Captive of the Horde King (Horde Kings Of Dakkar #1) - Zoey Draven Page 0,90
the cup. Mirari nodded and gave me a little privacy as I did my best to pee in the small cup.
Once I was done, she took it from me. We emerged from behind the mountain once I was sure the worst of the nausea had passed.
We rejoined the camp shortly after and Arokan reached out for me when I found him sitting with his pujerak, a few warriors…and my brother, much to my surprise. My horde king settled me in his lap and I smiled at him when he fed me some dried bveri meat, though I worried my stomach would rebel.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mirari leave and go seek out the healer, a middle aged, large-set, no-nonsense female I’d seen multiple times around camp. I watched them speak briefly as I bit my lip, only half-listening to Arokan speak with the pujerak as they ate.
The healer’s eyes connected with mine, even from a far distance. I inclined my head in a brief, subtle nod and she blinked, dropping her gaze in respect, before she took the cup from Mirari, said something to her, and left.
I closed my eyes briefly in relief.
I might be pregnant, I thought silently to myself, testing that possibility, feeling a warm glow that rose from the thought that both frightened and excited me.
However, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Not yet.
Not until I knew for certain.
Only then would I tell Arokan.
Chapter Thirty-One
“You’ll probably need more furs once the cold season comes,” I commented, helping Kivan with the last touches in his tent. “But the Vorakkar says that the weather is milder in the southlands, so perhaps these will suffice.”
“It’s more than we ever had in the village,” Kivan commented, staring around at the small space. “I’ve never seen so many furs in my life.”
“That’s true,” I murmured softly, looking around.
The voliki was small, but it was the same size as the unmated warriors’ tents, just enough for one. Warm and cozy.
“What now?” Kivan asked after a brief moment of silence.
A loaded question. We had reached the new camp yesterday afternoon, right on schedule, and by nightfall, all of the tents had already been erected. The golden barrels that held the fire for cooking meat so it wouldn’t scorch the earth were rolled out and lit, giving the camp a warm glow. And as the sky blackened, the horde continued to work. The pyroki enclosure was put together and I helped fill the troughs with food and water. I saw Arokan only briefly as he helped erect the training grounds.
The camp had relatively the same layout as the previous one. The back of the camp—which included our tent—butted up to a tall hill. And while it had made me nervous, next to that tall hill was a thick forest, but unlike any forest I’d ever seen. Instead of trees, it was made up of black vines that crawled up sharp, jutting rocks. The vines crisscrossed overhead, growing between the rocks that acted like trunks until the forest seemed like nothing more than a black mass of darkness and chaos.
Arokan said there was a stream inside, which would provide access to fresh water. Though I worried about Ghertun, still spooked from the earlier encounter, Arokan assured me that there would be a plethora of patrols to keep it clear.
But right then Kivan was looking at me with a wary expression. Now that we’d begun to settle into our new camp and the journey was over, Kivan was nervous about what his purpose would be.
“I’ll bring it up to the Vorakkar,” I assured him. “I work with the pyroki during the day, but there is plenty around camp to do. We will find you a job.”
Kivan nodded. It was getting late. Already the second day being at the new camp was fading away and I still had to visit the healer. It was something I’d been putting off all day, once Mirari told me that morning that she wished to speak with me, that she had completed her tests.
I didn’t know why I was avoiding the meeting. I hadn’t experienced any more nausea since we’d been journeying and I didn’t want to hear that I’d gotten my hopes up for nothing. Ever since it became a possibility that I could be pregnant…it was all I’d thought about. I wanted a baby, I realized. The intense longing for one surprised me, considering I had never given children much thought before.