"Don't listen to them!" Kael shouted to the guards. "The orc turned her into one of his kind," he continued, pointing at me, "and now he’s manipulated her into making the heir betray his own blood!"
Every eye turned toward me.
"He didn't manipulate me," I snapped, fury thick in my voice at the male's sheer stupidity. "In case you’ve forgotten, I was cursed by Merith on my wedding day. And now, Kael, I’m starting to wonder whether your father had a hand in that as well. After all, how did she slip through our wards so easily?"
A few guards began whispering among themselves, casting suspicious glances toward Fenric’s son. Noticing the shift, the bastard pressed forward with renewed desperation.
"My father would never do that!" Kael shot back, struggling to appear indignant. "He cares about Ceilte—which, in case you’ve forgotten, has grown weak under Lord Alasdair’s leadership! For years, he allowed the orcs to advance into the mountains and did nothing!”
Before I could respond, Malek moved with lightning speed toward Kael, his axe raised to end the argument.
The Ruk’hai’s axe sliced through the air, but Kael dodged.
Fenric wasn't nearby, so his son became the target of Malek’s hatred. He no longer fought with reason, but with the raw rage of seeing his people attacked in the middle of the night and the agony of watching Okshai's blood spilled on their own ground.
"You’ll regret coming here, kir’shakur," Malek growled in Okshakai.
Kael scrambled to his feet, defending himself with the skill of a well-trained High Fae. However, his body lacked my orc’s strength and endurance. Malek’s blows forced him backward with every strike. It soon became clear that Kael was not prepared to withstand my orc's brute force.
Everyone watched the fight as though witnessing a dramatic performance. The first time I saw Malek fight, he had looked like a harbinger of death with his giant axe, bared fangs, and the way he tore the dùthragh apart with his bare hands. Now, however, he appeared even more terrifying. Every strike was fast, precise, and relentless. He dominated the battlefield, turning Kael into little more than a straw target.
Malek delivered a blow to Kael’s hand powerful enough to force him to drop his sword with a roar of pain. The sound of metal striking the ground snapped everyone out of their trance. With Kael on his knees, bloodied and wearing an expression of pure terror, my orc raised his axe.
"Ruk’hai, wait!" Leone shouted, lunging forward to intervene before the situation spiraled further. As much as he was an idiot, Kael remained the son of an important lord in Ceilte and needed to be judged accordingly.
Unfortunately for him, Malek didn’t care about Ceilte’s politics and schemes.
Malek’s axe struck Kael’s neck, slicing through flesh as cleanly as silk. The body slumped to one side while the head rolled to the other, the expression of terror still frozen on his face.
Orcs and Fae alike stood motionless, staring at the lifeless body of Lord Fenric’s son at Malek’s feet.
"No!"
A scream shattered the stillness. Lord Fenric rushed toward his son, his face twisted with terror.
He dropped to his knees beside the decapitated body, sobs tearing from his chest. Seeing the male responsible for all of this kneeling in his own son’s blood stirred no pity in me. He had known exactly what he was doing when he invaded Oksha.
Leone stopped at my side, his eyes fixed on the scene, shock still etched across his face. His mouth opened, then closed again, unable to form words. I understood his position as well; as the heir of Ceilte, allowing one of his citizens—even a waste of space such as Kael—to be killed in that way could easily be viewed as treason.
Malek, his axe still dripping with blood, turned back to face us. The fury in his eyes slowly ebbed, replaced by a mask of cold indifference. He was ready for whatever came next.
"Murderer!" Fenric shrieked, lifting his blood-stained face after pressing his forehead against his son's chest, his eyes bloodshot with hatred. "You filthy animal! I swear by the Goddesses that you and all your people will pay for this!"
He rose to his feet and raised a hand toward Malek, preparing to strike with magic. Against weapons, the orcs stood a fighting chance, but certain Fae, Fenric among them, could inflict devastating damage with nothing more than a gesture.
With the An Talamh vibrating beneath my hands, I hurled my rage forward to protect Malek. All I could see was him—my mate—standing in danger. The earth beneath my feet responded instantly, and the ancestral strength of Marukoksha surged through me.
"Enough!"
My voice rang with magic, amplified into something powerful and unfamiliar.
A wave of emerald-green energy burst from my hands—not as an attack, but as a barrier. I thrust it toward Fenric, intercepting his magic before it could reach Malek.
The collision between the two forces roared like a volcano, producing a flash that blinded everyone in the square—including me.
Fenric staggered backward, his eyes wide with shock after his attack was stopped. He hadn't expected me, cursed or not, to wield magic with control, considering I had never shown much skill before.
"You! You freak!" he screeched, pointing at me. "You betrayed your own people! You betrayed your father!"
