Page 14 of The Horde King of Shadow

I inclined my head. “And if Elysom’s council decides that we conquer this territory for Karak…well, by then the Dakkari will already be kneeling.”

“Sometimes I forget how you are,” my friend said suddenly. “It’s been too long since you’ve had a challenge. You get restless without one.”

With a grin, I look back to Dothik. I wondered which glittering turret my futurewifewas in. I wondered if she would sleep this night. That restless part of me—the one Feranos spoke of—almost wished shewouldrun…if only so I could hunt her down.

“Get some rest,” I ordered my second rider. “The journey home will be long tomorrow with the storms coming in.”

Feranos nodded…yet he didn’t move.

“The scar on her face, Sarkin,” he finally said, quietly. “I’ve never seen a bonding mark like it. You…are certain?”

Not for the first time, I wished I could open my mind to Zaridan. But it was one of the powers that had been lost to us with the depletion of the heartstone magic. I wanted to ask herwhy. Why this female?

“No,” I said, the truth escaping my lips with a harsh breath. “But my Elthika is. She’s never led me astray.”

I met Feranos’s worried gaze.

“And she won’t now.”

“IfZaridan is wrong, you know what would happen,” Feranos said, his tone careful and hushed, like we would be overheard or that I might take offense. Because he knew. He might’ve been one of my oldest friends…but I was still hisKarath. His king.

My jaw ticked.

“I won’t lose the citadel. And I won’t lose the horde. Not with Zaridan at my side, not with you, not with the riders. Elysom wouldn’t dare take it,” I rasped.

Feranos inclined his head. “Your aunt only looks for opportunities to take it from you. I don’t mean anything by it, Sarkin. It’s nothing you haven’t already thought yourself.”

“We’ve weathered worse,” I gave him, letting the words slide because I knew they came from concern. “Haven’t we?”

The corner of his scarred lip turned up. “Yes,Karath, we have.”

“This will be no different,” I said, nodding at Dothik in the distance. “Their dying heartstone stays. I will complete my duty as promised and in full. Once and for all, I’ll silence Elysom.”

“And this time you get a pretty little wife out of it.”

My mood soured, and I scoffed.

Standing, I tapped at my inner wrist, at the black cuff that emitted a sound undetectable to our own ears. But I heard Zari respond, approaching.

“In title only,” I rasped. “You saw her. She’s not strong enough to stand at my side, much less bond with an Elthikaof her own. The Sarrothian will never accept her as their true queen.”

Besides, I’d never intended to marry. Ever.

“Then why?—”

“Because Zaridan knows we canuseher,” I said, looking at Feranos’s perplexed expression. He would need to know eventually. “She knows where there are more heartstones.”

“Truly?” Feranos asked quietly, going still.

I nodded.

“So let Dothik have their dying one. We will have more than we know what to do with soon enough. And then no one on this planet—not the Dakkari or the Hartans or the Selkavars—will ever be able to stand against Karag power again. Our home will be protected and secure for the rest of our days. That is what I want.”

Zaridan circled overhead before landing on a ledge along the mountain cliff.

“I won’t stop until it’s done,” I promised.

Chapter 6

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