Captive of the Horde King (Horde Kings Of Dakkar #1) - Zoey Draven Page 0,15
in return and felt Lavi move behind me to brush out my hair.
“What are piki?” I asked Mirari.
She was fiddling with the gold pins as she replied, “We are like…helpers. We are unmated females that travel with the horde. We help the wives of horde warriors with these things.”
“You like traveling with the horde?” I asked, hoping that my question wasn’t offensive. It seemed like a hard lifestyle to me, constantly on the move, no permanent roots.
Mirari said, “Lysi. It is our hope to become horde brides one day and this is how we attract warriors. It is how it has always been done in the hordes. One day, we will have piki of our own.”
I nodded, but I didn’t truly understand.
Mirari continued, a thread of excitement in her voice, or at least what I believed to be excitement, with, “Now that the Vorakkar has given us this honor, surely we will be brides soon. All of the horde will know us.”
Was this about the ‘queen’ thing?
Wisely, I kept my mouth shut, though questions raced in my mind. Truthfully, I wasn’t certain I wanted to know the answers. A part of me was still hoping the horde king would tire of me when he realized just how inexperienced I was when it came to sex and would allow me to return to my village. And, well, if what I feared he’d meant came true, then I knew he would never let me return.
The domed tent was silent as they finished brushing my hair. A few moments after that, Lavi had my hair braided and then pinned up in an intricate way, so it was off my face and neck.
“Will you eat now, Missiki?” Mirari asked once Lavi was done, casting a glance over at the food, still on the tray though it had gone cold. “You must be hungry now.”
I was famished. But the thought of eating made acid burn in my belly.
“No,” I said, shaking my head.
Mirari looked at the food and then back at me. “The Vorakkar will be displeased if you do not eat. He told us specifically that you needed sustenance.”
Closing my eyes, I asked, “Have you ever been hungry, Mirari? Truly hungry?”
The Dakkari female seemed surprised that I used her given name but she answered, “In the mornings after I wake, lysi.”
I shook my head, but she had answered my question regardless. The hordes had never known the hunger that plagued the settlements and villages spread across Dakkar. Of course they wouldn’t know. They fed fresh meat to their beasts, which told me they had meat to spare. They were nomadic. They followed their game across Dakkar, while still denying that opportunity to the settlements under penalty of death.
Though the foreign races had begun to settle on Dakkar over thirty years ago, we still struggled to produce crops and find fresh water. We still had an elementary knowledge of the land. All we knew was to never destroy it or else the Dakkari would come.
Mirari said something in Dakkari to Lavi after several moments of silence. Lavi stood and left the tent once again.
“What was I meant to do today?” I asked, exhaustion weighing on my shoulders again. I felt the collar around my neck whenever I swallowed.
Mirari studied me and then replied, “The Vorakkar was to take you out among the horde, to present you.”
Present me.
I wondered what Kivan was doing at that moment. I’d never been away from him this long before. I had promised him that I would see him again, but I wondered…was that a promise I could keep?
How would he survive? Without my credits coming in from my seamstress work, would he be able to save enough to buy rations? We had a few ration packs saved, but that would only be enough for a couple weeks, if that.
Grief made my throat burn. I had always taken care of him, protected him. Now he was alone, likely an outcast in the village now for his reckless actions yesterday.
The tent flap slapped open and I sucked in a startled breath when the horde king ducked inside, tense anger written on his face. Behind him, I saw Lavi, though she stayed outside.
“Rothi kiv, piki,” he growled, his voice dark and ominous.
Mirari inclined her head and hurriedly scuttled out. I watched her leave, a sense of betrayal making my lips press together.
They’d ratted me out to the horde king. And he was pissed.