Broken by the Horde King (Horde Kings of Dakkar #4) - Zoey Draven Page 0,31

prepare. Because I had no idea what the letter meant. But there were already stirrings across the land, stirrings we had all begun to feel. The polkunu we’d killed so far to the south should’ve been the first sign that something was amiss.

But according to Rath Kitala, the stirrings had started months ago. So far south, we were just beginning to feel its effects.

My second reason was to escort Maeva to my horde personally. I’d brought four of my best darukkars—who were waiting outside the saruk’s gates—but I hadn’t trusted anyone else to see to Maeva’s safety. Only I could ensure it. I’d left Errok, my pujerak, back with the horde, which was only a day’s ride away. If we left soon and didn’t stop to rest, we could reach my horde in the early hours of morning.

My ears perked when I heard the soft rasp of footsteps funneling down the main road.

Roon made a chittering little sound in his throat and, without my command, trotted forward. Maeva’s smile was soft as she strode the rest of the way, reaching out her palms to stroke Roon’s snout.

“How is my favorite pyroki?” she whispered.

She hadn’t seen Roon when I’d been at the saruk last. And Roon considered Maeva just as much his master as he did me, a fact that I had never quite had the heart to break from him.

Maeva had named him, after all. When Roon had been a newborn, he made long yawning sounds that emulated his namesake.

It had been years since she’d last seen him.

But Roon had remembered her. Of course he did.

Maeva’s eyes darted up to mine. I swallowed, dismounting, my booted feet hitting the road hard.

“You said your goodbyes to your family?” I asked quietly. There wasn’t a soul awake in the saruk, not even the mrikro, the pyroki master.

“Lysi,” she whispered.

“They didn’t want to see you off?” I asked, quirking a brow in surprise. Maeva had always been especially close with her family.

“I suspect my father didn’t want to cry in front of you and your darukkars,” she told me.

A sharp huff of amusement escaped my nostrils and I turned to regard her. The teasing comment took me by surprise, reminding me so much of the Maeva I used to know.

I had hoped to meet with her family but I pushed back my disappointment. The last time I’d seen them, they—her father, especially—had been filled with tension and anger.

Her gaze immediately darted back to Roon, as if she was surprised she’d said it as well.

“I said my goodbyes last night,” she said after a lengthy, heavy silence. “I’m ready.”

With that, she made to venture towards the pyroki enclosure but I snagged her hand.

Maeva’s breath hitched when I pulled her back to me. My jaw tensed, feeling the warmth and softness of her skin. In the darkness, I saw the glassy reflection in her questioning gaze as she tugged her hand from my grip, stepping back to put space between us.

“You will ride with me,” I told her, ignoring the way that simple familiar touch had…shaken me. My palm tingled from it. “There is no need to take a pyroki.”

“Neffar?” she asked. “There’s no need for me to ride with you. I’m perfectly capable of riding alone. You know that.”

“This has nothing to do with your experience riding. I know you do it well,” I told her, taking the two travel sacks from her grip to attach it to Roon’s side harness. “Is this all you need?”

Her gaze went to the travel sacks, watching as I clipped them onto Roon’s side. “I don’t want to ride with you.”

“Why not?” I grunted, eyes narrowing. “You are used to riding with me.”

“Maybe when I was younger,” she said, raking a hand through her hair. A curled strand of it sprang back into her face, which she tucked behind her ear in frustration.

My gaze went to the horizon. Any moment now, the beginnings of the sunrise would start.

“We don’t have time to argue, Maeva,” I told her. Then my chest tightened with memory. We had always sparred like this, hadn’t we? Because it felt as easy as breathing. “We will be pushing the pyrokis hard and we won’t be stopping for the night. Are you used to that? Riding as fast as the wind, without rest, without sleep? Nik, you are not. But my darukkars are. That is why you will ride with me.”

Whatever Maeva recognized in my voice, it must’ve been familiar to her because her lips