And she needed to free her parents. Even if it meant challenging the gods.
Chapter 81
They left Toreem at moonrise. The horses transformed without being asked, as if eager to leave. K’lrsa turned to look down at the city one last time. It was beautiful in its way, but she hoped to never see it again.
She’d be happy to spend the rest of her life riding Fallion across the plains, hunting baru by day, and sleeping in Badru’s arms by night.
A part of her worried that she’d made the wrong choice by not doing more. She could’ve demanded they free all slaves. Or treat all women as equals. Forced them to change with the threat of the sun orb or the gauntlet. Dragged them kicking and screaming to a better place.
But it wouldn’t have lasted. If they didn’t believe in their own hearts that all were equal, that people didn’t earn their fates, that women could do what men could, it wouldn’t last. They had to change on their own. They had to grow to learn what she already knew.
Maybe she could’ve stayed and forced them to pretend until they truly believed, but…
She didn’t want that life.
She helped M’lara into Fallion’s saddle and then mounted up behind her. The gauntlet was tucked away in her saddlebags, the sun orb in Badru’s, the staff with Vedhe. Even shielded they’d decided it was best to keep them as far away from those who’d used them as possible.
“Ready?” she asked the others.
They both nodded.
“Fly, micora,” she whispered. With three great beats of his wings, Fallion launched into the air, Midnight and Kriger close behind.
Chapter 82
They flew until morning. The horses were tiring as the moon waned, but they made it to the abandoned barn they’d stopped in the first time they fled Toreem.
All K’lrsa wanted to do was sleep, but the minute they’d led the horses inside and handed out some of the food they’d brought from the palace, both Badru and Vedhe started to speak.
“One at a time.” K’lrsa held up her hand. She already knew what they were going to say. And she didn’t care. “Vedhe, you first.”
Vedhe squared her shoulders. “Okay. I’m keeping the sun orb. The Trickster said if I survived the Hidden City, I could take it back home with me.”
“Vedhe…”
“Ivan deserves to pay. Aren’t you the one who said I deserved a chance at revenge?”
“What about the balance?”
“I don’t care about the balance. I will not live in a world that has a man like that in it.” She dashed a tear from her cheek as she glared at K’lrsa.
“Vedhe, you can’t control it. You almost burned down the last barn we stayed in.”
“It’s contained now. It’ll be safe until I need it.”
“And what happens when you use it? How many innocents will you kill just because you want to kill Ivan? You saw what happened in the palace. You saw how many died just because they were standing nearby when it was used.”
Vedhe glared at her, jaw set. She wasn’t going to be convinced otherwise.
K’lrsa closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and turned to Badru. “And you?”
“I think we should keep one of the weapons. Either the gauntlet or the sun orb or the staff.”
“Why?”
“The Daliphana respect strength. If they know we have one of the weapons, they won’t attack us.”
“Now that Aran’s gone and they have no means of crossing the desert other than our help, why would they attack at all?”
He shrugged. “That’s now. But what happens if another man like Aran comes to power? Or if one of the other Daliphana hear about the Hidden City and decide to go after what’s stored there? What if another Daliph marches an army across your lands in search of it?”
“So we keep the weapons out of fear? We upset the balance because of what-ifs? We let the world become even more dangerous than it already is, because someday someone might threaten us?”
Badru nodded.
“That’s ridiculous.”
“That’s the way the world works, K’lrsa. If you’re strong, none dare challenge you. Only the weak have to actually fight.”
“And what happens when someone comes along and they want to use those weapons we kept? They want to attack the Daliphana? Or just use the weapons to get what they want? What then?”
“It won’t happen. We’ll…We’ll come up with rules about when they can be used. We’ll make sure no one person can use them.”
“It seems to me that’s what the Hidden City does. Only those most desperately in need would go there and choose a weapon.”
“It’s too far away.”
She looked back and forth between them. “So neither one of you want to return the weapons?”
“No.”
She bit her lip. “So I’m outvoted?”
“We want you to agree, K’lrsa.” Badru squeezed her hand, staring into her eyes with his impossibly blue ones.
“Right. Of course. I think…” She stood. “I think I’ll go outside and think about it a bit. I understand what you’re both saying. It’s just…The balance. I don’t want to live in a world where there are hundreds of objects like these that could fall into the wrong hands. It’s not just about us and how we use them. It’s about the other weapons the gods will create and how their chosen ones will use them.”
They both nodded, but it was clear they’d made up their minds.
Chapter 83
K’lrsa paced outside the barn, back and forth, back and forth. The right thing to do was return the objects to the Hidden City.
Yes, it might make them vulnerable, but they’d be no more vulnerable than they’d been before.
And, yes, it might make it harder for Vedhe to get her revenge. But K’lrsa had gone to Toreem with nothing and managed. Ivan wasn’t a god. He was just an evil, horrible man. He could die from an arrow through the eye just as easily as anyone else.
They didn’t need the weapons.
But she felt it, too. She understood. That desire to hold on to what you had. To not give up power. It was one thing to never have it, another to have it taken from you, and another to willingly give it back.
She understood. But that didn’t make it right.
They couldn’t keep the weapons. They had to return them.
She kicked the dirt wishing she were more like Badru—a leader, someone that others turned to and trusted. Someone who could weave her words in such a way that she could convince them of what she knew in her gut.
But she wasn’t.
She was a person of action. She could fight, she could do what needed to be done no matter how hard or painful it might be. But she couldn’t convince others. She couldn’t persuade and cajole.
All she could do was act.
She turned back towards the entrance to the barn.
M’lara was standing there, watching her.
“Hey, little one. It’s been a rough couple of days, hasn’t it?”
M’lara nodded, scuffing the ground with her foot.
K’lrsa sat on the ground and let M’lara crawl into her lap. “You okay?”
M’lara shook her head. “That was horrible. All the fire and the dead people and…what Badru did to that bad man.”
“I know. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
M’lara cuddled against her. “I don’t want to see that ever again.”
“Neither do I, little one. Neither do I.”
“Then take them back. Take them back to the Hidden City so no one can ever use them again.”
She kissed M’lara’s forehead. “That’s what I’m trying to do.”
“They won’t let you. They want to keep them.”
“I know. But we’ll convince them. Somehow.”
M’lara shook her head. “No.”
“What do you mean, no?”
She pushed herself off of K’lrsa’s lap and ran inside. K’lrsa followed, confused.
Badru and Vedhe
were already laying down, eyes closed, breathing steady, each on an opposite side of the barn. Vedhe had the box with the sun orb tucked against her chest; Badru had the box with the gauntlet under the wadded up blanket he was using as a pillow.
K’lrsa grimaced. Of course they did.
M’lara met her at the entrance to the barn, holding another small box. The one with the necklace in it.
“M’lara, what are you doing?” She knelt down and spoke quietly so the others wouldn’t wake.
“They have to go back,” she whispered. “Now. You can do it.”
K’lrsa looked at the box. Should she? Should she ignore the wishes of her friends and send the objects back to the Hidden City? And what if she did and then it turned out Father Sun wouldn’t release her parents? Didn’t she need the sun orb or the gauntlet to confront him? To force him to do her will?
But that made her as bad as Badru and Vedhe, didn’t it? Holding on to something she shouldn’t, just in case she needed it? Especially knowing what harm that might cause if she did.
The others hadn’t realized she could use the necklace to send the objects back. But when they did…
The opportunity would be lost.
She took the box from M’lara. She had always been better at action than words, after all…
Chapter 84
It was done in a moment. She sent the staff and the moon power back first since no one would notice their absence. And then the sun orb, quickly followed by the gauntlet.
That woke Badru up, since his head thunked backward as soon as it disappeared. He sat up, confused, looking around until he saw her, standing in the doorway, the necklace still in her hand.
“K’lrsa. What did you do?” he demanded.
“What I had to do to restore the balance.”
Vedhe turned to glare at her. “Why did you bring me back if you weren’t going to let me avenge myself on Ivan?”
“You can. You don’t need the sun orb for that.”
“You’re wrong.” She stood, shaking all over. K’lrsa couldn’t tell if it was from anger or fear or some other emotion. “You should’ve never brought me back. It wasn’t your right.”
“Vedhe…”
Vedhe shoved past her.
K’lrsa turned to Badru. “Do you hate me too now?”
He shook his head and sighed. “No. I understand why you did it. I don’t think it was the right thing to do. I think we’ll pay for it eventually. But I understand.” He stepped closer. “You could’ve at least talked to me about it.”
“No.” She looked away. “I’m not good at words. And was there honestly anything I could’ve said to convince you?”
He hesitated. “Maybe.”
She stared him down.
“Okay, no. Probably not. I was raised to believe that superior strength is always better.”
She glanced towards where Vedhe had disappeared outside. “Will she be okay?”
“I hope so. Eventually. It’s hard. You have to know that. Knowing that someone is out there who has hurt you and hurt those you love and you can’t do anything to stop them from hurting others. You had your revenge. I’ve had mine. But she hasn’t had hers yet.”
K’lrsa nodded. He was right. But someday Vedhe would have her revenge. She was sure of it.
Chapter 85
The rest of the trip back to the Hidden City was uneventful. They stopped on the edge of the border lands to make sure the soldiers hadn’t attacked the tribes—not that they could’ve done much about it if they had—and found that the soldiers had received a notice from Toreem to disperse and return to their garrisons. That let them notify the newcomers and Riders camped on the other side of the barren lands that they could move on as well.
K’lrsa had expected most of the newcomers to return to Toreem, but after a long discussion with Badru most decided to stay and help him establish a trading route to the north. Some planned to relocate to those foreign cities and act as representatives of the tribes, while some looked forward to transporting the goods back and forth between the Daliphana and the north.
Even with Aran gone, most had no desire to return and face punishment for desertion.
K’lrsa had intended to leave M’lara behind when she continued on to the Hidden City—she didn’t know what she might find there or how dangerous it might be to confront the gods—but M’lara begged and pleaded to go with her and she finally relented.
Vedhe insisted on accompanying them, too. K’lrsa suspected she wanted another chance to choose a weapon, she just hoped the Lady wasn’t that foolish.
And Badru went as far as he could with them, stopping in the caves just outside the city to wait for their return. “You didn’t have to come this far, you know,” she told him as they said their goodbyes.
“I couldn’t wait back in camp, wondering if you’d survived. If you aren’t back in three days, I’m coming in. So don’t make me die again. Unless, you know…”
They kissed and she drew away, reluctant to be separated from him once more, but she had to do this. It was her fault her parents were trapped there. She had to make this right.
They flew to the Hidden City as soon as the moon rose—just a sliver of her normal self—and rode along the crowded street to the labyrinth in silence. Vedhe led the way as they walked down the never-ending white hallway, M’lara and K’lrsa trailing behind.
With each step, K’lrsa’s dread grew. She didn’t want to confront the gods—look what Father Sun had done to her parents. One touch and he’d made them forget all their anger. Made them happy to be trapped here. What if he did that to her?
And what was Vedhe going to do? If the Lady let her choose another weapon, what destruction might she cause? Not just with the weapon itself, but for everyone. If she upset the balance, it would affect K’lrsa and Badru and M’lara and everyone they knew.
Finally, they reached the center of the labyrinth. The Lady wasn’t there like she had been the times before. Father Sun was. He watched them approach, arms crossed, eyes like banked coals.
“You returned. Why?” His voice was like a lash, stopping them where they stood.
Trembling, K’lrsa pushed her way forward. “I came to free my parents. They don’t deserve to be trapped here forever because of what I promised. If you have to keep someone…” She swallowed. “Keep me.”
She didn’t want to be trapped here forever. She wanted to go back to Badru and live a life with him and then pass on to the Promised Plains. But if anyone deserved to be stuck here, it was her. Not them.
“Oh, right. Your parents. They left. Days ago.”
“What?” She stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
“As soon as Aran died, I released them.”
“But…The binding. And…My vow…” She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”
“I never wanted the Toreem Daliphate destroyed. You did. I wanted Aran dead. You did that. So I released them.”
“I almost destroyed an entire culture because of you. Thousands of people. Everything they’d built over hundreds of years. I almost destroyed it.”
“But you didn’t.”
She stared at him, mouth hanging open in surprise. “I don’t understand you.”
“Of course you don’t. You’re not a god.” He stepped closer, his eyes dancing with flames. “Don’t forget that, K’lrsa dan V’na of the White Horse Tribe. I don’t know what you thought you could do against me, against us, but you are a mere mortal. You cannot challenge the gods and don’t you ever dare think you can. Now go. Be gone from this place before I decide to punish you for your hubris.”
She stumbled backward. “Wait.”
“Wait?”
“I…” She reached into her packs and held out the box with the necklace in it. “I wanted to return this. You already received the other objects, didn’t you?”
He nodded and took the box, his hand so warm it almost burned. “Thank you.”
“And…”
“And
?” He glared at her, but she didn’t back down.
“F’lia. Is she still here?”
“No.”
K’lrsa’s heart sank. “She left with L’ral?”
Father Sun smiled slightly and shook his head. “No. She asked to go home, back to her tribe. You’ll find her there when you return.”
K’lrsa laughed, clapping her hands in delight. “Truly? She’s okay now?”
“She lost the man she loved and her child. She’ll never be okay again. But she lives and she continues onward. As you all do.”
“Thank you.” K’lrsa backed away and took M’lara’s hand.
Vedhe didn’t.
Father Sun turned to her. “I know you wanted to find my wife here and be given another weapon, one that could defeat the man who killed your family. But you won’t find her here. And after this, after you leave this place, you won’t find this city again. Go. Live your life, child.”
“He deserves to pay for what he did.”
“And he will. But you don’t need my power or hers or any other power to defeat him. You have friends who will stand by your side no matter what. And you are strong, strong enough to stand against him. To make him pay for what he did. You don’t need us to make that happen.”
Vedhe trembled and a tear rolled down her cheek. “But…I’m not.”
“Yes. You are. Have faith in yourself, child. Have faith in your friends. Now, go. Unless you want to be trapped here forever.”
The walls shuddered and dust filled the air.
Vedhe didn’t move.
“Vedhe, come on. You heard him. We have to go. Now.”
K’lrsa grabbed her hand and dragged her back down the long, white hallway as the walls continued to shake, large cracks forming, M’lara running ahead of them.
At first, Vedhe resisted, but when a chunk of ceiling narrowly missed crushing them, she finally gave in. They ran as fast as they could, bursting out onto the street outside the labyrinth just in time. It collapsed in on itself, dust clogging the air.
Rider's Resolve (The Rider's Revenge Trilogy Book 3) Page 27