To draw attention away from him, I shoved him behind me, putting me within arm’s reach of the horde king, and said, “Our village will starve if we cannot replenish the crops. You do not let us hunt game. We are surviving on Uranian Federation rations. So, I’m sorry that we burned your land, but know that it was only in a desperate attempt to feed ourselves before the cold season comes and the ground freezes over.”
“It is not our concern how the nekkar feed themselves,” the messenger growled out.
Before I could reply, a rumbling, deep voice thundered within the group, making all of the Dakkari straighten, even the messenger.
Because that rich, dark voice belonged to the horde king.
“Take off your hood, kalles,” the horde king ordered in the universal tongue, still looking straight at me. “Let me see the face of the female who dares to challenge the Dakkari.”
Chapter Two
The horde king wanted me to take off my hood?
I didn’t hesitate, though Kivan began to protest. Anything to save him, to take the attention away from him, I would do readily.
The horde king’s nostrils flared and the singular yellow ring of his irises contracted with a visible pulse when I pushed back the thick hood, letting it settle around my shoulders.
My chin lifted, meeting his gaze, though he towered over me.
“Brave kalles,” the horde king murmured and I could actually see the way his pupils studied me, how they shifted over my face. “Foolish kalles too.”
I stiffened at the slight insult. I assumed kalles meant ‘woman’ or ‘female’ in the Dakkari language. Either way, it set my teeth on edge.
My spine went taut like a bow string, all too aware that Kivan still remained within the circle of gold swords, in front of a horde king that wanted his blood in exchange for burning their land.
“Call me what you wish,” I said, the cool night air brushing my face like a soft touch. “But my brother’s life is not yours to take. I will not let you.”
The Dakkari surrounding us shifted, the movement hardly perceptible, ever so slight.
As for the horde king…he didn’t even twitch.
“Let me, kalles?” he repeated, his voice sharp. “I will do whatever I wish.”
Perhaps that had been the wrong thing to say.
“Please,” I said, my hands trembling from adrenaline and nerves. The yellow band around his pupils contracted again, his head cocking slightly to the side. “Take my life in exchange.”
“Luna—,” Kivan tried to cut in, but I pushed him back when he made to grab for my arms.
“I am responsible for my brother,” I rushed out, “and therefore I am responsible for his actions. Please. He is young. He will never do this again. I promise.” Even though we were only five years apart, sometimes I felt ten or twenty years older than Kivan. “Take me instead.”
“Luna, no!” Kivan growled, frustrated, swinging on the horde king. “Don’t listen to her.”
But the horde king never took his eyes from me. I felt trapped by them, like I could never look away.
The messenger beside the horde king addressed him in a low tone with, “Vorakkar, kivi nekkari dothanu un kevf?”
The horde king didn’t respond immediately to whatever the messenger asked. As the moments stretched on, my blood grew hotter and raced faster until I heard it rushing in my ears. Still, we watched one another, as I wondered what he would decide.
Because I knew his words to be true…he could do whatever he wished. The Dakkari had the authority and power and strength over any being that found a home on their planet, however unforgiving that home might be. It was the deal the Uranian Federation had made with the Dakkari, for access to their closed planet.
“Vorakkar,” the messenger repeated after a long moment.
I stiffened when the horde king stepped forward. In one fluid motion, he unsheathed a small dagger from the thick band around his waist. His movements were surprisingly graceful, smooth, and yet still impatient as he gripped my cloak.
I didn’t have time to feel fear—for surely he meant to end my life, as I’d requested—before that dagger dragged down with one quick motion.
Instead of pain, I felt cool air shift across my skin. He’d cut the front of my cloak and he pulled the sides away for a better glimpse…of my body. Humiliation, or perhaps relief, made my cheeks hot as I realized what he was doing, even with my nonexistent experience with males.
Kivan, however, didn’t seem to know since he demanded, his voice surprisingly outraged in front of the Dakkari, “What are you doing to her?”
The horde king didn’t answer him. It was as if Kivan didn’t even exist in his world. Though I was wearing old, worn pants and a dirt-smudged tunic underneath the cloak, the way he looked at me…I felt naked under his gaze, bared for him, as if he could see every inch of my flesh.
Outrage slowly began to burn in my belly, but I kept it leashed within. He was inspecting me like I was something to be bought at the marketplace, a new tunic or a shiny bauble.
“Kassikari,” the horde king said suddenly. His tone was low, the words like a rough caress across my flesh. My eyes flashed up to his, surprised by something I heard in his voice, though I couldn’t identify what. I found he wasn’t looking down at my body any longer, but at me.
The tension in the circle suddenly doubled, the Dakkari males straightening even further, their golden swords dipping.
The messenger said, “Vorakkar? Erun kalles nekkar?”
“Lysi,” the horde king replied. The gold beads in his hair clinked together when he tilted his head. Addressing me in the universal tongue, he asked, “You wish to offer your life in exchange for your brother’s offense?”
I was proud my voice didn’t tremble as I said, “I do.”
“You are willing to die for him?” he asked next.
The memory of my mother’s last moments, begging me to protect Kivan, even as she choked on her own blood—so red it looked black on the ice—made my voice hoarse as I said, “I am.”
“Luna, no—”
“If I decide not to end your life or your brother’s,” the horde king murmured lowly, his gaze dropping down to my body again, his voice deepening even more, “will you serve me, kalles?”
There was no mistaking the meaning behind his words or the way his eyes roamed over the modest curves of my body. Goosebumps broke out over my flesh as I whispered, “Serve you?”
“Lysi,” he rasped.
He wanted me as his whore, wanted me to warm his bed, wanted to use my body for his pleasure…in exchange for my brother’s life.
There was no choice. I’d already made up my mind before they’d entered the village gates. This had always been the second possibility.
Dread swarmed in my belly. I felt like I was floating outside my body as I whispered, numb, “I will.”
Movement behind me made the horde king’s gaze snap away. Before I realized what had happened, Kivan had yanked one of the gold swords from one of the Dakkari’s grip and pushed me aside, his sudden strength surprising. But the sword was too heavy for him, sagging in both hands, even as he tried to swing it at the horde king, who easily dodged the clumsy maneuver.