The Burning God (The Poppy War #3) - R.F. Kuang Page 0,136

you walking in circles. If you lose your way, you’ll never find it again. And no one who’s ventured to the peak has come back alive.”

“Three people have,” Rin said. “And it’s about to be four.”

Cholang offered them hospitality in his settlement for the night. “It’s not much of a shelter,” he apologized. “This is a temporary outpost; it won’t be very comfortable. And we haven’t got the space to house everyone. But we can feed you, give you blankets, and send our physicians to tend to your wounded. My quarters are yours, if you want them.”

At first Rin declined out of etiquette, insisting that her tent was enough. But then Cholang showed her and Kitay to his rounded hut, an impressively sturdy structure that could provide far better shelter against the howling night winds than the flimsy, tattered walls of her tent, and she immediately acquiesced.

“Take it,” Cholang said. “I’ll sleep under the stars tonight.”

It had been so long since anyone had offered Rin such a simple kindness with no expectation of anything in return that it took her a moment to remember how to respond. “Thank you. Truly.”

“Rest well, Speerly.” He turned to leave. “We’ll march for Tianshan at dawn.”

A padded sleeping mat, at least two inches thick, occupied the center of the hut. Rin’s back and shoulders ached just looking at it. After weeks sleeping curled on the cold, hard dirt, it seemed an unimaginable luxury.

“Nice digs,” Kitay said, echoing her thoughts. “Do you want me to take the first watch?”

“No, you go ahead and sleep,” she said. “I want to think.”

She knew he was exhausted; she’d caught his eyes slipping closed more than once during their audience with Cholang. She sat cross-legged next to the mat, waited for Kitay to crawl under the covers, and then took his hand.

His fingers curled around hers. “Rin.”

“Yeah?”

His voice sounded very small in the dark. “I hope we know what we’re doing.”

She took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and squeezed his fingers. “Me too.”

It was a meaningless, inadequate exchange, and didn’t come close to expressing the worries that weighed on both their minds, nor the enormity of what was coming next. But she knew what he meant. She knew his confusion, his fear, and his deep, bone-rattling terror that none of their choices were good—that they were navigating a jungle of snakes carrying the weight of the south’s future on their shoulders, and a single misstep would destroy it all.

They were going to wake Riga.

This, after many whispered debates, they’d decided. The calculation hadn’t changed.

They weren’t fools. They understood the risks, understood Jiang’s cryptic warnings. They knew the Trifecta would not be so benevolent as Daji claimed—that whatever Riga was, when at last he awoke, might be more dangerous than Nezha or the Republic.

But the Trifecta were Nikara. Yin Riga, unlike his nephew, would never bow to the Hesperians. They might have committed atrocities, and they might do so again, but their regime at least was anathema to Hesperian encroachment.

To mount an armed resistance without them was suicide; to surrender to the Republic would lead them to a fate worse than death. The Trifecta had been monsters—and Rin knew with certainty that they would become so again—but she needed monsters on her side. What other choice did they have?

Necessity didn’t make this any easier. Rin still felt, with every step they took toward Mount Tianshan, like a small animal walking into a trap. But they’d made their choice, and there was nothing they could do now but see it through and hope they came out alive.

She sat still in the darkness, holding Kitay’s hand tight until finally his breaths settled into a slow, easy rhythm.

“Don’t panic.”

Rin jumped to her feet. Fire shrouded her body. She crouched, ready to spring. She’d have to fight with flame—her sword was lying on the other side of the sleeping mat, too far to reach.

Should have known better. Her thoughts raced. Shouldn’t have trusted Cholang so easily, should have known he’d sell us out—

“Don’t panic,” the intruder said again, hands stretched out before him.

This time, his voice gave her pause. Rin recognized that voice. And she recognized the intruder’s face, too, once he stepped forward and his features became visible in the dim firelight.

“Holy fuck.” Despite herself, she burst out laughing. “It’s you.”

“Hello,” said Chaghan. “Could I steal you for a chat?”

“How did you know I would be here?” Rin asked.

They walked through Cholang’s camp unbothered. The sentries dipped their heads as they approached the