Captive of the Horde King by Zoey Draven
Chapter Thirty
“You are certain, kalles?” Arokan asked, his expression serious, his eyes rapt on me.
When I’d urged my pyroki into a run towards the head of the horde, when I’d told my worried husband in a hushed, urgent voice about the Ghertun I’d seen, he’d immediately stopped travel and quickly ordered his warriors out into the forest to search for him.
Now, I was standing next to him, behind the line of warriors that acted like a barrier between the forest and the horde as we debated what to do. The search party had returned and told Arokan they saw no sign of a Ghertun, or even the tracks of one, which I said was impossible.
“Yes,” I said, holding his gaze. “I saw him. He hid when I spotted him. Right there!”
Arokan’s eyes went above my head, his eyes surveying how large the forest was. I could practically see his mind working and then his pujerak, his second-in-command, approached us.
“Your orders, Vorakkar?” he asked, looking between us.
Arokan was silent, still thinking it over. Finally, he shook his head, looking at me, and then his pujerak before he said, “We cannot risk splitting up the horde. The forest is large. If we cannot even track the scout, it would be impossible to locate his pack. I will not send half the warriors away when we may need them, in case of an ambush.”
The pujerak inclined his head.
Arokan continued. “We are a day’s travel away from the new camp. We keep the horde together, keep the warriors alert, and we send a scouting party out once we settle. Lysi?”
“Lysi, Vorakkar,” the pujerak said. Then he walked away, relaying Arokan’s orders to the rest of the horde warriors.
Arokan turned to me and I whispered, “I know what I saw, Arokan. He was there.”
“I believe you, kalles,” he murmured, reaching out to touch the golden markings around my wrist. His eyes went to the forest again and then he looked back at me. “You will ride with me until we reach the camp. No exceptions. Tell your brother and your piki they may be near you as well.”
I nodded, rubbing my arms when I looked back at the forest. A feeling of unease settled over me. How long had the Ghertun been tracking us before I’d seen him? He could have been watching us for miles.
“Luna,” he murmured softly, reaching out to cup the nape of my neck. I turned my eyes to him. “I will always protect you. You have nothing to fear.”
I gave him a small smile. I nodded and said, “I know.”
He tilted his chin towards where my brother, Mirari, and Lavi were standing, speaking quietly. “Go tell them to ride up front. Hurry back. Kailon awaits.”
Needless to say,I didn’t get much sleep that night, especially since Arokan didn’t join me on the pallet. He’d stayed up through the night with the warrior watch and I only saw him again at sunrise, when we left our temporary camp for the last and final day of journey.
Shortly, we moved away from the large forest, leaving it behind—and the Ghertun with it, much to my relief—and I noticed that the landscape began to change again, going from empty stretches of land and forests, to more mountainous regions of tall hills and low valleys.
“There is a small Dakkari outpost not far from here,” Arokan murmured down to me. “It is called Juniri. We enter the southlands now.”
Everything was new to me. I’d only ever been outside the walls of my village once and one time only. Now, I was covering miles and miles of strange, foreign land with my Dakkari horde king. And I felt like the world had opened to me. I felt free.
Looking at my brother’s expression as he gazed around told me he felt at least an inkling of what I felt.
Arokan called for a break in travel mid-morning, so the horde could rest for a brief while and take their second meals before we made the final push towards the new camp. We stopped at the base of a tall, jutting mountain, the ground covered in a type of red dirt that stained my feet when I slid down from Kailon’s back.
Just in time too, I couldn’t help but think, biting my lip and taking a deep breath. Nausea had been roiling through my belly all morning, but I’d managed to keep it at bay, so as not to alarm Arokan or stop the horde’s travels. But I didn’t think I could keep it in any longer.
So, I dismissed myself shortly after we stopped, claiming to Arokan that I needed to empty my bladder, and Mirari and Lavi came with me, a guard trailing not far behind. Once the guard gave me privacy, I found a secluded spot, out of eyesight of the horde, and heaved what remained of my evening meal the night before into the red dirt. I hadn’t eaten that morning, still too nervous about the Ghertun, so unless my nausea was some kind of virus…I thought that it might be caused by something else entirely.
“Missiki,” Mirari said quietly, coming to crouch beside me, a fresh cloth already out of her travel satchel.
I counted the weeks in my head. When women had gotten pregnant in my village—though that occurrence was rare since there weren’t many young females—it had always taken more than a couple months from the time of conception for morning sickness to begin. It was entirely too soon for mine to begin unless…
Unless Dakkari females had a different pregnancy term than humans.
I took the cloth from Mirari, wiping my mouth, before looking up at her. Lavi was hovering nearby too and Mirari said something to her. Lavi nodded and disappeared.
“No,” I whispered. “I don’t want Arokan to worry. Not now.”
“I sent her for water,” Mirari assured me. Relieved, I blew out a breath, before another wave of nausea hit me and I threw up again. Mirari soothed me as best as she could and when Lavi returned, she had me take a cooling sip from the cup, which helped.
Not once did I experience my bleeding time when I’d been with Arokan. My cycle had been relatively unpredictable at the village, due to a low supply of food and a high supply of stress. I hadn’t thought anything of it, but now, I was beginning to suspect that perhaps my horde king had gotten me pregnant that very first time, the night of our tassimara.
When I looked into Mirari and Lavi’s eyes, I knew they suspected what I did.
“Should I send for the healer?” Mirari asked quietly.
“No,” I said. “The guard will report to Arokan. Besides, I’m not even sure. It’s only been a couple mornings of this.”
Mirari watched me and then said, “The healer carries special Dakkari herbs and mixes for this purpose, Missiki. You wish to be sure?”
“She can tell me if…if I’m pregnant?” I whispered, shocked. “How?”
Mirari nodded and then looked at the cup of water. “I can be discreet. Relieve yourself in here and I will have her test it with her herbs.”
My cheeks burned. “You want my urine?”
“How else can you test for a baby, Missiki?” Mirari asked, confused, frowning.
I blinked. Humans had always…waited.
“Alright,” I said, taking the cup. Mirari nodded and gave me a little privacy as I did my best to pee in the small cup.
Once I was done, she took it from me. We emerged from behind the mountain once I was sure the worst of the nausea had passed.
We rejoined the camp shortly after and Arokan reached out for me when I found him sitting with his pujerak, a few warriors…and my brother, much to my surprise. My horde king settled me in his lap and I smiled at him when he fed me some dried bveri meat, though I worried my stomach would rebel.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Mirari leave and go seek out the healer, a middle aged, large-set, no-nonsense female I’d seen multiple times around camp. I watched them speak briefly as I bit my lip, only half-listening to Arokan speak with the pujerak as they ate.
The healer’s eyes connected with mine, even from a far distance. I inclined my head in a brief, subtle nod and she blinked, dropping her gaze in respect, before she took the cup from Mirari, said something to her, and left.
I closed my eyes briefly in relief.
I might be pregnant, I thought silently to myself, testing that possibility, feeling a warm glow that rose from the thought that both frightened and excited me.
However, I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Not yet.
Not until I knew for certain.
Only then would I tell Arokan.
