Before the man could recover from her attack, Haia grabbed the sack of goods from the wooden counter and sprinted toward her brother.

“Run!” Haia screamed, tugging at his hand.

For the first time that evening, Kenji obeyed Haia without question.

“THE EMPRESS’S SON IS HERE! THE EMPRESS’S SON IS HERE!” a voice bellowed behind them.

As if running off with stolen merchandise was not bad enough, the angry vendor had started a hunt for Kenji.

Haia cursed. This was just her luck. Not a single thing could go right in her life, could it?

“What is going on?” Kenji shouted, his eyes wide in panic. How did anyone know he was here? How had they recognized him? Could it have been his birthmark? Curses, he should have been more careful—

“No time to explain,” the thief huffed through shallow breaths, vaulting past a series of drunks and drug addicts whose brains were too addled to pay attention to who was running past them. “Just keep moving!”

As they passed by more and more people who had heard the news, Haia could practically see the greedy gears twisting and turning in their wretched minds. Oh, the gold they could make by ransoming Kenji to the Empress. Little did they know that the Empress couldn’t care less about her adopted son.

“Haia…?” Kenji whispered nervously as more and more people chased after them. One, two, three…ten…twenty…oh, dragons, he was going to, he was going to—

“Out of my way, idiot!” Haia shouted at a brutish man standing in their path as she knocked him over with the sack in her hand.

“Haia!” Kenji gasped, surprised by her boldness.

“Kenji, just shut up and stay ahead of me!” she snapped, shoving her trembling brother forward. He would save her a lot of trouble if he stopped his stuttering.

“Do you have any weapons on you?” she asked as they dipped into a side alley that served as a shortcut out of the Underground.

“Just a dagger!” he shouted, fumbling past more assailants. Dragons, dragons, dragons—he wanted out of the market now!

“Then use the damn dagger!” Haia shouted back as she flipped a shuriken from her belt, flinging it at the man rushing toward Kenji from the side. The man ducked as the metal soared over his head, barreling into a group of screaming women who all fell to the ground, and Haia nimbly hopped over their bodies as they showered a torrent of curses upon her.

Meanwhile, Kenji had taken Haia’s advice and had drawn the dagger from his belt, using it to slash at a woman grasping for his tunic. He shoved her away, stomping on her hand for good measure before speeding down another series of winding passages. How big was this stupid place? How much longer until they reached the end?

“Well, at least we’re having an adventure,” he laughed anxiously, wiping the sweat streaming down his face as he continued to battle his way out.

Haia rolled her eyes as she caught up to her brother, punching a charging attacker into the jewelry stall to their side and sending hundreds of necklaces and earrings splattered in every direction. An adventure? If Kenji thought this death trap run was an adventure, then she wasn’t sure what he would think of her line of work. Probably find it to be a field day…

“Mai is going to kill me if you don’t return to the Dragon Palace alive,” Haia muttered. “This is not an adventure.”

“You’re not wrong about Mai,” Kenji responded, stomping on the

foot of a man trying to put a bag over his face from behind. The man cried out, stumbling backward into the shower of gold jewelry.

“And yet you still came here after all my warnings,” Haia hissed as she tripped another person over, leaping over their body before circling the corner back into the main street of the market.

“Did you get what you came here for at least?” Kenji said, sidestepping her comment. She was right, after all. If he had just listened to her, he would have stayed safe.

“Don’t change the subject!” Haia shouted back as she stabbed through yet another assailant. Dragons, would the endless sea of bodies in their path ever end?

Like this, Haia and Kenji continued to punch and kick and trip their way through the Underground crowd, half of which consisted of confused bystanders and half of which consisted of greedy kidnappers eager to get their hands on the Empress’s son. But thankfully, the two siblings were making good headway, nearly at the exit when—

“Help!” Kenji cried. Haia whirled around to see her brother on the ground, terror painting every inch of his face. Three masked men had grabbed his leg and were dragging him away with lightning speed as he struggled against their grip.

No, no, no, Haia thought to herself, grinding her teeth. Absolutely not.

No one will be kidnapping Kenji today.

With sweeping vengeance, Haia ducked back into the crowd and swung her sack at anyone who was stupid enough to get caught in her path. When she finally cleared the way enough to get a glimpse of the masked men pulling at Kenji’s feet, she snapped up two metal shurikens from her belt and whipped them straight at the men’s faces.

Zing, Zing!

The shurikens embedded themselves into the eyes of Kenji’s attackers as they howled in agony, blindly falling to the ground. The boy wasted no time in scrambling to his feet and dashing away as the men’s grip on him loosened.

“Let’s go!” he shouted as he rushed past Haia, his voice shaking as the danger of the situation finally hit him.

Finally, he gets it, Haia thought to herself as she followed him up the steps of the western exit, racing with the wind as she tore open the fabric covering the exit’s opening. Next time he won’t try following me into hellholes.

As the two siblings rushed onto the above ground streets, they watched the sky with heavy breaths, collapsing against a deserted alleyway’s walls. The evening had arrived and the sun had scattered a thousand shades of red and orange across the city, bathing them in warm, glowing light, a stark contrast to the cold sweat lining their skin.

You’re not dead. You’re alive. You didn’t get kidnapped, Kenji reminded himself as he slumped down, his breath coming out in uneven gasps as he wiped his sweat-drenched face furiously. Dragons…dragons…

At least, here in the light, no one would think to harm him or Haia. There were too many people watching, too many people at their windows or porches, too many witnesses who would be able to recount to Empress Mai exactly how her adopted son had been kidnapped if anyone dared try. Haia breathed a sigh of relief as she crashed beside her brother, taking comfort in this fact.

“We’re safe now, we’re safe,” she muttered, echoing her brother’s own thoughts as she dropped her sack of goods on the ground beside her.

Kenji placed a hand at his heaving chest, his eyes flitting across the ground in anxious panic. “Safe? I don’t think I’m safe until I get back home. They almost killed me! Almost got kidnapped! I could have died! How do you not die in there? So much illegal activity in the Underground…you could have been hurt, forget me…dragons, did you see those masked men? There were tens and tens and tens…”

“Kenji,” Haia said, interrupting his rambling, forcing his gaze toward her. She placed a gentle hand on her brother’s shoulder, knowing that he was simply flustered by all that he had just seen. She didn’t blame him. Like he had said, he had almost lost his life.

“What?” he asked, face flushed so red that the star-shaped birthmark on his cheek had turned ruddier than usual. He blew away the stray hairs that had fallen into his face.

Haia looked her brother in the eyes to ensure he understood her next words very clearly. “Next time, believe me after I’ve warned you about something dangerous. Don’t come following me. Do you understand?”

The boy nodded solemnly, the adrenaline pump finally draining out of him as he closed his eyes for a moment, his mind already feeling foggy with tiredness. He wanted to rest so badly…when he had wanted a breath of fresh air away from the Dragon Palace, this was certainly not what he had ever had in mind.

“I should have dragged you straight back home after you fell through the Underground entrance,” Haia continued as she guiltily watched her brother rest, more to herself than to him. “I shouldn’t have let you sway me.”

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She shook her head now, wondering how she could have been so foolish in believing that she would be able to protect Kenji in that hellhole. With all those greedy eyes watching? She should have known that someone would have recognized the Prince of Golden Dragon…but to think that it would be the vendor…

“I’m sorry,” she finally sighed to her brother, her eyebrows knitting in apology as she waited for his acceptance.

Kenji opened his eyes, smiling softly to himself as he gently touched Haia’s hand.

“At least I have an adventure to remember now,” he told her, smirking, hoping his joke would lighten the mood. He hated seeing Haia feel guilty for his own stupid curiosity.

The thief groaned upon hearing her brother’s words as she tilted her head back against the wall. He’s never going to learn, is he? she thought to herself, laughing. Oh, Kenji…

“If you thought that was an ‘adventure,’” she said, side-eyeing her brother, “then you have a death wish.”

The two siblings exploded into laughter, finally releasing the tension cording their bodies.

When their giggles finally settled, it was Kenji who first asked. “Are you ready to go home?”

Right, Haia remembered, reality finally hitting her. She hadn’t just gone to the Underground to go on an “adventure” with her brother. She had gone to retrieve some very important items…to give to some very important people…

“There’s one more place I need to visit before I return home,” she told her brother, giving him a warning look, “and you will not be joining me this time.”

He raised his hands up in surrender. “Point made.”

Haia chuckled softly, leaning back against the wall. She didn’t want to leave right now. Not when she finally had a moment to breathe.

To be in her brother’s presence.

To have this quiet—this comfortable silence with her brother that she so rarely had.

Soon enough. You’ll have more of this soon enough, her mind reminded her as the pair sat in silence, staring up to the sky, watching the darkness of the night encroach lazily as the redness of the sky faded to pinks and purples interspersed with oranges.

“So, what’s in the bag?” Kenji asked curiously, interrupting his friend’s thoughts as he craned his neck to get a better view of the sack next to Haia.

The thief shoved him back against the wall, a small frown on her face. “Haven’t you learned anything from today? Don’t go poking around my business. It’s dangerous. Besides, as a royal, it’s better that you don’t know.”

Kenji gave her a mocking smile. Oooh, how intriguing….

“Why? Are you worried I’m gonna report you to the authorities?” he laughed, wiggling his eyebrows. “Is it something ‘illegal?’”

“Har-har,” Haia said, rolling her eyes despite the smile tugging at her lips. “No, I’d just rather keep you safe. Which means that you shouldn’t know what’s in the bag.”

“Fine,” Kenji sighed. He hugged his knees to his chest, resting his chin on top, knowing better than to argue any further. He had pushed Haia far enough for one day. He would have his answer at another time. “I’m guessing whatever’s in there is important, seeing as you stole it, right?”

“How do you know I stole it?” Haia asked, surprised that Kenji had even noticed her taking it from the vendor.

The boy shrugged, finally putting everything together in his head now that he had a moment to think. “I noticed that we only started getting chased after you ran towards me with the bag. That man must have seen my birthmark, right? He must have recognized me after that and decided to announce to everyone that I was there to slow you down.”

Haia nodded. Smart boy. She hadn’t had enough time to think about how the Devalokan vendor had recognized Kenji, but now it made sense. Not everyone knew about Kenji’s birthmark, but those who did—it was a certain give-away of Kenji’s identity. Haia wondered if the man must have worked inside of the palace at some point…if that’s how he had recognized Kenji…

“What are you thinking about?” Kenji piped up, noticing his friend lost in thought.

“Hmm? Oh, nothing,” Haia responded, brushing herself off. Her brother didn’t need to know anymore than he already did. “I do have to say, though, Kenji, you think too low of me. I didn’t intend to steal the sack, but the man left me no choice when he asked that I sell you to him in exchange for this sack.”

Kenji’s almond eyes widened. “Were you going to sell me?”

Haia gave him a horrified look as he snickered at her.

“I would never!”

“I know,” Kenji giggled, playfully shoving her with his elbow. “Just checking, though.”

The thief rolled her eyes, unable to help but laugh along with her brother. His giggles were so infectious, so precious…

“It is important then?” Kenji asked. “The sack. The man was asking for me in exchange.”

Haia nodded. “Let’s just say it’s a rare commodity. But something I really need,” she told him, twiddling with the twine of the sack. She silently prayed he wouldn’t ask to know more. Why did he have to be so damn curious?

“Is it for your trading business?” Kenji asked, far more curious than he should have been. “Is it illegal trading?”

“It’s not all illegal,” Haia replied defensively, crossing her arms across her chest unconsciously, frowning.

“I’m not judging. I was just curious. I mean, I barely know anything about you and you know everything about me,” Kenji reminded her.

“That’s fair,” Haia conceded, her arms slowly sliding down her chest. “I do know you pretty well. Like how I know that you’re a reckless teenage boy who doesn’t give a second thought before throwing himself into danger.”

Kenji playfully punched Haia’s shoulder in response, sticking out his tongue.

“That’s not what I meant, Haia,” Kenji said. “You know so much about my life. You know that I hate palace life, you know I’d rather just be Mai’s righthand warrior than some prince— you know all these things about me that even Mai doesn’t know. You’re the only person I’ve told because I trust you, Haia. Can’t you trust me?”

Kenji looked at her with such innocent earnestness, Haia couldn’t help but melt, could barely contain the secrets inside of her anymore.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to share more.

In fact, she wanted to share everything.

The whole truth and nothing but the truth.

She wanted to embrace him not just as a friend but as her brother. To tell him that he wasn’t alone, that he had a sister who loved him, who had never forgotten him in her heart. A sister who would do anything to free him from the invisible chains he didn’t even know held him back.

But she couldn’t tell him everything he deserved to know. It would do him no favors—especially when his life was on the line.

“I do trust you,” Haia finally confessed, sighing tiredly.

“What is it about me you want to know?” she asked him, deciding that even if she couldn’t tell him everything, she would tell him as much as she could.

Kenji paused, thinking for a moment. What did he want to know?

“Tell me about your parents,” he decided, resting his head in his hands, tilting it curiously to the side. “Where’d you grow up?”

Haia felt a pang of sadness upon hearing his question. It opened the gates of memories she had long ago shut out, but she could do nothing as they tumbled out of their cages now.

The memories flowed like a river across Haia’s dark eyes, scenes flashing by one by one—

Her father, entertaining her silly pretend play after tiring hours of working as a spy for the Olija while acting as the Empress’s right-hand man.

Her mother, coming home to always cook her daughter’s favorite foods with the little money they had after spending the nights helping the rebels intercept secret letters between the Empress and her villainous allies.

Haia’s parents had shielded their young daughter from everything going on around them— the tensions at the Dragon Palace between Mai and her soldiers, the internal conflict within the Olija rebels. The double lives that her parents lived as loyal citizens and treasonous rebels.

They had protected her for so long.

Until they couldn’t anymore.

Until Mai had murdered them in cold blood.

But Kenji didn’t know that her parents were dead—or that her parents were also his parents. Or that their murderer called herself his mother now. She couldn’t blame him for asking to know about her family, so she decided to answer him as best she could.

“My parents…my parents died when I was about eight,” she started, swallowing the tears threatening to spill from her eyes. “I was left to fend for myself on the streets, living off of stolen morsels of rice for a while, but it wasn’t sustainable. So, I started to scavenge alongside a band of street urchins. Whatever money we made selling objects we found in junkyards or picked from people’s pockets, we pooled together, enough to pay rent for a roof over our heads. It was a decent life if you exclude the part where we went hungry many nights or were stealing for a living. Eventually, I left them after trouble came too close to home and went solo, fighting in the Underground’s sparring dens. I was terrible at first— got bruised and banged all over. It took several years before I could consistently stay on my feet and wrestle men twice my size—”

“ — so that’s why you always give me good fighting advice. And why you have so many weapons,” Kenji mused.

“Mhmm, that’s right,” Haia nodded. “I made a lot of money through those fights, too. People were really keen on not betting on a short, scraggly looking girl. I proved them wrong once I got good, and I became one of the highest paid fighters in the arena. When I had suffered enough sprained feet, though, I decided to start my trading business, procuring hard to find objects for my clients and doing the dirty work that they didn’t want to do themselves. And here we are today,” Haia finished, burying her face in her arms, shame and guilt flooding her body. She knew Kenji would never look at her the same way again, and it was why she had held back on telling him all this in the first place. But once she had started, it had been difficult to stop the truths from tumbling out one by one because it had been so long since anyone had even cared to ask how she was feeling. But how could her brother even look her in the eyes now knowing that he was friends with a street rat, a criminal?

Yet, much to her surprise, Kenji placed a warm hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. When Haia dared to peek at his face, she saw that it was solemn and forgiving— not condemning or disgusted in the least.

“You’ve had a hard life,” he said. “I wish I could have done something to make it better.”

Haia smiled softly at her brother’s earnestness, her eyes crinkling gently at the edges, her heart feeling both light and heavy at the same time. Oh, the irony! Kenji wished that he could have made her life better.

“If only, if only,” Haia mumbled, letting her brother rest his head on her shoulder as they spent a few more quiet moments together.