The Guru guards stationed in the room did not move from their positions.

"As I said, you have no authority over me." Kira inclined her head briefly and walked away.

She returned to Taejo's side and stood behind the prince's chair at the end of the long table. Her cousin looked ill at ease-a boy among men. But he was there to represent Hansong. Kira gave his shoulder a rea.s.suring squeeze as King Eojin entered with his entourage. Within seconds of Eojin's greeting, the amba.s.sadors went on the offensive.

"Your Majesty, I insist that you order that insolent female from the meeting!" Lord Yu demanded.

Eojin raised an eyebrow. "By *insolent female,' do you mean my one and only niece, daughter of my beloved older sister and the great General Kang? A member of the distinguished saulabi army and personal bodyguard to the crown prince of Hansong?"

He kept his eyes on Lord Yu, causing the diplomat to squirm.

"No, the insolent female stays," Eojin said. "Now let us focus our attention on the matter at hand."

Kira displayed no emotion but she felt a warm glow of pride.

"We were saddened to hear of King Sinwon's death. He is a great loss." Eojin addressed the Oakcho diplomats who bowed in acknowledgment.

"Our king has been murdered also," Lord Yu cut in.

Eojin regarded the diplomat with a grave expression. "Yes, it is a terrible tragedy," he said.

Lord Yu jumped to his feet and pounded the table. "The Yamatos are more than halfway up the peninsula! What is Guru going to do about it?"

"Kaya, Jinhan, and Hansong have all fallen. Who knows what has happened to Kudara," another Tongey amba.s.sador said.

"Kudara is in league with the Yamatos." Kira spoke in a loud voice. A shocked silence filled the room, and she noticed the surprise on the faces of everyone but the Guru faction. "We saw this with our own eyes."

"Your eyes?" Lord Yu made a derogatory sound. "And who would take your word?"

"I would," King Eojin said. "I would take her word over yours, Lord Yu. She is, after all, my clansman."

There was complete quiet in the room as everyone's attention focused on Eojin and the Tongey amba.s.sador.

"Of course, Your Majesty," Lord Yu said, and bowed.

"If Kudara has gone over to the enemy, then it is clear what we must do." This came from Lord Rah, an Oakcho amba.s.sador who'd remained quiet until now. "We must stop the Yamato advance immediately. The Guru army is the only army large enough to challenge them." His words riled up the crowded room.

"If we had our entire army at our disposal, then yes, it would be feasible. But we will not leave our northern boundaries unprotected," said General Kim, the commanding general of Guru. He was a large, stout man with a powerful baritone.

"What use are your northern boundaries if you cannot stop the Yamatos?" Lord Yu sneered.

The debate raged on for nearly an hour as diplomats from the kingdoms of Oakcho and Tongey argued and pleaded for immediate a.s.sistance from the king.

Finally, King Eojin spoke up. "The Iron Army is strong, but we cannot fight alone and we cannot fight without unity. Four kings have been murdered-Hansong, Jinhan, Tongey, and Oakcho. Hansong and Jinhan have fallen and Tongey and Oakcho have no kings. Two leaderless kingdoms will be no match for the advancing enemy. Now is the time to unite. Pledge yourselves to me, and we will fight together."

The angry voices of the amba.s.sadors echoed through the room. The Tongey diplomats were arguing vociferously. They did not want to give up their sovereignty. But they were becoming desperate. Their southernmost fortresses were under siege. It would not be long before they were breached.

Kira eyed her uncle with dawning respect and alarm. He'd sat and listened to the diplomats without saying a word, raising their anxiety to a fever pitch before making his demands. Eojin was smart, powerful, and ambitious. This also made her uncle a dangerous and ruthless leader. Now she understood why she'd always felt a vague distrust of him.

In his own way, he was no different from the Kudara king or the daimyo. He sought to control the entire peninsula. Her admiration for him was muted by her concern for what this all meant to Taejo.

As the arguments intensified, a new voice broke through the commotion.

"Gentlemen, the Dragon King's prophecy is coming true. In order to save our world, drastic actions must be taken."

A tall, stately monk clad in the gray robes of the Dragon Springs Temple stood at the entranceway.

"Welcome back, Brother Boyuk!" Eojin rose to greet the new arrival. The monk bowed deeply before taking his place near the king at the front of the room.

"What nonsense is this?" Lord Yu complained. "Everyone knows the prophecy is meaningless."

Eojin ignored the diplomat as he addressed the monk. "What do you mean? Please enlighten us."

Brother Boyuk did not answer right away; instead, he gazed about the room until he caught sight of Kira, Kwan, and Taejo. He gave them a nearly imperceptible nod, as if he recognized them, before responding to Eojin.

"I have just arrived from my temple, where I met with Master Roshi. The first part of the prophecy has now come true. Seven have become three. Of our Seven Kingdoms, four have now fallen. Oakcho, Tongey, and Guru are the only remaining kingdoms. We believe that Tongey and Oakcho must become one with Guru in order for all of us to survive."

"I thought the One was to be our savior," Lord Rah said.

"The prophecy has a dual meaning. The Seven Kingdoms must become one, and our savior, the Dragon Musado, will defeat the Demon Lord," Brother Boyuk said.

"Dragon Musado?" Lord Yu scoffed. "That's just a legend you monks made up in your temple. It is a child's story! And now you're asking us to give up our sovereignty on the basis of a fairy tale?"

The monk ignored the diplomat and continued, "If the prophecy is correct, then the downfall of another kingdom may signal the downfall of all."

There was more murmuring debate among the diplomats before Lord Rah stood and addressed the king. "The prophecy has long spoken of a savior. Perhaps that savior is you, King Eojin. Perhaps you are the warrior of the prophecy. You, with your great army, may be the one to lead us into battle and save our lands. I say it is only right that we fulfill the rest of the prophecy."

Kira looked sharply at Eojin, noting his pleased expression at being named the Dragon Musado.

"This is easy for you to say. Oakcho is a tributary of Guru. But we Tongey are a free people and we answer to no other king but our own," Lord Yu cut in.

"You have no king," Lord Rah said.

"We have several contenders."

Kira snorted in disgust. "You'll answer to only the Yamatos if you do not stop this foolishness," she said sharply.

Lord Yu jumped to his feet. "Silence, k.u.miho! I will not listen to this nonsense any longer."

He faced Eojin with a bitter scowl. "It seems this prophecy goes two ways. Either you help us, or you doom us all!"

He charged out of the room, a deliberate insult to Eojin. Lord Rah stood in shock.

"I deeply regret Lord Yu's actions, Your Majesty," he said with a bow.

Eojin shrugged. "It is not for you to apologize for him," he said. He let out a deep breath. "We all have much to think about."

He rose and left with his advisers.

"What's there to think about?" Kwan groused. "The entire peninsula is overrun by these cretins, while we sit here doing nothing! How long must we wait before we fight?"

Although Kira agreed with her brother, she knew they had no other choice. There was nothing they could do but wait for the king's decision.

"Oppa, now that Brother Boyuk is here, we must talk to him," she said.

Kwan agreed, his face brightening. "You stay with the prince. I'll go meet with the monk right away."

Kira breathed deeply. Maybe now they could move forward.

26.

Kira stood within the hallways of an unfamiliar, deserted building. No servants, no soldiers. The wind blew loud and cold, whipping up piles of debris. A terrible wailing echoed down the corridors, fading in and out to a soft weeping.

The shadows along the walls formed into distinctive shapes that came alive. Demons and imps capered around a pulsing object that uncoiled into a great sea serpent. Kira stood transfixed by the spectacle playing out before her; the frenzy of the dancing figures as they were devoured by the serpent. Larger and larger it grew, a ma.s.sive sea of black, until it engulfed the entire corridor in darkness.

Kira fled from the shadows down a maze of empty hallways echoing with the cries of the weeper. Each turn she took seemed to take her nowhere. She thought to go back, but found herself confused and hopelessly lost. Closing her eyes, she decided to follow the sound of crying. It led her to a corridor that ended at a large metal door. The wailing had quieted. Kira pushed the door open into a bitterly cold chamber lit by an array of candles scattered all about the room. As she entered, the weeper began to shriek so loud it was deafening. Kira covered her ears until the screams came to an abrupt stop. The room was empty.

"Where are you?" she cried.

"Kira!" A voice kept calling out her name, over and over. She knew the voice; it was her mother.

She swung around in a wild circle.

"Mother, where are you?" Kira shouted desperately.

Kira followed her mother's voice until she reached the farthest corner. A small shadow near the foot of the wall began to grow at her approach. As she came closer, the shadow grew larger, beckoning her with its arms. Kira pressed her hands to the walls.

"Mother! Where are you?"

The shadow tried to caress her face, its arms reaching wide as if to embrace her.

"I am trapped in the shadow world, my little tiger. I cannot alight to heaven, for my soul and all these others have been cursed by Lord Shin," the shadow of her mother said, waving an arm around as others began to appear.

"He had his shaman curse all who refused to accept him as king," another shadow said.

Kira was in anguish. "What must I do to free you all? Tell me and I will do it!"

The shadows flickered as the wind blew through the room.

"We don't know."

"We are trapped!"

"Help us!"

Kira put her hands over her ears to stop the voices of the shadows until she heard her mother calling to her again.

"Kira, listen to me: you are the key," her mother said. "Somehow, you can save us."

"How?"

"I don't know, but you will discover it. I know you will. Until then, I will come to you in your dreams, for only in your sleeping state can you reach the shadow realm."

"I miss you, Mother," Kira said, trying not to cry.

"My little tiger! I love you so much," her mother replied. The other shadows began to whisper in frightened alarm.

"Quickly, my child! You must wake up!" her mother said. "You cannot stay here any longer, it's too dangerous. The demons will come soon, and all of us must hide!" As her mother spoke, the wailing began again.

"Mother, don't go!"

"You must hurry," her mother said. "If we stay too long in the shadow world, our spirits will corrupt and we will never reach heaven."

Her voice blended in with the voices of the other shadows.

"Never see your father."

"Or our husbands."

"My children, who weep for me!"

"Good-bye, my little tiger!" her mother said.

"Don't forget us!"

"Good luck!"

Kira struck at the wall.

"No!" she shrieked. "Come back! Please, come back!"

But the shadows were gone, and all that remained was the same terrible wailing.

Her dream haunted Kira every waking moment of the next day. She didn't know what to do or who to talk to. She feared telling Kwan about her dream, knowing that guilt over their mother's death was still eating away at him. How would he handle hearing that she was cursed?

If Jaewon were staying in the palace, she would have talked to him first. But with Brother Boyuk's return, she wondered if there was a connection between her dream and the monk. Kira was determined to meet with him.

Learning that he was in the war room with Eojin and his advisers, Kira sat in the drafty corridor, waiting for the king to finish his endless meetings. It was late into the night when the doors finally opened and Eojin stepped out with his entourage and Brother Boyuk.

Kira surged to her feet, with her head down.