Restart Again: Volume 2 by Adam Scott (hardest books to read txt) 📕

aware of your exceptional skills, but a task like this is not something that can be done alone.”

“I never said I would be alone,” I replied with a quick look to Lia. “But I need people I can trust to watch my back, not…” I motioned to the three guards who were still sprawled out between us. “They would just be in the way, you see.”

“As I said, this is non-negotiable.” Gullen looked annoyed as he responded, and a bead of sweat trickled down his nose. “There are many factors that have been carefully determined by King Yorrell, and he has only selected the very best—”

“How about one?” Virram’s voice surprised both Gullen and me. “I will select just one of my soldiers to accompany you, and you can choose any other traveling companions you like.”

That’s a better deal than I thought I’d get. I nodded. “I can accept that.”

Gullen retreated back to Virram’s side and whispered in his ear. “Just one, your Grace? Are you sure that’s wise?”

Virram nodded and leaned down to Eppet’s ear. “We’ll send my Shield.”

I heard a small gasp from the councilor. “Sire, you cannot send away your sworn shield.”

“I am the King, Gullen. I can do what I please,” Virram whispered sharply. “Besides, it’s the most logical choice. Of the Trinity Guard, my Shield is the strongest by far. Who better, should the need arise to deal with…” Virram flicked his head in my direction. “Him.”

There was doubt in Gullen’s voice when he responded. “Yes, my King. You are wise beyond your years, to be certain.” He bowed deeply, then scurried to the nearest guard and whispered, “Bring the King’s Shield to the throne room. Immediately.” The guard nodded and descended from the dais to exit through the barracks.

“I am glad we could come to an amicable agreement, Lux.” The king’s voice had regained its former tone of haughty superiority. “Should you succeed on this mission, you will be rewarded handsomely, far beyond your initial retainer. I trust you have grasped the severity of the situation and the level of discretion it demands?”

“I fully understand the situation,” I repeated again with a wry smile.

Virram’s eyebrow raised in annoyance, but before he could respond, the barracks door opened again. The guard Gullen had sent away returned to his post and was followed by a woman who was clearly the King’s Shield. She stood nearly equal to my height, with caramel skin and rich, flowing auburn hair that brushed down just past her shoulders. She was fully adorned in beautiful silver scale armor, which seemed to sparkle with multiple colors under the light of the stained-glass window.

While she cut an impressive figure in her dazzling armor, my focus was entirely drawn to the shield buckled to her right arm. It was a magnificent tower shield about five and a half feet from top to bottom, the face of which looked to be made entirely of stained glass. The edge of the shield was bound in a silvered steel similar to her armor, while its face depicted the same moon and sky scene as the enormous window behind her.

The woman moved to the side of the throne and rested the massive shield on the ground before her. “You called for me, my king?”

Virram stood and moved to the front of the dais, motioning for the woman to follow. “Lux. This is Valandra Sesaude, the leader of my Trinity Guard. She will be your royal companion for the duration of your mission.”

***

4. ONE DAY CLOSER

“How can a mission briefing possibly take THIS long?” I grumbled as I paced across the small bedchamber. “They certainly didn’t give ME the time of day.” There was an itch at the back of my neck, and I scratched angrily at the source. “And these clothes are terrible! How can someone be expected to exist, let alone relax, in such awful fabric!”

“Lux, if you keep pacing like that, you’re going to wear a path in the carpet,” Lia called out playfully. I stopped deliberately and turned to meet her gaze, then rolled my eyes dramatically. She chuckled. “Sorry, it’s something Father always used to say to me when I was a kid.”

I flopped down face first onto the bed beside her and sighed loudly. After our meeting with the king in the throne room, time had flown by in a flurry of new faces and seemingly endless hallways. Once the king had left, Savitz showed us to a side chamber where I was presented with a satchel containing a small wooden box. Five identical silk pouches filled the majority of the box, each containing one hundred golden Imperials.

The only other item inside the box was a small scroll of paper stamped with a massive insignia of the king. Savitz had explained that it was a royal writ; were I to encounter any difficulties with guards or citizens within the borders of Kaldan on my mission, the writ would indicate that I had the necessary royal authority. Before I had a chance to question him further, Savitz pawned us off onto another guard who led us to the royal armory.

Our time in the armory had been far too brief for my liking. Lia and I found our confiscated weapons already present on the smith’s workbench, and two maids were waiting with a change of clothes for each of us to replace our armor, which we were to leave for repairs. I only had time to explain my first set of commission projects to the head blacksmith before we were ferried away again by yet another new guard.

The stops that followed were less notable and had already begun to blend together in my mind: a quick examination by the king’s personal physician, a rushed meal in the corner of a tertiary dining hall, and an incredibly long trip through the keep to the servant’s quarters, where we were eventually led to our current location and informed that we would be free to leave