Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,66

so laden by layers of fabric she couldn’t bend her arm properly. “I need my dagger,” she said. “I could stab it.”

Soko laughed and picked it up, delicately lifting it to her mouth. She blushed a little but ate the pie and Soko’s grin was victorious. Crow didn’t miss Tancho’s raised eyebrow as he led him to the wardrobe. He pulled out his warmest coat and helped Tancho into it. “I think something is brewing between them,” Crow whispered.

“His bravery is noted,” Tancho replied with a smile. “It would take a man with a spine of steel to match her.”

Crow laughed as he searched for a pair of gloves. “Then perhaps she has met her match.”

Tancho’s eyes found Crow’s as he handed him the gloves. “If he thinks of her as his next conquest . . .”

Crow considered that. “I don’t think he’s that brave.”

Tancho smiled as he fixed the gloves and coat. “This is all too big. I feel like a child wearing grown-up’s clothes.”

Crow fixed Tancho’s collar. “You’ll be warm. And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like you wearing my clothes.”

Tancho’s smile became a touch more sultry. “And I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like wearing them.”

“Are you two ready?” Soko called out. “These two are gonna melt if we don’t get them outside soon.”

“Can’t have melted Westlanders in my castle, can I?” Crow replied, and the five of them headed down the corridors to the stairs at the southern wing.

Kohaku had taken a handful of pies. “I’ve never tasted anything like these,” he said, his mouth half-full. “And everything smells sweet here. And the white mountains are amazing, and the snow—”

Soko had opened the outside door to a face full of icy breeze and snow flurries. Soko and Crow kept walking, but the three Westlanders had stopped, stock-still, in the open doorway. Soko laughed at their expressions. “What were you saying, Kohaku? The snow what?”

“Cold,” he whispered, his breath a cloud of white steam.

Smiling, Crow took Tancho’s arm and led him out into the white courtyard. Their boots crunched in the snow, and Tancho’s breath plumed out from his mouth. After a moment, he turned, wide-eyed, and he smiled. “It’s beautiful.”

Crow took in Tancho’s pale skin, his dark pink lips, how tresses of his red hair escaped his hood like ribbons of blood-red silk. “So beautiful.”

He was rewarded with a rich blush, deepened by the cold, no doubt. But it made Crow’s knees weak.

Tancho seemed to notice something then, and looked down between them. “You’re holding my hand,” he whispered.

Yes, Crow took his hand to lead him out into the snow . . .

“Oh.”

Soko, Karasu, and Kohaku were now laughing and picking up the snow. Not slowed down, not muted; time hadn’t come to a crawl. Crow and Tancho were touching, but the world around them stayed the same.

“It must be the gloves,” Tancho reasoned.

Crow nodded. “It must be.”

Just then, a snowball came hurtling at Tancho and Crow snatched it out of the air. He turned to face whoever would dare take aim at his Tancho, to see three guilty faces, their mouths in perfect O shapes. “Who would dare to hit him?”

Before anyone could answer, Tancho had scooped up a ball of snow and shot it at Kohaku, hitting him in the chest.

“Take cover!” Soko cried as the three of them ran for the columns along the side walls. Except Karasu and Kohaku had too many layers on.

“I’ve never seen starfish run before,” Tancho said.

Crow snorted out a laugh. “Watch for Soko’s wild left. He can curve a throw.”

Soko appeared from behind a column, his face one of offended horror. “I can’t believe you told him! You’re not supposed to tell him! I’ve been betrayed.”

Crow grinned at him. “You chose your side, my friend.”

Soko replied with a snowball that narrowly missed Crow’s head.

“He plays for real,” Tancho said, concerned.

Crow gestured to his face. “How do you think I got all these scars.”

Tancho’s eyes narrowed and he seethed, turning his glare to Soko. “He’ll pay for that.” He scooped up another snowball and pelted it at Soko, hitting him square in the face.

They traded insults and snowballs for a few minutes, and it was fun, Crow thought. But there were three of them against their two. “We need a plan,” Crow said. “Take off your glove.”

“My fingers will freeze,” Tancho hissed. A snowball barely missed his head. “I wish I had my sword.”

Crow snorted as he compacted two quick snowballs. “Give me