Page 11 of Tethered Thrones

I wondered if Bracken and Kiar bothered to wash off before they entered the springs. There was evidence Hadi and Clem at least knew what to do, with about twenty empty buckets surrounding me. I chuckled softly, thinking of Clem clumsily floating, trying to clean off Hadi’s large body.

“Guess I’ll find out soon enough,” I said aloud, hoping the water wasn’t clouded with dirt from the other two as I finally entered the springs properly.

The scene that greeted me brought a weary smile to my lips. Clem lounged on the water’s edge, a sparkle in his large solid black eyes as he dipped a finger in the pool and nothing more. His master, Bracken, took up an entire half of the large enclosure, leaning against the rocks, wings stretched out, arguing with Clem.

Kiar? He was missing in action, but I expected nothing less. He couldn’t handle his liquor, to my surprise, as he swerved hard on the walk here, eyes fuzzy, and was probably dozing off somewhere by now—that or patrolling as he often did, all to avoid me.

Ouch, that stung, so I stopped thinking about it.

Which left Hadi, who was staring directly at me as I crept closer. He could’ve taken up a whole pool by himself, but they had chosen the largest spring, so Hadi and Bracken took up half of each end. His brown hair was wet and slightly curled, delicately framing his rugged features. His tan skin and muscles rippled with water.

Hadi’s gaze was always unnerving, but when our eyes met, I felt something flutter in my gut rather than twist in anticipation of battle like before.

How strange… The others didn’t make me feel like this after the first time. At least, I don’t think. Get it together, Sun. You’recoming off weak,I thought as I reached the water’s edge and understood what the argument was about.

“I… don’t like bodies of water much,” Clem whispered, and I frowned as his body shifted to a deep melancholy blue. “You know this, master. Stop teasing me.”

Bracken shot me a half smile, but he seemed distracted. Then the batbeast huffed, and both of my larger nocs turned their full attention to Clem.

He was more gloomy than usual, that was for sure. But if Clem didn’t want to bathe, I didn’t see why that was such a big deal.

“You have to be stronger. You can’t always count on me to fight your fears and chase away your shadows, Clem,” Bracken said, a surprising tenderness in his tone as I slid into the pool near him and as far away from Hadi as possible. Which wasn’t very far, to be honest.

“I know…” Clem sighed, antennas drooping.

I felt bad for suggesting the springs at all. I didn’t think Clem’s hesitance to get in the water was based on fear. Why he was that way, I wasn’t sure.

A mini wave hit my back, and I turned to see Hadi nodding, splashing water over his backside with his lower set of hands as he crossed the upper set.

“Your bonded speaks the truth. You’ve conquered the grave, Clem. A bath is beneath you. It should not inspire fear.”

And, as if reading my mind, Hadi added, “You’ll cause Sun distress, getting so upset when he brought us to this place as much for us as for him. Your awakening is in the past. Get over it and bury the awful memory away.”

Now Clem shifted from bright blue to bright green as I turned back to gaze at my mothian. Abruptly, he tossed his legs into the water, visibly shaking.

“I’m sorry, Sun,” he said as I waded over to him, brushing against Bracken’s fur, and gripped his knees, Clem’s upper hands on my shoulders.

“Don’t be. I didn’t know. I should be sorry,” I tried to reason, but that only seemed to upset Clem more as he gently slid into my arms until we were both waist-deep in the water.

His breath sped up, and he trembled violently in my embrace. I held him closer, rubbing his back, confused about how to comfort him.

My mind began to spin as I recalled that word. Awakening. I’d heard it before when Clem explained the appearance of the nocs, shuddering all the while. He was born by the sea and had a bad association with water because of it, I gathered.

For some reason, this new information made me feel sour. Each was a whole world, my nocs, who had lived an entire life before me. Where did I fit into their world after all of this was over? Abandoned by my closest friends and now my ruler, where would I fit in anywhere?

“Sun?” Clem whispered, snapping me from my troubling thoughts. His lips were near mine, causing my heart to race as he leaned in to whisper something into my ear…

Only to blow my eardrum out with a screech.

“BRACKEN!” Clem shouted as we were submerged out of the blue.

Bracken had poured two of his large palms full of water onto us as Clem screamed in horror. I suppressed a laugh as he tore away from me to beat at Bracken’s chest, which must have felt like twigs being thrust against a sturdy trunk. I caught Hadi doing the same, trying to suppress a laugh, as his expression hardened instantly.

“It’s not so bad, right Clem, when you join us and be brave?” Bracken drawled, snickering at Clem’s obvious displeasure. “All it took was Sun to convince you, huh?”

Bracken must have found it so funny he didn’t correct Clem for shouting his name instead of his title, or hitting him, for that matter. That was unlike him, who was quick to punish and discipline since I’d known him. It was a pleasant development.

To my shock, Clem shifted bright red, whining, “Don’t be a bully! Sun and I…” he glanced at me, “...were having a moment. And you ruined it.”

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