I grinned. The worst of my need had passed and I was content to lie in my husband’s arms. I’d missed him terribly while he was gone. I’d worried about him every moment, lying awake at night praying to all the deities in the universe, to Kakkari and Drukkar, to keep him safe, to bring him back to me. Every patrol he went out on was like that. It never got any easier.
But he was theVorakkar. He had a duty to his horde to keep them safe, to keepmesafe. So he went. He went out on long patrols and didn’t return until whatever threat they’d happened upon was eliminated.
Arokan looked at me, his eyes warming as they drifted over my features. I felt his love for me in that gaze. It was like sinking into a hot bath after a long day, warm, relaxing, satisfying.
His hands reached down to cup the baby. We were lucky enough not to experience any complications, considering that he was Dakkari and I was human. But already I could tell that the child would be big. Rightly so, considering the size of the father.
“Still two months to go,” I commented. The healer believed that I would carry for the full five months. Already, my back, my ankles were killing me. I was ready for the baby to comenow. Soon, I wouldn’t be able to continue working with thepyroki. I would have to sit outside the enclosure with themrikroand shout orders to Jriva.
I smiled. That wouldn’t be so terrible. I could munch onhjifruit, just like themrikro, as I did it.
“They will pass slowly,” Arokan murmured, “because we anticipate her arrival every moment.”
Her.
Arokan believed it was a girl. A horde princess. I didn’t know why. He just told me Kakkari had showed him in a dream. He told me I would bear him a girl first, then three boys, before another girl.
Five children. I’d told him that we should get through the first pregnancy before we thought about more, but somehow I knew that Arokan was telling the truth. We would have many, many more children together and the line of Rath Kitala would be strong again.
Considering that Arokan had lost Hukan to the wild lands—no one had seen or heard reports of her—I was glad to give him many children.
Outside, we heard a warrior call out to Arokan and my husband’s arms tensed. Immediately, we shared a look and then slid from our furs, our time together cut short. There was always something, some matter to deal with in the horde. It came with the territory. More often than not, our mornings were interrupted.
I dressed with my husband, wanting to check on thepyrokis. We were on the cusp of the cold season and we’d begun to build nesting enclosures for the pregnant females, so they could give birth. I wanted to make sure the construction was continuing at a swift pace, since we were running out of time.
We exited the tent together and I blinked, my breath hitching in surprise. From our tent, we could see the vast wild lands of Dakkar, though were situated at the back of the camp.
And right then, I saw over fiftypyrokiswith their warriors riders, idling just outside the camp border. Before us, flanked by two warriors, was a tall, broad, bare-chested Dakkari male, with shoulder-length darkblondehair—a color variation I’d never seen on a Dakkari. His eyes were light too, the circle of his irises gray.
He washandsome, I couldn’t help but notice, with strong, proud features, though his mouth was pressed in a serious, almost grim line.
AnotherVorakkar, I realized, my lips parting.
I’d never seen another horde king, but there was no doubt in my mind, judging by the way this male carried himself, from his commanding presence to the scars that I saw drifting over his shoulder, that he too was a leader, just like my husband.
My suspicions were confirmed when Arokan stepped forward, a small grin playing on his lips. The two males clasped arms and greeted one another in Dakkari. When the blonde’s eyes came to me, Arokan stepped back and draped his hand over my hip and said, “Rei Morakkari.”
The blondeVorakkarinclined his head to me, his eyes dropping to my growing belly, before going to the Ghertun burn at my shoulder. He looked at me, something going through his gaze, but said, in the universal tongue, though it was more accented than my husband’s, “It is an honor,Morakkari. I have heard tales of you throughout the hordes.”
His eyes returned to my husband.
“We were passing by on patrol. I wanted to pay my respects and offer my congratulations on yourtassimara, though it was long ago.”
“Thank you,” Arokan said. “Stay for a meal. Your warriors andpyrokiscan rest. There are matters we should discuss.”
About the Ghertun, I knew.
The blonde shook his head. “There will be time for that, but not now. I have also come to inform you that theDothikkarrequests hisVorakkarsinDothik.”
Arokan absorbed the news. “About the Ghertun?”
“Lysi,” the blonde said. “We do not come together often, but this is a matter of importance.”
Arokan inclined his head in confirmation. He looked at me and then asked, “When?”
“When the moon is full,” theVorakkarreplied.
In three weeks, I knew. I sighed silently. Arokan would be gone again, but I knew that it was inevitable. If the Dakkari king wished to gather hisVorakkarsto discuss the Ghertun threat, then Arokan had to go. It was important.
