Page 34 of Four Ruined Realms (The Broken Blades #2)

Sora

The Western Pass, Khitan

After being awake for so long, lying down in the sleigh is a priceless relief. I’m nearly asleep the second I recline on the bench. Surrounded by soft fur, it’s easy to nod off. Even thinking about Daysum can’t keep me awake. And it should. I should be unable to live, to breathe, while she suffers. After all, what is a life abandoning what I love?

Thinking about what she and Ty must be enduring kept me up through the entire ride to Lake Cerome, but my eyes drift closed, and the next thing I know, I’m in a dream. Except it’s not a dream—it’s a memory.

I recognize where I am immediately. This is my childhood home in Inigo. The house I grew up in was a two-room shack by a stream. Our parents had their bedroom, and the other room served as the living room, dining room, kitchen, playroom, and the bedroom for the four of us—me, Daysum, and our little brothers, Taj and Jee. Jee was two years old and had just started sleeping with us instead of in our parents’ bed.

Based on the ages, this was a few months before Seok arrived and shattered my world.

Back then, I didn’t know anything about Gain, or poison maidens, or counts. I knew our clapboard house and the foothills of the mountains. I was nine years old and singing a song. Daysum and the boys were dancing around the room. My mother and father were at the sink, cleaning vegetables and rinsing rice for dinner, but they were singing the chorus with me. My father two-stepped as he shelled peas, and my mother laughed. Daysum grabbed my hands, and we spun in a circle.

Warmth floods me. This was all I ever wanted and needed.

I was happy.

Suddenly, Daysum started coughing and coughing, until she turned deep red. Seconds later, she collapsed. I skinned my knee falling to catch her before she hit the rough wood slats. The cut stung as I held her. Daysum’s eyes rolled back, and I just barely stopped her head from slamming onto the ground as she convulsed.

“Mama!” I screamed.

Our mother rushed over, wiping her hands on her tattered apron.

“Daysum!” she yelled. “Darling, can you hear me?”

My mother took her from me, and I sat on the floor, shocked. We went from dancing and laughing to this so quickly.

“We need a healer,” Father said, wringing his hands.

Mother pursed her lips, frown lines marring her perfect face. “How will we—”

“I will figure it out,” Father said, his lips set in a determined line as he slipped on his worn shoes. Healers were expensive and Daysum was often ill, but not like this.

Mother lowered her eyes and nodded. She held Daysum in her arms. “Please hurry.”

My father rushed out the door.

“What can I do?” I asked.

My mother cupped my face in her hand. “Just be the good girl you are. We will take care of her.”

I paced and waited by the window, and it felt like an eternity before the healer arrived. Father came in, out of breath with his brow glistening with sweat. He’d run after the healer’s horse from across town.

Daysum was diagnosed with purple fever and given herbs to drink. Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how poor we were. My parents’ fleeting expressions when the healer prescribed red meat said it all—they couldn’t afford it. Maybe, in the end, that’s why we were sold.

The healer said that Daysum’s illness was contagious. My brothers and I were instructed to move our sleeping mats to the floor in my parents’ bedroom. I did as I was told, but once everyone was asleep, I snuck out and padded into the big room. I knew I could get sick, but I didn’t care. I didn’t want Daysum to be alone.

“You shouldn’t be here, Sora,” she said, her voice weak.

I snuggled in under her blanket, holding her fevered body as she shook. “I’m always here, little one.”

“I’ll love you for always,” is what she said. I remember it plainly. But this time she turns to me, and her eyes go wide and alarmed. “Sora, listen to me—you need to go!”

I shake my head and sigh. “I’ll be okay.”

I did develop purple fever, but I was fully recovered in two days. Daysum was sick for months.

“Sora, wake up! You need to run!”

I open my eyes to a dark, starless sky. I expect Daysum to be next to me, but I’m alone on the bench of a sleigh. It’s just before dawn, but there’s a distinct rumbling in the distance. Icy, immediate fear spreads along my spine. I jerk upright and watch a mountain of snow careening downhill, heading right for us.

An avalanche.