Page 142 of The King of Koraha
“I’m glad I listened to the old king. He told me to never take this off.”
“Sapphire,” Shyla said with a groan. “That’s what the water in the mural is made of. It can counter the sunfire.” All that research and the answer was right there in front of them this entire time.
“That’s great for the King, but how didwecounter it?” Gurice asked.
Good question. Shyla searched her memories. Why didn’t the sunfire work this time? What changed?
“The King’s oath,” Rendor said. “We pledged ourselves to the King so the sunfire was no longer needed to ensure our loyalty.”
“But we didn’t take the pledge,” Gurice said, gesturing to Mojag and Jaft.
True. Shyla asked Jaft when the compulsion disappeared.
“About seventeen sun jumps ago,” he said. “It was quite the surprise. Suddenly it felt as if I’d been pushed down a long shaft. The landing hurt.” He rubbed his shoulder. “And we almost revealed ourselves. That Vilma is beyond intense. But all the Swords managed to pull it together. We figured we had to wait for reinforcements or a signal or something. The six of us were outnumbered and living in the belly of the beast. One wrong move and we’d be enslaved again.” He shuddered and wrapped his arms around his chest.
“It was around seventeen sun jumps ago when I felt like someone punched me in the shoulder,” Mojag said. “Hard. I fell off the wagon.”
“Gurice?” Shyla asked.
“I don’t remember when, but my shoulder suddenly felt bruised and tender.” She pushed up her sleeve, revealing her upper left arm.
The Invisible Sword’s symbol glowed on her skin. It was visible to only those who could wield magic.
“Hey, hers has changed!” Mojag yanked up his tunic. “Did mine?”
“Yes.” Shyla explained the changes to those without magic, “It has another sword.” Then she relayed what had happened when she and Rendor swore the King’s oath, showing them the scar on her palm.
“Does that mean we’re married, too?” Mojag scrunched up his nose as if disgusted by the idea.
“No,” the King said, pointing. “Yours only has three swords, one for me, you, and the Invisible Swords.”
Shyla thought it was interesting that the King could see the symbol but not too surprising since he wielded powerful magic.
“But I didn’t swear—”
“We swore our loyalty to the Invisible Sword,” Gurice said. “Shyla is our leader. Since she took the King’s oath, it counted for all of us. Right?”
“It appears so,” the King said. “Good thing too, as it protected you from being compelled by the sunfire.”
“What if one of us wanted to…” Jaft cleared his throat. “Marry another Invisible Sword. Would we get another sword in our symbols?”
Shyla glanced at Rendor. Who did Jaft wish to marry? He shrugged.
“I don’t know, but there’s one way to find out.” Shyla peered at Jaft. “Who’s the lucky person?”
Jaft blushed and stammered, but just shook his head.
“This can all be sorted later,” the King said. “What’s happening in my castle? Do we need to help fight the intruders?”
Jaft straightened. “No, sire. Once we learned about Xerxes’ plans to assassinate you, we recruited the monks that arrived with the decoy caravan and we enlisted Captain Kilab’s help from Qulsary. Also, as our wielders helped the force sneak into the castle, we tipped off your loyal guards.”
“How did you know which ones were loyal?” Mojag asked.
“They were all the ones Vilma was avoiding.”
Considering the dangerous circumstances, Shyla’s chest expanded with pride for her Invisible Swords. They’d accomplished so much on their own. She asked Jaft, “Where are the others?”
He waved a hand at the ramp. “Probably helping with the cleanup. Once we ambushed the…er…ambushers and I knew Vilma’s squad had no chance of winning, I took off after Xerxes and Najib.”
