Page 37 of Tethered Thrones

Swallowing, I forced myself to go on.

“Tsukididappear to us,” I admitted, “and she was angry.”

General Hideyoshi wasn't breathing now, hanging on my every word.

“Her powers have been diminishing, as she is now so rarely worshipped. She used what was left of her strength to explain that she did not call upon the nocs and bring them to our land. A human did twenty-five years ago, and she has suffered ever since. Me, Hadi, Kiar, Bracken and Clem... she tasked us with restoring balance to the land.”

“Sun,” General Hideyoshi said, frowning. “Don't leave out the most important detail. Who could have done such a thing to us, andwhy?”

“Only someone in possession of both of the stones would have had that power,” I hinted. “And back then, the only person who had it was–”

“Emperor Gaulu,” he realized.

All remaining color left his face as I nodded.

“Apparently there was political unrest at the time. He wished to keep his throne. A war–”

“What a perfect distraction,” he whispered. “What a perfect way to force unity. Us against them.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “And we are all his victims. Humans and nocs alike.”

“If you are saying to suddenly befriend the nocs–”

“No. Not that. They have been fighting us for years. But, they were put into this position too. I don't know the solution yet but–”

“But it is up to you to find it.”

I nodded, watching General Hideyoshi closely.

“So does this mean that I have your support?”

He shut his eyes.

“Let me think, Sun... I need time to decide what comes next.”

I did not want to push him. I wasn't sure exactly what he could do. Could he sway his entire army? Could he spread word to the rest of the human army and to the rest of the people of Naran? Coming from the revered general, combined with the striking vision I had now become–the noc killer, now with four noc “pets” and a mission from the gods themselves… perhaps, it would make a difference.

Maybe, just maybe, we could make this work. That was, if the general deemed it a worthwhile cause and not an unnecessary reason to create even more unrest.

But if it took a civil war to get our corrupt king off the throne and to make real changes, then wouldn’t that be worth it?

When I stepped into the outside air not long later, there were people guarding the tent. Others sat nearby, waiting to hear more.

To my relief, most of the soldiers were spread out again, carrying on the daily grind of being at war, but I knew that all were on edge, waiting to hear their general's words for how to proceed. After all a group of nocs were sitting amongst them and I knew from experience, it took time for that to feel in any way normal.

My nocs were sitting together on the hill overlooking the soldiers. They were surrounded by guards even though I doubted anyone could stop them very easily should they decide to attack.

All four of them had their eyes fixed on me from the moment I emerged into the daylight. Seeing their forms waiting for me soothed me.

Taking a breath, I went past the guards to be with them rather than with the humans.

Clem rose as I approached and took my hand, simply to hold it. His wide eyes bore into mine.

“What did he say?” he asked quietly.

I shook my head, glancing between all of them.

“We will have to wait and see. He wanted time to think about it.”

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