Jin dismounted and led his mare through the shattered gates. The horse's eyes rolled white, nostrils flaring at the smoke and screams. He couldn't blame her. Every instinct screamed at him to turn around, to flee north with the refugees.

  He kept walking.

  The city swallowed him immediately. Streets he'd known since childhood were unrecognizable. Rubble where buildings had stood. Bodies where market stalls had been. Fire consumed a textile shop to his left. The heat was intense enough that he felt it from twenty paces away.

  A clash of steel erupted somewhere ahead. Jin's hand went to his sword hilt but he didn't draw. Not yet. The castle lay deeper in the city. That was his destination. His duty.

  He moved forward, leading his mare through the chaos.

  Two soldiers grappled in a doorway, one in Kingdom red, the other in midnight blue. They were too close for weapons, just fists and desperation. Jin forced himself to keep walking. He couldn't stop for every fight. Couldn't help everyone.

  The guilt sat heavy in his chest anyway.

  A woman's scream cut through the roar. A child crying. The crash of something massive collapsing deeper in the city. Jin's mare balked, pulling against the reins. He couldn't force her forward anymore.

  "Easy," he murmured, though his own voice shook. He tied her reins to a post outside what had been a baker's shop. Patted her neck once. "Stay here."

  She wouldn't. He knew she wouldn't. But at least he'd tried.

  Jin continued on foot, sword now drawn. The blade felt heavier than it had in training. Or maybe his arms just felt weaker.

  The streets twisted. Smoke obscured landmarks. Jin oriented himself by the castle's towers, visible above the lower buildings when the wind shifted the smoke enough to see them. He was close. Maybe half a li from the castle district's outer boundary.

  He turned a corner into a wider street.

  The fight was already underway.

  Four soldiers. Two in Kingdom colors, two in Valerian blue. No formations. No techniques. Just brutal, close-quarters combat in the middle of the street. Steel on steel, grunts of effort, boots scraping stone.

  Jin could go around them. There was space on the left, along the buildings. He could slip past, continue toward the castle.

  Then one of the Kingdom soldiers went down.

  The man took a blade across his shoulder and dropped to one knee. His opponent pressed the advantage, raising his sword for a finishing blow.

  The second Kingdom soldier shouted something and threw himself at the attacker, forcing him back. But that left him exposed to the other Valerian fighter.

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  Who saw Jin standing there.

  Their eyes met.

  The Valerian soldier's expression shifted. Recognized the Royal Guard insignia on Jin's armor. Made a decision.

  He disengaged from the Kingdom soldier and came at Jin in three long strides.

  Jin's training took over. He brought his blade up, caught the incoming strike, redirected it to the side. The impact rattled his arms but he held.

  His opponent was fast. Experienced. But not overwhelming.

  They exchanged blows. Jin gave ground, blocked, found his rhythm. The man attacked high, Jin ducked. Came in low, Jin pivoted away.

  Then Jin saw an opening. The Valerian's guard dropped after an overextended thrust. Jin could end it. A thrust to the exposed ribs. He'd practiced the move a thousand times.

  His sword wavered.

  The man was someone's son. Someone's brother. Maybe someone's father.

  Jin hesitated.

  The Valerian recovered, reset his stance. Attacked again.

  They fought. Jin parried, countered, forced the man back step by step. He was winning. He could feel it in the rhythm of the exchange, in the way his opponent's breathing grew labored while Jin's remained steady.

  Finally, Jin saw it. A feint high that the man bought completely. Jin's boot swept his legs. The Valerian went down hard, landing on his back. His sword clattered away across the stone.

  Jin stood over him, blade point hovering near the man's throat.

  The Valerian stared up at him. Didn't beg. Didn't plead. Just waited.

  Jin couldn't do it.

  He stepped back. Lowered his sword. Turned toward where the Kingdom soldier was still fighting.

  Steel whispered against stone behind him.

  Jin's body moved before his mind caught up. He spun.

  The Valerian was on his feet, sword reclaimed, already mid-thrust. Aiming for Jin's back.

  Jin's blade came across in a desperate arc.

  The edge caught the man across the throat.

  For a heartbeat, everything froze.

  The Valerian's eyes went wide. His sword fell from nerveless fingers. Both his hands came up to his neck, trying to hold back the blood that poured between his fingers.

  He made a sound. Not words. Just a wet, choking gurgle.

  Then he collapsed.

  Jin stared at the body. At the blood spreading across the pale stone. At his own sword, red now instead of steel-bright.

  His hands started shaking.

  I killed him.

  The thought was distant. Abstract. Like it belonged to someone else.

  He tried to kill me. I had no choice.

  That thought felt more real. Closer.

  But I killed him.

  A hand gripped Jin's shoulder. He jerked, nearly swung his blade before he realized it was the Kingdom soldier, the one who'd still been fighting when Jin turned away.

  The man's mouth moved. Shaped words. Jin couldn't hear them over the ringing in his ears.

  "Are you alright? Can you hear me?"

  Sound rushed back in. The roar of the city burning. Distant screams. Closer combat.

  "I'm fine," Jin heard himself say. His voice sounded wrong. Flat.

  The Kingdom soldier studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Thanks. Would've had me if you hadn't shown up." He glanced at the two dead Valerian soldiers, the one Jin had killed and the one he'd killed during the fight. "You're a Royal Guard, right? Get to the castle. That's where they need you."

  Then he was gone, disappearing into the smoke and chaos toward another fight.

  Jin stood alone in the street with two corpses and the weight of what he'd just done.

  He looked at his hands. Still shaking. Looked at his sword. Still bloody.

  They're invaders. They attacked us. They're killing my people.

  The thoughts came faster now. Sharper.

  The man tried to kill me. Would have, if I'd turned my back. Would have killed that soldier if I hadn't been here.

  This is war. This is what it means.

  This is what I swore to do.

  The shaking in his hands slowed. Stopped.

  Jin wiped his blade clean on the dead man's cloak. The gesture felt strange. Wrong. But necessary.

  He sheathed the sword and looked up. The castle towers were visible through a gap in the smoke. Closer now.

  His kingdom was dying around him. His people were dying. His father was somewhere ahead, fighting to defend a castle that might already be lost.

  Jin had killed a man today. The first. Probably not the last.

  He started walking. Toward the castle. Toward his duty.

  The guilt went with him. So did the resolve.