thought of a couple back at my village. A middle-aged man and woman—Jerri and Lysette. Jerri was mean to his core. Everyone knew he beat Lysette behind closed doors, taking out his frustrations on her. But she never left. She always took it.
She had no power over him.
I sobered. Were the Dakkari any different? Was Arokan different? Would he beat me, hurt me if I refused to obey him?
Did it matter?
I wouldn’t be cowed, wouldn’t be threatened. If he beat me because of it, I would fight back. I never wanted to be like Lysette, never wanted to be powerless and frightened of the male I joined my life with.
I nodded to myself. Blowing out a breath, I resumed my work on my pants.
“I’ll try,” I said softly. I would do anything to help my brother, my village, though I could do without helping Jerri.
Could I truly sway Arokan’s thoughts and decisions?
I would find out.
“Where is he?” I asked next, after I began on the first stitching. “I haven’t seen him since he took me out among the horde.”
Mirari asked, “He did not tell you?”
Part of me had assumed he was with another one of his females, which was why he hadn’t shared his bed with me for the past two nights.
“No,” I said softly. “He didn’t.”
“A scout brought news of Ghertun. A group was seen camping towards the west, close to Dothik. The Vorakkar rode out with a part of the horde to eliminate them.”
What?
“Ghertun?” I asked, frowning, sitting up straighter.
Mirari cut me a look. “You do not know the Ghertun?”
“No,” I said. “Are they some sort of beast?”
“A race,” Mirari corrected. “A vile race who settled here centuries ago after a corrupt king allowed them in. They stay to the east, to the Dead Lands, but have been testing our borders of late.”
My mind raced. “How do we not know about these beings?”
“Because the hordes have kept you safe,” was what Mirari replied with.
My breath hitched. “How so?”
“I guarantee that if a Ghertun pack descended on your village, there would be nothing left. They rape females and burn settlements and kill young. It is their way. Then they consume the land, defile Kakkari, until there is nothing left. They move on to the next place. You would know their faces, know their war cries. The horde kings and our horde warriors keep us safe. They track down and kill any Ghertun outside of the Dead Lands to eliminate threats before they begin. However, sometimes they are too late.”
Heart racing, I blew out a breath. “And this is normal? How long has this been going on?”
“Since they settled here,” Mirari answered. “There used to be two hordes that patrolled our lands, that hunted game to send back to Dothik. Only two. Now there are many hordes. It is necessary.”
The needle fell from my grip and I ran my cold fingers over my lips, trying to absorb the information.
Arokan had been right. I knew nothing of the Dakkari, knew next to nothing about this planet, though it had been my only home.
Had they truly been keeping us safe, all these years? Perhaps inadvertently? If what Mirari was saying was true, if a Ghertun pack happened upon our village, we wouldn’t have been able to defend ourselves. Had the hordes been protecting us all along?
Mirari was studying me. Lavi spoke, asking her a question, probably wondering what was wrong with me.
“When do you think he will return?” I asked after a long moment of silence.
Mirari tilted her head. “I suspect before tomorrow night.”
“Why?”
“The black moon comes,” she said. “I do not think anything could keep him from you once it does. Even bloodthirsty Ghertun.”
Chapter Ten
Mirari had been right.
Arokan returned with his horde warriors the next afternoon to a camp in chaos.
At least that was what it seemed like to me, though Mirari told me that the camp was only preparing for the tassimara. The joining celebration, scheduled for later that night under the black moon.
All of them returned. Arokan and the ten horde warriors he’d taken with him. I was outside the tent when they came back, in my new pants and tunic top that I’d stayed up through the night to make with Mirari and Lavi. The two piki hadn’t complained once about the late hour, but I knew that they wouldn’t leave me alone with the blade or the needle either.
So they’d stayed.
And by the time they showed up at the tent the next morning, I was already dressed