Page 53 of The Half King
“Fair point,” she admitted. Her question had been a stupid one. Nobody understood how magic worked. “Are there places like this everywhere on the mountain? Or only here?”
“TheBelowexists only here,” Nero said. “But my blood can carry me here from any place on the mountain.”
“So you have an escape,” she said. “No wonder you can survive out here for so long.”
Nero shrugged a massive shoulder. “The better question is why you want the sunset runes. What do you hope they will help you find?”
“Why do you care?”
“Because if I lead you to the runes, I’m complicit in what you do with them.”
“My intentions are good. I can promise you that.”
He chuckled again. “Intentions are more meaningless than grains of sand. It’s your actions that matter.”
Cerise chewed the inside of her cheek and considered whether she should tell Nero the truth. She didn’t know Nero well enough to trust him. But to be fair, he didn’t know her, either, and he had trusted her enough to display his magical talents, which—knowing as he did of her proximity to the Order—was akin to putting his life in her hands. Besides, if Nero was as skilled a mountain guide as he had claimed, the caravan would need his help after she secured the sunset runes. Sooner or later, he would learn what object she sought.
“Very well. I’ll tell you,” she decided. “I want the Petros Blade.”
That didn’t seem to surprise him. “For what purpose?”
“To break the noble curses.”
“Shiera’s curses?”
“Yes.”
“Why would you do that?”
His question confused her. “Whywouldn’tI do that?”
“Because I know who you are,” he said. “A failed oracle sent here to play politics with the king. It’s the goddess you really serve, not the royal line.”
Cerise gaped at Nero. He could have learned her identity from any number of sources, but only three people on Mortara knew that she had no Sight. Her reputation as a “blessed oracle” had only gained momentum since the fire at the palace, so how could he know that she was a failure?
“It’s true,” she admitted. “I serve the goddess.”
“Then why break her curses?”
“Because I don’t want to see anyone suffer,” she said. “Why is that so difficult to understand?”
Nero must not have expected that response, because he watched her for a long, silent moment before he finally said, “Then I need your vow.”
“What vow?”
“The Petros Blade is no ordinary weapon,” he told her. “If wielded by the correct hand, it can kill any living creature, even a goddess.”
“Do you think I don’t know that? I’m well aware of the blade’s history. That’s the whole reason we want it—to atone for the Great Betrayal.”
“Doyouthink you’re the first one to try?” Nero retorted.
“Well…” Cerise stammered. “Yes, actually, I did.”
“You’re not,” Nero told her. “Generations of nobles have hired guides like me to lead them to the sunset runes, hoping to find the Petros Blade so they could break Shiera’s curse and save themselves.”
“And none of them found it?”
“None of them wereworthy,” Nero said.
