Was it because of Davik’s words? Was it because I knew I’d cut him with my own unspoken accusation? Or was it because I was alone—again—and I remembered the utter despair and grief that had contorted Davik’s expression, an expression I didn’t think I would ever forget?
I chanced another look behind me at the empty space beyond his bed of furs. How often had that happened to him? And who was it that he saw?
I feared I knew.
Shivering underneath the furs, I looked towards the voliki’s entrance.
I wondered if he would come back.
I realized I wanted him to.
My dreams were peaceful that night. I didn’t dream stolen memories but when I woke it was still dark.
The fire was smoldering in the basin and I saw a dark shadow beside the bed. For a moment, I thought it was the unseen being I’d encountered earlier, the being that had been haunting Davik.
Instead, it was Davik. His red eyes were glowing down at me as I shifted up in his bed. As my eyes adjusted, I saw his expression more clearly. And again, he looked exhausted. Last night, he’d only gotten a little sleep, since I’d woken him with his name on my lips.
I was still in that soft place between reality and dreams. I reached out for his hand and pulled gently. His knee found the furs.
“Come sleep,” I whispered. “You need rest.”
A rough exhalation escaped him. I could sense the way his muscles loosened, how something seemed to release from him.
He joined me on the furs. I wasn’t used to sleeping beside someone anymore. In my village, Viola and I had shared a bed, but I’d never slept beside a male before Davik.
His scent was different. More earthy and musky, like he’d been sweating. I found I didn’t mind, that I liked it.
It didn’t surprise me when he clasped me to him. I’d put on a tunic once I went to bed. I’d waited up for hours, waiting for him to return, but finally I’d given in to sleep. His arm came around me and I had no alternative but to rest my cheek on his chest. My palm flattened hesitantly against his bare chest. He was radiating heat like a flame.
A mere moment later, his breathing evened out. My hand rose and fell steadily on his chest. When I peeked up, his eyes were shut, his expression slack.
My heart gave that little foreign twinge again.
Then I joined him in sleep.
The horde king slept like the dead.
I was actually worried as I gazed down at him, nibbling my lip with indecision. The sun had begun to set in the sky the following day and still he hadn’t woken. He’d barely even moved.
I’d slept longer than I usually did myself, waking with the sun bright overhead deep into the afternoon. Even then, I’d probably only roused because a young Dakkari female had brought in a meal. She’d left without a word and I’d risen to eat because I’d been ravenous.
After my meal and after I’d dressed, I sat on the edge of the bed of furs, waiting. I felt different. My body felt changed and I was sore in places I never knew existed. When I moved too quickly, I felt aching twinges and I was reminded of how deep Davik had been inside my body, the way he’d bellowed with his release, his deep, pensive expression afterwards.
Then I recalled our fight, the energy I’d felt in the shadows of the voliki, him returning early in the morning hours, pulling me close in his furs.
“Drokka,” came a voice from outside the voliki’s entrance.
My heart leapt in my throat and then I peered down at Davik. Drokka. I’d heard that before, hadn’t I? What did that mean in Dakkari? Was that the name others called him, those that didn’t know his given name?
Davik didn’t rouse so I rose from the bed, striding hesitantly towards the entrance.
Golden evening sunlight greeted me when I stepped out. As did the hulking bulk of a Dakkari male, who was clearly surprised to see me in place of the Vorakkar.
“Kalles,” the male said, his eyes flitting behind me, gaze narrowing. “Where is the Vorakkar?”
I wondered if this male was Davik’s second-in-command. What had he called his title?
Pujerak, I remembered.
“He’s sleeping,” I told him, relieved that the male spoke the universal tongue. I bit my lip. “He’s been sleeping all day, actually. I’m a little worried.”
The male leveled me a strange look, running his eyes down my