“It’s beautiful.” My voice quavered.
“It is.”
"Why would you ever leave?"
He shrugged. "The sporing time kills everything that breathes here, so we leave for a few months a year. And of course, there are materials that aren't found here, things that require trade."
This cottage was on a platform built around a tree trunk wider than many peasants’ houses. Dewdrops glistened on threads in some kind of strong-woven webbing above us. I made out a rope bridge, suspended below.
We were in his land, among his people. He was home. But didn’t this mean…
I turned. “Khal? I shouldn’t be here, should I?”
And again, he hesitated.
The horror fell like a rock into my stomach, pulling me down. He caught me as I hit my knees. Normally I’d plant my hands on the ground, but this was wood, and God-in-heaven, what would happen if I lit fire to the wood? I was breathing too fast, too hard, the world going light.
“Easy,” Khal was saying. “Rowena, please, stay with me.”
I fought to focus on his voice, his face swimming in front of me, the panic in his eyes. Panic I shared. “Khal,” I got out, strangled, “I was supposed to stay…in Rowton…”
“I know,” he said. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“I wasn’t supposed to come. I wasn’t supposed to be trouble?—"
“You’re not,” he said, but his eyes shifted away, and bile rose in my mouth.
“Khal, Drazha…I’m not supposed to be here?—"
“I married you,” he said. “You have every claim to sanctuary.”
“You married a baron’s daughter. I’m?—"
“You are a baron’s daughter. And I’m a chieftain’s son.” His hand cupped my face. He was so gentle, even with real worry in his eyes. “Other people’s loyalty and betrayal have nothing to do with your due as my wife.” His eyes flinched away, and he let go. “...a title you have until you’re prepared to abandon it. Until…we are able to make this right.”
My tongue still tasted acid. “This will bring trouble for you.”
He pulled back. “I chose to make trouble. I chose to seek alliances with men instead of the Val Drak.”
“The Val Drak?” I was breathing shallow.
“They are…an orc clan that have been gathering others under their banner. As they grow, they make enemies.” His jaw worked. “I want no part in that. I want our people to stay safe as they have been, under their own names, making peace with our own neighbors.”
“But your mother disagrees,” I whispered.
He leaned heavily on the wooden rail. “We do not see eye to eye on this, no. She also sees the risks, but she…finds less value in the human side than I do.”
“What value could you possibly find in us?” My voice cracked.
He looked up, solemn eyes in his rugged face. “There are better men than the ones you have met, better humanity than those in the halls you come from. I’ve known my father. I’ve grown up on his stories. I believe it, but,” he drew breath, shook his head, “even among the worst men I’ve encountered, there was you. There is your sister you love so much. There was that man on the road.”
“He threatened to kill you,” I whispered.
“He was brave.” Khal shook his head again. “Amidst the worst of you, there are still people. There are still lives I want tosave. For every blackguard, there’s someone I hope can live.” His eyes met mine again. “How do you expect me to hate humans when two of the people I love most are among them?”
I didn’t know how to answer that. I felt like I had given up on mankind for less, like I’d given up so many times.
“You’re hungry,” he said. “I’m not thinking clearly. Come on. Let’s get you something to eat.” He took my elbows to help me up, seemed to falter when I reached my feet. We were standing so close. A flush touched his neck. “You’re hungry,” he repeated, pulled back.
