Crowns of Flame and Ice - Book One

(31) The Only Time Anala Didn't Trust a Book

Yellow bright light surrounded me I stared up at the ceiling. A faint crash sounded followed by scuffling furniture and boots, the people below still drinking after arriving last night. Slurred laughter echoed from outside, the smell of beer hung heavily in the air. The weight of my body pressed down into the hard mattress, I wasn't complaining, I still preferred it to the hard floor of the forest. I'd fallen asleep after... everything. Quilo had too, but I had the sneaking suspicion that his mind was plagued with thoughts and he'd instead just opted to lay there. I didn't feel embarrassed about what had happened last night once we'd returned from The Vaults, but that hollowness had set in again. I was not going to die because of this object because there never had been one. There had never been a point to this trip. The kings would be furious, I wondered what they'd do to punish me for our failure. I wondered what he'd do. I shook, fantom claws tearing into my skin where the scars on my back were.

We had two more gatherings to attend to before we could make the long and difficult trek back to Vauxhaven where we'd meet up with the kings and inevitably face their wrath. It didn't matter that is had not been our fault and it had just been some ploy from some shady club owner to make sure someone didn't steal his winnings. Who was foolish enough to purchase such a thing anyway? It was just a book... one that held no power. Just because it was made out of some fancy metal did not mean it was worth risking lives for it. What kind of book was metal anyway? that seemed rather uncomfortable to read.

"I know you're awake" Quilo murmured from his side of the room. I didn't respond. Something had changed, it felt too quiet in the space that had once been filled with something. It was bitter and violent, but I'd had my hatred for Quilo to focus on. Now that I knew my life wasn't at risk any time soon, I had even less purpose. I snorted, how utterly ridiculous. We'd go back to that castle and I'd be pushed aside again. I'd have to sit there and watch as the kings tore the world apart and turned it into their own personal playground of hate. Quilo by their side, silent and willing. Did he too enjoy it? He never showed any emotion but I could've sworn I sometimes felt something from him, in the slight twitch of his lips, the crinkle of his nose, the flicker in his eyelids, the tightening in his mouth. The thought of going back to that castle made me feel completely and utterly empty, I needed to start preparing myself for it now.

"We need to talk" Quilo snapped, the ruffle of his sheets telling me he sat up. I took a deep breath, held it until my lungs burnt, then released it. Quilo's shoulders were tight as I looked at him, I ensured my face did not convey any of my emotion as I'd done over the past few weeks. I had not thought I'd live any longer so it hadn't mattered to me what I did, how I acted. But now I had more years ahead of me, I needed to be careful around him.

Quilo cleared his throat and I stilled as he announced, "I have the book." He had the book? How the hell had he even gotten it? I sat there silently, waiting for him to continue. There was no point in asking him anyway, he'd tell me what I needed to know. Quilo sighed, "when you... when you collapsed some woman told me to take you through the back exit instead of going through the front doors. Turns out that the back exit was the changing room you mentioned. There were very few people in there, it wasn't hard to render them unconscious before I broke into the safe." I frowned, there was no way someone didn't see him. There were guards crawling all over that exit, he couldn't have just gotten past without someone seeing him. Quilo continued, "it doesn't matter if someone saw me because we will not be here long enough for anyone to catch up to us." Did he really want to go back to the castle and just show up and be like, 'hey! yeah so turns out the object was a big lie some shady guy made up but here's a super expensive book instead!'

I shifted on my seat, the only sign I was nervous that I couldn't hide. Quilo tossed something at me and I caught it, fingers latching on to the silver metal. The book was beautiful, intricate designs of what looked like two thrones were carved into the cool material. A large tree sat behind the thrones, peppered in heart-shaped leaves. It was absolutely stunning, the talent it must've taken to carve something like this was incredible. The metal hinges on the book creaked as I lifted the cover and I gasped. The lettering carved into the metal pages was not of our time, it might even be from a different world. "this isn't... can you read this?" I rasped, voice horse from disuse. Quilo shook his head, "no but I know someone who might be able to." I stilled, catching on to his meaning, "you want to travel to this person, that's why you said we wouldn't be around long enough for anyone to catch up to us." Gods, he spoke true, this truly was not over. It could just be another dead end but... what did I have to lose? Quilo gave a vicious tight lip smile I would never mistake for friendly and announced "we leave for Calvain in thirty minutes. Make sure you bring all your stabby things, you'll need them." I didn't smile.