eyes burned into mine but I looked away, towards my husband. He came closer, concern obvious on his face. He must’ve thought something was wrong. I was close to tears and I’d come to find him.
“No,” I said, clearing my throat, hardly able to meet his gaze. “I apologize for interrupting. Everything is fine. Excuse me.”
“Kalles—” he called, but I was already backing out from the tent, my proverbial tail firmly tucked between my legs.
Once outside, I walked as fast as I could back to our tent, praying that he didn’t come after me. I didn’t think I could face him now, not after that, not after I tried to spy on him.
Luck wasn’t on my side. I’d only made it about halfway back when I heard his heavy footsteps, when I heard him call out, “Morakkari.”
I didn’t turn. I walked faster because I was a coward and I was too embarrassed to tell him everything going on in my head.
He didn’t press the issue, fortunately, and simply kept up with me—not that it was difficult on his end—until we made it back to our tent. He spoke with the guards outside, probably dismissing them for the night, before he entered, his gaze finding mine.
“Luna,” he said slowly, looking at me like I’d lost my mind. “What is—”
“I’m sorry,” I burst out, turning to face him, my hands shaking at my sides. “I’m sorry. It was so foolish. I didn’t mean to—to do that. But then I did. And Hukan was there and you thought that something was wrong.”
His brow furrowed, his expression perplexed. It was the most confused I’d ever seen him…and for good reason. I was acting like I was mad in the head.
Maybe I was.
But I didn’t know when it had changed between us. I didn’t know when my feelings had started to develop into something more, but it was driving me insane.
“Kalles,” he said, still frowning, but he approached me, placing his heavy hands on my shoulders. “Calm down. Tell me what is wrong.”
“Nothing,” I said, closing my eyes for a brief moment. “I mean, something is wrong, but it’s not…” I took a deep breath. “Now I’m just embarrassed. I feel foolish.”
“Why?” he asked quietly, trying to understand.
I realized there was no way out of this. I needed to be honest, though it frightened me.
I looked up at him, my heart thrumming in my chest, and licked my lips before I confessed, “Because I thought you were with another female.”
Arokan stilled. His frown deepened and he watched me carefully as he asked, “Why would you think that, kassikari?”
I wondered if he used that word on purpose. Kassikari. Mate.
My eyes fluttered to the chests lining the wall and his gaze followed there.
“Because I’ve always assumed,” I began, “that there were others. Why else would you have those trinkets? Those necklaces…the night dresses you’ve given me?”
Until that moment, I’d never seen the range of my husband’s anger. Of course, he’d been upset, he’d argued with me, we’d bickered. The closest I’d ever seen until that moment was after I almost foiled the Ghertun’s execution, when I got the warrior hurt, when Arokan had told me about his parents.
Even then, it wasn’t like the controlled fury that flared his nostrils. He stalked over to the three chests lining the walls. He opened the lid of one, brought it over to where I stood, and dumped its contents at my feet.
Shocked, I watched the contents tumble out, glittering and beautiful. Strands of jewels and polished, shining stones…intricately crafted figurines of a pyroki, of two figures I assumed were their deities, of other animals roaming Dakkar…golden hair pins with ruby-colored crystals…rings and baubles and silk cloths…shimmering sheer dresses and fur scarves…
“Arokan—”
Arokan brought the second chest and tumbled out its contents…and then he brought the last and did the same.
I was standing before a small mountain of riches, of beautiful things I’d never even seen.
Slowly, I took my eyes from the pile of wealth to look at him hesitantly, wondering what I would find in his eyes.
He was staring me down, his jaw clenched, the empty chests tossed carelessly behind him.
“I do not know what infuriates me more,” he said softly, slowly, the yellow of his eyes appearing golden in his anger. “That my queen believes these gifts belong to others or that she was indifferent when she believed I was straying from our furs.”
“Arokan,” I breathed, my eyes wide. “I was not—”
“This,” he said, cutting me off with a clipped