Lacuna - N.R. Walker Page 0,67

your hand. Their world will slow down, ours will not. Let’s see what we can do.”

A wicked grin played at Tancho’s lips. “Clever.” He pulled off his glove and held his hand out. Crow took it, and just like that, everything around blurred to a crawl.

Crow stuck his head up to see Soko with a snowball leaving his hand in slow, slow motion. Crow handed Tancho a snowball. “Let’s run past them and get them from behind.”

Tancho laughed. “I love it.”

“Soko is south, Karasu south-east, Kohaku south-west. We will run between Soko and Kohaku. Don’t let go of my hand.”

Tancho gave a nod, and they were off.

They could run, at normal speed, while everything around them was stuck in some time crawl. Soko’s snowball was a few inches from his hand now, his smile wide. Kohaku was still forming a snowball in his hands, a comical look of concentration on his face. Karasu was watching Soko with a distracted smile and Crow was surprised at how peaceful she looked in a moment of complete abandon. They ran between Soko and Kohaku, and Crow saw Soko catch a glimpse of him as they shot past.

They turned, still holding hands, and threw their ammunition. Crow aimed for Soko, of course, and Tancho aimed at Kohaku, then they let go of each other’s hands. Each snowball hit its target with a cold splat, and Crow and Tancho both laughed. Soko, Kohaku and Karasu all spun around, stunned and amazed.

“How . . . ?” Kohaku cried. “How did you get there, when you were just there?” He pointed to where Crow and Tancho had hidden behind a column.

“I saw you run at me,” Soko whispered. “Tell me I didn’t see you! How did you do that?”

Karasu noticed Tancho’s hand. “He took his glove off.”

“To throw better with,” Tancho lied with a cool smile. “We won, by the way.”

“No, for real, how did you do that?” Soko asked again, wiping snow off the back of his head and neck. “It’s some birthmark magic, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Crow said with a grin. “But I’d say, whatever it is, it works well.”

Tancho gave him a sly nod. It did work well, indeed.

The heavy door at the end of the courtyard opened and a guard appeared. “My king, Erelis requests you in the library.”

Crow gave a nod of acknowledgment. “Tell him we will be with him at once.”

Kohaku was still trying to get snow out of his long blond hair. “Will you really not say how you moved without us seeing?”

Tancho shook his head as he put his glove back on. “We really won’t.”

“Come, this way,” Crow said, gesturing to the doors. “Erelis awaits.”

Karasu and Kohaku peeled off a coat or two as they made their way down flights of stairs to the library, but Tancho kept his on, though he did lower the hood and the gloves went into a pocket.

Crow wasn’t lying when he said he liked Tancho wearing his clothes. Perhaps Tancho wasn’t lying when he said he liked wearing them. The bond between them had certainly turned a corner. He no longer wanted to kill Tancho. Oh no . . . he wanted to do many things to him. Killing him was not one of them.

The library in the castle wasn’t huge like the one at Aequi Kentron. And to be fair, it was probably more of a records-keeping room, but there were books. Some newer, some old, some very old.

There was some fiction, which Crow admitted to reading only whatever was required of him in his studies. He preferred history books if he had to read anything. Actually, he preferred not to read at all.

Tancho gasped beside him, lightly touching the spine of a book on the shelf. “You have different books to us. I’ve never seen these before. Are they fiction?” He looked up at Crow, his eyes full of wonder.

He nodded. “This makes you happy.”

“Very much.”

“Then you can read any book here,” Crow replied. “Any you choose. Or all, if you want.”

Crow noticed Soko staring at him, a mix of disbelief and wonder on his face. “What?” Crow barked.

“Nothing,” he replied with a smile, looking from Crow to Tancho and back again. “Nothing at all.”

Tancho took a book off the shelf, and Crow thought he might have been about to throw it at Soko, but no. He flipped open the cover and began reading. Soko laughed and Crow growled at him, though apparently he knew him