I pushed at his shoulder, half-rolling my eyes, and then I climbed off him, knowing that we both had to begin our days, even though I’d rather spend itallbetween the furs with him.
I’d gone from frightened indifference to being a little bit obsessed with my alien husband. Now it was the depth of my feelings for him that frightened me. Every single day, those feelings only continued to grow and flourish.
“Themrikrois expecting me,” I told him, turning from him to wash his seed from between my legs and dress in my tunic and pants. “He wants me to assist in training one of thepyroki.”
Arokan rose from our bed, snagging me around the waist before I could slip through the tent’s entrance. I looked up at him towering over me in question.
“What is it?” I asked softly.
He looked on the verge of saying something, his tail flicking behind him. But then he released me and said, “Nothing,kalles. I will come find you later.”
I nodded. Then with one last lingering look at him, I left.
Themrikrohada unique way of punishing me. He knew that though my fear of thepyrokishad lessened slightly over the weeks I’d been working for him, it was by no means gone. That fear, which had been instilled in me for over ten years now, wouldalwaysbe there.
However, I’d come to learn much aboutpyrokisin the last few weeks. I knew that fearing them wasn’t necessarily a bad thing because it also made me respect them. It made me respect their strength, their surprising emotional intelligence.
It was because of that fear that I never let my guard down around them either. They were intelligent creatures and they would take advantage if I was weak with them.
So, though my heart was pounding in my chest and I wanted to shrink away, later that afternoon, I stood my ground even though a fully grown, misbehavingpyrokicharged right for me.
I felt the ground vibrate, heard the alarmed gasps of Mirari and Lavi, who were always watching me from the fence enclosure.
Themrikroyelled, “Do not cower,Morakkari!”
I stared into the blood red eyes of thepyrokias I felt a strange calm come over me. Closer and closer he came, but he tossed his neck when he saw I wasn’t moving out of the way.
I was braced, my thighs in a slight squatting position, my arms slightly outstretched, a position that Arokan had showed me over our weeks of training. A default position for defense, which allowed for quick movements.
I was ready. I felt ready and I certainly wouldn’t let this annoyedpyrokiget the best of me. I was a damnqueenfor Kakkari’s sake.
Only five feet away and thepyrokifinally realized I wasn’t going to move. At the last moment, he veered to the side ever so slightly, hitting me hard enough in the side to steal my breath. But he didn’t knock me off my feet, not like the other times I’d had this battle with him.
I figured it was progress.
Inhaling lungfuls of air, trying to replenish my supply, I looked over my shoulder at thepyroki, who was trotting close the training enclosure fence, as if celebrating his near victory.
Themrikroapproached. “Good,Morakkari,” he praised. “He is beginning to recognize his defeat. It should take another week.”
“At least he didn’t knock me on my ass this time,” I commented, brushing my hands on my pants, finally catching my breath.
“Take him back with the rest,” themrikroordered. “Jriva will brush him down.”
I nodded and steeling my spine, approached the stubbornpyroki, still prancing away. I snagged his reins with a quick tug, though he shook his head. But I noticed, as I led him out of the training enclosure, he didn’t give as much of a fight as he usually did.
As I walked him back to the larger enclosure, I stopped, spying a cloud of dust billowing in the distance. My stomach dropped a little, though I was also relieved. A scouting party was returning, though they weren’t coming from the south.
Would they report back to Arokan with favorable news? Would the entire horde pack up and leave as early as tomorrow morning?
I’d never done well with change. I liked my routines and whenever we left this place, everything would change, at least for a little while.
But this is my life now, this is my duty to the horde, I thought quietly.
I tugged gently on thepyroki’sreins and led him back to the larger enclosure. Once there, I made sure he got his place at one of the feeding troughs and hesitantly stroked his flank when I left him.
Kailon came up to nudge me before I left the enclosure. Slowly but surely, Arokan’s beast had warmed up to me and I spread my palm over his snout.
“Hi handsome,” I whispered, giving the creature a soft smile and a pat. Arokan had a special bond with Kailon and because of that, I felt surprisingly comfortable around hispyroki. Arokan had assured me that Kailon would never harm me…and I trusted my husband. I believed him.
