Page 22 of Four Ruined Realms (The Broken Blades #2)

Royo

Lake Cerome, Khitan

We had to plod through the snow for two fucking bells just to catch up with the sled. The stupid deer had wandered so far away that it took forever to find them. My old boots got soaked and ruined, but we got back on in one piece at least.

Now, we’re at Lake Cerome—just about. We’re in a small town right outside the lake. There’s not much to it—a bread house, a pub, and a feed store. I’d guess about two hundred people live here. It’s a good thing we stopped in Vashney for supplies and new winter gear.

“We need to come up with a plan,” Mikail says, tying the sled to a tree. The tree is next to berry bushes, and the deer help themselves. We only caught them last night because they’d stopped to graze.

Now, we need to get to some books in a temple under a frozen lake, which I still don’t get. None of it. Why would people devote their lives to dusty, dry pages, anyhow? I read what I had to in school, but I quit when my mother died. I’d see swells with books sometimes in Umbria, but I never understood it. Why spend the money when the same mun will keep you in bread and ale? I guess we need the information. But how are we gonna get into this temple?

We’re all arming ourselves with as many weapons as we can carry. A temple shouldn’t be dangerous, but we need to be prepared.

I slip another knife into the vest I bought in Vashney. Euyn takes out camping supplies. I quirk an eyebrow. It’s late afternoon, almost dusk, but we’re not staying overnight. We need to get back to Quu as fast as we can if the girls are in danger.

“What’s all that for?” I ask.

Euyn tugs open another rucksack and shoves in a blanket. “It may take some time, but I think the best way in is to wait for a priest to come to deliver records and then follow him or…persuade him to take us.”

“But what about Aeri and Sora?”

“At most they could be detained, and then I’ll handle it once we’re done.” Mikail shrugs and casually checks his sword. It’s not the flaming one he had in Yusan—the palace took that back when they knocked him out. But he’s real picky about his weapons. He spent a lot of time choosing a sword in Vashney.

Mikail isn’t worried, and maybe I shouldn’t be, either. But I can’t shake the feeling that we should go back.

“Royo, bring your axe,” Euyn says. “We may need it.”

I stare at him, wondering if he means we’re gonna kill a Yoksa.

“For the door,” Mikail adds.

Oh.

Euyn has his crossbow and four bands on him. He’s gotta have over sixty bolts in total, but he reaches for more.

Seeing him shoot last night was really something. Too much had been going on in Oosant for me to notice, but in the snow, his marksmanship was on full display. It ain’t easy to bring down a wolf, and he was doing it with one bolt apiece. I’ve never seen nothing like it. My axe throw was lucky. He has skill.

“Take the lead in and I’ll cover your flank,” Mikail says to Euyn. He slides a dagger into his vest.

They glance at each other.

Ever since we got back in the sled, they’ve been closer. Not like they were in Yusan, but it’s not as tense as when we left Quu. Maybe people can move on from lies and betrayals. Maybe it brings you closer together.

Not me—other people.

“Royo, watch our backs,” Mikail instructs.

I nod.

“All right, let’s go.” Euyn loads his bow and puts another bolt in his hand. Then he begins to trek through the snow.

Lake Cerome is at the center of a bunch of hills. Euyn chooses a path, and we walk uphill from town.

Their steps are light, silent as woodland creatures. Mine…aren’t. We’re ten feet in, and they both look back at me. It’s not like I’m trying to be noisy, though. I’m just not a hunter or a spy. I don’t normally need to sneak up on nobody. I find a guy, and I hurt him—simple as that.

Mikail stares at me as I huff along.

“Can you do that louder?” he mouths.

I try to breathe through my nose, but the air is thin. It feels like I’m gonna pass out.

We’re about a quarter of the way up when Euyn stops with his hand raised. We all put our backs together and scan. He’s tracking, looking for signs of other people or things. I remember it from Oosant, how he searches the ground for clues, almost like an animal. When he gives the all-clear, we walk again.

We trudge along for a while. I’m glad we picked up winter gear and clothes. My old boots never would’ve made it this far, but these ones are new, sturdy, and fur-lined. It’s snowing hard, and this all seems like a lot of work just to get to some old books, but what do I know? Hwan used to tell me there were whole worlds in books, but I had enough trouble in this one.

The top of the hill is twenty yards away when Euyn spins around. We all shift our weapons. Even I heard that—a footstep out of sync with ours.

I hold my breath and wait. The hair on my neck stands. There’s somebody behind us.

Ten Hells, how? I just checked a second ago.

Euyn raises his bow to his shoulder. I turn to look back. My eyes widen, and my jaw drops.

He’s about to shoot Aeri.