When I took a small breath and ducked into the tent myself, I saw the female out of the corner of my eye. She was bending low at the table, unloading the heaping plates of food and a double loaf of the purple bread I liked. Among the plates were other things, but the food didn’t hold my attention for long.
The female was looking at the demon king from under her lashes, taking considerably longer to unload the tray than necessary.
When I looked at him, he was standing by the bed of furs, unbuckling the wide strap of leather attached to his sword’s sheath. He’d worn a heavy pelt of fur over his shoulders that day to protect him from the growing cold, but when he shrugged it off, I saw he was bare-chested underneath, revealing his gleaming, golden skin.
I forced myself to look away, though I felt something strange at the sight of him—intense curiosity and something else I didn’t want to place. When I looked back to the female, she was straightening, a small smile playing over her painted lips.
She said something in Dakkari, her voice soft and low.
“Nik,” the demon king replied, only sparing her the smallest glance. “Rothi kiv.”
The female’s smile dropped ever so slightly. When she saw me watching her, that coldness entered her gaze again and she stalked past, out the tent’s entrance, leaving me alone with the horde king.
The silence prickled at my skin. I longed to be outside, longed to be away from him.
To fill that silence, I informed him, “She wants you.”
Throughout the stages of my lifetime, I’d always observed the men and women in my village. I saw their secret smiles, I heard the unspoken meaning in their words. I’d singlehandedly discovered that Sam and Una were having an affair, despite their spouses not knowing. It seemed like a lot of work to me, the seemingly endless mating dance of humans. I wondered how Dakkari courted their chosen mates. Was it any different?
But I’d recognized the look in the Dakkari female’s eyes and knew what she wanted.
My words caught the horde king’s attention. He turned to face me and I was briefly distracted by how his markings shimmered in the dim lighting.
“Neffar?” he murmured, but I got the distinct impression that he’d heard me perfectly. He simply wanted me to repeat it.
“I said she wants you. You could be nicer to her, I suppose,” I added.
“Wants me in what way,kalles?”
Now I got the distinct impression he was laughing at me.
I frowned. I didn’t like being laughed at. I was only trying to fill the silence with something he might find useful.
Except…
My eyes narrowed on him.
“You already know,” I accused.
“Lysi, kalles,” he murmured, walking towards me. His eyes burned bright in the low lighting and for a moment, I held my breath. “I already know.”
Swallowing, my brow furrowed when he slipped around me to kneel at the low table, the one I was beginning to understand was only for taking meals at.
“Come,” he said.
I mirrored his actions, hiding my wince when I knelt. The black liquid the healer had given me for the pain that morning had begun to wear off.
When I felt him studying me, I commented, “You hardly looked at her. How would you know?”
“She has been with my horde for a few years now,” he informed me. “She has made her intentions clear.”
“Intentions?”
“She aspires to beMorakkari,” he told me. “As do others.”
“Morakkari?” I asked softly, the strange word filtering over my tongue. I thought that likekalles,Morakkariwas a pretty word, one I liked.
“My queen,” he told me. His voice went slightly lower as he added, “My wife.”
