Page 47 of The Horde King of Shadow

My aunt had been right. I’d never enjoyed being told what to do. I detested it. I had always forged my own path, my own way. I made mistakes along the way—it was a certain thing—but like I told Klara, I didn’t make them a second time.

Only with her, there would be no second chance. I’d meant what I said. I took the marriage vows as sacredly as my bond with my Elthika. Klara had Zaridan’s song, her blessing. As far as I was concerned, the bonds were already tied between us. This ceremony in the temple was only a formality.

Iturned my gaze north, over the Arsadia in all its wild beauty, thinking of themysarcommand the Elysom council had given me to marry. Elysom wanted the South secured—Sarroth secured. A part of that included a queen. Heirs. They’d thought I would refuse. Perhaps my aunt had even counted on it so they could install another to leadmypeople, my territory. She knew I’d never wanted to marry—I’d made that perfectly clear in the years I’d been aKarath.

And perhaps taking a Dakkari queen had filled me with a strange, rebellious, vindictive thrill. But with Klara in my arms…

This is it,I realized, nostrils flaring.

She would be a very large part of my future.

I needed to make the best of it. A strong legacy required respect. We might never love one another…but we could respect one another at the very least.

Perhaps we could even becontentwith one another. Stranger things had certainly happened in our history.

And so, I decided right then that after our marriage was sealed in Lishara, I would treat her as my wife, in the truest of forms.

On the back of his descendant, flying toward our future, I vowed it to Muron.

Chapter 17

KLARA

Zaridan landed at the edge of a wide, glimmering lake in a hilly valley. Overhead, I heard Elthika.WildElthika, I realized, my heart giving an excited but alarmed jolt. When I looked up, I saw an entire horde of them flying overhead, passing us as they flew west.

“Where are they going?” I asked Sarkin, still in his arms as he guided us down Zaridan’s wing. I craned my head past him, if only to watch them a little while longer. Theywerebeautiful. Beautiful and awe inspiring in their power.

“There’s some nesting grounds toward the western coast,” he told me. The ringing in my ears from the wind was slowly dissipating. That had been a pleasant ride, if only because there had been very little pain. And with Sarkin holding me, I’d felt surprisingly safe. I’denjoyedit. I wondered if, with time, Iwouldcome to enjoy riding an Elthika.

I just had to get over this pesky rider burn first.

And the teeth-gritting ache and soreness in every muscle of my body. No wonder Sarkin and the rest of the riders were so wellbuilt. Riding an Elthika was deceptively difficult andrequired a level of physical strength and endurance that I wasn’t certain I’d ever be able to possess.

“Where are we?”

“The temple of Lishara,” he told me.

I frowned, looking around with curiosity and confusion. “I don’t see a temple.”

He set me down into the spongy, bright teal grass. It was long, brushing up toward my calves, and feathery light as it swayed in a gentle breeze. The lake was sparkling in the lowering sun. It hadn’t been a long journey, but it hadn’t been short either. I had no idea where we were. How far away we were from the horde, but I knew that my stomach was rumbling with hunger. It warred with my nerves, however, and eventually my nerves won out, quieting it.

I noticed that Zaridan was oddly still, though her ears were twitching. A dragon appeared overhead, a familiar one, and it circled until it landed behind us. Feranos, Sarkin’s commander, dismounted, nodding at us both as he approached.

Sarkin went to Zaridan, murmuring words I couldn’t understand in Karag, but then I watched as the Elthika stalked to the lake line, stepping within.

“Come,” Sarkin told me. The hairs at the nape of my neck rose, my flesh tingling. There was something here. I could sense it. It felt like…Bekkar and Arik’s sword. Deep below the palace in Dothik. That quiet humming of power and magic.

He led me to the edge of the lake before pulling me into the water until it lapped at my ankles.

“A mate bond’s blood,” Sarkin said softly, “with the blessing of their Elthika. That is what opens the temple. That is why you cannot see it. Yet.”

My brow furrowed when he pulled one of his daggers, my heart giving a mighty thump at the sight of it. Yet I watched as Sarkin cut his palm, black blood welling up. His hand dropped,and I watched the blood drip into the lake, blooming like an ink splatter on parchment over the still surface.

He went to Zaridan.

“What are you doing?” I breathed, watching him use his dagger to slide underneath one of her scales, one on her chest. Zaridan blew a sharp huff but otherwise didn’t move as Sarkin plucked out the scale, nearly as wide as his palm. Onyx black and thick.

“Elthikan magic was once the most powerful thing in existence,” Sarkin told me, holding the scale up to me. I saw a small drip of shimmering silver blood coating the edge.Elthikablood.

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