Captive of the Horde King (Horde Kings Of Dakkar #1) - Zoey Draven Page 0,96

throbbing but I tried to keep still, to assess the situation first.

I was lying on my side in a clearing. Still in the black vine forest, I realized, when I saw the jutting rocks, but I knew the forest was large. We could be anywhere inside.

My hands were tied in front of me with a rope, so tight that I couldn’t move my wrists. My feet were bound in the same way, but I noticed that the rope was thin. It wouldn’t take too much effort to cut, if only I could get a blade.

Behind me, I heard them. The Ghertun. I’d counted five before they’d knocked me out. Were there more now?

I heard one speak in their own tongue and I suppressed the shiver of revolt that went through me.

Suddenly, I was flipped over to my other side so that I was facing the small fire pit they’d constructed.

They must’ve guessed I’d woken, I thought, eyeing them with a glare, my jaw set, my head pounding.

There were still five Ghertun. Five Ghertun that had plotted with Hukan to take me away.

I was a fool.

I remembered how Hukan’s attitude towards me seemed to flip so suddenly, how she’d greeted me and offered to make me sweet bread after coming out of the black vine forest. Had she met with the leader then? Had she begun to think of a way to lead me into the forest without rousing my suspicion?

She made me think that there was hope for us. She asked for my help—how that must have grated on her, I realized—in order to lead me into a trap. Now, my guards were dead, only because they were doing their duty. They’d never seen their deaths coming.

The leader of the group—a Ghertun with a deep, ugly scar across his jaw—crouched in front of me. His legs were like a pyrokis, bent heavily at the knee joint and his feet were clawed, the bones heavily raised. I heard those claws digging into the earth next to me as he balanced himself.

“You wake,” he noted, cocking his head to the side. I smelled fermented brew on his breath and I saw metal jugs being passed between the other Ghertun. “How fortunate.”

They had traveling sacks and rations, which told me they’d prepared for this journey From the Dead Lands? I remembered the leader had mentioned a king. A Ghertun king.

“You will all die for this,” I told him, my voice surprisingly calm. “The Vorakkar will—”

His hand flashed out again and light burst in my eye. He’d slapped me this time. Hard enough for my flesh to throb, but not a punch that rendered me unconscious.

“Your horde king will never find us, human,” the leader rasped. Then he let out that awful laughing sound as he said, “Besides, you were betrayed. It seems someone wanted rid of you. Why would you want to go back?”

The thought of Hukan’s betrayal enraged me. “Why did you take me then if someone wanted rid of me? Maybe there was good reason for that.”

His expression sobered. “Because that Dakkari filth killed the king’s son. One of them at least. As penance, our king wants you.”

My brow furrowed.

The scout. The Ghertun scout that Arokan had executed had been the king’s son? Why had the king’s son been a lowly scout?

“Oh yes,” the leader said. “We have been watching you for a long time. Waiting. First, the king will take you. Then, he will take the horde king’s head.”

“You can’t fight the horde,” I scowled. “You would never make a dent. They are skilled fighters and the Vorakkar is the best of them all.”

The leader laughed again. “We have great numbers now. An army. We have waited to strike and soon, we will not only destroy your horde. We will be able to take all of Dakkar for our own.”

“You lie,” I rasped.

“Never,” the leader purred. His expression quieted and he cocked his head to the side, studying me. “We were very surprised to learn a horde king had taken a human as his queen.”

I glared up at him, my jaw clenching.

“Then again, human cunt is…divine,” the leader said softly, leaning towards me, his breath and words making my stomach turn. “Soft and warm and so tight. No wonder the Dakkari wanted you warming his furs.”

I spit in his face, rage and disgust making my body tremble. Arokan had told me that he’d witnessed Ghertun attacking settlements, both human and nonhuman settlements alike. He’d told me that the Ghertun only