“The Arctile Ocean to the south is known for calm, warm waters and what were once lucrative trade routes,” I recite, calming my racing heart. “You still do that?” Mira lifts her brows at me. “Only when I’m—” The double doors of the chest burst open, sending both guards sprawling across the ground with startling force as a man jolts forward and falls to his hands and knees on the grass. His maroon tunic and trousers are tattered, like he’s been kept prisoner for weeks. “What the fuck?” Mira mutters. His head jerks up to look at us, and my heart seizes with pure, immovable terror. Distended red
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