Jrisanna left as quietly as he came and I turned to my bath, stripping and settling underneath the water. I flipped my bandaged tail out over the tip of the bathing tub, heeding themokkira’swords. The hot water felt sublime as I washed and scrubbed at my flesh and hair.
Peering down at my chest, I touched the small, closed wound across my pectoral. A snap of anger went through me, a wound made with my own sword, and then my eyes fastened on that sword, which I’d laid across the table where I’d taken my meal.
My father had labored over that sword. For weeks. He’d once been adarukkarfor the strong horde of Rath Rowin, theVorakkarof which had eventually settled into the northlands to make asaruk, an outpost, of his own name.
And my father had fallen in love with thatVorakkar’sdaughter. My mother. The princess of the horde and later, the princess of thesaruk.
Once he married her, though her father had not approved of the match, he’d given up his role asdarukkarand taken his place as weapons master of thesaruk. As the weapons master, he’d painstakingly crafted a sword for his unborn son, a sword fit for aVorakkarto continue his wife’s family’s legacy.
And on the night I was born, on the night my mother died, he’d laid it next to me. A gift and my new purpose, my destiny, bundled in his own grief and my mother’s blood.
It was her name I carried with me across the wild lands. Rowin. The name Mina had spoken tonight.
Underneath the water, my fists clenched. I rose from my bath and dried myself off with my furs. Then, uncaring that I was still nude, I took up that sword and went to my weapons chest, where I took out a blackened Dakkari steel block.
I cleaned the blade first, wiping down the hilt, running my claw between the grooves on the hilt to flake out the dried blood. Then, with practiced motions that felt as natural as breathing, I sharpened the sword on the block, running it across the surface quickly, with even pressure. I flipped it and repeated the motion. I flipped it again. And again. And again.
The sound and the rhythm of it relaxed me in a way that not even a hot bath and a nourishing meal could. When I was finished, when the blade was sharp and clean and I’d erased all memory of another’s grip on it, I felt more like myself. I feltright.
But when I slid into my bed and pulled the furs up around my hips, sleep would not come. Only thought ofherwould. Of her haunting, perfect voice. Of her wide, sad eyes and the dirtied hem of her dress. Her swollen cheekbone and cut lip. The softness of those lips…
I cursed myself.
Why would she want to return to the Dead Mountain? Nothing but pain would greet her there. She should be thanking me. I’d kept my promise to her. I’d taken her to my horde, hadn’t I? Though, other than an order to have food and water brought to her, I hadn’t given Valavik any other instructions. Only to keep her restrained.
“Vok,” I ground out, sliding out of bed. I cursed her again as I reached for my trews and shoved my feet into my boots. The night was warm, so I didn’t bother with my furs. And I was within the gates of my horde, so I didn’t reach for my newly sharpened blade.
Stalking from myvoliki, I made for the north side of the encampment, to my council’svoliki, which lay next to the training grounds. It was one of the largervolikisand appointed comfortably. The horde was quiet and, luckily, I encountered no one until I neared the training grounds and saw Valavik approaching.
He had a basin of water in his arms and when he saw me, he paused.
Talking quietly, I asked, “Does she have food?”
“Lysi, I brought it in earlier. Though I need to untie her so she can eat,” he said. “Would you like a bath brought in for her?”
I needed time to think and as such, I only wanted a select few to even know she was within my horde.
“Nik,” I said, nodding to the basin. “I’ll take that. Get some sleep. You look like hell.”
His expression was wry but he handed me the basin. “I do not envy you, Rowin. If you died in there, I would never have forgiven you for leaving me with your horde.”
Huffing out a sharp breath, I said, “Bastard. You were supposed to thank me for that, not moan about it. You would have accomplished what somepujeraksonly dream of.”
Valavik grinned, though it was tired. But then he looked at the basin and then turned his attention to thevolikibehind us. “Let me take that in. It is you that needs rest,” he said.
“Nik,” I responded, stepping away. “I’ll go to her.”
I’d barely told Valavik anything when I emerged from the fog earlier and I read the questions lining his face. Questions abouther.
I clapped a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll tell you everything in the morning.”
He inclined his head, seemingly content with that. I didn’t wait for him to leave. Instead, I ventured towards the domed tent, nodding at thedarukkarI’d posted on the night watch right outside it, and ducked underneath the flaps.
Her scent hit me like a wall and my nostrils flared as I greedily dragged it into my lungs. When I sought her out, I found her against the stabilizing pole. Directly in the center of thevoliki, next to an unlit fire basin, the pole ran vertically up and provided support for the domed structure.
Like I’d been, her hands were tied behind her back and around the pole. She saw sitting with her spine against it and when she saw me enter, her knees drew up to her chest, huddling.Protecting herself?Because she thought I was a danger to her?
I ignored the way that bit at me, how the knowledgecutat me.
