Page 121 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

It is exactly because you don’t want this, that you are perfect for the role,Ghalin said.

Maybe he was right. She exhaled and clenched her hands together to stop them from shaking.

“Do you accept the nomination, Shuree?” Kublai asked.

Each khan watched her with faith in their eyes. She swallowed and nodded. “I accept.”

“Then I announce Shuree as the first Great Khan of Rhora,” Kublai said.

The men all raised their glasses and toasted her.

The light-headed feeling had nothing to do with the blood she’d lost days earlier. “Thank you.”

* * *

While the khanswent to gather by the campfire for dinner, Shuree wandered in the opposite direction. She needed fresh air and solitude to absorb what had just happened. Not only was she khan for the Saltar tribe, but for the whole of Rhora as well. The responsibility weighed on her and her steps felt heavy, as if she’d had too much litak to drink.

What would her father think of all that had happened? She could almost hear Yul’s voice in her head encouraging her. Her eyes watered.

Why are you surprised?Ghalin asked, trotting up next to her.

She blinked away her tears. “I didn’t ask for this. I only wanted peace.”

And you have it now. Your people recognise they would not be here if it weren’t for your strength. My elders wouldn’t have agreed to giving you the gift if they hadn’t seen the goodness in your heart.

“Is that why they voted for me?” Shuree asked. “Because of the gift you gave me?”

He shook his head.Kublai had the idea long before we gave you the gift.

It had to be useful being able to hear someone’s thoughts.

Sometimes.He glanced over his shoulder.I will leave you now and return tomorrow to say goodbye.He took to the sky. No matter how many times she saw it, the image filled her with such awe.

“Shuree.”

At Dagar’s call, she turned. She hadn’t seen him much over the past few days. He hadn’t attended the meetings and she had been too tired in the evenings to do more than eat and go to bed. He stopped a few feet away from her and rubbed the back of his neck, his movements a little stiff. She smiled. “Dagar. How are you?”

“Relieved you have recovered well.” He studied her as if looking for signs of strain.

“I have,” she said. “Though Kublai nearly shocked me to death when he put my name forward as the Great Khan.”

“I heard. Congratulations.”

She clasped her hands together. “Thank you, though I don’t believe I deserve it.”

“Why not?”

“I know little about being a khan.”

He smiled. “And yet you brought peace to us all.” He stepped closer and took her hands to stop her fidgeting. “You need to have as much faith in yourself as I have in you.”

She owed him an apology. “I’m sorry for not trusting your father.”

He sobered. “Even I doubted him when Ghalin lied to us, so you have no cause to apologise.”

She turned her hand and clasped his. All that was left was to sign the treaty. Could she now follow her own desires, take something she wanted for herself? Then she remembered something he’d said when she’d first met him. “Why didn’t you want to be khan?”

He frowned at the change in topic. “I never wanted to be the one to order warriors into battle. Like you, I saw the grief it caused.”

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