Page 80 of The Horde King of Shadow

Please, please, please,I prayed. To Kakkari? I didn’t know. To anyone—god, goddess, or Elthika—who would listen, more likely.

The net knocked the wind right of me. I lay there in disbelief, tears dripping out of the corners of my eyes, mingling with the mist of the falls as I stared up at the sky. Gasping. Trying to breathe. Trying to understand that I wasalive.

My hands curled into the weave of the rope net beneath me, using it to stabilize me. The rough scratch of it felt comforting. I was halfway down the cliffside, and when I caught my breath, I crawled off the net, keeping my eyes up and not on the drop below me. I made it to the staircase that led back up to the landing on shaking legs.

Reality hit me. I’d maybe lasted a few seconds on the mount, though it had seemed a hundred times longer. Above me, I watched as Vyaria did a leaping mount onto the Elthika model, and mortification burned. I pressed my back into the cliff wall, watching as my partner easily maneuvered through the exercise, no matter what Kyavor threw at her. Her position was unmovable. I didn’t see her slip once.

I heard footsteps on the stone steps. When I turned my head and saw Sarkin, I bit my lip, tilting my head back.

“Don’t lie to me…how bad was it?” I asked, eyeing Vyaria.

“I told you before—your fear of falling will only hinder you. You must overcome it,” Sarkin replied, making me blow out a breath.

“I can’t go back up there,” I breathed. “All those people watching…”

Sarkin came down the final few steps. I felt his hand come to my cheek, tilting my face up toward him. He was warm and solid. I wanted to reach out a hand to press against his chest, to feel his sturdy and stable heart, to let it ground me. But I didn’t know if it would be welcome. So much was still uncertain between us, though last night had been a step forward.

“Is that a factor? The horde watching?” he asked.

“It doesn’t help,” I admitted, catching his eyes. Above us, Vyaria was still on the mount.Clang, clang, clang,the machinery went, bumping above the strong metal stabilizing plank. “I know I’ll be watched more than others. And I don’t like…I don’t like beingbadat anything. I don’t like other people to see me fail.”

“That is all riding is in the beginning,” Sarkin told me. His eyes were beautiful in the shadowy light of the cliff. The mist from the waterfall danced between us, sparkling in the sunlight. “Everyone expects you to fail…until you don’t anymore.”

“I felt like I was watched in Dothik all the time,” I admitted. “The bastard child of the king. Everyone was waiting for me to slip up. I’ve heard all sorts of things said about me, my mother. Horrible things. Here…the Sarrothian expect greatness because I’m now your wife. I hate…I hate being laughed at.”

“No one is laughing at you,” Sarkin said immediately, his tone inviting no rebuttal. “That’s all in your head.”

They were sweet words, meant only to comfort me, but I knew the truth. If I couldn’t master riding an Elthika, I would never be one of them.

“Come,” Sarkin said, his grip trailing my face to take my hand. “You don’t want an audience? We will train in private.”

My brow furrowed. “What?”

“This exercise,” Sarkin said, waving his hand above us, “is only that. It will help you prepare for the real thing, but it can never be a replacement for it.”

There was resignation in his voice, which confused me.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Sarkin led me up the stairs, and I braced myself for the eyes of his horde.

“To the Tharken cliffs,” he answered.

My breath hitched. “But that’s…”

“Yes,” he answered. “I’ll give you the real thing.”

Chapter 28

SARKIN

We reached the Tharken cliffs by the afternoon, just as the bright sunlight crested over the tall peaks, and we could see the stretch of ocean that extended out toward where Elysom lay.

“It’s beautiful,” Klara breathed when we hovered in midair on Zaridan’s back. I’d wanted her to see this. I found myself wanting to show her all the beautiful places of the Arsadia…even thoughthisplace also brought many memories with it, tethered tight to me like cuffs.

It was colder here, and even with the sun, there was still a gentle fog bank rolling in from the coast. Cloud cover weaved in and out of the peaks of the mountainous cliffs, reappearing and disappearing at regular intervals.

She might hate me by the end of this training session,I thought, gritting my teeth, my arms wrapping tighter around her.

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