Page 53 of Tethered Thrones

“The longer we wait, the more time they have to gather Emperor Gaulu’s followers. We go now.”

“Then we simply follow the stampede,” I said as we all exited the cave mouth, following what was left of the military tunnel above ground.

They looked at me, puzzled, not hearing the hoofbeats I could hear thundering not far ahead. But they obeyed, trusting me, which made my chest swell with pride.

We would be at the gates of Kari in no time. Soon, we’d all be heroes. The world would be made anew. Daaku slain. Gaulu killed.

It would all be so perfect. I squeezed the spell book to my chest as I rode Kiar’s backside, Bracken taking to the air to shield us, Hadi and Sun swinging and galloping ahead.

I squeezed Kiar tight, and he emitted a low, rumbling hiss of reassurance. But he didn’t need to. I’d done my part, unlocked the secrets, and watched for the signs.

Tsuki’s blessing was righteous, and her will was just! Nguyen was right. We would win. And if things got bad…

Well, I had one more trick up my sleeve. For with or without the physical tether, our bonds would never break. Of this much, I was confident.

Chapter 17

Sun

Iknew that the furthest point of the tunnel emerged close to Kari. That didn’t leave much time to collect myself.

I’d seen my beloved mare resurrected, had been stabbed, saved by the goddess and then finally, I had given in to Hadi.

My fingers trailed up his chest as we walked, and I wondered…what had I been so afraid of?

Giving myself over completely had worried me so much. Somehow, I’d felt like I would lose myself, but when Hadi fucked me, it was like we were both equal, both giving in, both finding a connection beyond what we had expected.

I shook my head and tried to push the thoughts away.

The emperor was surely in Kari right now, in his palace of lies, awaiting our arrival.

Soon, no doubt, we would be surrounded once again. I only hoped that General Hideyoshi kept true to his promise to meet us at the gates with our supporters.

Sure enough, the familiar sounds of battle were soon easily distinguished as shouts, clanking metal, and cries of despair filled the air.

All of us tensed as we walked toward it.

Every other thought vanished from my mind as we turned onto the path that led directly to the city’s sweeping entrance.

From a distance, we moved toward the large clearing where the battle was taking place.

My heart was in my throat as the walls and most importantly, the doors came into sight.

The large gray bricks rose all the way into the sky, nearly as high as the palace walls themselves and the doors were even more immense and intimidating. Tall, black and metal. Designed to keep even the craftiest of nocs from getting into Kari too easily.

They were sealed shut and archers no doubt held position in the lookouts from the top. But we would find a way through, and we would open those doors for our supporters.

Emperor Gaulu would very shortly know the menace we could be.

“We should go straight through,” Kiar said. “Let the others fight for us. We won’t stop moving forward until we are in the palace.”

My body was still sore and stiff, but it was now or never. He was right.

“Then let us go quickly, before we are seen.”

The others nodded and with that, we ran forward.

Hadi was fast when he needed to be, all eight legs blurs as he carried us into the edges of the fray. Kiar shot ahead like a whip, his body just as hard to decipher unless he paused and above Clem and Bracken shot through the air like arrows, leading the way.

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