Free Prophecy by Ellen Oh Page B

again.
    “Calm yourself,” he hissed. “Which way do we go?”
    Kira pulled open the door that had been hidden behind the shed. She went down a dim stairway, into a hallway that forked off into a series of dark tunnels.
    “Oppa, stay close,” she said. “You can’t see in the dark like I can.”
    At the end of the hall, she entered a very narrow passageway. It was only wide enough for one person to pass through at a time, and it was pitch-black. The only sound she could hear was Kwan’s breathing behind her and the slight echo of their footsteps. She stepped out into a tunnel that ran parallel with the city’s underground sewage system. The foul stench was overpowering.
    The tunnels forked, but Kira didn’t hesitate, veering left. At the end of the tunnel, steep stairs led up to another drainage ditch, which opened to a side alleyway near the palace compound.
    A large crowd of people stood outside the palace walls. There was no sign of the royals or of the traitor. Kira and her brother walked into the crowd, but no one paid any attention to them. Everyone was watching the raised platform before the grand entrance to Hansong palace as military leaders and senior advisers to the king were dragged forward in chains. Yamato archers marched before them, readying themselves for the public execution.
    One of the prisoners cried, “For Hansong! For King Yuri!” The crowd took up the refrain, their mighty shouts silencing the deadly thud of the arrows.
    Kira could hear Kwan cursing as servants carried away the bodies.
    The sudden pounding of drums heralded Lord Shin’s arrival. He strode up the stairs and seated himself in the king’s sedan chair. Behind him came the exhausted royals and the greatest general of Hansong.
    “People of Hansong!” Lord Shin cried as he rose. “Here is your famous king before you now!”
    He grabbed Yuri by the neck and threw him onto the ground in front of the crowd.
    “My old friend!” King Yuri sneered as he fought against the chains that bound him.
    Shin laughed as Yamato soldiers hauled the king to his knees. “My good friend,” he taunted. “How many years has it been, Yuri?”
    “Traitor!” Yuri roared.
    “It took you thirty years to discover this? How foolish you must feel.”
    “I trusted you! You were like a brother to me!”
    Shin stroked his beard as he contemplated the king. “Then you’re a fool. I’ve been planning this ever since the old king turned his back on me and my rightful claim,” he said. “Instead of returning to Kudara, I stayed, biding my time. And now, Kudara and Yamato have united under the daimyo to conquer the Seven Kingdoms. My patience has been rewarded. Hansong is mine.”
    “May the gods curse you and your entire clan! May your name live only in infamy!” The king raged against his chains like a madman.
    “Yes, yes, but first I will get to see you die.”
    A Yamato soldier drew his sword and approached the king.
    The crowd’s protests grew louder. Kira started forward, only to be hauled back by her collar.
    “No, Kira,” Kwan said. “There’s nothing we can do.”
    She jerked convulsively at the high-pitched whistle of the sword, the sound of Queen Ja-young’s agonized scream, and Taejo’s sobs echoing in her head.
    Lord Shin made to pull the fainting queen into his arms.
    “Don’t touch her!” Taejo yelled. He leaped at the older man, punching and kicking like a crazed animal. Shin flung Taejo away and cursed at him.
    Kira bit her lips, trying to control herself. Taejo was now a horse length away from her.
    “We have to do something now or they will kill him,” Kira said to Kwan.
    “We need a distraction,” Kwan said.
    Kira edged closer to the prince. Pushing her hat up, she gazed across the platform and caught the general’s shocked gaze.
    “Father.”
    The crowds faded away, and all she could see was her father’s face. He nodded at her. In his eyes she saw all his love and pride and she knew at that moment what he