Page 121 of The Horde King of Shadow

“Lysi,” I whispered in agreement. “That I can promise you.”

His relief was palpable.

“Sarkin?” I murmured.

“Hmm?”

“Lo rune tei’ri,” I said, meeting his eyes, seeing all the strings of different colors in them. Greens and golds and browns. Myheart was beating out of its chest as I grinned. “It meansI am yoursin Dakkari.”

He started to chuckle, the sound like a reward in itself, but then an Elthika swooped low overhead, a loud roar shaking the forest, making us part.

Sarkin frowned up at the canopy.

“A rider?” I asked, turning to track the dragon. It was a glittering deep red in color, unlike any I’d ever seen even after theilla’rosh.

“AKarath. From Grym,” Sarkin corrected. “That’s Samryn, his Elthika.”

“AnotherKarath?” I breathed.

“Likely here to congratulate you, mySorrina.It’s not everyilla’rosha Vyrin is claimed,” he said. And it made everything in mesingto hear that small thread of quiet pride in his voice, despite his complicated history with Lygath. “Come. We should return to meet him. Oh, and Klara?”

“Yes?”

“Lo rune tei’ri,” he repeated, brushing his lips against the sensitive shell of my ear as he whispered the words. A shiver raced down my spine. He sealed his words with a kiss at my temple.

I thought my face would crack apart with my smile as he took my hand. I made sure all my clothing was in place before we ventured from the forest. I was acutely aware that I still had Sarkin’s release inside me and that we both looked a little worse for wear. But it couldn’t be helped.

And I was too deliriously happy to care.

When we emerged from the forest long moments later, I saw the red Elthika—blood red,human-blood red—perched on the landing space. He was even bigger than Zaridan, and I couldn’t help but notice that the Sarrothian kept their distance even though theKarathappeared to have come alone. I couldn’t seehim from this angle, for his Elthika’s head was shielding him from view, but when Sarkin pulled me forward, I saw him sitting on dragonback, waiting.

I only got the impression that he was an imposing figure, spying a flash of silvery-gray hair before he was sliding off his Elthika, landing onto the stone in a crouch before rising.

Then he approached, and I felt the rake of his gaze over me, sizing me up. Perhaps he’d never seen a Dakkari before, unless he’d been one of theKarathson patrol in our homeland.

My first impression had been correct—hewasimposing. He appeared only slightly older than Sarkin, and he sported a silver scar that almost matched his hair, curving down his sharp jaw and onto his neck. Human hair silvered and grayed like that with age, but he wasn’t physically old by any means—though the glint in his eyes belied a soul that struck me asancient.

Eyes that were piercing blue, like the glow of a powerful heartstone.

He stopped in front of me, and I had to crane my neck to look up at him.

“Sorrina,” he murmured in greeting. “I have come to pay the respects of the Gryms as we congratulate you on your claiming of Lygath.” The edge of one lip curled, and he never took his eyes off me, despite Sarkin edging forward. “You must be a fearsome creature to claim such a Vyrin, Klara Dirak’zar.”

I swallowed, my tongue heavy in my mouth. He was intimidating and slightly cutting, just as Sarkin had been. I couldn’t get a read on him, and so I settled on what I had always done when meeting members of my father’s court, who I knew were trying to get a read onme.

I smiled. Soft but detached.

“Kakkira vor,” I said in Dakkari.Thank you.“You know my name.”

“Of course,” he said. “You have been the topic of much conversation for quite some time among all of the Karag.” His eyes flickered to Sarkin. “Even in Elysom.”

I was still on a high of claiming Lygath, of knowing that Sarkin loved me. Nothing would dull it, not even this male.

“Then I feel like I’m at a disadvantage because I don’t know your name,Karath,” I replied.

The edge of his lip curled, the side that held his scar.

“I am Alaryk Arn’dyne, rider of Samryn,” he said, stepping away so that I could meet his Elthika’s vibrant red gaze, nearly stealing my breath, “and theKarathof Grym.”

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