Page 56 of Shadow Throne King
“Take all of the Dogs,” the Kennelmaster argued. “Take thedragon.”
“And risk the Shadow Throne taking it as an insult? Who knows if he will count her as a fifth person and use it as a claim we broke faith.” Tallu shook his head. “You know their rules. If I abide by them, they will have to offer me hospitality. Even the Krustavian king cannot break the rules that bind his society.”
“So, only four of us go in, and because it is four of us, and because we will ask to break bread with him”—I waved half of my roll around significantly—“the Krustavian king willbe trapped into guaranteeing our safe passage back to the Lakeshore Palace. What if Maki is in his ear?”
“As long as he offers us hospitality, we are safe. No one in the mountains of Krustau would risk the wrath of the animalia Spider by breaking the thread that connects them with their guests.”
I sucked on my teeth for a moment, then finished off the roll. “Let’s go. I don’t want to leave too late and risk coming back in the dark. You know what Saxu would say about things that live in the dark of the Krustau Mountains.”
Tallu nodded. “Asahi, Sagam, are you ready?”
They nodded in unison, not even glancing at each other. I hesitated. I had forgotten to tell Tallu of my suspicions about the whispers I heard in Asahi’s voice. But, no, he had been nothing but perfect in his behavior.
The four of us left the room, the Kennelmaster trailing behind.
I understood, in theory, what Tallu was saying. The Krustavians believed in the power of the number four—half the legs of Spider and the exact number of corners on a square or a diamond.
But I was not willing to trust the Krustavian king. So I made a quick stop in my room, strapping every blade I could hide onto my body, leaving a wolf’s claw at my waist, out in the open.
Tallu said nothing, his eyes hungry on me as I fixed the fall of my coat to cover two blades on my back. The four of us mounted matched horses, their white pelts as pale as snow. Asahi rode in front, Sagam behind, with me and Tallu sandwiched in the middle. Only a few servants were there to see Tallu off, and I hoped that that was not because the Kennelmaster had the rest in custody.
The horses were quick, their footsteps turning hollow as we pounded over the drawbridge, then muffled again as we hitthe road leading past the Lakeshore Palace to the foot of the Krustavian Mountains.
The journey from the Lakeshore Palace would take a quarter of the day, even on a horse galloping at nearly full speed.
When I had looked at the map of the Imperium, I had always wondered why the Lakeshore Palace had been built so close to Krustau, but knowing that the palace, the lake, and all the land around it had once belonged to the dwarves made more sense of the proximity.
We passed abandoned buildings, some so old that their roofs had caved in and all that was left were a few posts where walls had once hung. The land curved up, and by the time we stopped for a short lunch, we were much higher than the enormous lake the palace was named for.
Asahi prepared the food while Tallu and I walked a bit away, stretching. We didn’t say anything, as I couldn’t shake the impression that someone was watching us. Sagam stood nearby, hand on his sword, eyes darting from tree to tree.
I felt the buzz of Asahi’s anger in the back of my head, a low rumble of it like bees. We didn’t speak as we ate, and I noticed Sagam stiffen, on Asahi’s right, as though he wanted to be prepared to draw his blade against him if necessary.
By the time we finished, the blood monks had caught up. I wasn’t sure how Tallu’s connection with them worked, but I had the impression that, although they had to walk the distance, Tallu’s presence pulled them along, dragging them faster than actually walking would take.
“Will we make it by nightfall, or should we look for somewhere to stay the night?” I asked.
“Look at him. Didn’t even examine a map before we left.” Asahi’s snarled words were so bitter that I looked away, focusing on Tallu.
“We should get there in an hour or so. We might be coming back in the dark, but hopefully the Krustavian king will let us stay the night,” Tallu said. He looked over Mountain Thrown Lake below, his eyes catching on the shape of a white bird that flapped its way low to the surface, disappearing under the surface, only to re-emerge a distance away.
“Perhaps we should have taken the lake,” I said.
Tallu shook his head. “It was too dangerous. If you cross the lake, the only way up to the city is through the depths of the mountains.”
And Saxu had been clear that what lived there was too dangerous even for the might of the Imperium’s military.
Asahi cleaned up, and we remounted. Our horses made good time, the tall trees obscuring how far up we were going into the mountains, so it came as a surprise when we arrived at a massive stone arch, the dark gleam of it familiar from the accents in the Lakeshore Palace. It resembled two bears, locked in combat, their paws touching at the peak of the arch.
A single dwarf stood under the keystone, his hands resting on the pommel of a massive axe. In typical Krustavian style, he wore a mix of fur and fabric, gemstones set into the collar of his jacket. On his face, he had painted thin blue lines that ran from his forehead down to his nose and then out across his cheeks. It took me a moment to recognize the makeup as mimicking a badger’s marks.
Tallu pulled his horse up short, and the animal muffled a scream, dancing backward. The dwarf raised his axe just slightly, bringing it down onto the stone ground beneath.
Both of the stone bears released each other’s paws, turning as one to face our small party.
“What business do Dogs of the Imperium have with Krustau?” the dwarf asked.
Tallu didn’t even look up at the bears, their claws much sharper now that they were aimed at us. My horse snuffled, stepping backward delicately even as I held the reins tight, urging it to stay.