22. Hadi

Chapter 22

Hadi

T here was something unnerving and wrong about seeing Sun like this.

On top of the mountain, shock had reverberated through me as the others comforted him. But I watched, unmoving until the shock was replaced with fury and many things suddenly shifted in my mind.

I was glad they had left me up there, I had needed the time to think as I swung down the mountainside.

Sun was loyal to a fault. He had fought for his king. He would have followed him to the grave.

He was the one I should have had at my side all this time. He was the one who deserved to be there now.

The goddess had not spoken in riddles. She had made everything abundantly clear. She did not want the humans to be destroyed as we had been trying for years. Nor did she want us nocs wiped out. We were all meant to be here, together. Coexisting.

Instinctively, I wanted to fight that. I had spent the entirety of my life trying to get the stones and flatten the human race, but now the truth was becoming clear; it wasn’t about humans. It was about power. I was meant to be on the throne–and the human king had to be removed from his… This new information didn’t need to change much at all.

I stepped forward to where the others had closed around him in comfort once more. Reaching out, I touched Bracken and Kiar’s shoulders.

They both looked back at me, and then parted for me when I gently pushed them aside.

Clem was harder to dislodge from Sun’s shoulders, but finally, he stepped back, leaving Sun’s solemn face exposed.

His breaths shook even as he tried to be strong. Lifting his chin at my arrival, there was still fire in his eyes.

Good .

I lowered myself, folding my legs beneath me to descend as much as I could to his level. He still had to look up at me.

Reaching out, I held each of his shoulders and then tilted his chin up with one of my other hands so that he would not look away from my face when I spoke.

“Let them go,” I told him. “Let them do your bidding.”

He frowned, confused.

“They ran from us in fear,” he said. “They don’t trust me.”

I could hear the pain that caused him in his voice and smiled. What an unexpectedly naive creature he was.

“They do not need to trust you to do your bidding,” I informed him. “You told them what happened and now, they will spread the word.”

Sun’s jaw dropped slightly, understanding flickering through his gaze.

“They will tell everyone what they saw… and what I said.”

For a moment, he looked almost hopeful, and then he shook his head, dislodging my hand from his chin.

“This is bad,” he said. “No one will believe my story. Not when I am accompanied by you . You could have given me the sunstone for all anyone knows.”

I laced my extra two hands into his hair, holding him still, making him look at me again and could see the moment my calm eased him a little bit.

“Let them believe what they choose,” I said firmly. “Some will think you have betrayed them. Others will think that you told the truth. Let the news divide them. Let the stories spread so that when we arrive, they know we are coming and have enough reason to wonder if they should support you.”

Sun stared at me for a long minute and then swallowed audibly.

“Is that what you suggest we do?” he asked slowly. “You want us four to bombard the human empire and then what? Fight them all?”

“Cause a civil uproar,” I agreed. “Make a distraction so that we can do what really matters.”

“And what is that?” Sun breathed. His heart pounded against the palm I had at the nape of his neck, and I thought he probably knew.

“We take the emperor off of his throne,” I answered. “Just as the goddess instructed us to do.”

Sun was breathing hard, visibly fighting his instinct to continue following his emperor blindly as he had done for so many years.

Finally, he shut his eyes and bowed his head.

When he lifted it again, all the hesitation was gone from his face. He nodded resolutely and took a moment to look at Clem, Bracken, and Kiar in turn.

“What do you think?” he asked them.

“I’ll be with you whatever you decide,” Clem said at once.

“You don’t think I’ll let you attack the human capital without me, do you?” Bracken demanded.

I grinned and Sun laughed.

“I should have expected as much from you two,” he said fondly.

When Kiar did not immediately join in, we all looked at him.

He was making an expression I knew very well.

“What are you thinking my friend?” I asked.

He looked up at me sharply, his mismatched red and blue eyes filled with surprise, but out here we were not a king and his subordinate. Out here, we were comrades. Everything was different now and I had to embrace that.

Kiar hesitated for a moment longer.

“We will have to decide how to do this carefully. We cannot simply march into a battle even with the god stones. There are only five of us.”

“Alright then,” Sun said, as though the matter was settled. “Let’s figure out how to do it on the way.”

He released me and turned, ready to start toward the human capital of Kari already.

I shook my head but fell into step next to him.

“It will be faster if you take your rightful place with me.”

He looked at me, confused until I stopped walking and lowered myself, offering my hand.

Sun’s lips parted in a silent gasp, but he took my hand and climbed onto my back.

His arms went around my waist, firm and strong.

I could feel the shock in the air. None of them expected me to offer myself the way that I did now. But I finally understood. I was not their king anymore. The key to my power was with us . Together as one.

Sun’s chin pressed to my shoulder and his soft breath touched my skin.

“Together,” he whispered under his breath, and I knew we were thinking the same thing. From now on, we were one.

The other three joined us and together, we continued on.