Page 92 of The Horde King of Shadow

He inclined his head.

“Whether they felt it for their chosen wives or difficult decisions that needed to be made, it was there,” he continued. “I believe that the Karag feel something similar, though we are not quite as romantic about it as your people. We believe they are deeply intuitive decisions that you feel with your own instinct. That perhaps they are even powered by heartstone energy at times, threading through the earth and into your body, magnetic or electrical impulses.”

“I prefer the romantic view,” I informed him.

He chuckled, low and soft. My shoulders relaxed, wishing I could bottle that richly warm laugh. “I thought you might.”

“That’s what you felt when you chose Zaridan?”

“Yes,” he said. “I camped out on the cliffside for two nights until I saw her. I almost thought I wouldn’t bond with an Elthika at all. The doubt was the worst because it made you desperate. That’s what I think happened to Haden.”

“I didn’t ask because I wanted to talk about what happened,” I told him, biting my lip, worried he might think that. I reached out to touch his arm, though my hand hovered above his skin, uncertain.

He reached out, snagging my hand immediately. He threaded our fingers together, holding tight. I looked down at the back of his hand, tracing over the scars that sliced over his flesh, and then I placed my other hand on top of his. I stroked the ridges of his knuckles and the bones of his wide hands.

“I know,” he said, frowning over at me. “I didn’t think that.”

“What did you mean, then?” I asked. “You thought Haden was desperate?”

“Back then, Zaridan and Lygath were nearly inseparable,” Sarkin told me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Zaridan’s ear twitch at the sound of her brother’s name. “You didn’t see one without the other. But Zaridan and me…we chose each other that day. It felt like a bolt of lightning, like Muron’s lightning, struck right through me.

“Haden watched from the cliffside as I took my first flight with her. He saw Lygath, not far away. We had already been there for a while. We were low on sleep. He saw me claim Zaridan, and he went after Lygath. I was too high up when I saw Lygath reject him. When I watched my friend fall to his death.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my expression drawing tight.

Sarkin heard the pain in my voice, and he looked at me closely. He told me, “I’ve made my peace with what happened,aralye. Haden made his own choice. I could not have seen that outcome. I don’t feel guilt anymore, but I certainly used to.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” I argued softly. “Not at all.”

“It’s strange the tricks the mind can play on you” was all he told me. “But all of this to say…this time of year always bring these memories forward. This year more than ever.”

Because of mewas what went unspoken.

“If you don’t want to do this, Klara, I would free you of this obligation,” he said next. “There has never been a queen of Sarroth with no bonded Elthika, but I feel thereischange coming for my people. Perhaps you can be the first.”

He was…giving me a wayout?

I breathed out a rough exhale. How easy it would be to tell him that I was frightened. That I was scared an Elthika might not choose me. That I would be an embarrassment to him, to the horde.

But I knew, as surely as I was afraid, that I would never be able to live with the decision to give up.

“I will go to the Tharken cliffs. I’ll claim an Elthika of my own. That I promise you,” I answered.

Sarkin dragged in a deep breath, making his shoulders raise. He nodded.

“There was a part of me that hoped you’d say no,” he admitted. “Because at least I’d know then that you would be safe.”

I jolted. But before I could say anything, I heard the distant flap of wings and a strange symphony of sound.

“They’re here,” Sarkin said, standing, pulling me up with him, scanning the sky. He turned and then said, “There.”

He pointed in the distance, behind us. Next to the nearest mountain range, I saw a massive shadow moving toward us.

I gasped when I heard something sizzle musically in the sky and saw a bright white star shoot across the sky in a beautiful flash before disintegrating. “Was that one?”

“Yes,” Sarkin replied, and I could hear the small smile in his tone. I could feel his gaze on me, watching me as I debated what to look at next—the sky for more falling stars or the horde of wild, unbonded Elthika that were coming straight toward us.

I settled on the Elthika finally.

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