I said not a word.
Finally, The Eunuch spoke in Korwahk. “I trust you are well, my true, golden queen?”
I blinked.
His voice was quiet, there was a thread of concern in it and he’d called me his true, golden queen. Not just his queen.
Hmm.
“I am fine,” I replied.
He nodded his head once and informed me, “Our king speaks true.
Your beauty blooms magnificently having grown heavy with his child.”
Really, I wished Lahn would quit being sweet, not only to me but now hearing he was wandering around complimenting me. It was getting on my nerves.
“Shahsha,” I muttered, my eyes slid to Diandra to see her head tipped slightly to the side, concern she wasn’t quite able to hide now on her features.
Shit.
“It has come to my attention you do not allow your women to attend you,” The Eunuch stated and I looked back at him.
“I have been… not myself for some time,” I replied.
He inclined his head.
Then he said softly, “You grieve your lost world.”
I blinked at him.
He knew.
That was a surprise.
Well, whatever. If Lahn was stupid enough to trust this guy, so be it. It wasn’t any of my business.
I decided not to answer.
“There is only one person in Korwahk who calls me Karrim,” he stated bizarrely, changing the subject and I spoke not a word but didn’t take my eyes from him. “My king,” he finished quietly and I braced again.
Ghost shifted so her sleek bulk rested against my lounge chair, a show of support.
My hand went from my belly back to her fur and I stroked.
What I didn’t do was speak.
“After…” he paused a moment before going on, “what happened to me, it was not my manhood I missed.” He waited and when I made no reply (though I had to say I was pretty surprised at this news), he went on, “It was my Horde. Since I could remember, my father spoke to me about my future as warrior and since I could move my limbs at my command, he started training me to be warrior. He was warrior. It was in his blood, passed down to me.
There was no day more beautiful to me than when the Dax pressed his palm to the earth and at five years of age I took my knee for the first time in service to The Horde.”
Wow. Interesting.
He kept speaking. “Therefore, there was no day worse for me than when I was cast out of it.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered because, really, I needed to be cautious with this guy but I felt I had to say something mainly because his voice shook with emotion I could not believe was fake.
He inclined his head again. “So, I would hope you could imagine my joy when the new Dax sought me out and requested my service to return to my brethren. I was not able to fight, my strength was not the same. But I could be of service using other skills. This new Dax was the mightiest I ever saw but mightier because he used more than his muscle to command. He knew the strength of any warrior was not in their steel but elsewhere. And he allowed me to use that, a power I could wield which was still at my command and strong as ever, to provide service to my nation. He asked for me not only to provide service for the Hunt, the selections and the Daxshee but to be his eyes and ears and to act for him in matters of crucial import.
And this I was, I am, I did and I do, serving my Horde proudly but more, serving the mighty Dax who begins The Golden Dynasty.”
I nodded when he stopped talking and he continued.
“It is my duty to know all and see all. It is my duty to protect Suh Tunak, my Dax and doing thus, my Korwahk. And therefore, after
she was claimed, it was my duty to watch and then seek out my queen, a foreigner, and put her to the test.” He paused then smiled a small smile. “She asked me my name, a name only her husband calls me and even though our ways were strange to her, she held firm and true to her husband.” His eyes held mine and he whispered,
“She passed the test.”
I blinked at him.
Oh my God!
Karrim didn’t give me time to freak out, he kept speaking. “And therefore, I now have grave concerns of news that she, our warrior queen, the golden one, has had her spirit broken. She hides her glory from her husband. She sheathes her claws that he enjoys challenging with his steel.”
Oh man.
I kept quiet and kept my eyes glued to him even as Diandra shifted.
