The Tales of the Wanderer Volume One: A Book of Underrealm (The Underrealm Volumes 4) by Garrett Robinson (elon musk reading list TXT) 📕

breath. Zhen must have followed us from Taitou to Huzen, looking for us to betray the King’s law. He must have had exceptional woodcraft for me to have never noticed him tailing us. It seemed Mag had been right—Kun suspected us from the first.

Kun’s brow furrowed, even while his smile remained. “To be clear: did the guards at the gate attack these people, nephew?”

Zhen’s expression darkened. “They did not, Captain. These two struck first after the guards tried to enforce their orders from the mayor, who is loyal to King Jun.”

“Now, hold on,” I said quickly. “We were in the middle of a strange town, trapped in a battle about which we knew nothing. We had no idea the guards and mayor were loyal to King Jun. We did not even know about the civil war. We only sought to escape the fighting.”

“By harming servants of the King’s law,” said Kun, nodding as if I was making perfect sense. “Of course, I wish to believe you. But there is, of course, no reason to do so, since you have lied about so much else. There is every possibility you knew exactly what you were doing. And that, I am afraid, is a risk I cannot take. Guards!”

The last word was a battlefield bark, so sharp and sudden that I jumped. The door flew open, and four Mystics entered with blades drawn. The constables in the room drew their weapons with grim looks on their faces.

Beside me, Mag had tensed to fight. Dryleaf’s head swung back and forth, trying to read the room from the sounds around us. Oku backed up against my legs, whining. But before things could go any further, I threw up my hands towards Kun and the Mystics at the door.

“Wait!” I said, as sharp as Kun had. It stopped everyone for an instant, but that was enough for me to continue. “Listen. When last we were here, we told you we used to be mercenaries. That was true, but not the whole of it. This is Mag, known to many as the Uncut Lady. I know at least some of you must have heard of her.”

They froze on the spot, though Kun had given them no order to halt. His eyes went wide as he looked upon Mag with fresh wonder.

“That is right,” I went on, more slowly now. “If you have heard of her, you know she did not have to leave a single guard alive at that gate in Huzen. Yet she did them no lasting harm, but only left them with a few lumps. She could kill everyone in this room right now if she wanted to. Or she could do the same to you as she did to those guards, getting us out of here without spilling a drop of blood.”

The air in the room felt thick as butter, and still, no one moved—except Kun, who licked his lips.

“I believe she could,” he said, “if tales of her exploits have not been exaggerated. Yet neither of you moves. What are we to make of this?”

“We have no wish to hurt anyone,” I said. “We told you we came to help, and that is the truth. Take us into your service. With the Uncut Lady on your side, you are that much closer to victory, whatever your aims.”

Again the room went silent. Mag, for her part, had not moved since I started speaking. The mask was down, her battle-trance rendering her emotionless, cold, calculating. I hoped she would restrain herself until we were sure there was no other way out of the room.

Still, Kun stared at us. But now his focus was mainly on Mag, and his perpetual smile had faded. I saw calculation in his eyes: factors weighed, measured, and tossed aside one by one.

At last, he managed to summon his smile again.

“I believe that you do not wish to harm us,” he said, “or it would have happened already. But neither can I trust you, what with you having attacked soldiers under the king’s command. Even your offer now veils a threat of violence, like the peacetime treaty of a warlike king. And I cannot discount the possibility that you might be spies. I am afraid I must ask you to leave. And if you are on the side of the King’s law, you will do so without a fuss. If not … well. I suppose I shall learn firsthand whether the Uncut Lady deserves her reputation.”

I was at a loss. It was heartbreaking to think of leaving Taitou empty-handed. We would be no better off than we were when we fled Huzen, and we would have wasted even more time into the bargain. Worse yet, Kun would doubtless send word of this to the Mystics across the land. We had to persuade him, but I was at a loss.

But Dryleaf was not. Again he spoke as a bard, his voice filling the room and invigorating the heart.

“You are making a mistake, and you are shirking your duty,” he said.

The air in the room, already chilled with the outside air, seemed to grow colder still. Kun’s eyes flashed.

“You are turning away two fighters who could turn the tide of a battle,” Dryleaf went on. “And former military officers who could train this militia you are recruiting.”

Kun’s smile widened. “Oh?” he said. “You think you can train my fighters into worthy soldiers?”

Mag dropped her mask. I saw the tension bleed out of her, and at the same time, I felt some of it dissipate in the air, making me sigh with relief.

“I can,” she said earnestly. “I can turn your farm boys and smiths’ daughters into a force of warriors you can use.”

Kun deliberated on that for a moment. But then he shook his head.

“It is too great a risk.”

“Watch us as close as you like,” I said. “What harm could we do if you are vigilant around us?”

Kun’s smile showed teeth. “You two should know better than most that a soldier