Page 68 of Shadow Throne King

I drew back, but the horse was not trained in war. It was an emperor’s show mount—intended for beauty rather than battle. It reared under me, panicked.

Forced to turn it twice before it faced the direction I needed, I had the feeling that I was going to be too late.

I was. Lightning flashed, so fast that all I saw was a streak of pure light followed by a thundering boom that echoed in my chest. My lungs vibrated with it. Tallu’s sword was extended, pointing directly at the creature, the tip nearly touching its mangled eyeball.

Smoke drifted up from the seared eye socket. The creature staggered, a low growl building in its throat.

Tallu sent another bolt into the creature, longer this time, and the creature was thrown back, landing hard and skidding on fallen pine needles. Asahi leapt, Sagam a moment behind him, and between both of their blades, the creature lost its head.

At the scent of blood, all of the horses began shifting, panic building between them. I tightened my grip on my reins, and Tallu turned his horse toward the castle.

Sagam’s mount stood near a tree, its leg lifted. The creature—or the fall—had lamed it. Asahi’s horse had fled into the night.

“What was that creature?” I asked.

Asahi cleaned his blade with his shirt, sheathing it and approaching Sagam’s mount. Sagam continued to stare at the creature.

“I have never seen anything like it. And no creature should be able to survive Your Imperial Majesty’s electricity.” Sagam bent low, examining the creature’s severed neck. He tilted his head, frowning, and then sliced at the very back of it, as though skinning the creature.

He came out with a long insect, and I recognized the segmented body and pointed legs, even if it was missing its head. Walking over to us, he held it out for Tallu’s inspection.

Asahi had managed to calm the horse and pick up the lantern, bringing it close so that we could inspect what Sagam had found. Given where the insect had been severed, I said, “It was inside the creature’s neck? Its throat?”

“Atop the spine,” Sagam agreed. Making a face, he tossed it to the side.

Frowning, he ran a hand along his mount’s neck. Then, he looked out into the darkness.

“We will double up,” Tallu said.

Without being asked, I dismounted, letting Tallu reach out and help me onto the back of his horse. With the saddle, it was uncomfortable, but I ended up pressed against his back, both arms curled around his stomach because of the narrow seat.

Asahi and Sagam both sat on my horse, taking a moment to settle before starting the horse on a slow trot. We followed behind them, Sagam’s horse limping to follow.

“Did you hear it?” I whispered, hoping the sound of the horses, their hooves crunching over gravel and debris, would cover my words.

“Hear what?” Tallu asked, his voice thick.

“The creature. The insect—not the monster that attacked us. Maybe…” I shook my head, not liking the direction my thoughts were taking.

I thought again of when we had caught General Maki and King Inor in the light. The strange way their bodies had been shaped, the awkwardness of their movements.

“What did you hear?” Tallu asked.

“It sounded like a voice, like a chittering, clicking sound. It echoed in my ears, in my head.” It was as though I could hear it again, a sound I could not be rid of. I pressed my face into Tallu’s shoulder.

“I didn’t hear that.” Tallu’s voice was a rumble against my palm, a vibration on my fingers.

He lifted one of his hands from the reins, and I thought he would cover my fingers with his own, but he wiped his nose, holding his knuckle there for a few moments before dropping it back down.

“I heard it when the creatures attacked me at the Mountainside Palace.” I frowned, the weave of the robe’s fabric so soft against my cheek that it felt like a silken pillow from Tallu’s bed. “Perhaps it is my animal speak returning?”

“Returning with monsters, but not with the animals you seek to converse with?” Tallu dropped his hand, this time squeezing his fingers around my own.

“Or perhaps I am going mad.” I tried for a smile, lacing my fingers with his and squeezing them between my own. “If so, I find myself in good company. I could not ask for better.”

“Seeing ghosts does not make me mad.” Tallu rubbed his thumb along my forefinger, the motion sending sparks through my body. “It is what they urge me to do that makes me so.”

For a while, I let that be the last thing we said, let myself feel the soft fabric of his clothes, the tenseness of his muscles as he rolled with the horse, the jostle as we broke into a trot again when we reached flatter ground.