Page 88 of The Horde King of Shadow

He didn’t understand what I was trying to say, did he?

I shook him off. Suddenly I felt sad, a deep despair blooming in my belly. I still felt the heat of his touch on my skin, but I’d never felt colder.

We lapsed into silence. The night that had once seemed so magical and lovely now felt suffocating.

“Can we go back to the horde now?” I asked. “I don’t want to stay here tonight.”

I could feel Sarkin’s frustration. “Klara.”

“Hanniva,” I said softly.Please.

Earlier I’d used that word to beg him to touch me. Now I used it to get away from him.

Sarkin’s lips pressed together, but I saw his hand move. It went to the black cuff on his wrist, pressing a button on the side, one that he’d told me let out a sound we couldn’t hear but Elthika could.

A moment later, I heard Zaridan’s response, a muted roar, somewhere nearby, followed by the rushing sound of her great wings.

“Whatever you wish,” Sarkin told me.

When he turned to pack up our supplies and put out the fire, I caught movement along the opposite cliff. My heart jolted when I saw the silvery scales flash in the light of the moon. An Elthika had been watching us.

It was him.

The one from my dreams.

I recognized him instantly, like a bolt of lightning had speared through me, sparking in my veins, making me straighten.

His great body moved gracefully as it flew in the pass, sticking close to the side of the cliffs. He wassilent, I realized. Like a ghost. Like he had never been there at all.

With my heartbeat in my throat, I watched him disappear from view, diving deeper down in the rocky ravine until the darkness swallowed him up.

Gone. As quickly as I’d realized he was there.

When Sarkin turned, already dressed and hitching the pack up his shoulder, I thought about telling him what I’d seen.

“You should get dressed,” he told me softly, handing me the clothes I’d fallen in over a dozen times. How long ago that seemed now.

With one last look down the darkened pass, I decided to hold my tongue.

Maybe Ihadseen a ghost.

Chapter 31

KLARA

The new bed was waiting for me when I stepped into our dwelling. There was a break in our training for the afternoon, and I wanted to escape the plethora of activity in the horde, opting instead for quiet and peace.

Gone was the simple pile of fur blankets and cushions we’d been sleeping on. Instead, there was a padded and plush cushion—the largest I’d ever seen and hand sewn with embroidered silver patterns—where Sarkin’s raised bed used to be. On top were some of the softest pelts of white-and-brown furs. I sank down onto the cushion, testing its give, and spread my hand through the blankets.

It was heavenly.

Sarkin had done this for me?

I didn’t want to get it dirty—I was caked in mud from the river and sweat—so I rose immediately, backing up a few paces to admire it more fully. A smile played over my lips. It was one of the nicest gifts I’d ever received, though admittedly, I hadn’t received that many in my lifetime. But it was the meaning behind it that made it special.

There was a permanence about it. I’d told him that I’d like to sleep closest to the earth, to feel more grounded and rooted with our goddess, Kakkari. He hadn’t complained once, though we’d been, essentially, sleeping on the floor.

Then my smile died into a sigh. I went to all the windows and opened them up, placing the sprig of a blooming vine across the high table, admiring the way it draped over the edge and the colors that the pink blossoms added. It was sunny and bright in our dwelling. I went to the ice box along the wall, pulling out an orb of fruit I’d learned was called slime fruit. The texture was more jelly than solid, but I enjoyed the subtle sweetness and the cool glide across my tongue. It was especially good spooned over Mazra’s hot cakes, the grumpy cook always slightly pleased when I asked for one or two from her kitchen.

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