Page 53 of The Empty Throne

Together they pressed, and Kite slumped inrelief when there was a pair of loud clicks that echoed through thechamber.

"It opened!" Lysa said, standing and pushingat where, sure enough, the top portion of the altar had opened likethe lid of a chest. He grunted when it wouldn't move. "Why is it soheavy?"

Chuckling, Kite rose and helped him, liftingit up until he spied bars that were meant to hold the lid open,slotting his in place quickly before Lysa did his end.

They stood there, arms just barely touching,staring at the revealed contents.

Money, a lot of it. More than enough forseveral people to start all new lives wherever in the world theywanted. Security stash, no doubt. There were books that lookedolder than time, and a wooden box about the size of a jewel case,but with far less depth.

Something about that box turned his stomach,but Kite reached for it all the same. There was, surprisingly, nolock. He undid the clasps and threw the lid back—and then almostthrew it across the room.

Bloodstones. Twelve of the creepy things, infour rows of three, each one of a size to be easily cupped in thehand with fingers wrapped almost completely around it. They were adull, rusty brown in color, which matched with everything he'd everread. According to those same accounts, they would turn a brilliantred when in use.

"I thought we'd be lucky to findone,"Lysa said. "How many people had to die to make these? I can'tbelieve…" He shook his head and fell silent.

Kite snapped the lid shut again. "Nothing wecan do about that now. Let's get these and you back to our magesand get you fixed once and for all."

"And then home."

Kite smiled and squeezed his hand. "And thenhome."

Fifteen

When Bittersea returned to the mainland, itwas to find the world had been reduced to chaos.

It didn't take long to pin someone down andlearn that Cremisio was being invaded by Terek. Apparently, theborder lands had been overtaken, and the army was marching withrelative swiftness south. Marvelous.

Bittersea went to see about securing a rideout of town, easier said than done wheneveryonewas tryingto get out of town. A dangerous and stupid thing to do this time ofyear, especially when the clouds were fat with the snow and icethey'd start releasing any moment.

Inside his clothes, pressed to his chest,were the papers he needed to get to Cremin. Retrieve and delivermissions had none of the fun of killing people. After all thisstupid nonsense best left to people who gave a damn, Lindquist hadbetter repay him thoroughly.

A delighted shiver ran down his spine at thethought of all the darkly creative things Lindquist would do. Therewere very few times in life when Bittersea felt anything. When hewas killing. When he was praying to Takar and Tamar. And when Coheapossessed him, mind, body, and soul.

His little sister had brought him to life aswell, but Bittersea rarely lingered on those memories. All the goodones had been driven out by the sound of her scream, the ominouscrunch that had come just as he'd reached the stairs. The weight ofher limp body in his arms.

If he could torture and kill his father allover again, he would. Alas, that would have to wait until Bitterseafound him in the darkest, dankest pits of the afterlife.

He tried seven stables, but none of them hada caribou to spare, not at any price. None of the merchants andother travelers he tried had room for him. If he had to walk theentire fucking way…

Except he wouldn't. The army would reach himlong before he reached Cremin.

His only remaining option now was to get aboat, but the harbor had precious few of those remaining, and nonewith space.

Bittersea found a bar that was still open forthe moment, ordered a beer, and sulked. He could go the unethicalroute, but Lindquist would not be pleased with him, and as much asBittersea hated it, he disliked when Lindquist was upset withhim.

If he couldn't leave, he would have to stayuntil means of departure presented themselves—or the Terekianvanguard appeared. That could be fun. He'd never faced a vanguardbefore, such a challenging fight… He shivered at the fun of suchhard-won kills.

Terekian vanguards were generally about fiftypeople strong, but in cold weather like this, the expense ofsupplying and transporting a group that large was enough to makeeven Lindquist flinch. Not to mention that their goal wasn't toannihilate, but to capture. Hopefully. Bittersea had no way toconfirm that, not when all he had to work with right now wasrumors.

Still, it would be the epitome of stupid forTerek to come in slaughtering everyone when subjugation was muchmore efficient in the long term. Not that there would be any term,short or long.

He dropped money on the counter for the beerand left, heading for the north end of the city, where hopefullythe city guards had not yet run off. Snow had begun to fall, aparticular bite to it that would make breathing feel like his lungswere on fire if he were out in it too long.

Yet Terek had decided to start a war in this?Endless Night and particularly nasty weather? Then again, it wasn'tlike they had a whole lot of time. Once the heir was found andestablished, everything would stabilize again, and Cremisio wouldnot be as vulnerable. They were always vulnerable, but countriesthat might tolerate Terek overrunning a kingdom in tumult would notbe as willing to do so for a kingdom that was firmly settled oncemore. For all that possessing Cremisio would be a boon to anykingdom, for the most part they were content to simply to be alliesand maintain lucrative treaties.

Hmm. Maybe some of this urgency had to dowith Fazekas wanting his precious heir back. It seemed stupid torisk so much on such a minor thing as backstabbing family, butBittersea was hardly an expert on what loving families would do foreach other. Not that he'd ever seen any indication that Fazekas sawhis son as anything except another tool, but he also had never paidclose attention.

When he reached the city wall, it was to findsoldiers flopping around like recently caught fish. Bitterseasnagged one by the collar of his coat, forcing him to stop. "Who'sin charge here?"

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