The Amulet Of Nicmir (The Scripts Of Neptune, Book 1)

Chapter 17

For the first time in days, Chad got enough sleep. What was even better was that it was dreamless; he was completely undisturbed.

Unfortunately, he had a feeling it wouldn't last.

And of course, he was right.

"—don't have time to warn people who're going to die regardless, Lil!" That was Sam's voice, cutting through Chad's consciousness like a knife, urgent and raised in frustration.

"Sam, you don't get it." Lillian. Her voice was patient, but Chad could tell from her tone that that patience was running thin. "If we warn them, they'll have time to prepare. Evacuate women and children to the hills. Gather supplies and barricade themselves against the siege. We have to go."

Chad groaned and rolled over, pulling the blanket over his head. He didn't know why they were talking about sieges and warning people, and he didn't particularly care. He was tired.

"Shut up, will you?" he muttered groggily.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Crynia said with mock cheerfulness. "And welcome to chaos."

Chad opened one eye to squint at her. The soft glow of the rising sun reflecting off the pale trees and jutting limestone outside lit her face and hair like a halo. Her features became sharper when Chad's eyes adjusted. He blinked away sleep and looked over his shoulder at Lillian and Sam.

Sam stood with his arms crossed, glaring defiantly at Lillian, who briefly glanced at Chad and offered a trace of a smile before focusing a look that Chad was very glad not to be on the receiving end of at Sam.

"So..." Crynia began, poking at her bowl of gruel with the tines of her fork. Why she was eating gruel with a fork, Chad hadn't the slightest clue. "Are you two...together?" She raised her fork and gestured between Lillian and Sam.

Nyle choked on his drink in the middle of swallowing. He coughed, laughing. Water trickled down his chin. He wiped it away with his sleeve. "Sorry." He set his cup down. "No, they're not. Sam had a crush on her a while back, though."

Sam gave him a mocking sneer. "Shut up," he muttered, stalking to the back of the cave and jumping into the pit that stored the supplies. "I still think we shouldn't go to Etniria. Let the king deal with his own problems. If we're going to cross the desert, I'd like to get it over with."

Chad was wide awake at that. He sat up, blinking away his remaining weariness. The blanket slipped from his body, and the chilly morning air seeped through his warm new clothes regardless of the thick cloth. "We're crossing the desert? Please tell me he's joking."

Lillian pursed her lips and walked over to him. She held out a folded letter between two fingers. "It's from my father." When Chad opened his mouth to say something about it being rude to read other people's letters, she stopped him. "Just read it. It explains a lot, trust me."

Chad furrowed his brow and pulled the wrinkled parchment from her hand. When he unfolded it, the words were blurry, blotched from the dunk in the river, but readable.

My dearest daughter,

If you are reading this, my time has come, and it is now up to you to lead the quest on which I planned to go myself, along with your brother, Philip.

But before I inform you of what you must do, there is something I should have told you long ago, despite your brother's alternate wishes.

Twenty-one years ago, Agnir married. A year later, a pair of twins were born to him; a boy and a girl. Their names were Kiro and Kariana. In his time at the castle, you brother befriended Kariana, and, as it goes with young people, they fell in love. In his writings to me, he assured me of her newfound loyalties to the Nemaru and to himself. After putting much of the information she provided to the test, I, too, was convinced of her commitment. I gave my blessing on their marriage.