It was expected. Not only was she a strange vekkiri—some of my horde had probably never seen a human before—but she would remind them of our ancient legend, of the female sorceress.
It was unavoidable, however. In the crowd, I sought out Lokkaru but I didn’t see the elderly female anywhere.
The land I’d chosen for my horde backed up into one of the smaller mountains in the eastern lands, providing protection from the back, so we would not have to enclose the entire encampment. At the base of the mountain was where my voliki lay, close to the pyroki enclosures. With satisfaction, I saw the water well had been dug and erected so that we would not have to travel every day for our supply. I saw that to the west, our crops had already been sowed. I saw the stone grinder for the last of our leiso crop had been prepared as well.
The horde had accomplished everything I’d wanted in my absence.
There was still much to be done. We would stay in the east longer than usual this year so more preparation was necessary. Added to that was what was to come…the threat of the Ghertun, the heartstone, the possibility of battle.
Tomorrow, I thought. This night, I needed rest.
The horde members fell away the deeper we rode into the encampment until there was blissful silence once more. Even the vekkiri in my arms seemed to relax.
When we came to the pyroki enclosure, I slid the kalles down to the earth and jumped down from Nillima. The mrikro, the pyroki master, was waiting to take her, approaching us, though his gaze kept straying to Vienne.
“Mrikro,” I greeted, sliding my hand across Nillima’s bandaged flank. “She was injured from jrikkia.”
His brow rose but he inclined his head.
“I will monitor the wound closely, Vorakkar.”
I spoke soft words of praise into my pyroki’s ear and then patted her neck before I unfastened the travel sacks from her flank. “Feed her well tonight.”
The mrikro inclined his head and then led her away.
Turning back to Vienne, I said, “Come, kalles.”
“Where are we going?” she asked quietly, falling into step beside me, though I had to shorten my strides to accommodate her.
“To my voliki,” I murmured, pressing my claws to her lower back, nodding at the domed tent that came into view.
She stiffened when she saw it but her steps didn’t falter.
I barely suppressed my smirk. Brave kalles, I thought.
I might just need to have a taste of her tonight.
Ducking through the flapped entrance, I narrowed my gaze, scanning the quiet stillness of it. My eyes flickered to the darkened shadows, half-expecting to see the face of my dead sister lingering there…or the faces of those I’d killed…or the faces of those I’d never even seen in my lifetime.
But the shadows were quiet this night.
Satisfied, I pulled the female through, her palm soft in my rough grip.
I left her standing in the entrance as I made my way around to the raised basin, sparking a fire quickly to warm the cool darkness.
Outside I heard the trudge of footsteps and before I could move her away, I heard her surprised squeak as the flaps hit her backside. She scurried away, moving to the side, as two males brought in the washing tub and more followed with steaming buckets of water.
As they filled it, an older female named Arinu brought in a large tray covered with food, setting it down on the low table.
I groaned, the scent of smoky braised wrissan filling the tent.
“You have outdone your last batch, nevretam,” I murmured at Arinu.
Her features flushed in pleasure and she patted my arm. “You do not know that. You have not tasted it yet.”
I stole a chunk of the wrissan, throwing it into my mouth before she could protest.
“Lysi,” I growled softly, the meat quickly melting in my mouth, flavor exploding on my tongue. “Your best yet.”
“Only because you have been eating dried rations and the slop from the Dothikkar’s bikku. Anything will taste good to you, Vorakkar,” she said. She was the best cook in all the hordes, yet she would never take praise or compliments for her skill. She saw it as her duty, as her honor, to feed us all…and to feed us well.
“Is this the last of the wrissan?” I asked, pleased that it had lasted us this long.
“Lysi. I saved it for you since I know how much you enjoy it.”
“Kakkira vor,” I murmured. Though Arinu didn’t meet