“And what are markings?”
He jerked his chin up, motioning for me to stand. Instead, I held my hand out for the furs, which he gave me with a frown. I opened the furs and did my best to stand while also shielding my body from him. Water sluiced off me and I wrapped the furs around me quickly. A twinge made me suck in a breath when I stepped over the tub, ignoring his outstretched hand.
“What is it?” he asked, barely concealing the quick scowl that came over his expression. “Do you hurt from last night?”
“No,” I said. “It’s like it never even happened.”
I didn’t know why I added that. Perhaps it was the hurt rising inside me. Hurt I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge, hurt that confused me. And maybe I wanted to see if I could hurt him too with my flippant words.
Wrune’s scowl deepened.
“What are the markings?” I prompted again.
He was studying me. Perhaps he was trying to read my strange mood. I’d been calm, hadn’t I? Now I was a mixture of unpleasant things and I hid it behind indifference. Or at least, I tried to.
He tapped hisVorakkarcuffs. The wide bands of gold metal that Hukri told me allVorakkarreceived after they passed the Trials inDothik. That was howVorakkarswere selected. By passing grueling tests, meant to challenge their mental and physical and spiritual strength. And their tolerance for pain.
Hukri had told me the last test of the Trials was always the whippings. AVorakkarhad to endure at least a hundred and among a full audience inDothik.
It sounded barbaric to me. And when she told me that a couple days ago, it had brought nausea rising because I remembered being shocked by the scars that adorned Wrune’s back.
“You will get your markings around your wrists,” he informed me. He pressed a finger to his chest, where the golden tattoos glimmered in the light shooting down from the venting hole. “Markings of Rath Rowin. Markings of the horde and of my line.”
My mouth went dry.
“And how are such things done?” I asked, my wet hair dripping down over my shoulders, slipping underneath the furs and weaving down my back.
“I will receive new markings too,” he told me, stepping closer. “There is nothing to fear.”
I was no stranger to pain, so I realized that he was right. I could handle anything after I’d handled the pain under the Dead Mountain, the pain I felt when my power had become too wild.
I nodded and I spied a flare of satisfaction in his gaze. As if he was pleased with me.
“Very well,” I murmured. “I’ll meet you outside after I dress.”
A huff of what I thought was amusement came from him. “You think to dismiss me from my ownvoliki? I’d rather stay and watch myMorakkaridress.”
I was too tired for games this morning. I wanted him gone so I could apply theuudunsalve between my thighs like Hukri had suggested, but it seemed like that would have to wait if Wrune was being stubborn again.
Hukri had laid out a simple shift dress for me this morning at my request. She’d brought it with a plethora of other dresses, which she’d tucked into one of the spare chests lining the wall. The material was light and flowing. A little thin for my tastes but it was more conservative than the lot. The color was a slate blue, reminding me of the frost.
Ignoring Wrune’s taunt, I dried off as best as I could and, knowing it couldn’t be helped, I dropped the fur pelt to the floor. My backside was to Wrune and quickly, I reached for the dress, which was smoothed out on the bare bed.
I felt his approach. The back of my neck tingled as I sensed him drawing near.
His touch came, unexpected and yet expected, first at my hips. Those calloused, warm palms lingering and sliding.
“I’m sorry, Mina,” came the words and I stiffened in surprise at them, thinking he was apologizing for leaving so suddenly last night. A little ball of hope rose in my breast. “I did not want to leave marks on you. But I forgot myself, my strength.”
Oh. He was apologizing for the bruises. His touch was making me entirely too jittery, however, so I stepped forward and his hand dropped.
“It’s all right,” I told him. “It couldn’t be helped. Just forget it and I will too.”
Then quickly, I pulled the dress over my head, slipping my arms through the thin straps that would loop around my shoulders. I felt relief when I was no longer bared to him, though when I looked down and saw my nipples poking through the thin material, I bit my lip. But, like many things, it couldn’t be helped. I just prayed to Kakkari—and all the other gods and goddesses in the universe—that it would be a warm day.
“Where are the furs for the bed?” he grunted from behind me, as if now realizing that it was stripped.
“Hukri took them to be washed.”
