Broken by the Horde King (Horde Kings of Dakkar #4) - Zoey Draven Page 0,84
could make this right between Maeva and me. The sooner I could inform her that I’d never stopped wanting her, that I had tried and failed to dull my desire and memories of her over the last nine years, distracting myself with females whose faces I couldn’t even remember, and slaughtering any Ghertun packs we’d crossed, perhaps a little too viciously, and moving from one place to the next, though staying far from the south lands, far from her.
The darukkar seemed out of breath.
“The Vorakkar of Rath Rowin is at the gates seeking entry to the horde.”
I inhaled a sharp breath and jerked my head to the other male.
“Neffar?” I rasped.
“He says he brings urgent news from Dothik.”
“Vok,” I murmured tightly, already reaching for my fur pelt, swinging it over my shoulders. I didn’t bother to pull on trews but I did stuff my feet into my hide boots. At the last moment, I decided not to strap on my sword. The Vorakkar of Rath Rowin was a friend. One of the few Vorakkars I actually liked.
When my gaze cut to Maeva, she was looking down into the flickering flames of the fire in the golden basin. The light cast her skin in warmth and beauty.
With a heavy heart, I told her quietly, “We will continue our discussion once I return. But you will sleep here for the night, lysi?”
She didn’t answer me. She didn’t look at me.
Unable to help myself, I brushed my fingers underneath her jaw, turning her towards me until those swirling, dark eyes were on me.
“Eat, seffi,” I ordered her. “I’ll come back to you soon.”
She seemed to realize I wouldn’t leave until she gave me an answer. Finally, after a tense, long silence, she nodded.
Relieved, my touch drifted away.
Then I turned, nodding at the darukkar.
“Let Rath Rowin pass. I’ll meet with him now.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“You come at a very inconvenient time, my friend,” I growled to the Vorakkar of Rath Rowin, stalking into my council’s voliki only to see Errok already there, his arms crossed over his chest.
Rath Rowin smirked, though it didn’t reach his eyes. He took in my state of undress and assumed that I’d been with a female.
While I had been, it hadn’t been in the way I craved.
“My apologies, Rath Okkili,” Rath Rowin grunted. “Next time, I’ll be certain to schedule my visits around your nightly amusements.”
Errok caught my gaze. His brow lifted. I hadn’t seen him since we sparred on the training grounds after my run with Maeva this morning. He’d gone off with some hunters to patrol the surrounding lands for more trespassing beasts.
I clasped Rath Rowin on the shoulder and he did the same to me.
“What news do you bring from Dothik?” I asked, my tone low.
Rath Rowin had always been intense. He’d always taken his duties as Vorakkar with the utmost seriousness. At times, he could be unbending and rigid in his rules. Severe, even.
Some would call him cruel.
Almost a year ago, the Vorakkar of Rath Kitala had encountered a Ghertun spy close to his horde. He’d had the Ghertun imprisoned and then brought him to trial before his horde.
If the circumstances had been different, Rath Rowin would’ve cut the Ghertun’s head from its shoulders before it could utter a single word and walk away unbothered.
Most Vorakkars would hesitate.
Rath Rowin never did.
Though we were friends, I would be lying if I said his presence at my horde didn’t make me uneasy. He’d come alone as well. He hadn’t even brought darukkars to accompany him, probably because he didn’t like to leave his horde unprotected in the slightest. Every sword was valuable, after all.
“The Dothikkar wants us all to meet in the Dead Lands,” was what he replied.
“Neffar?” I growled. “Tell me, did Rath Kitala’s messages finally reach him?”
“About this red mist?” Rath Rowin asked, his brow raising. “Lysi.”
“And he will actually leave Dothik, take to the wild lands for the first time in his reign, to meet us there?”
Rath Rowin leveled me a knowing look. “Of course not. He will remain in Dothik behind his walls. He wants us to report back. And as we all thought, he is panicking about this mist. He is even going to advance the next Trials.”
“Vok,” I cursed, even as a derisive laugh almost fell from my lips. “But the last Trials just barely ended. That Vorakkar has not even taken to the wild lands yet and the Dothikkar wants another Trial so soon?”