Treasure by Megan Derr Read Free Book Online

agreement between their two countries.
    While his companion was only repulsive, Krasny was cold, but polite. Kyo had met him before when he had visited just over thirteen years ago. He'd been fourteen, and Krasny twenty-eight. Kyo remembered thinking, back then, that Krasny was beautiful.
    Older and far more aware than he had been as a child, he realized that Krasny was not merely beautiful—he was breathtaking.  His hair was a deep red, almost the color of blood, but with a hint of lighter colors that brought Kyo's mind back to flames. His eyes were gold, like so many from Pozhar, but they were frozen, sharp.  They said the people of Pozhar possessed hearts and souls of fire, but if that was true, Krasny's fires had gone out.  He was beautiful, but it was the hard, cold beauty of a temple: distant and untouchable.
    Not that he wanted to touch himself. No, however foolish he was, there was only one person Kyo wanted to touch. Kyo signaled a servant to refill his wine and made polite conversation with the foreign guests, but most of his mind was lost to memory.
    Of when he and Kinni had met on that long ago day. He had returned to the palace to find Umiko crying in her room, her face bruised. Kyo had hated that returning had clearly been the correct decision. He'd been lashed for his vanishing act, the first of what would be many lashings. His father loved to remind him that being royalty did not mean he was free of punishment.
    Kyo had once asked him why that rule applied to him, but not to his brother. He had not asked a second time.
    He smiled politely and called for more sweets, then let his mind drift again, thinking of the second time he'd seen Kinni.  Kyo had slipped down to the docks to attend another matter that day, hoping that Taka would not find him for a couple of hours, when he'd seen it:  the Kumiko .
    No matter the years that passed, he still remembered that moment with perfect clarity. Seeing that name on the prow of the ship—and then seeing the man who stepped off it, skin and hair as white as bone, eyes nearly as pale, and dressed in deep blue with a bright green sash. There had been no mistaking Kinni, who had indeed become a captain like he'd vowed.
    It had taken every bit of strength Kyo possessed not to run to him, present his medallion, and see if his captain remembered a stupid little boy who had thought running away might fix his life.  He'd walked away, hating that he must once again return to the place and life he despised. One day, though …
    Except that day would never come. The Kumiko and her handsome captain would never take him where he wanted to go, take him along to find the ultimate treasure. 
    No, if all went according to plan, Kinni would take him to his death.
    Kyo sipped his wine and smiled blandly, shoving his thoughts aside to focus on political maneuvering. When the interminable dinner at last ended, he made quick work of his farewells and slipped away, wandering the halls of the palace until he wound up at the shark pool.
    The pool was enormous, as wide and long as the grand ballroom and protected by a ceiling of glass set in stone. The floor surrounding it was decorated with colorful tiles depicting dozens of scenes:  sailing ships, the Dragons themselves writhing and playing in the sky and sea, the Holy Temple of the Three Storms, the crowning of the first king—on and on the images went. The pool was also deep, too deep for any normal person to swim to the bottom and back up before running out of breath. Even should someone be crazy enough to try, he would also have to face the numerous sharks that filled the pool.
    Magic alone kept the dozens of types of sharks from doing anything, but swim peacefully. They accessed the pool by way of a tunnel all the way at the bottom of the pool, drawn to it by the same magic that kept them calm.  Kyo looked over his shoulder, but it was unlikely anyone other than Taka would seek him there. Turning back, he watched the sharks