Broken by the Horde King (Horde Kings of Dakkar #4) - Zoey Draven Page 0,100

troubling thing.

Grimly, I nodded.

“Is she sick?”

“She doesn’t appear to be but I told the mrikro to watch her carefully. She’s eating and drinking, at least. And she was in perfect health before we sent her to the east lands.”

“You think this mist is responsible?” Errok asked, narrowing his gaze. “Do you think that is why creatures are leaving those lands? Because it’s making them sick?”

“I don’t know,” I said, the frustration evident in my voice.

“And what of the horde?” Errok asked. “When are you planning to tell them about the mist?”

“Soon,” I said, nostrils flaring. “But I might wait until I return from the east. When I have more news.”

Errok didn’t like that decision. “They have a right to know what’s happening, Kiran.”

“I know,” I growled. “But do you truly want me to tell them right before I leave? You want to handle the chaos after that? What can we say? That there is a strange red fog that blankets the land and that Dakkari-bred beasts are becoming more hostile and dangerous? They will want to know why and until I meet with the others, until I see this place for myself, what more can I give them?”

Errok’s jaw was tight.

“As Vorakkar, Errok,” I growled, “you must weigh the choices carefully and decide on what will lead to the best outcome. Telling them now will induce panic and questions because we know nothing. Those with family and loved ones in the east will fear for them. Many may want to leave for Dothik right as the frost comes, which will only make that journey more dangerous. Meaning I will have to spare more darukkars to see them safely there. Darukkars we might need. Panic and fear are the last things we want right now. They might have a right to know, Errok, but right now it is my responsibility to keep my horde safe and that is what I am doing.”

“I understand,” Errok rasped, though I felt the tension thrumming tightly between us.

There was still something unspoken between us. Last night, after Rath Rowin arrived, I hadn’t been able to find Errok. And this was the first time all day that we’d been alone together.

“You intend to try your hand at the next Trials, do you not?” I asked. “Now that the Dothikkar is holding another so soon after the last?”

Errok’s jaw tightened.

Silence stretched between us.

“I have not decided,” was what he finally said. I heard the truth in his voice, the hesitation.

My fists clenched on the table. We were in an abnormal situation, one that had happened a few times in Dakkar’s history but not often. Errok had not been eligible for the Trials when I first offered him the position of pujerak…but according to our laws, he would be now.

He’d been rejected the first time because of his lineage—or rather, his lack of lineage. But since he’d been a pujerak for these long years, he’d be accepted readily and without question.

It wasn’t often that a pujerak broke away from his horde to try for one of his own. Then again, Errok had the soul of a Vorakkar, not a pujerak. At times, I knew how it grated to heed my orders, especially when they challenged his own wishes.

But this was my horde. Not Errok’s. And as such, he always had to obey me.

For someone such as Errok…it wasn’t easy. Being my pujerak had not been easy on him, I knew that. But he’d stayed for me. He’d stayed for our friendship. He’d stayed for his position.

Now that there was another path opening to him, however, one I knew he’d always craved…it would change everything between us.

“As your Vorakkar,” I started quietly, “I would do anything to sway you from this decision. It will disrupt the horde at such a precarious time, a horde that has come to depend on you, as I have.”

Errok’s brow pulled. His lips pressed.

“I know,” he said.

Taking a deep breath, I carefully measured out my next words.

“But as your friend, Errok,” I continued, “I will tell you to go.”

Errok straightened across the table, looking at me in barely concealed surprise.

“Neffar?” he rasped.

“We always knew,” I said. “We both knew when I asked you to be my pujerak that you were meant to lead, not to follow. And now…the Dothikkar will accept you at the Trials. And if you do not go, you will regret it for the rest of your life.”

Errok already knew this. If he’d had no loyalty to me, if he’d had