Page 9

This would be the second night in a row when I couldn’t find rest. Not because I wasn’t grateful to be unbound for the first time since I was taken here, or because I wasn’t grateful for the comfort of my new bed.

It seemed that Dahr hadn’t been the only one to receive preferential treatment, and my bed had also been made with silk sheets and a comfortable pillow. Not that the fur lined covers hadn’t been comfortable, but this took sleeping to an elevated level.

If I could catch any…

Every time Dahr’s bed moved or there was the slightest noise in the tent, I jumped awake and went to check on him. To the point where I must have travelled from my bed to his mattress on the hour.

It must have been past midnight when I heard another ruffle of sound and jumped into alertness once more. I slowly slid from the bed and placed my toes on the furry carpet, then felt my way around the tent and stepped with care towards where I knew Dahr’s bed was situated. When my fingers touched his silk bed sheet, I moved slowly, careful not to wake him in my movement. I gasped when he reached to grab my wrist, the abrupt motion stilling my body with shock.

“I’m alright, March,”

he said slowly. I expected his hold to be rough, especially since I had startled him from sleep, but his touch felt like a warm caress against my skin.

“Go to sleep,”

he murmured softly.

Yet, he did not let go.

And I did not attempt to move away.

“I don’t deserve your pity…”

the warrior reiterated the same message he’d conveyed to me in the evening.

But I wanted to see him. I wanted to spot his features and stare into those inky eyes. I needed to see him to truly understand that he was unharmed. To tell my heart — which, for whatever reason, cared about his wellbeing— that he was safe.

“I wish there was some light in this tent,”

I mumbled to myself. I didn’t understand how some nights could be so heavy and not allow me to see an inch in front of me, when in the first few nights I could lay awake and observe all the details of this tent. Had someone kidnapped the stars?

“You wish to see?”

Dahr asked, probably wanting to make sure he understood my mumbling, but, before I had a chance to repeat myself, his long lashes fanned curiosity back at me.

Because I could see them.

I could see Dahr’s bare chest, the line of his jaw and his port-coloured lips, the way his hair drew rivers of blackness against the white silk sheets.

I could see.

I blinked again, deeply this time, as though my eyes had just received supernatural powers. As I did, I remembered Karisha’s words.

“You did this,”

I said to Dahr, understanding slashing against my mind.

“You brought the darkness in.”

“You said you did not wish to see me anymore,”

he spoke softly, fingers still gripping my hand, dancing with a barely noticeable caress over my skin.

What was he doing?

What was I doing?

I retired my hand from his hold and pressed my lips together to give myself a moment to settle my rising pulse.

“I merely wished to know that you are well. I would appreciate it if you let the night sky shine, I like to see my surroundings when I wake up.”

Without waiting for his reply or even checking for a reaction, I hurried back to my bed and covered myself with the sheets to force my mind to remedy whatever primitive thoughts it started to produce.

I was tired, that was all. There was nothing a good night sleep could not fix, I forced myself into thinking when Dahr’s dark gaze popped to mind more times than I would have wanted it to.

Morning found me wrapped in dreams, where I laid in the arms of the one person I had forbidden myself to think about. I startled into alertness when Markos’ head appeared inside, poking through to scan the room and, very possibly, ensure that I had heeded his warning.

I remained silent while Dahr greeted his friend. “Cousin,”

he said, his body rustling to rise from under the sheets. I averted my eyes and very studiously started scanning the artwork on the side of the tent wall I was sleeping by, putting all my effort into doing anything but looking at Dahr’s naked torso.

Like most of the things I had done recently, this attempt proved quite unsuccessful, especially since my captor walked towards my bed and gently shook me awake.

“March, it’s morning,”

he said as he pushed slowly into my shoulder a few times, until a twitch of my back replied in my stead to tell him that I was awake.

“You are late,”

Markos pointed through tight lips, admonishing Dahr. Who did not seem to react nor care too much and chose to focus on me, instead.

“March,”

Dahr leaned in to say, giving me a perfect front view of his sculpted abs and the taut muscles of his chest.

Was I satisfied with that? Of course not.

My eyes lingered and started caressing his skin, admiring the way his shoulders arched and how his glowing biceps and wide forearms perfectly absorbed the falling sunlight.

“Nora!”

I made sure to snap instead, pushing my thoughts back and forcing myself to appear the unruly prisoner Markos had warned me to be.

“March!”

Dahr leaned into whisper to me, his deep voice drawing goosebumps all across my skin.

“Breakfast will be ready for you soon. Once you are done, you can go visit Karisha and spend the day with her.”

Both me and Markos must have had the same reaction, but he was the one to speak first.

“You are not leaving her unsupervised again, are you?”

the tribe lord pressed and stepped closer towards my bed, where Dahr still towered over me.

“Of course I am not,”

my captor turned his head towards his cousin so abruptly, that his shoulder length hair performed a shadow dance with his motion, adorning the side of his jaw with slithering blackness.

When he reverted his attention back to me, his tone of voice grew much softer.

“Were you comfortable with Sylam trailing you the other day?”

I arched my brows in surprise. Since when did my comfort matter? An entire list of that very situation came to mind as an answer, but I paid it no attention and offered a noncommittal shrug.

“As comfortable as I can be in a war camp where I do not know a single person…”

It seemed to be enough for Dahr, because he nodded.

“It is settled, then. When you finish your food, find Sylam and spend the day with Karisha.”

“Dahrrian, that’s not—”

“Thank you,”

I said at the same time as Markos’ protest came out, yet the warrior seemed to care about my reply more.

“You are welcome. I will see you again after dinner,”

he announced as he took a step back, then another one, this time turning fully towards Markos, who started protesting.

Dahr paid him no attention however, and escorted him out of the tent, leaving me on my own, for the very first time since my arrival.

I was by myself.

Unbound.

And free.

I didn’t stay for breakfast, the excitement too overwhelming to allow me to even breathe properly and, after waiting the appropriate time to ensure that Dahr, and specifically Markos, had departed, I gave myself a dose of courage and pushed the tent flaps to allow my body to squeeze through and exit the tent.

A shiver rolled down my spine and parts of me were expecting to be tricked. For someone to jump at me and contain me, tie me up again and pull me back into the tent.

But no one paid any attention to me.

The camp had started its daily murmur and activities, with dozens of people carrying meals, preparing for the day or barely waking up. Sylam was the only one who even looked my way, and that was only to nod slowly, indirectly telling me that we’d be spending the day together.

Well… as ‘together’ as trailing my every step allowed us to.

Not needing directions to Karisha’s tent and hoping that her mate was already far away, I started walking towards it, getting slightly more confident in my steps. When she offered me a new change of clothes the day before, she made the decision to add comfortable shoes to my new attire, so walking around the camp for the rest of the day was on the very top of my to do list.

I could only hope she had plans to do the same.

“Good morning,”

I said as I made myself appear into her tent with a smile to find her braiding her long sunrise-coloured hair to the side.

She looked stunning and as always, I observed that the colours of her dress were a different shade of blue.

“Is blue your favourite colour?”

I asked, curious. True, we were in a coastal province and shades of blue lingered everywhere, the ocean itself bringing different tonalities on the daily. And her sapphire-blue eyes matched her gown to absolute perfection, helping to highlight not only her beauty, but also her elegant features.

What surprised me was that her mate wore blue as well, and even though he also had blue eyes, I doubted his choice was purely made as a fashion statement.

“Fortunately, yes,”

she giggled and walked over to me to offer me a quick hug, which I relished.

“Imagine if I had to wear this colour all my life and I absolutely despised it.”

“Why do you have to wear it?”

“Oh,”

she paused, probably understanding that I still had very little knowledge concerning their customs.

“We report directly to Captain Xadom,”

she replied, then reconsidered and added.

“Well, Markos does. Officially, he is the captain of the camp, but everybody calls him tribe lord as per the drake tradition. Anyways, Captain Xadom’s colours are blue and we’re reflecting his dominion over us,” Karisha explained, then moved back to the small table where hair accessories waited for her.

His dominion over them… That sounded atrocious, as though they didn’t have any rights at all… as though this captain could give them whatever orders he chose, and they would have to follow without protest.

“I see,”

I chose my words carefully, not wanting to bring up any sort of discussion that would put her in a bad mood or raise any other issues that had the potential to taint that ravishing smile off her face.

“Do you have any plans for the day?”

I made sure to ask carefully and with a smile, indirectly telling her that I fully planned to tag along if she would have me.

I hoped she would, because there wasn’t anyone else I could spend my day with and I seriously doubted Sylam would let me just wander the camp by myself.

“Sure,”

she replied with excitement.

“and I need help, so you are just in time.”

I waited for Karisha to finish preparing and took the opportunity to grab some breakfast from her table, since she had plenty of leftovers. I did notice that her meals looked plentiful and weren’t based solely on dried meats or fish, like I had seen the other women in the camp prepare.

I had a million questions about how the camp worked, about the drake traditions and their history, about their intentions and chain of command. There wasn’t any information I didn’t plan on absorbing, but I also knew that if I were to show too much interest at once, I would receive even less information than what they were letting drop.

“Ready?”

Karisha moved closer to me and poured herself a glass of orange juice to let me finish what was left on my plate before we departed for the day.

I expected Sylam to be waiting for me by the tent, but when we got out, I spotted him farther away, chatting to two other men I had not seen before. Not that I saw a lot of the camp really, though I was determined to change that little by little.

I still didn’t understand my situation fully, or why I was needed, and neither Markos, nor Karisha, nor Dahr seemed to be willing to shed light on my questions. Still, I was determined to uncover the truth and, if they weren’t willing to give me the pieces of the puzzle, I would carve it myself and create the design.

For today, however, I would be an obedient student and listen to the tribe lady’s teachings. Which she shared plenty of.

In our long walk, I found out that the camp was separated into several territories, each of them serving specific purposes. I discovered that hunters resided in the Northern side to gain easier access to the forest and the mountain area, from where they brought food every day, which was then distributed throughout the camp. The Southern region was mainly occupied by merchants and workers, who received instruction on importing and exporting goods, with all inventory and stock levels being controlled by Karisha. It made perfect sense now why she was always walking around the camp with a notebook, since she was constantly working to update her inventory and make notes on all camp requirements. The Western side was where the training area was situated by the sea and where most of the experienced warriors lived, preferring to be alone and unbothered by the general noise.

“Don’t get any ideas,”

Karisha must have read my thoughts.

“There are trained guards placed all around camp.”

I nodded and signalled her to continue to present the territories to me.

“The Eastern side is where new recruits and trainees live. They are yet to be assigned to a specific task, so they swap around and try many different things until they find their use and talents,”

the tribe lady explained.

“Thank you, Karisha,”

I said with excitement, truly grateful that she had taken the time to walk me around the miles-long camp and share her knowledge and traditions.

“What exactly is the training ring? And why can’t women go there?”

Out of everything she told me, this was the part I was most intrigued by. I didn’t understand the connection, why the proximity to the sea was taken as a protective omen and why women were excluded from such a thing. It seemed archaic and out of place, so at odds with the modern human society I had been born into, yet I truly wanted to see it.

To be in a place where I knew I wasn’t allowed to.

“We can go check it out if you want to…”

my new friend offered with a smile, her expression full of jest. Maybe she too felt like breaking the rules just a little today.

“Are we allowed to?”

I arched a brow and tilted my head gently to fully look at her. The dense light of the midday sun poured heavily on us, pushing us to make wild and dangerous decisions.

“We’re not allowed to step into the training camp,”

she explained, and I couldn't contain my expression from dropping.

“But I am allowed to go up to its very edge and call for my mate if I need anything urgent,”

Karisha replied with a playful grin.

Against Sylam’s protests, we both started taking determined steps towards the Western side, stopping from time to time for the tribe lady to either greet people or receive a request.

It felt like we’d been walking for miles when the salty air tickled my nostrils and invaded my skin with its harsh caress.

I hadn’t realised how much I missed the ocean; how heavy the waves of the sea beat against my own heart and how that horizon of blue filled my chest with joy.

I had always loved the sea, ever since I was a little girl and had to escape the school for girls late in the evening to go for a swim. I would spend long hours into the night floating through the waves and returned with salty skin and crispy hair.

I hadn’t done it in over two weeks… I hadn’t touched the sand, I hadn’t walked on the beach, and I hadn’t abandoned my body to the ocean’s caress. Watching the ocean again brought a calmness over my entire being. It truly was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

Until Dahr’s sun-kissed skin blinded my attention with its glow.

We had to take two more steps uphill to see the elevated surface of the training ring, and the two men that sparred in the middle of it. Dahr being one of them.

“There’s Markos,”

Karisha added and proceeded to walk downhill into the rocky terrain to reach the portion of the beach the men were occupying.

The training ring looked a little like a boxing one, only with a tall circular stage enclosed by leather straps, probably the exact same ones Dahr had tied me to the bed with.

There were multiple fights happening at the same time, with hundreds of shirtless, muscled men either watching, stretching, warming up or fighting. The main one, however, where most of the attention focused on, was the main ring.

I recognised Dahr’s skin from a distance, the way his tan glowed to compete with the sunlight, the flames on his back burning with every vicious hit he struck against his opponent. His hair was unbound, his back sweaty and his muscles more flexed than ever. He’d lost the leather band he normally wore around his waist, preferring to use the strength of his arms and the power of his kick in that particular fight.

My stomach jolted at the memory of the weapon jammed in his thigh and the pain he must have been in, yet he fought like a man possessed, like his very existence was dependent upon his every move.

I didn’t know much about fighting, but I knew a lot about the human body and how it naturally arched. Dahr’s movement posed a masterpiece with every turn.

I hadn’t even realised we had reached the base of the camp, my attention too focused on Dahr and the way he fought like a savage. In the short time it took us to reach them, he must have changed at least three opponents, exhausting them in only a few hits.

“What do you need?”

Markos appeared from between the gathering of men, all of whom, just like me, were too enthralled in the fighting to care about our presence, or to even notice us.

“We need to ask for two more coffers, three tents are damaged, and we need to build a new one for the Firsymets. Manuh just announced another pregnancy,”

she told him, voice filled with joy.

She must have kept this information to herself in case of an emergency, because I had been with her most of the day and I hadn’t seen a pregnant woman or anyone announcing her pregnancy. Smart woman, I mentally congratulated Karisha.

“Fine, I’ll deal with it tomorrow,”

Markos said before his attention moved to me.

I forced myself to unhook my eyes from the fight and pay him my full attention, especially after the threat he’d blasted me with the other night. I couldn’t believe Karisha and Markos were mates. I couldn’t believe a woman as sweet as her would choose a man as harsh as him.

“What is she doing here?”

the tribe lord snarled at me, and I had to fight the need to take a step back.

“We were just leaving. If Dahr wanted her out, you didn’t expect me to just leave her snooping on her own, would you?”

she looked at me admonishingly, as though we’d already had some sort of conversation on this very subject.

I had enough common sense to lower my head and look remorseful, while also making a mental note to congratulate this woman for outplaying her mate time and time again. Markos seemed pleased enough with her answer, and my theatrical attitude, that he pressed a kiss on his tribe lady’s cheek and stepped back into the crowd.

I took the opportunity to lift my attention back to the stage once again and follow Dahr’s leg as it stretched and kicked, the muscles on his thigh tensing with the strength of the movement. He truly was hypnotising; the allure of his body and the sharpness of his motions were an artist’s dream…

“Come on, let’s go.”

The way he stretched and relaxed, the way he spun and arched, the gleam of his skin and the precious beads of sweat that were perfectly placed to outline the intention of his movement before it happened…

“We can go now.”

The rotation of his hips when he stretched, as elegant as a panther and as ruthless as a dagger, slicing through the air with acuity, allure and strength…

“Are you done staring at Dahr?”

Karisha’s amused voice pulled me from my trance.

I turned to her so abruptly that I felt my neck snap. Ouch.

“I’m not looking at him!”

I jumped.

“I wasn’t…”

“Sure,”

Karisha said with a smile.

“I wasn’t,”

I reiterated, making a point to avoid looking at the stage completely, even though my eyes begged for a final gaze.

“Uh-huh…”

the tribe lady looked at me like she would never believe another word that came out of my mouth, ever again, and I felt the need to spend the entire way back defending my stance.

I was not looking at Dahr!