Madness of the Horde by Zoey Draven

Chapter Seventeen

My horde came into view, a warm glow rising above it in the blue darkness.

Tension released in my chest, a knot unravelling. This. This is what I’d worked so hard for.

The thunder of my darukkars on their pyroki behind me alerted the horde to my return. With satisfaction, I saw that the wall had been built in my absence, a necessary defense in ungira territory. The gate was open and I spied Hedna, my pujerak, sitting atop his pyroki at the entrance.

His expression was stoic as he took in the white-haired vekkiri female sitting across my lap.

“Greetings, my friend,” I rasped in Dakkari.

He reached across the gap between us when I pulled Nillima next to his pyroki. We clasped arms, though his gaze strayed to the female who was looking up at him with large, unblinking eyes.

I almost smiled. Had her fear returned? She feared anything and anyone new. My skittish leikavi.

Hedna’s brow rose when he met my gaze. “Have you followed the path of Rath Kitala and Rath Tuviri?”

I huffed out an amused yet harsh laugh. “Nik.”

“Then she comes to bring destruction to our horde?”

“Perhaps just destruction to me,” I returned. His head tilted but I didn’t elaborate on my words. “Anything pressing for tonight?”

“Nik,” he replied. “Rest. I know you do not sleep on these journeys.”

“Srikkisan,” I agreed. Tomorrow. I hadn’t slept since…since the night I’d discovered the female in my lap sneaking around Dothik.

“Will you need a voliki for her?” he asked.

“Nik,” I rasped. “She stays in my furs.”

My pujerak sighed. “Then I will send a bath and food shortly.”

“Kakkira vor,” I murmured.

“I am glad you are home, Vorakkar.”

I turned Nillima towards the entrance gate. “I fear it will not be for long, pujerak, but I will tell you all in the morning.”

Hedna frowned but inclined his head. I couldn’t have asked for a better pujerak, a better friend. We were complete opposites in every way. He was calm and cool-headed, whereas my temper ran hot. Ours was a relationship that worked well, one that served the horde well.

“Vorakkar,” came the cries as we entered the encampment. The female on my lap stiffened as we encountered the sight of dozens and dozens of Dakkari, rushing forward to greet me.

Nillima tossed her neck but my fickle beast enjoyed the attention as hands reached out to stroke her, passing over her side and then my legs. It was customary for the Dakkari to greet their Vorakkar as such...though a part of me would never feel completely comfortable with the countless hands that stroked over my flesh in the process.

None of my horde met my gaze out of respect but I saw the way their wide eyes lingered on Vienne. The whispers and murmurings began to start. Some shrank back quickly after they offered their greeting, making certain not to touch her.

It was expected. Not only was she a strange vekkiri—some of my horde had probably never seen a human before—but she would remind them of our ancient legend, of the female sorceress.

It was unavoidable, however. In the crowd, I sought out Lokkaru but I didn’t see the elderly female anywhere.

The land I’d chosen for my horde backed up into one of the smaller mountains in the eastern lands, providing protection from the back, so we would not have to enclose the entire encampment. At the base of the mountain was where my voliki lay, close to the pyroki enclosures. With satisfaction, I saw the water well had been dug and erected so that we would not have to travel every day for our supply. I saw that to the west, our crops had already been sowed. I saw the stone grinder for the last of our leiso crop had been prepared as well.

The horde had accomplished everything I’d wanted in my absence.

There was still much to be done. We would stay in the east longer than usual this year so more preparation was necessary. Added to that was what was to come…the threat of the Ghertun, the heartstone, the possibility of battle.

Tomorrow, I thought. This night, I needed rest.

The horde members fell away the deeper we rode into the encampment until there was blissful silence once more. Even the vekkiri in my arms seemed to relax.

When we came to the pyroki enclosure, I slid the kalles down to the earth and jumped down from Nillima. The mrikro, the pyroki master, was waiting to take her, approaching us, though his gaze kept straying to Vienne.

“Mrikro,” I greeted, sliding my hand across Nillima’s bandaged flank. “She was injured from jrikkia.”

His brow rose but he inclined his head.

“I will monitor the wound closely, Vorakkar.”

I spoke soft words of praise into my pyroki’s ear and then patted her neck before I unfastened the travel sacks from her flank. “Feed her well tonight.”

The mrikro inclined his head and then led her away.

Turning back to Vienne, I said, “Come, kalles.”

“Where are we going?” she asked quietly, falling into step beside me, though I had to shorten my strides to accommodate her.

“To my voliki,” I murmured, pressing my claws to her lower back, nodding at the domed tent that came into view.

She stiffened when she saw it but her steps didn’t falter.

I barely suppressed my smirk. Brave kalles, I thought.

I might just need to have a taste of her tonight.

Ducking through the flapped entrance, I narrowed my gaze, scanning the quiet stillness of it. My eyes flickered to the darkened shadows, half-expecting to see the face of my dead sister lingering there…or the faces of those I’d killed…or the faces of those I’d never even seen in my lifetime.

But the shadows were quiet this night.

Satisfied, I pulled the female through, her palm soft in my rough grip.

I left her standing in the entrance as I made my way around to the raised basin, sparking a fire quickly to warm the cool darkness.

Outside I heard the trudge of footsteps and before I could move her away, I heard her surprised squeak as the flaps hit her backside. She scurried away, moving to the side, as two males brought in the washing tub and more followed with steaming buckets of water.

As they filled it, an older female named Arinu brought in a large tray covered with food, setting it down on the low table.

I groaned, the scent of smoky braised wrissan filling the tent.

“You have outdone your last batch, nevretam,” I murmured at Arinu.

Her features flushed in pleasure and she patted my arm. “You do not know that. You have not tasted it yet.”

I stole a chunk of the wrissan, throwing it into my mouth before she could protest.

“Lysi,” I growled softly, the meat quickly melting in my mouth, flavor exploding on my tongue. “Your best yet.”

“Only because you have been eating dried rations and the slop from the Dothikkar’s bikku. Anything will taste good to you, Vorakkar,” she said. She was the best cook in all the hordes, yet she would never take praise or compliments for her skill. She saw it as her duty, as her honor, to feed us all…and to feed us well.

“Is this the last of the wrissan?” I asked, pleased that it had lasted us this long.

“Lysi. I saved it for you since I know how much you enjoy it.”

“Kakkira vor,” I murmured. Though Arinu didn’t meet my eyes, she inclined her head before her gaze strayed to the frozen vekkiri next to my weapons rack.

Arinu held out a hand for her. “Come, come, little one. Come eat. You must be hungry,” the female said.

“She does not speak much Dakkari,” I informed Arinu.

“Yet, she knows what I said,” the older female returned because Vienne slowly peeled herself away from the wall. My white-haired kalles approached her, reaching forward to take her strong, wrinkled hand. Arinu led her to the table and gestured for her to sit.

Vienne looked up at me, then to Arinu. She gave the older female a small, wavering smile, and whispered, “Kakkira vor.”

Arinu’s head tilted. She looked at Vienne but addressed me as she commented, “I thought you said she did not speak Dakkari.”

“I said ‘much.’ She knows some,” I answered, gazing down at Vienne also, who had reached forward to take a lobbas root, not the wrissan. She’d most likely learned some of our language from the Ghertun, which was…troubling.

“She is quite beautiful,” Arinu commented, reaching down with a gentle touch to stroke Vienne’s hair. “I have never seen a creature like her.”

Neither have I, I thought to myself but didn’t voice it.

“Eat, little one,” Arinu ordered, touching her fingers to her own lips to demonstrate her words. I watched as Vienne nodded. Arinu turned back towards me, keeping her gaze on my throat. “Send for more if it is not enough. I know how much you need to eat. We are glad to have you home, Vorakkar.”

The older Dakkari female departed the voliki then, just as the males were finishing with the washing tub. I dismissed them and once we were alone again, I began to undress.

Vienne’s breath hitched. I could hear the way the air whistled through her slim nostrils and my tail twitched in amusement. I unstrapped my sword, my daggers, shrugging off the furs I wore around my shoulders. Next, I unlaced my trews, tugging them down my legs.

As I stepped past her, my tail dragged over her leg and I heard her soft gasp of surprise.

“Shy now, leikavi?” I rasped, watching her gaze dip down to my cock before it flitted away just as quickly. “When before you had ached to watch me?”

Color flamed her cheeks and she reached forward, grabbing another lobbas from the dish and popping it between her lips. So she wouldn’t have to answer?

My lips curled and I shook my head, stepping into the washing tub. With a deep groan, I slid into the hot water, feeling the heat seep into my knotted muscles, loosening and soothing them. The gash across my pectoral from the Killup’s blade had already healed after their leader had given me the blue balm. If anything, that balm had helped speed my recovery and I couldn’t help but wonder what other plants the Killup grew in their land.

I felt her gaze on me. She had another lobbas poised near her lips but she seemed to have grown…distracted.

I sensed she was a needful, sensual creature. That night in the forest—which made my cock hard whenever I thought of it—had proved that. She might fear me but she’d been so aroused that night I had been able to smell it. Her skin had been hot and flushed, her gaze rapt and eager.

I wondered if she was untried, if she’d ever experienced that animalistic frenzy of sex…but then a darker thought came to me. The Ghertun were known to rape and pillage when they attacked settlements. It didn’t matter if they were human, or Killup, or Nrunteng settlements. The Ghertun were conquerors, which was what led to the destruction of their own planet, long ago. It was in their blood.

“Tell me, kalles,” I murmured, “what your experience with mating has been.”

Her full, pink lips parted, those grey eyes flickering.

“W-what?”

“Willing, or otherwise,” I finished quietly.

She understood what I was asking her.

“I…I have not been raped,” she admitted, though the set of her jaw told me something went unspoken. “Not by the Ghertun. Or Dakkari. Or anyone.”

Relief pierced through me. How relieved I felt should have worried me but I told myself it was only because I intended for her to warm my furs…and if she didn’t think me a monster while she did, it would be infinitely more pleasurable for both of us. The things I could show her…

Her tone was slightly defensive and beguiling as she added, “I—I have had sex. I think.”

I made a bewildered sound in my throat. “You think?” I repeated, narrowing my eyes.

I could tell she hadn’t meant to say anything. Her cheeks were the reddest I’d ever seen them. That flush even extended down the column of her neck and that fascinated me.

Unconsciously, I leaned forward in the washing tub, my gaze riveted on her.

“Tell me, leikavi,” I murmured, trying to soften my tone.

“No,” she said quickly. “I—I didn’t mean to…”

She trailed off. On the tray, she saw the goblets of brew Arinu had brought and took a swift sip from one, only to cough as the potent wine burned down her throat. This wine was not watered down, not like the wine I’d given her in Dothik.

“Let us trade then. A story for a story, lysi?” I murmured, knowing she liked stories.

Once she was done coughing, I knew my words intrigued her. She wiped the back of her hand over her lips, her grey eyes calculating.

“What story will you tell me?”

“What do you wish to know?”

Her gaze flickered down at the table.

“I—I want to know about your scars,” she said.

My spine stiffened in the washing tub but I laid my arms on the edge to conceal my sudden tension.

“The ones on your back,” she clarified. A soft breath escaped me in relief.

An easy enough story to tell.

“Lysi,” I said. “Very well.”