The first thing my gaze zeroed in on wasmy vokking sword.
A low growl escaped me when I saw a human male’s hand around its hilt. The sword made for me. The sword my father had marked with his blood. He’d purposefully made it to match the size of aVorakkar’ssword. When he’d gifted it to me, I could barely lift it, as young as I was. He’d told me I would grow strong enough to wield it and he’d been right. I knew that sword like it was a part of me, like it was an extension of my own soul.
The handle was smooth from years of use. Every night, I cleaned its blade. Over the years, it had been soaked with Ghertun blood, with Dakkari blood, with Kakkari’s earth, with the rain, with the frost, with the desert.
The male that was wielding it was unremarkable. If I had seen him in one of the human settlements before, I would have forgotten his face the moment I looked away. His skin was almost the same color as my own, nourished from the sun, and yet, that was where our similarities ended. He had eyes so dark they appeared black and brown hair, cropped short to his scalp. Dakkari males with short hair were either young boys or disgraceddarukkarsand my lip curled with distaste.
He appeared stronger than the other two males I’d seen. At least, his face wasn’t gaunt and sunken with apparent hunger. His chest was wide and his trews fit snugly on his legs.
I assumed this was the humans’ leader. A leader who ate before his own people was no leader at all, however. Not in my eyes.
Benn, they’d called him.
He walked to the edge of the table where I lay, though he had the good sense to stay out of reach. My sword flashed in the torchlight and he dug the tip of it into the stone floor, twirling it like it was a cane.
My ire grew, my claws digging into the flesh of my palms.
With my tail twitching, I was half-tempted to snag my sword from his grip with it. My tail would curl around the handle and I’d plunge it into his belly, just for daring to take it from me.
Patience, I reminded myself. Somehow, they had Dakkari steel cuffs in their possession but they didn’t know about a Dakkari’s tail or the strength of it. I needed to save that advantage for later.
“You are not as formidable as I thought you’d be,” the human male started, his voice soft and echoing around the tall room. “I expected much more fight from a horde king.”
I grinned, which seemed to take him off guard for a moment.
“And yet,” he continued, “our weakest woman managed to capture you quite easily. Then again, I’ve seen Dakkari females. I shudder at the thought of bedding them too.”
The grin slid from my face, a growl rising in its place.
“What is it that you think to do with me,vekkiri?” I asked, no longer feeling the amusement I’d felt moments before. This human was alive right now because I allowed it. But if he pushed me too far, I might do something that would prove foolish later.
Though I’d neverregretkilling a human like this, I would regret the error in judgment from killing him too soon.
“You think to trade me back to my horde for…neffar? Food? Weapons?” I asked, narrowing my gaze. That was the only reason for my capture that I could think was plausible. They were obviously hungry. And desperation was unpredictable.
The human male smiled. “Now why hadn’t I thought of that?”
Ah. Perhaps he was more cunning than I gave him credit for. His answer gave nothing away.
Very well. Next, I wanted to see his reaction to anger.
“A male like you is not worthy of a sword like that,vekkiri,” I said, keeping my voice even. “Do you know what it is that you wield?”
“Yes,” he answered, though I saw his jaw grit slightly. Good. “Yoursword. Does it frighten you that I took it?”
“Frighten?” I asked, my tone incredulous. “Frighten me of what? Ofyou?”
He glowered at that, his hand tightening on the hilt of my sword. His skin around his smooth knuckles lightened with the tension.
“It takes much to kill aVorakkar,” I informed him. “Strength thatvekkirisimply do not possess.”
“And yet,” he started, his tone clipped, “it isyouchained beforeme. I could gut you right now and you would not be able to do anything about it, Dakkari.”
“Lysi, a dishonorable advantage,” I said. “The only way you would draw my blood is if I were chained like this. If I were not…” I bared my teeth at him. “You would already be dead at my feet and I wouldn’t even need to lift my sword. I would rather it not drink in a coward’s blood, regardless. Even your blood is not good enough for my blade.”
Thatangered him. I saw the wild flash in his gaze and the way his features morphed into a still, pinched expression.
“Then what about yours?” he asked next.
