ICO Castle in the Mist by Miyuki Miyabe

Author:Miyuki Miyabe [Miyabe, Miyuki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Haikasoru/VIZ Media
Published: 2011-10-16T07:00:00+00:00

Yorda wondered if she had been frightened—or perhaps she had merely laughed. Either way, she could not take action until the time of the next eclipse, when the Dark God’s power obscured the sun. Until that day, the queen would have to quietly gather her strength.

“The queen did not respond to the emperor’s request,” Ozuma said, his voice sinking. He sounded almost sympathetic. “This, of course, deepened the suspicions of the priest-king. Even as he assembled his forces, the emperor had countless scholars and magi working to answer the question of what exactly these signs of darkness were meant to indicate. The emperor himself spent many days in contemplation and study of the revelation’s meaning. And, just recently—”

Yorda shook her head, cutting him off. “They found that the herald was my mother.”

Ozuma bowed deeply. “I am truly sorry, Princess.”

Yorda sighed and covered her face with her hands. She felt as though she had been wounded deep in her chest and bled sadness from the wound.

Yet in her sorrow she also found solace . I am not alone. I’m not the only one that knows of my mother’s pact with the terrifying lord of the underworld.

I have friends in the world outside—I hope.

Ozuma put a hand to his chest. “I am but the advance guard,” he said, though Yorda detected that there was something he left unsaid.

“In other words, you are one of the warriors of our god summoned to the cause by the priest-king. You’re here to find out what happens to the victors of the tournament—not just as the victor, but as the greatest warrior to participate in the history of the tournament.”

“It is as you say.”

For a time, Yorda was silent, feeling unease and doubt weighing on the scales of her heart. Every time she remembered what her mother had done, it chilled her to the bone, yet she did not think she should be so willing to accept everything that this strange knight told her at face value. The herald of darkness certainly sounded like her mother. Yet that was no proof that the knight’s tale was not a false tapestry woven from threads of the truth.

It was certainly possible that a cabal of individuals seeking to oust her mother from the throne was trying to deceive her. The queen’s plans were terrifying, yet an invasion was a terrifying prospect too, and not only for Yorda. It was a threat to her entire country.

To place her trust in Ozuma’s words was to risk betraying her own country.

“Lady Yorda,” Ozuma called to her, his voice like water over stones. “I had another reason for participating in the tournament and coming here to this castle. That was to meet you.”

Yorda’s eyes went wide. “Why would you want to meet me?”

“Is it not true that you have never left the castle grounds?”

Yorda nodded.

“This is because your mother keeps you confined here.”

“Confined? No, she—well, yes, I suppose she does.”

“Would it surprise you, Princess, to learn that you are not the only

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