“Thank you, healer,” I said again, rising from the low table. “I would like that.”
I left shortly after, exiting from the tent in a state of happy disbelief.
I’d been so certain that I wasn’t pregnant that the news had come as a shock. But the only thing I wanted right then was to find Arokan and tell him the news.
I nodded at the guards and then turned towards the base of the hill, where our tent was, hoping that he’d returned from his duties already. Hell, I practically ran there.
I only stopped short, the smile dying off my face when I saw Hukan. She was emerging from the black vine forest, carrying a basket of something in her arm. She was alone and she peered around before she saw me.
I watched her straighten and frown, but then, much to my surprise, her expression lightened, as if she made the effort to soften her features. She even began to approach me and I stopped in my tracks, wondering why she would do such a thing.
“Morakkari,” she greeted.
“Hukan,” I said, my tone hesitant at first, using her given name since the guards were far enough away. “Is there something you need?”
Something flashed in her gaze but she shook her head, eyeing me. She gestured to the basket she was carrying and I peered inside and saw small berries, large and green in color, so dark they looked black at first. “Kukerifruit. You can only find them in the southlands. We make sweet bread with them. I will bring you some,lysi?”
Taken aback, I didn’t know what else to do but nod. “I’d like that,” I said, studying her.
Had Arokan spoken with her? Was that why she was making an effort to speak with me?
“Thank you,” I added, giving her a small smile. It was for Arokan’s sake. She was his aunt, a blood relation to his mother. For him, I could make peace with her.
She inclined her head in a nod and passed me, on the way back to her tent, I presumed. I stared at the spot where she’d stood before I looked into the black vine forest.
Surprisingly, I felt like a weight had been lifted. Or had, at the very least,startedto lift. Hukan’s disapproval of me, her insistence that I was not strong enough for Arokan, that it would only be a matter of time before he realized that, had always been an insecurity in the back of my mind. But, perhaps Hukan saw that I was trying to be the queen he deserved.
And despite the encounters we’d had, I still wanted her approval, her blessing. She was the last female of Rath Kitala, of Arokan’s line, at least until I bore a daughter. I didn’t want there to be a divide between them because of me.
“Kalles,” I heard.
My breath hitched and I turned, Arokan’s voice cutting through my thoughts like a blade.
“Hi,” I said, my belly warming. My two guards, a respectful distance away, departed at my husband’s nod and he wrapped his arm around my waist, guiding me the rest of the way to the tent. “Wait.”
I couldn’t stand another moment of not telling him. Even the walk back to our tent was too long. Night was descending and we were alone, at the back of the camp. It was peaceful and quiet and Ineededto tell him.
When he frowned, turning to me, I reached my hands up to wind around his neck and said, “I just came from the healer.”
His expression tightened and pulled, worried. It always amazed me how well I could read him. Most of the time, he was inVorakkarmode. He kept his emotions tightly concealed, to be strong for his horde.
But around me, he didn’t. He let me see what he was feeling. He was Arokan with me, not theVorakkar.
“What is wrong?” he rasped, gripping the back of my neck, peering down into my eyes as if just doing that he could discern an illness.
“Nothing is wrong,” I whispered before I couldn’t contain my smile anymore. “In fact, everything is wonderful. She told me I’m pregnant.”
Arokan froze, his muscles tightening around me. “Neffar?” he rasped, stunned.
“We’re going to have a baby, Arokan,” I whispered, reaching out to touch his cheek. “I’m pregnant.”
His breath hitched and then he was kissing me, devouring my lips, my words, as if he needed to consume them to believe them. I knew the feeling.
I grinned into him, knowing that he felt what I felt. From the beginning, I knew he wanted children. He’d told me many times. He’d told me that I would give him many. He’d always believed I would, while I’d been the one with the doubts.
But not now. I was pregnant. I washappy. I was in love with a horde king of Dakkar who had taken me from a life, only to give me a new one. A better one. A life where I felt free. Loved.
Tears pricked my eyes and ran down my cheek as Arokan kissed me. Then I gasped when he hitched me up into arms and strode the rest of the way to ourvoliki, intent to celebrate the news in a much different, much more private way.
