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

wrong. She was born and raised in Dorsea, and it bothered her when she saw the direction of the Shades’ march. They are headed due west, yet there is nothing valuable between here and the Greatrocks—nothing except the pass itself.”

“And two hundreds is more than enough to hold the pass and keep anyone from using it,” said Tou. “At least we think so, if the Shades have a stronghold in the Greatrocks.”

I blanched as Kun gave him a sharp look. “A stronghold? And what makes you think they have one?”

Tou paused, turning to look at me. “Well …”

I took a deep breath. “Captain Zhou. What do you know of Jordel of the family Adair?”

A long moment of silence stretched as he studied me. Tou now seemed uncomfortable, as though he regretted bringing us here. Mag’s gaze remained locked on me, studying my face. I suspected she worried for me—after all, she was one of the few who knew all the details of my time with Jordel. More details than I would share now, certainly.

But I was also keenly aware of Yue’s gaze upon me. It was only a few days since we had spoken of Jordel, though I had not named him then. Her expression was a mix of curiosity and pity.

At last, Kun spoke slowly. “I did not know Jordel. But I have heard much of him.”

“Especially since Northwood fell, if I am not mistaken,” I said.

Kun’s smile sharpened, and he lifted his chin. “What makes you say that?”

“Because I was with him in the Greatrocks,” I said. “I fought by his side when we discovered the Shades there. And I laid his cairn when he fell, and I wept at his grave.”

The air in the tent was thick enough to cut with a knife. Kun did not so much as blink, and I could read nothing in his smile.

“Hm,” he said. Another moment passed, and then his smile softened. “Well. This is all interesting information that I certainly wish I had had earlier. I wonder if I can believe it. Though if you were trying to trick me, I hardly think you would admit involvement in the death of the last Mystic captain you knew.”

For weeks now, I had kept my temper through such remarks. Kun never stopped prodding us, trying to get a reaction. And I understood why, and I forgave him for it. But now I felt my blood rush in my ears, creating a whine at the very edge of my hearing, and a terrible rage thundered in my chest.

“Captain,” I said, my voice louder than it should have been, “I will not stand idle while you speak that way. You have your jibes at Mag’s and my expense. We hear them beneath your courtesy, and we know you know it. But you will keep your needling words far from the subject of Jordel.”

Tou’s eyes were wide, and he looked as though he wanted to do something but did not know what. Meanwhile, Kun’s smile had again grown sharp and icy. “Oh, I will? Or what? What will you do if I do not comply?”

“There is no ‘or,’” I said.

“Albern,” said Mag, gently but firmly.

“No!” I barked, cutting her off. Her brows lifted, but I ignored her and turned back to Kun. “There is no ‘or.’ You will stop because you are a man of honor, and respecting Jordel’s memory is the honorable thing to do. If I were a Shade in disguise, intent on your ruin, it would still be right. If I were an assassin with designs on the High King herself, it would still be right. You will not speak ill of the dead or of—” My voice caught, but I forced myself to go on. “—Or of one who loved him. You will hold your tongue, not for fear of anything I might do, but because it is right, and because you are worthy of such restraint.”

Everything lapsed into silence again. Tou still looked ready to spring into action the instant he felt sure of what action to take. My limbs shook as anger and anxiety coursed through me together. I was prepared to fight, to flee, or to break and weep on the ground, and I could not have told you which I wanted to do most.

But Kun did not look angry. His smile had not gone, but it had eased.

“At last, some honesty,” he said quietly.

I frowned. “Ser?”

He dropped his gaze to the map and leaned over the table on clenched fists. “The two of you wrap yourselves in lies. You have since the moment I laid eyes on you. Nothing you have said to me has come without some cloak of falsehood, or a shawl of deceit at the very least. And that is fine. I do not need unshrouded honesty from everyone who serves me. But it makes me suspicious, as is my right.” He looked back up at me again, studying me close from beneath his thick black brows. “Yet now I hear you speak with truth ringing from every part of you—your tongue, your eyes, and your heart. It is refreshing.”

There was a long pause while I took this in. “Thank you, Captain,” I said at last. “So you believe me?”

“I do,” said Kun, smiling. “And your sharing of truth deserves the same in turn. I had not meant to tell you this yet, but now I wish to inform you of something Lieutenant Zhen learned in Kuan Shu.”

Lieutenant Zhen straightened suddenly, his eyes widening. “Ser—”

Kun waved him to silence with one hand. “Zhen, please. They deserve as much, now that they have laid their hearts bare, as it were.” He turned his gaze to us. “Wojin has been deposed.”

“What?” said Mag, Yue, and I at the same time.

“Yes,” said Kun, nodding. “Reports are murky as to how. But agents in the capital city of Danfon, led by other Mystics, overthrew the pretender king. Even now, he is being held captive there.”

“Then who sits the