Page 126 of The Horde King of Shadow

“Yes,” I replied. “The very last one.”

It was even dimmer than when I’d last seen it, the power of it dying. Heartstones were not ageless, and this one had been used before, to vanquish the fog in the Dead Lands. Not to mention it had once helped Bekkar, an ancient horde king, shape Dothik into the kingdom it now was.

“I used to sit here all the time,” I murmured, walking to the stone bench that I was surprised wasn’t permanently imprinted with my backside. “I always felt calm down here. More connected to my bloodlines than even when I was out in the city.”

Sarkin took a seat beside me, threading my fingers with his and bringing the back of my hand up to his lips. His kiss was soothing. I hadn’t expected how stressful negotiations like these would be. How mistrustful my father and his council would be, fighting us at every turn, even though every last person in that throne room knew that it was the Karag who held all the power.

“Did you expect it to be like this?” I wondered, thinking about the demands of the Dakkari.

“Yes,” Sarkin replied. “It is always like this. It’s a dance, nothing more. We just have to go through the motions.”

I supposed he would know.

When we’d told them that we knew about the location of a heartstone tree within Dakkar’s border, I had felt the palpable shift in the room. At first they’d wanted Elthika of their own as payment for the tree. They argued that they couldn’t be equals—that they couldn’t be allies—when the power balance was so skewed. If we gave them Elthika, then perhaps they would feel more secure.

Sarkin—and Alaryk—had laughed outright. Having two Karag kings at the negotiations had been…interesting. I didn’t think my father and his advisors really stood a chance.

The representatives from Elysom—an older male I recognized from Sarroth, named Gevanth, and a shrewd-eyed female named Harnek—had been the ones to calmly explain that was not evenremotelyan option. The Elthika were a race of their own. They were not owned by the Karag. They were allies of them, and they were not for bartering and trading like property or goods.

TheDothikkar—and my stepmother, the queen—had harrumphed at that, as if they didn’t believe it.

When they’d pressed, growing bold, it had been Sarkin to shoot up from his seat, glaring over at my father across the long table as Dannik observed with his arms crossed, leaning against one of the columns of the throne room.

My husband had said in a calm yet icy voice,Let us make one thing clear,Dothikkar. We are here to negotiate for heartstones out of respect, not out of necessity. The Hartans were the last race that tried to take Elthika that were not ours to give. Do you know what happened to them? We went to war and nearly razed their cities to the ground. They now bend a knee to the Karag—and the Elthika—and we no longer ask what they want.He’d glared.We are here for one thing only.Heartstones.If you wish to share in those heartstones, that is what we offer you. We are offering you peace asallies, mostly in part because of my wife, because you are her father and these are her people. She is the queen of the Sarrothian now, and her title demands respect given to her kin. But I’m growing tired of these demands when every last person in here knows that, eventually, we will leave here with exactly what we want.

Thathad brought the meeting to a swift end as my father and his council met.

I heard footsteps travel down the spiral staircase, heavy on stone. A moment later, Dannik appeared.

“Any news?” I asked, straightening.

“I said my piece. Now we wait. Our father is stillDothikkar, and what he decides goes,” Dannik said. His eyes traveled to Sarkin “I’d like to speak with my sister. Alone.”

Sarkin looked over at me. When I nodded, he inclined his head and stood. “I’ll check on Zaridan and Lygath…and update mykya’rassa. I’ll return in a little while.”

When Sarkin passed Dannik at the staircase, he said, “Watch over her.”

“I always have,” my brother replied, raising a brow.

I bit back a smile. Despite their constant pissing matches, I thought they might’ve respected each other. In another life, they might’ve even been friends. Or killed each other. Either was possible, I supposed.

Sarkin left us, and Dannik came to sit with me.

“Last time we were down here together,” I began, smiling, “was the night thathecame. The night everything changed.”

“And everything is changing again,” Dannik replied. He sighed. “This is what you want? You’re not just saying these things because the Karag are telling you to or?—”

“Dannik,” I said, my tone pleading. I faced him on the seat, and he peered at me carefully. “I know what you must’ve thought when I left. I know how scared you were for me.”

“Klara, I couldn’t sleep. For weeks. I kept imagining the worst thing. And remembering that I didn’t fight for you as much as I should’ve. I can’t ever forgive myself for that.”

“And what were you going to do? You cannot stand against anElthika. You saw what we all did that night. Youronlychoice was to let me make my own decision and go with them,” I said. “I wish that I could have told you that I was okay. Sarkin…he’s not what I expected. He’s a good leader to his people. He cares about them, and he almost always puts them above his own wants and needs. Except when it comes to me,” I amended. “He’s not the villain you imagine him to be. Quite the opposite.”

“You really love him, don’t you?” Dannik asked, frowning as he studied me.

“Yes,” I said easily. “He made it easy. Dannik…I know how this must seem. But believe me, these terms are what’s bestforthe Dakkari. You have to make our father understand that. Doyou really think that I would stand by andnottry to help our people?”

“What you ask…it would bind the priestesses’ power. They will not stand idly by and allow that to happen,” Dannik said.

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