Page 36 of Shadow Throne King

“Oh, I would hate to see what you consideredaustere.Would that be a camp with onlyoneprivate guard and a mattress on thegroundrather than a cot?”

Tallu’s hand traced up my stomach. Even through the fabric of my nightclothes, I felt his touch like fire, waking something lower. “You doubt I could survive an ascetic lifestyle? Perhaps we should go out alone in the woods to test how long we could survive with only each other. I imagine a lean-to, some such bivouac? Perhaps you would hunt for our food?”

“Well, I hope you like rabbit. My ability to catch larger animals was always mocked by my father’s borealis wolf,” I said. “He called me ‘pathetic, even for a human.’”

“You caughtmeeasily enough,” Tallu said, his words layered with meaning.

“How long were you traveling with the military?” I asked, changing the subject before I showed him exactly how hungry I was for the spoils of that hunt.

Tallu paused, and I turned over, reaching out and resting my palm on his chest. Finally, he said, “A long time. A very long time. It seemed like the military commanders raised me more than anyone else.”

And that ‘anyone else’ could have meant nursemaids and tutors, but I knew who he actually meant: his father, the warlord.

“Tallu,” I breathed the word, trying to keep it just between us in the dark. “Your nose?”

“The trip has been draining. The further up we go, the harder I find it. Ithasbeen some time since I camped in the rough like this.” Tallu tried a smile, but with the shadows, it looked more like a grimace. “And I still worry about Hallu.”

I managed a meager smile, matching the one I saw on his face. I reached up, cupping his cheek. I felt him turn his face toward my palm, kiss the heel of my hand. “Soon. We’ll know about him soon.”

“Yes,” Tallu agreed.

“That’s all it is?” I asked, my face so close to his that I could feel his breath on my skin.

Tallu sighed. “Is it not enough?”

I didn’t have to answer because the jangle of harnesses sent both Tallu and me upright. I had a blade in my hand even as I struggled into my pants, grabbing the front in one hand. Tallu’s hands were suddenly warm on my skin, and he cinched the waist tight before he yanked on his own robe.

One of Tallu’s guards pulled open the tent flap. I could see the frown in the slightest tension at his brows. He said, “The Dogs are back.”

We did not expect the Dogs back until well into the next day. They would return either with Maki himself or with his blood on their blades.

I glanced at Tallu, and his mouth had pulled back. The Dogs hadn’t left with horses, and yet they returned with them. They hadn’t been expected for hours, and yet they were back already.

Tallu strode forward, and the Dogs stepped back, turning into shadows as he approached the men, already dismounted. The other Dogs had brought out electric lights, the hum of them a sizzling sound in the darkness. One of the Dogs lit another light, the sharp snap of lightning startling Terror and the other ravens in the trees.

The cart horses we had traded for whinnied and huffed, tugging against their leads. The new horses the Dogs rode on didn’t move. They were military trained, tall and broad, still and calm even in battle.

“What happened?” Tallu asked.

The Dogs bowed, their shoulders pulled so tight that their backs nearly arched. Coyome spoke. “We found the outpost.”

“And?” Tallu’s tone was so curt that one of the horses took a half step to the side, startled.

“Your Imperial Majesty.” In the white electric lights, Coyome’s face was sheened with sweat, his lips pulled back. “You must come see it yourself. There is not a single person left alive.”

Nine

We rode for hours, Coyome leading the way, slow enough that their horses could make the journey after having traveled all night. Tallu had tried questioning him further, but Coyome’s answers had been short:

The horses came from Maki’s camp. They had found no survivors. There had been blood. Lots of it.

Topi Bemishu hadn’t spoken since the Dogs had returned, her expression growing darker and darker.

The wagon jerked, and there was a soft scream from one of the horses. The driver pulled the team to a stop and turned to look over his shoulder. “Do you want me to drive into the outpost? The horses might panic.”

I frowned, glancing out one of the gaps in the slatted wood to see the Dogs riding Maki’s military horses with their reins tight; those mounts were silent but sidestepping, moving backward, jerking under the tight reins.

“We will walk,” Tallu said. Without waiting for the rest of us, he got out of the wagon, swinging his legs down. I scrambled to follow behind him, the Dogs falling into position, some in front, some behind, all gripping their sheathed weapons.