Page 59 of The Horde King of Shadow

Focus,I thought. I might not get another chance to ask these questions for a while.

“And these three hordes, they wereactualhordes? WithVorakkar? Horde kings?”

“I suppose,” Ryena replied. “But by the time that the Karag discovered them on their shores, it had been many years. They had multiplied, become one. They called themselves Rath Darok.”

“Then how do you know it was three hordes that landed on the shores?”

“Our grandmother told us before she died. Some of the Elders still pass down the old stories,” Ryena said. “There are still many who live in the old Dakkari territory in the South. That’s where we were born,” she said, bumping shoulders with her sister. “Many Karag live there too. Many of mixed blood, just like you.”

“But you don’t know the names of the original horde kings?” I asked, my shoulders lowering in dismay.

Sammenth frowned, as if trying to think back, but shook her head, “No. Those names would have been lost long ago, especially since the Dakkari are so strange about names. We only know the name of the horde that they became.”

Names should be feared.

That was what Sarkin had told me outside the East Gate of Dothik.

Perhaps he was right. Because then names might’ve been remembered instead of forgotten.

The lost hordes.

That was how I’d always thought of them, in the quiet of my mind. And now they truly were. Lost in history and memory.

“Why are you so interested in these hordes?” Ryena asked, her voice sleepy and relaxed from the wine. “I mean, despite the obvious. I know it must come as a shock to learn, as it likely was a shock to learn about the Karag or to see an Elthika for the first time.”

I took a deep breath, taking another sip from my goblet.

“During the thirdDothikkar’s reign, he decreed a law that allVorakkar, the horde kings, would need to bend to Dothik’s rule. Those who rebelled against him were said to have been banished…butwhere? Some tomes saybanished. Others sayexecuted. A few scrolls sayleft. That’s the thing about words. They can mean so many things,” I said quietly, my tone wistful. “The original account is lost, and the original meaning of the words have been twisted until it’s difficult to determine what really happened. But there were three hordes that refused to bend their will to theDothikkar. Three. And it was like they justdisappearedfrom history.”

Sammenth was peering at me carefully.

“I believe they left the shores of Dakkar,” I said quietly. “I believe they sailed across Drukkar’s Sea until they found land. A new home, to begin again. Free. All of this is unproven, of course, and I’m no stranger to the scholars in Dothik laughing at me. But my mother believed what I believe. And I believe they came here. Knowing that there is Dakkari blood here proves that. Now I knowhow. But there’s still so many questions.”

“And many of them might always be unanswered,” came a familiar voice. “Especially tonight.”

Sarkin.

When I turned my head, I saw he was standing just at the edge of the clearing. There was a mark on his neck, from my own nails, I remembered, the skin just beginning to heal. I felt my body grow even warmer from the sight, coupled with the wine.

Sammenth and Ryena straightened in the presence of theirKarath.

“You have an early morning tomorrow,” Sarkin told me. “You need to be well rested. Let’s return home.”

Home.

I hadn’t forgotten about my training beginning, though I had hoped for another day of reprieve. It seemed I wouldn’t get that.

I stood, swaying lightly, and Sarkin stepped forward to take my wrist, pulling me so that his hand was at my back and I was tucked close at his side.

I waved goodbye to Sammenth and Ryena, realizing that Sarkin was right. I’d waited over a decade for answers. Would I be satisfied if I never answered all of them?

I might not have a choice,I knew.

“Are we friends again?” I asked quietly, peering up at Sarkin as he led us away from the dwindling celebration. We passed an older male, snoozing at the table, still laden with food.

In the quiet of the horde, Sarkin said, “You are not my friend, Klara. You are my wife.”

“I can be both,” I said, a little drunkenly. “We can build this to last, you and me, and I think being friends would certainly help. Don’t you think?”

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