Next to me on the spread blanket, Syris shot me an unreadable look. Only she and Tarkosh knew what Alaryk and I werereally doing. Though I’d told hernothingof the night in Ny’am. Just thinking about it made me shiver and blush.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Syris sniffed, “and you should be shutting down those gossips if you ever hear them.”
I took a bite of my bread, stifling a smile. It was a lovely day, and Tarkosh had given us the afternoon off to enjoy the weather. No more hatchlings were expected for another couple days, and Kyr was currently resting in his nest, along with the other four newborns.
“I can’t do that,” Ethrisha argued. “How will I know what people are really saying about her if they think they can’t trust me?”
“You’d make an excellent spy,kalles,” Brune murmured. My gaze flicked up at him. He seemed to realize what he’d said because his smile faltered, his eyes darting to me.
I’d never told him what Ryak had threatened me with. But now I wondered if Ryak had made similar threats to him.
“Kalles,” Ethrisha said dreamily. “I just love that word. Say it again.”
“Kalles,” Brune rumbled into her ear, nipping at the lobe.
Syris gave me a look that nearly had me snorting. She was long over the affectionate couple. “What does that even mean?”
“It meansfemalein Dakkari,” I told her. “But…it’s a soft name. One of our ancient horde kings would call hisMorakkari, his queen, that name. It’s sweet. It stuck for centuries.”
“How romantic.” Ethrisha sighed.
“I wouldn’t want anyone going around calling mefemale,” Syris sniffed.
“You’re just jealous,” Ethrisha singsonged, no true malice in her tone as she leaned her head back against Brune’s chest.
We were sitting under the shade of a tree along the forest’s edge, with a great view of the village below and all of the comings and goings. The sharp slant of the gray roofs, the riders trainingin the field—mounting practice, from the looks of it—and Elthika flying overhead on occasion. It was peaceful here, I realized.
And every day I settled deeper and deeper into place, my dread and nerves only multiplied.
“When do you think he’ll return?” I asked.
Ethrisha peered over at me. “Careful, Amaia. Villagers willreallythink you’re warming his bed if you go around pining for him.”
“I’mnotpining,” I said.
My friend took pity on me. “Hard to say. It depends why Elysom requested his presence…but I imagine it’s about the Hartans. Yesterday I overheard Myzalla saying a formation of wild Elthika got close to the border. Maybe something’s drawing them there.”
“Does he still have family in Harta?” I questioned.
“Not sure,” Ethrisha said, her lips pursuing like she was trying to remember something. “I think it was only him and his mother who fled across the border when he was just a boy. His father was Hartan.”
Syris chimed in, “But I heard he never knew him.”
Ethrisha’s eyes twinkled at Syris actually participating in the gossip. “Well remembered.”
“And…the Karag don’t take issue with the fact that he’s from their enemy’s territory?” Brune asked.
“Our territory of Grym is different than the rest of Karak,” Ethrisha told us. “There was a time when Hartans and Karag crossed the borders freely because of the short distance. It’s only been in the last century when peace has been fractured. It was a lot worse before Alaryk claimed Samryn, before he became theKarath. We were actually at war during that time. And Alaryk ended it swiftly.”
I frowned. “How?”
“All political, I’m sure,” she said, waving her hand. “Elysomwas heavily involved during those days too, from what my mother told me. But regardless, very few Grymians actually care that Alaryk was raised in Harta. There’s a vocal few, yes, but…he claimed a Vyrin. And not just any Vyrin.Samryn. Hard to fight against that. Now, if it were anywhere else and he was theirKarath…”
“Like in Sarroth,” Syris snicked, with an eye roll.
“Yes, now, Sarrothianshateoutsiders,” Ethrisha said with a laugh. “I visited my mother’s sister there once. On Muron’s blood, the amount of looks I got…I just thought they’d never seen anyone as pretty as me. I jingled as I walked down the streets in my jewelry, and you would’ve thought I’d spat at their feet. It’s so…militant there. I thoughtI’dend up in rider training before I could leave.”
Just as our laughs peeled out, as we all tried to imagine Ethrisha in rider training of all things, there were raised, frantic shouts in the distance that quieted us all. Brune stood, squinting into the sunlight as we all tried to figure out what was happening.
