Page 82 of The Horde King of Shadow

Zaridan’s wings were flapping quicker, and she maneuvered her body so that the angle would be easier for a death dive. I’d done this exercise myself in the year after I’d become aKarath,in the year after Haden’s death. I’d jumped off the back of Zaridan more times than I could count. She’d caught me every single time. I trusted her with my life. I trusted her with Klara’s life. I would never have put her in danger if I had any doubt.

The Tharken cliffs were steep. We were high up in the clouds, but nonetheless, Zaridan began to circle downward, tracking Klara’s fall.

And when I finally saw her limbs spread wide, when I finally saw her stop tumbling and somersaulting wildly in the air and she moved her body into a parallel position, I commanded to Zaridan, “Sethra!”

I pressed my body low against her back, locking my boots into place in the footholds, wrapping my fists twice around the tethers. The descent as Zaridan accelerated created that familiar fluttering sensation in my belly. I grunted against the force, tightening my leg muscles, shoving my inner thighs to the harness. The strength of the force was nearly enough to unseat me.

Closer and closer we got to Klara. Her speed had slowed now that she had control over her body, making it easier for Zaridan to come underneath her at a slight angle, matching her pace so the landing wouldn’t be so rough.

When I caught Klara, all the air whooshed out from her lungs and she dragged in deep breaths, gasping. Zaridan immediately slowed, leveling out. By the time Klara was no longer struggling to breathe, Zaridan was hovering again, the wind quieting all around us. I could even hear the crash of waves along the cliffs of the coast, though they were miles and miles away.

“Klara—”

She was huddled against me in my lap, her legs dangling over Zaridan’s side, but at the sound of her name, her head snapped up. Hot anger was written over her face, an expression I’d never seen before, even though tears were glassy in her eyes.

“Are you fucking crazy?” she yelled, pushing at my shoulder. “You could have killed me, you bastard!”

My shoulders lowered, a small breath escaping me in relief. I would take her passionate anger over cold and careful rage.

“And yet you’re still alive,” I answered, keeping my voice calm as my hand trailed to the small of her back.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” she seethed, trying to shake me off even though we were on the back of Zaridan and she truly had nowhere else to go. “How could you do that to me? It was cruel!”

“Cruel, perhaps,” I said, setting my jaw. “But necessary. You think I enjoyed doing that?”

She shook her head, words escaping her. Her hands came up to her hair, smoothing it down as her shoulders heaved and trembled. Her gray eyes darted around the Tharken cliffs. Her scar appeared even darker because her face was so pale.

“Klara,” I growled. “Look at me.”

Even though she was furious with me, she turned her head to meet my eyes.

“I will not have mercy on you because an unbonded Elthika will not during the choosing,” I said, a fire sparking between us. “You need to be prepared foranything. You might think this was cruel. But believe it or not, I did this because I care about you.”

Her chest was heaving as she glared, but I thought I spied a thread of understanding weave through her expression.

“And you can hate for me this,” I added. “It was always a possibility that you might. But I will take that if it means that you know how to navigate a fall, that you have faith that you can be in control in a situation like that, should it arise. And itwill. Yes?”

I tapped on Zaridan’s wing twice, and she began to rise in the air. Bringing us back up to the top of the cliffs.

“What is there to fear, Klara?” I asked her, cupping her face in my palms. She breathed in deeply. “I willalwayscatch you. So there is nothing to fear. I’m trying to make you understand that.”

“And what happens if you’re not there?” she asked through gritted teeth, blinking back her tears with a small glare. That expression made me want to kiss it off her.

“That is what we’re doing here. To prepare you in case I’m not. But I can promise you, on Zaridan, on Muron, that until you have claimed an Elthika of your own, you willneverbe in danger if you fall. I did this exercise more times than I can count. Zaridan knows these cliffs like they are a part of her. She will never let you fall because I would never allow it. Do you understand?”

A rattled breath escaped her. She was still shaken.

“Because after this,aralye, that exercise that Kyavor had you do this morning, that seems like nothing, doesn’t it?”

A sobbing laugh of disbelief escaped her. She turned her face out of my hands. We’d reached the tops of the cliffs again.

“Just because I laughed doesnotmean I’ve forgiven you,” she felt the need to inform me.

I straightened. “I understand.”

My hands lowered away from her. And I settled back into the role of her instructor, knowing that it would serve her best if I kept my emotions out of this. If I kept myself as cold and detached as I possibly could, even though she was my wife.

“Again,” I ordered quietly.

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