To her credit, Junira’s face paled and she stumbled back a step, immediately dropping her gaze, going to one knee before me in supplication. “I—I’m sorry.Hanniva. I’m so sorry,Vorakkar. That was not my place.”
“It was not your place,” I agreed with her, my voice dark, the warning in my tone palpable. “It is not your place to question my decisions. It is not your place, or your father’s, to spread rumors throughout the horde that I had made promises to you. You know I did no such thing. I was nothing but honest with you, Junira.”
“I-I know,” she said quietly. I knew that her outburst had come from a place of jealousy. I had liked Junira. I had enjoyed her company, but that time was long past between us. I had never returned her feelings, though I knew that hers lingered. And perhaps that was my fault.
“MyMorakkariimplored me to give your father another chance in this horde,” I told her. “As such, I will give you another as well. But if I hear anything throughout the horde about this again, I will not tolerate it a second time. You will not disrespect my queen a second time. Do you understand?”
“Lysi,” she burst out. “Lysi, I understand.Kakkira vor.”
Junira didn’t wait another moment. She rose and wove her way through the horde, keeping her head down against the onlookers that watched her leave.
When the crowd saw me giving them a pointed look, they dispersed quickly, scattering to their respective duties, and I bit out a sharp sigh.
Mina approached me and I straightened.
“Good afternoon,Vorakkar,” she murmured, meeting my eyes.
A tight knot in my chest loosened at the sound of her voice. Her cheeks were pink and her lips were pressed together, as if Hukri had been translating the entire conversation between Junira and myself.
My hand slid into her hair and my palm wrapped around the base of her neck, pulling her close. When her hands came to my chest, I leaned down to steal a kiss.
Mina kept it short, however, and she was a little tense in my arms.
I blew out a sigh, my gaze flickering to Hukri, who was lingering a good distance away to give us privacy.
“You heard that?”
“Hukri has very good hearing,” Mina told me, meeting my gaze. “And she’s an excellent translator.”
“Mmm.”
I slid my hand to her back, pressing her closer to me.
“She still desires you,” Mina noted.
“Hukri?” I murmured softly, trying to soften some of the tension that I felt rising between us.
She slapped her palm across my bare chest. “Junira.”
“I made her no promises,rei Morakkari,” I told her, my voice steeling. “And I will not have her spreading rumors that contradict that.”
“It’s not about that,” Mina said. “I can understand why she’s upset, that’s all. I can understand…”
“Neffar?” I asked, my brow furrowing, though I was fascinated by the flush that was slowly working its way up her neck.
“I can understand having you and then not having you,” she said quietly.
I sobered though I said, “You know that you have me always,rei Morakkari. I am yours. No one else’s.” Her bright green eyes softened at the words. But I recognized something else in her gaze, something that filled me withrelief. “You are jealous?”
She bit her lip.
“There is no need,” I assured her, dragging her closer, “though I like to see it on occasion.”
Her eyes narrowed. “What?”
It had been a handful of nights since I’d told her about my father. As such, it had been a handful of nights since I’d felt disappointed by her reaction, when she’d quickly rejected the possibility of love between us. She hadn’t even given it a spare thought.
To see her jealous, it soothed some of the uncertainty I’d felt building inside me since that moment.
