Page 78 of Four Ruined Realms (The Broken Blades #2)

Tiyung

The Khakatan Mountains, Khitan

I didn’t think we’d actually make it here. I was certain Hana and I would die escaping from Idle Prison, and then I thought we would surely be killed in Qali Palace, and then I knew we’d be eaten alive rowing a very small boat over Idle Lake. I was proven wrong every step of the way. Even on horseback traveling here, I thought Hana would murder me or a gang of highwaymen would get to us, but somehow, we made it to Khitan.

Well, I think we are in Khitan.

It’s hard to tell because we’ve been walking through this cave system for bells and bells. This underground space meanders beneath the Khakatan Mountains. I was well lost a few minutes in, but Hana plods forward. She moves her lantern to check carvings on the wall, and then she keeps going.

I follow.

We had to take this way in because the king’s guard occupies the main road to the border. War is descending on Khitan, where Sora and the others are trying to steal the Golden Ring. If they’re still alive. I blow out a heavy breath. Please gods, let them still be alive.

“Should I ask how you even know about this?” I whisper because my voice echoes in the cave.

“Do you think spies go through the customs harbor every time we enter or leave?” she asks dryly.

That’s fair enough.

We keep going. Finally, daylight shines at the end of the cave. I unclench my clean-shaven jaw and breathe a sigh of relief. After Idle, darkness crawls and grates on me. I now sleep with a fire going. I doubt I’ll ever be comfortable in the dark again.

The sky is a painfully bright gray when we come out near a small, picturesque town. This far into monsoon season, everything is covered in deep snow. I put my hand over my eyes to shield them from the snow’s reflection. We pull our hoods up and trek into town.

Hana keeps glancing up as we walk. I’m not sure what she is searching for until we arrive at a messenger house.

“I need to stop inside,” she says.

I nod, then hold the door for her.

Bells chime as we walk in, alerting the eagles on their perches and the man behind the desk.

“Good morning,” Hana says in perfect Khitanese. “Are there any letters for Nabhi of Kur?”

I’m confused for a moment, but then I realize that must be her alias. I know the four original languages, having had tutors my whole life. I’m not sure where Hana learned Khitanese—probably from Madame Iseul, but she might be self-taught.

The man hands Hana a red envelope. The kind that comes from the palace. Someone in Qali knew where we were going? Maybe Nayo.

She cracks the clay and slices open the envelope.

All of a sudden, the ground shakes. I grab the ledge closest to me. Is it an earthquake? An avalanche?

“What is that?” I ask, looking around.

“War drums,” she says casually.

She reads the card in her hand. It’s a mix of symbols. I have no idea what any of it means, but she takes out a pencil and starts decoding it.

“I must begin to close up now,” the man behind the counter says. “Seek safety.”

He moves around behind the counter, adroitly slipping hoods on the birds and putting them in cages. This close to the border, his shop is at risk. He will be one of the first who must leave everything behind to flee farther inland. One who has to pray that something will be left when he returns. A commoner lost in the shuffle of war.

But Hana isn’t paying attention. She’s staring at the card in front of her.

“We have to go back,” she says in Yusanian.

“Excuse me?” She can’t mean back to Yusan. We just got here. We need to get to Sora. We need to help the others—that’s been our goal from the beginning. Nothing on a card could change that.

She hands me the message.

I read the words she translated, and the paper falls from my hand. I’m sure my face is now as pale as hers.

My father has seized Qali Palace.