He Used My Blood Then Chose Me novel · Chapter 9 of 32

Chapter 9: The Ninth Name

We buried his mother on the far bank at dawn.

There was no priest. Min-jun dug the grave himself and wouldn't let me help.

It took him two hours. He used his hands and a flat stone.

When he was done he stood over it and said something in the old tongue.

Then he turned around and walked back to the campfire.

My mother was asleep by the fire, wrapped in Ren's mantle. She'd slept through the whole thing.

Ren was on watch at the edge of the reeds.

I sat down across from Min-jun.

He had ash on his face and mud to the elbows.

"Your mother," I said.

"She lived in the western garrison town," he said. "She was human. My father took her when I was seven and sent her south. I haven't seen her in twenty-two years."

"You knew she was here."

"I guessed." He looked at the fire. "The commander's report mentioned a woman from the garrison. I thought it might be her."

"And you came anyway."

"I came for the temple."

He said it without any weight on it.

"Say it," I said.

"Say what?"

"The whole thing. From the start."

He was quiet for a long time.

Then he looked up.

"I learned about you three months ago," he said. "A dying priest in the capital told me the Amber Forest priests had one survivor, and the survivor had a child, and the child's blood was the key."

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