Page 32 of The Horde King of Shadow

Including Sarkin.

“Youdon’t have a tail,” she pointed out.

“No,” I said. “But that’s because many of my ancestors were human. And I don’t think that’s the case with the Karag.”

She drank in that information slowly. I didn’t know what she thought of that, but she said, abruptly, “Riders have their tails cut off. It is called thethryn’rosh. The final commitment.”

I froze. “What?”

“Many do when they are young, for riders from the ancient families. Blood borns, we call them. They get off easy. Some don’t even remember it. But others, who came into riding or who were not meant to, like ourKarath, get them cut off during the oath-taking ceremony, as a sign of their dedication and honor to the Elthika.”

“That’s…that’s…”

Barbaric?Was that the word I was going to say?

But who was I to judge? Given the oldVorakkartrials of our own people, the insurmountable obstacles and tests of physical strength and how well one could withstand pain.

“It’s the Elthika’s plating. Trust me, it’s for the best. My oath-taking ceremony is next season. I’ll be glad to get rid of mine. I’m so worried sick almost every flight that I’ve begun to strap my tail down my outer leg.”

“Plating?” I asked.

“You might have noticed on Zaridan,” the girl said, jerking her chin back at the Elthika. “The way her scales overlap near the beginning of her tail. Our own tails can get caught there if a rider isn’t careful. During flight, it can get ripped right off. You can bleed out on the back of your Elthika. Many have died that way. It happens.”

For the first time, I wasgladnot to have a tail, when I’d been teased about it mercilessly, growing up in a horde.

I hadn’t noticed the plating on Zaridan, but I would surely look for it now. Not that it mattered—I’d been riding in front of Sarkin, his strong chest pressed to my back.

“Do you think that you’ll miss yours?” I asked, the question popping out before I could stop it.

The girl grinned, a small chuff of laughter falling from her. “I haven’t given it that much thought. But I suppose I will. I’ll learn to live without it though. I heard the first couple weeks, you’re off balance.”

Across the clearing, I watched as a female rider—one of those who had traveled to Dakkar—approached Sarkin. Her hand touched his arm, and he turned to regard her. They spoke briefly and then he nodded, following her—alone—into the darkness of the forest beyond the clearing. I didn’t know why, but I felt a pinching in my belly, watching them disappear together, how closely they walked next to one another.

Then I couldn’t help but notice Sarkin’s rider’s reactions. Their shared looks, smug smirks.

I swallowed, jerking my gaze away. When I met the girl’s gaze, I knew she’d seen it too. She gave me a soft, knowing smile. “You don’t have to worry aboutthat. That’s long been over.”

So there had been something?

I shouldn’t care. Then again, I’d witnessed my stepmother’s bitterness for over ten years. She’d been humiliated when my birth had been discovered. It had been a mark against her, an insult that she had never recovered from.

Thatwas the only reason, I argued silently, that I felt a lump in my throat, watching her and Sarkin go off alone.

“This marriage is happening because he threatened to kill my people,” I found myself saying. My tone was matter-of-fact, almost soft. The Karag female blinked, her brow furrowing. “I don’t mistake what this is.”

But it bothered me that others might. That I would turn into my stepmother, that despite all of her strength, despite her good family name, everything she’d accomplished…it could still be tarnished at the hands of her husband.

That was why I could never blame her for her hatred of me.

I’d made the air between us tight and uncomfortable. “I’m sorry,” I breathed. “I didn’t…I didn’t mean it quite like that.”

“TheKarathis a good leader,” she told me. “Any of us would be glad to follow him. He is bound in honor as well. It includesallvows made, even to you.” She dropped her voice. “I’m sure it’s overwhelming. I’m glad I’m not you, to be honest. Thrown into a new life as you were.”

I swallowed, turning my head to regard the edge of the forest where Sarkin had disappeared before I forced myself to look away.

Though it was strange to ask, I realized that I could. “What is your name?”

The girl smiled. “Sammenth.”

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