The Path of Giants, B.T. Narro [the speed reading book .TXT] 📗

“Remi tells me that you’re not in a relationship, either.” She phrased it like a question.

“I’m not.”

“I find that very surprising.” She watched me intently as she waited for my response.

“I think I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said.

“Yes, you should.” She reached out and touched my arm. We shared a little smile.

I was beginning to notice how often she was touching me now. The feeling give me butterflies, but I had to admit to myself that Hadley was still somewhat mysterious to me. I had known Kataleya better than I did Hadley before we’d jumped into bed together, though there was a part of me that was trying to ignore this thought as I couldn’t stop noticing how beautiful Hadley was.

I wasn’t even sure if she was interested in something like that. All I did know was that when the recipe was for trouble, my urges felt like the ingredients.

I heard the door swing open to the tavern behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Aliana stumbling out. “There the two of you are!” she said with a slur. “Charlie coaxed Remi into dancing on one of the tables. Now he’s trying to dance with her. You have to see, come on!”

I was disappointed in her. “It’s the middle of the afternoon, Ali,” I scolded. I couldn’t believe it was up to me to lecture her about this. Weren’t Leon and Jennava in the tavern with the others?

“So what if it’s the afternoon?” Aliana asked.

“Because you’re drunk and we have things to do. We have to ride back to the castle, for one.”

“Oy! It doesn’t matter, Jon! You can cure everyone’s drunkenness as soon as we’re done celebrating!”

“No I can’t…wait.” I scratched my head. “Can I? I’ve never thought to try.”

“If you can heal poison and you can get rid of a curse,” Hadley began, “then I assume you can heal drunkenness.”

“Try on me!” Aliana said with a couple hops of excitement. “I want to be the first drunk drunkard to be cured of their drunk-ardness. First in history! Wait!” She put up her hands. “After we watch Charlie fall off the table. I want to be drunk when I see that.”

Aliana grabbed our hands and dragged the two of us into the tavern.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

It turned out that I could heal drunkenness, but it was only temporary for people who still had a lot of alcohol in their stomachs. I’d have to heal them again later. I was a little surprised to see just how drunk my friends had gotten during the brief celebration. Then I found out the reason. Charlie had been telling everyone that I could heal drunkenness, so they all had freely indulged.

We collectively agreed not to tell the king about the celebration and especially not about the drunkenness.

It was late in the evening when we returned to the castle. I was glad I wasn’t in charge of anything, like Leon and Jennava were. I could eat in the dining hall with my friends as Jennava introduced Syrah to the king, as Leon probably stayed silent and tried to keep his comments to himself. First, the thieves needed a new name. Second, they needed to agree to binding contracts written up by the king’s councilman. Third, they needed a plan of action. They didn’t just have to keep Koluk in order. They needed close communication with the king so we could use Koluk to our advantage in the war.

After I’d seen the industrial complex, I understood how control of Koluk would help us. I had spoken with Charlie during the ride back. I had asked him why such an industrial complex was in Koluk and not elsewhere. He’d explained that it was the specific layout of the land, such as the proximity of the forest and a river they could bifurcate, as well as other aspects. Everything had to be in the right place for such a forge to remain active for a long period of time, and Koluk had all the right ingredients.

I asked Charlie if he was excited to return and attempt to melt the Valaer steel the krepps had traded to us. He was not. He hated Koluk, probably because he had spent so much time there when he just wanted to return to the castle. Like the rest of us, he had been spoiled by the room and board provided by the king.

It wasn’t long after we returned that I found myself sitting in the dining hall and sharing a meal with Michael, Reuben, and Charlie, almost as if we’d never been apart. It felt like ages ago that we had all been here. I had missed this. The girls came in and sat near us, with no space between where their group started and ours ended. I figured this was how it would be from now on.

Eventually, Syrah, Leon, and Jennava dragged their feet into the dining hall and sat down together. I figured that meant Syrah and Barrett were heading to Koluk tomorrow because it was too late right now. The idea of leaving the thieves in charge of Koluk still made me a little uncomfortable, as I didn’t know much about them besides that they hated dark mages and wanted control of their city. But the alternatives were all much worse. We surely weren’t going to arrest them, and it would be dangerous to send Syrah back to Koluk with nothing. I did trust them, I supposed. Maybe not all of them individually, but I trusted them as a group because of the contracts they would all sign. Even if one person managed to somehow bend the rules of their oath, the rest should keep that person in check.

I didn’t know exactly what the contract would say, but I figured it had something to do with keeping order, obeying the king, and fighting Rohaer. The only remaining question in my mind was how much they were going to be paid and whether