The Broken Blades Trilogy, #3
Three Shattered Souls
by Mai Corland
Contents
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Overview
Tiyung and Hana ride from Trove in heavy rain, their bond fractured. At Qali, unfamiliar guards admit Tiyung to the palace bridge, rekindling his trauma. Instead of King Seok, Tiyung meets his mother, now crowned, who secretly warns him to leave immediately and await a message in Tamneki, signaling grave danger inside the palace.
Summary
At dawn in Trove’s indoor market, Hana avoids conversation as she buys Tiyung a cloak and food. A final stop at the messenger house brings no replies for either of them. Riding south in rain, Hana remains distant, and Tiyung worries their friendship was one-sided while planning how to persuade King Seok to lift bounties and hide Hana’s survival.
By afternoon they reach the turn for the Palatial Road. Hana, cold and formal, wishes Tiyung well and continues down the Coastal Road. Tiyung enters the barren, salt-sanded approach to Qali, battling paranoia about betrayal and possible bounties while forcing himself to steady his resolve.
At the bridge, unfamiliar king’s guard halt him. After a runner confirms his identity, the soldiers bow and allow him to pass. Crossing the lake triggers memories of imprisonment and terror, yet Tiyung presses on, sensing something wrong in the palace’s atmosphere under Seok’s rule.
Expecting his father, Tiyung instead finds his mother under the gate, crowned in ruby and gold. She embraces him, trembling, and urgently whispers that he must leave at once and wait for a message in Tamneki, revealing hidden peril within the palace and upending Tiyung’s plan to face Seok directly.
Who Appears
- TiyungRides to Qali, confronts fear at the lake, and is warned by his mother to flee to Tamneki.
- HanaGrows distant on the ride from Trove and parts from Tiyung at the Palatial Road turn.
- Tiyung’s mother (Queen of Yusan)Meets Tiyung at the gate, crowned, secretly urges him to leave immediately and await contact.
- King’s guard captainLeads unfamiliar guards at the bridge, verifies Tiyung’s identity, and permits entry.