the fort, and the possibility of his own redemption. But that only mattered if he could be part of the regicide.

  He rubbed his aching neck, stood up from his bed, pulling on his trench coat.

  I’m going to figure out who the chosen four Kingmakers are, Yutai thought as he stepped out of his room. See who the dragons chose in the end.

  The door whooshed shut behind him.

  The tower’s vast atrium was alive with noise. It opened upward from the ground floor into a hollow space five levels tall, each floor edged with a balcony that overlooked the lobby. Every level was crowded with Kingmakers, leaning on railings, crossing the walkways, or gathering in clusters. Some huddled on sofas, others stood in tight circles, and many scrolled furiously through their holocommunicators. The regicide rumour had turned the tower into a pressure cooker.

  Legates usually carried scraps of information; and they often mingled with the Lieutenants, who in turn had connections to the Dragons. Yutai moved through the restless crowd, searching for a legate that didn’t look like the world was ending. On the far side of the gallery he spotted Legate Kwan-Ji Lok, his sharp jaw lit by the glow of a holocommunicator. Three centurions crowded close, hanging on his every word. Nearby was Legate Syun Cho, his eyes distant as a Praefect whispered in his ear. Yutai shifted his gaze again and caught sight of Legate Meiwan Jheung, her pale-green visual implants flickering as she tapped commands across a floating slate, ringed by four eager centurions.

  Everywhere he looked, the legates were hemmed in by clusters of praefects and centurions. None of them looked approachable.

  It didn’t take long until Yutai started feeling eyes turn on him too. He knew what they saw: the captured praefect, the one who had been taken by the Rioters and broken by the Yang. However, he ignored it, keeping his gaze forward as he pressed deeper into the gallery. Your stares are only fuelling me more.

  His eyes kept moving from face to face. Legate Jau-Min bent over a datapad, Legate Faihong Tze leaned back against a railing, lecturing a half-dozen Aux-Centurions. Legate Puyok Cheng strode past with his centurions sycophants trailing behind him.

  Through the uniforms, he caught sight of Tao. The praefect stood alone at the edge of a dispersing crowd, arms folded, gaze low. Yutai had last spoken to him when they were both in Fort Ho Man Ting.

  For a fleeting second, their eyes met. Then Tao looked away, turning back as if the lobby behind him had just become fascinating.

  It wasn’t the first time he’d acted this way. In the mess hall yesterday, Yutai had caught him staring, only for Tao to break eye contact just as quickly.

  A knot of irritation tightened in Yutai’s chest.

  This fool was with me in Ho Man Ting, watching my plan collapse while I was dragged away. After all that, I thought our brotherhood would be stronger. Instead he’s standing there like some timid bride about to see her groom for the first time.

  Gritting his teeth, Yutai pushed through the flow of bodies and made his way to Tao, his boots striking the tiles louder than he intended. He stopped behind him and tapped his shoulder. ‘What’s up, brother?’

  Tao stiffened, turning his head slightly. ‘Yutai?’

  Yutai waited for Tao to turn around. It was an awkward moment as Tao pivoted back and looked down at his boots. Yutai, sensing the unease, clasped his team mate’s shoulder and shook it. ‘I haven’t seen you since the fort. You’ve been a ghost around the tower. What’s going on? Is everything okay?’

  Tao’s jaw worked as though he was chewing something bitter. For a moment, he remained silent, and the noise of the atrium pressed around them. Then, finally, his voice cracked. ‘I’ve been meaning to come to you properly and speak in private. Haven’t had the chance.’

  Yutai frowned. ‘What for?’

  ‘To…’ Tao scratched the back of his head. ‘To apologise. My head’s been a mess since the mission. I just wanted to say I’m s-sorry, brother. I should have stopped you that night.’

  Yutai blinked, caught off guard. ‘Is that why you’ve been avoiding me? You feel guilty?’

  ‘I didn’t mean for it to look like I was avoiding you. I’m sorry for that too. Shing still hasn’t forgiven me. Even emailed me your report, to make sure I read what they did to you.’ Tao’s shoulders sagged, his hands curling into fists at his sides.

  Shing doesn’t need to go around acting outraged on my behalf, Yutai thought. He should know Tao isn’t why the Rioter’s took me. It was my own fault, and I’ll make sure I remind him of that the next time I see him.

  The tension in Yutai’s chest softened. ‘Brother, you didn’t chain me to that chair. You didn’t beat me or threaten my family. That was them, not you. If you think I’m blaming you, you’re wrong, because I never did. Right now, we’ve got to focus on being strong. Everything’s a mess right now and we Kings need to appear strong to our world.’

  Tao’s eyes glistened, and he nodded once. The silence between them held for a long beat.

  ‘This whole regicide rumour’s got the tower in an uproar, huh?’ Yutai asked with a hand on his hip, looking out at the gallery.

  ‘It has. But I disagree with it. Right now is the worst time to summon a royal regicide.’

  ‘How come? After everything Ho Man Ting has done, surely we’ve regicided lords for less?’

  Tao fixed his gaze on Yutai. ‘That’s a false rumour. The emperor won’t be regiciding Warlord Xinjian. He’s picked a smaller target, one who won’t fight back like a southerner might. It’ll be Lord Mingchi. Lord of District Pik. And it’ll have terrible consequences for East Kowloon.’

  The words slammed into Yutai like a blow. Mingchi? Not Ho Man Ting? Not Xinjian? His mouth went dry. ‘How do you know all this?!’

  ‘One of the nominees for the regicide used to be a part of my cohort. He contacted me personally to let me know.’

  Yutai blinked. No way. Tao knows one of them?!

  ‘Who is it?’

  ‘Yuet Li.’

  The name was familiar to Yutai. Yuet was a Kingmaker of exceptional skill.

  ‘Isn’t he a tribune? How was he ever in your cohort?’

  ‘He’s only a tribune because of me. When he was a Centurion, we were paired for, um… Operation Searchlight. He messed up badly, and I covered for him. He ended up shooting past me in rank.’

  Yutai’s face fell. He knew how heavily Tao carried the weight of that mission, now nearly two annui-cycles past. He often overheard Tao and Ushi lamenting their role in the operation. ‘What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?’

  ‘We were in Ji Sia City,’ Tao said. ‘Yuet and I were clearing an apartment block. Intel said it was a meeting ground for some emerging southern resistance group. We were told to suspect Yang. It was door to door, floor by floor. The kind of work where hesitation can mean death.’

  ‘Yeah, I know. Go on.’

  ‘Halfway through the sweep, a kid spotted us and bolted. We knew right away he was a lookout, running to warn the people we were hunting. We chased him.’

  Yutai’s gut told him where the story was heading.

  ‘I had Yuet split up since we knew where the lookout was headed. I continued chasing him and Yuet cut him off. When the boy came face to face with him, Yuet froze. He was looking at a kid barely older than 13. I guess from behind, he looked older. You know how it is with southerners, hitting puberty before they’re 6. But up front, Yuet hesitated and the kid slipped out of his grip. We were about to lose him to the alleys. I remember how Yuet looked at me as the kid was getting away and I pointed my gun. His eyes begged me not to shoot. But I did anyway.’

  Tao’s fist tightened at his side. ‘The youngest person I ever put a bullet in. Don’t think the boy even screamed. Fell right on his face. I couldn’t even be mad at Yuet. I asked myself what sort of people he and I were, where he hesitated to kill a child, and I didn’t. That day, he was a human, and I… I was a Kingmaker. Yuet deserves the world for trying to save the kid. I don’t. So when the reports went in, I swapped our roles. He got the promotion after Searchlight. I stayed behind.’

  ‘Tao…’ Yutai murmured.

  ‘The little kid hitting the ground, that’s the sound I hear the loudest most nights. My hands shake when I think about it, a shaking they never had when I aimed to shoot that child. But at least I gave Yuet something. I’m glad he’s getting a chance at the regicide.’

  The din of the atrium pressed in again, as though the tower itself wanted to out drown the confession. Tao let out a ragged breath and shook his head. ‘Sorry, brother. I need some time alone. I’m sorry again for how I’ve treated you since your return. I’m glad you’re okay.’

  Yutai nodded, stepping forward to place a hand on his teammate’s shoulder. ‘It’s okay, Tao. Thanks for talking to me. I’ll see you soon, brother. Light be with you.’

  ‘And also with you.’

  Yutai left Tao with the sound of the atrium still buzzing in his ears. For a fleeting moment, he felt the weight of his brother’s pain. The image of a boy falling silent in Ji Sia. You’re not the only one seeing things at night, Tao.

  But his sense of pity lasted only a breath. The next thought was sharper, cleaner, the kind that marked him as a Kingmaker: leverage. If Yuet’s whole career balanced on Tao’s silence, then Yutai now had the knife to pry it open. All that mattered now was finding Li.

  Taking the stairs down to the vast lobby, Yutai made his way to the front desk. Legate Ya-Ting looked up from her monitor as he approached. She was younger than most in her cohort, bright-eyed and impeccably neat, with the kind of effortless beauty that would have tempted Yutai to hold the conversation longer than needed. But today he wasn’t in that mood.

  Ya-Ting gave him a bright smile. ‘Praefect. Morning. How can I be of service?’

  ‘Is Yuet Li in the tower right now?’

  ‘One moment, I’ll check.’ She tapped quickly on a touchpad behind the counter, then nodded. ‘Yes, he’s here. He left the library less than fifteen minutes ago. Should still be on level two.’

  Yutai gave a brief nod and turned to leave, but her voice followed him.

  ‘I’m sorry about what happened to you at Ho Man Ting. I’m glad you’re back, Praefect.’

  He inclined his head in acknowledgement and stalked off.

  Yutai climbed the stairs back to the second level and stepped into its crowded halls, where Kingmakers walked alongside students from Yu Technical. This was the highest floor non-Kingmakers could reach, allowed only for access to the library. Keeping a sharp eye out, Yutai scanned every trench-coated face that passed.

  Most of the Yu Tech students wore their standard universtiy uniforms: plain white button-down shirts tucked into dark grey trousers, paired with polished black shoes that clicked along the metal floors. A few carried slim datapads under their arms, their collars fitted with small blinking chips marking their graduate-status.

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  After circling the same corridors for almost ten minutes, Yutai caught sight of him through the press of bodies. Yuet’s tall frame moved steadily against the flow, his dark trench coat swinging at his knees, the collar turned high. His hair was cropped close at the sides but left long on top, slicked back to show his smooth, pale forehead. He had the sharp-boned look of someone who carried himself with confidence. He was alone, which struck Yutai as strange. Yuet had always been surrounded by fellow tribunes in the past.

  Yutai pressed forward, pushing past shoulders and sleeves until Yuet’s head turned. Their eyes locked across the moving crowd. Yuet slowed and frowned, his gaze hardening with recognition at the approaching praefect.

  ‘Yutai? You following me? Is something the matter?’

  ‘Yes. Walk with me, I need to talk to you. Now.’

  Yuet hesitated, the faint crease of his brow betraying his confusion. ‘I have training soon. Can this wait?’

  ‘Can the regicide wait?’ Yutai asked, locking eyes with him.

  Yuet’s frown deepened. ‘Fine then. Lead the way, Praefect.’

  Yutai turned down the corridor, taking a left, then a right, before opening a door to the eastern stairwell. He closed it behind them, leaving the two of them alone on a square landing where every sound echoed off the grey plaster in the desolate space.

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘How have you been feeling? Happy to be on the regicide team?’

  Yuet blinked. ‘What? Why would I be on the regicide team?’

  ‘Your old pal Tao told me. You remember him, don’t you? Or did you forget all about him the moment you became tribune?’

  ‘I’ll remind you who you’re speaking to, Praefect.’

  ‘If it weren’t for my brother’s selflessness, you’d still be a bloody praefect like me. As far as I’m concerned, I’m talking to a fraud.’

  Yuet shifted, arms folding across his chest. He looked as though he wanted to speak but held his tongue. Yutai stepped closer.

  ‘I know what happened in Ji Sia City, between you and Tao. You froze. He didn’t. He buried your failure and left you looking like a model Kingmaker.’

  ‘I’ve made my peace with Tao for that day. He knows how sorry I was. That was nearly two annui-cycles ago. Since then, I’ve bled enough to earn everything I have now.’

  ‘Could you have done any of that without Tao?’ Yutai raised an eyebrow. ‘Who’s going to give him the chance to bleed for the emperor, huh? You? Me? The fucking universe?!’ Yutai’s loud voice echoed down the stairwell. ‘You would never have become a tribune if it weren’t for him, let alone be considered for a royal regicide!’

  ‘So what the hell do you want me to do?’ Yuet lifted his chin, eyes flashing. ‘Go back in time to unfuck my mistake? Apologise to Tao another hundred times?’

  ‘Apologise?’ Yutai snapped. ‘Will a sorry stop him laying in bed every night with that boy’s face in his dreams? Will a sorry stop his body from shaking every time he sees a a kid around that age?’

  Yuet’s brow softened into something closer to pity. ‘I… My nomination in this regicide is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Not just for me, but for my family as well. I don’t know what you expect me to do,’ he said quietly, dropping his gaze.

  ‘I want this regicide to succeed, man. You proved back in Ji Sia that when the pressure became real, you were just another guy with feelings, while Tao showed what it meant to be a true Kingmaker. And it takes a real Kingmaker to do a royal regicide, Yuet, not ordinary fucking guys! So you do what you should’ve done since that day. When that boy was in your arms, you should have pulled the trigger. Since you couldn’t, you should have stopped Tao from lying on the report. Since you couldn’t do that, you should never have allowed the Dragons to promote you off the back of that lie. And since you let that pass too, you should never have accepted the nomination for this regicide. Now fix it. Call the Dragons, admit what happened and tell them you’re giving your place to Tao. And this time, show some fucking honesty!’

  ‘Tao… I-I did not know he was still suffering. He always downplayed it. I really am sorry about what happened that day, brother. I wish you would believe me.’

  Yuet stood too still, as if any movement might crack the fragile apology he was trying to put together.

  ‘You should count yourself lucky it was Tao you were partnered with, and not any one else. Otherwise they’d be sitting with that extra pin on their shoulder, not you.’

  Yuet’s shoulder’s sagged. ‘You’re right. He should have been given this chance. I kn-know that,’ he said at last, his voice barely above a whisper. ‘If this is the way to make it right, so be it. I’ll call him first to apologise, and then I’ll go to the Dragons. You have my word.’

  Yutai’s eyes widened. No, he can’t call Tao.

  ‘Tao’s busy,’ Yutai said in a rush. ‘He won’t answer. Doesn’t even know I came to see you! If he did, he’d have stopped me. You can’t give him the chance to be selfless; he’ll only force you to stay on the team and get mad at me for telling you how you’ve made him feel.’

  Yuet frowned. ‘No. I think I’ll call him. I’m not letting this stand as another silence,’ the tribune raised his wrist to place the call.

  ‘You don’t need to—’ Yutai began, but Yuet shot him a sharp look.

  The tone chimed once, twice, three times. Each ring tightened around Yutai’s ribs. He pressed his lips into a thin line and forced his shoulders back against the stairwell wall, hands behind his back.

  Please, Tao, play along.

  The line clicked. Tao’s voice came through, hoarse with fatigue: ‘Hello?’

  ‘Brother…’ Yuet blurted. ‘I should’ve said this annui-cycles ago! I exploited the burden you’ve been carrying this entire time, and I didn’t even realise it. I should never have let you write that report. Now I see I don’t belong on this regicide team.’

  ‘What? What’re you on about, sir?’

  ‘Don’t call me that, I’m no sir. I’m stepping down, brother. I’m going to the Dragons right now and telling them everything. I’ll do my best to show them it should’ve been you all along.’

  ‘Hold on, is this about Operation Searchlight? Is Yutai with you?’ Tao asked. Yutai’s throat went dry. Tao would know instantly who had pushed Yuet into this.

  ‘Yes. He reminded me who the real Kingmaker was, and what you’ve lived with since Searchlight.’

  ‘I… need to speak with Yutai. But I appreciate you calling me. Are you certain you want to withdraw from the regicide?’

  Yuet nodded, jaw tight. ‘I could never look at you again if I stayed. I would spend the rest of my career feeling like an imposter. You should go instead. Use the regicide and get that tribune pin you deserve, brother!’

  Silence stretched, long enough for the hum of the tower vents to fill the stairwell. Then Tao’s voice returned steadier. ‘Thank you, Yuet. Can we meet later this cycle?’

  ‘Of course. After I inform the Dragons of my withdrawal, I will come find you. I need to see you as well. And I’m sorry again.’

  Relief washed through Yutai, though he kept his face unreadable. He only shifted slightly against the wall and exhaled through his nose.

  Yuet lowered his wrist, biting his lip. He looked up at Yutai and gave a grim nod.

  ‘Best get to the Dragons, Yuet. I’m glad you’ve chosen integrity over fame.’

  Without another word, Yuet left the stairwell, his shame visible in his slumped posture. Yutai’s lips curled into a smile as he turned and began climbing up the empty stairs.

  The stairwell echoed at every sound; each footstep punched into the hollow, then came back at him in a delay. Halfway up, his holocommunicator chimed. He glanced at the holographic display: Tao. He answered and slowed his pace.

  ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?!’ Tao demanded.

  ‘Please, let me explain—’

  ‘You don’t have to. I could smell the emotional blackmail from all the way here! Who gave you the right to make him feel sorry for me? I chose what I did; no one forced me to take the blame for him. And what’s this about me joining the regicide? No way in hell am I taking part in assassinating Lord Mingchi!’ Tao spat.

  ‘Brother, listen to me. I didn’t do this to get you on the regicide team. I did it so I can. Since I came back from Ho Man Ting, I haven’t been able to think straight. What they did to me in there, trust me brother, it’s been keeping me up at night. I know damn well you can relate. After thinking things through, I decided the only solution is a position on the regicide team. I don’t see any other way to make up for my failure.’

  ‘So you got me to open up about my trauma and manipulated Yuet, so you could chase some Kingmaker glory?’

  ‘Tao, what would you do to stop seeing that child’s face every night? To stop shaking when you remember?’

  ‘Nothing. I already told you, I deserve my nightmares.’

  ‘Well fine, because I don’t think I deserve mine. I’m doing what I can to fix myself, and I’m not asking anyone’s permission. But I can’t do this without your help. Please, brother, don’t be upset at me. When the Dragons summon you after Yuet withdraws, you must withdraw too. Put my name forward. It’s the only way.’

  His teammate sucked in a sharp breath. ‘No, screw this plan of yours! I don’t owe you anything after this stunt. I’m getting Yuet back his—’

  ‘No, you do fucking owe me! When I was being taken by the Rioters, what did you do, huh?’ Yutai snapped.

  ‘But I couldn’t… you said you didn’t blame me—’

  ‘I’m asking you again, what the hell did you do? Do you ever ask yourself what I’d have done in your stead?’

  Tao stayed silent.

  For a moment there was only the hum of the vents and the thin, metallic reverb of their voices. ‘I would have brought down the whole fort for you. I wouldn’t have let anyone ever kidnap a Kingmaker. But you went home! While the Yangs and Rioters were next door taking their time breaking me, you thought the best thing to do was leave me there. I WAITED HOURS FOR YOU TO HELP ME! And now here I am, on the cusp of fixing what they broke, and the man who let it happen is standing in my way!’

  He let out a slow breath and did not move. The call hung tensely between them.

  ‘Okay,’ Tao conceded. ‘I’ll see how it goes when the Dragons summon me.’

  The call clicked off.

  The summons came before the noon-cycle. Yutai followed the corridor to General Denzhen’s office on the twenty-fifth level, the door sliding open with a hydraulic hiss.

  Inside, Tao was already standing at attention before the desk, his eyes fixed straight ahead. Against the right wall, Lieutenant Keung sat stiff-backed on a narrow chair, arms folded across his chest. His gaze flicked up at Yutai as he stepped inside and took his place beside Tao.

  ‘Praefect Shehui,’ Denzhen said from behind his desk. The door closed behind Yutai, sealing off the hum of the tower. Yutai gave a salute. ‘You summoned me, sir.’

  ‘Yes, I did. The strangest chain of events is unfolding before my eyes, and I’m hoping you two can make some sense of it for me. Yuet Li, one of the regicide nominees, has just withdrawn. As far as I know, no Kingmaker has ever done such a thing willingly. He confessed to falsifying a report that played a role in his promotion to tribune. He will face a formal review, but before he left, he named Praefect Tao to replace him. He claimed Tao was the Kingmaker we Dragons thought Yuet was.’

  ‘I have every faith in Praefect Tao’s talents, sir,’ Yutai said, hands clasped behind his back.

  ‘As do I. Having Tao substitute for Yuet wouldn’t trouble me. But now Tao is withdrawing as well, saying you are the one who should take his place. I sense politics at play. What in the Light’s name is going on, Praefect?’

  ‘Sir, it is as I told you,’ Tao said firmly next to Yutai. ‘I have moral qualms with this mission.’

  ‘I understand that all too well, Tao,’ Denzhen replied. ‘What concerns me more is the question of Yutai’s competency. This is the first regicide in decades, and the four chosen Kingmakers will be representing the emperor’s authority into the sight of every lord and lady. This regicide will impact the dynasty’s image. If I put your name forward, Praefect, the first thing people will think of is your recent kidnapping.’

  Cringe seeped through every pore on Yutai’s body. His chest tightened as if a vice had been clamped around it, his mouth dry as he felt his chance slipping away.

  Denzhen’s words warped into a muffled drone, distorted as if underwater. ‘I acknowledge your amazing fighting skills, and that in a regicide, you would be invaluable. But the fact is that the emperor cannot afford any compromises to his plan with a change like this.’

  The older man’s words pressed down on him, smothering Yutai until his breath came out shallow and ragged. His pulse hammered in his ears, louder than the general’s voice, drowning sense with raw panic.

  ‘If we were to put you in, I’d be inclined to change the other three to synergise with your talents. With Tao’s skillset, I feel I won’t have to. But I can’t do—’

  The air seemed to chill and thicken, shadows stretching longer across the office floor. Anxiety clawed at Yutai, every instinct screaming that he was in mortal danger. Behind Denzhen’s broad frame, a figure flickered into existence between blinks.

  The Ibilis stared back at him.

  I can’t move. Powerless.

  ‘Sir.’

  The sharp interruption made the general’s frown deepen. Yutai stood rigid, hands clasped behind his back, chest lifted. His gaze, however, was no longer on the general. He was looking at the demon standing behind, as if addressing him.

  ‘Have you ever been so disturbed by a thought that it follows you around everywhere?’ Yutai’s voice was raw. Denzhen arched a brow, silent.

  ‘I know you lived through the District Rebellions, sir. You must’ve seen your fair share of horrors. I know you lost your father, your wife. Maybe you were close to losing lieutenant Keung, too. With the direction Kowloon’s headed, it may not be long until I experience horrors like that myself. Because in that interrogation room, I had my first brush with true fear. A taste of what’s in store for me if the rebellions rise once more.’

  Denzhen’s frown hardened, shadows deepening across his face. ‘Go on.’

  ‘The Ibilis threatened my family.’ Yutai’s voice tightened, his words like shards of glass passing through his throat. ‘My mother. My father. My brother. By their names, even. Never in all my time as a Kingmaker did I expect to hear their very names being threatened. They were always untouchable in my mind, living in the safest district of Kowloon, all info linking me to them locked behind Kingmaker databases. Since those threats, The Ibilis has not let me go. He beat me at Ho Man Ting Square. He humiliated me at the fort. And now, even now, sir…’

  Yutai’s stare narrowed further, zeroing in on the shadows within the mask’s eyeholes, where those chilling eyes looked at him with murderous intent. ‘He refuses to leave me alone…’

  The room felt smaller. Denzhen’s eyes widened, subtle but noticeable. Keung’s breath became heavier, audible in the tense silence while Tao stood still next to him. ‘If I am placed on this regicide team, I’ll be the only one with a personal stake, who understands where failure might lead us. The only one who’ll fight as if this is the last chance to stop a war. That feeling will drive me to kill anyone without hesitation. Because I’d rather die a thousand times before allowing my enemies to touch my family.’

  General Denzhen stared at Yutai for a long moment, his features softening slightly. ‘I can see you’re afraid of another rebellion. You understand that The Ibilis threatening your family is no small thing. It’s a threat to us all.’

  Yutai’s gaze remained locked on the phantom behind Denzhen, unblinking, relentless. ‘That’s right, sir. All of Kowloon.’

  With the next blink, the Ibilis vanished.

  Denzhen nodded, his expression thoughtful. ‘You know, the hardest part of my job is reminding people how much of a nightmare the rebellions were. Even those who lived through them seem to forget with time, as if the fear fades along with the memories.’ He paused, his eyes narrowing as he studied Yutai’s face. ‘But you… you didn’t live through it, and yet you have shown wisdom in fearing war so intensely. I can see it in your eyes.’

  Yutai slowly looked down once again, meeting the general’s gaze.

  ‘Praefect Tao,’ Denzhen said. ‘You may leave.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’ Tao briefly exchanged a look with Yutai, nodded to Keung and disappeared through the door.

  The general typed something into his computer, then looked up at Yutai. ‘That finalises it. I’ve added you to the team. Welcome to the royal regicide, Yutai.’

  Yutai’s stiff legs almost collapsed from relief. He fought to contain the broad, triumphant smile that threatened to overtake his face. ‘Sir, you have my eternal gratitude. I cannot express how happy I am.’

  General Denzhen’s voice turned dark and serious. ‘Don’t be so quick to thank me, Yutai. You will take the life of a man whose only crime was whimpering at the voices of his dying people. When you aim your gun at the young lord, barely older than yourself, understand the consequences of your actions, for they will outlive you. And when you fire that shot at him, you will ignite a cycle of hatred that will burn brightly through the generations. Few can stomach the knowledge that every night, Dong hears prayers for justice – prayers spoken against you, personally. In time, you may come to hate me for letting you take part in this, because you’ll spend the rest of your life wondering if Dong will ever answer those prayers.’

  To Yutai, it sounded like the general was speaking from experience. Yet, the excitement of being a part of the royal regicide won out.

  Denzhen continued. ‘Your team sets out in less than five work-cycles. The leader of the operation is Tribune Chen Su, so please contact her.’

  He turned to lok at his son. ‘And you, Keung, Captain Aiguo and the Tai Li are waiting for you at the dojo. I’ll join you soon.’

  The general clasped his hands together. ‘That’s all, boys. Good luck to you and may Dong especially watch over you, Yutai.’