Khal’s mother was an orcchieftain.The pieces started clicking together. That was like a baron. A baron would not appreciate being deceived. The horrors I’d heard about orcsinflicting flooded back. I’d gotten so used to Khal, to feeling safe, but not all humans were like his father. And not all orcs were like Khal.
He helped me to my feet. My vision only darkened for a moment as I caught my balance. My knees were still weak. But I didn't feel that sucking emptiness in my chest. My body must have gathered some form of power overnight, to fill that void the inferno had left. Still, I mentally shied away from that place inside of me. I didn’t want to use it, to feel that emptiness again. It stayed on the outskirts of my mind, like a muscle I refused to move, an itch I wouldn’t scratch. And the faster my pulse raced, the more I felt it, teasing under my skin, longing and terror, weakness and power.
The stars were barely fading high above as Khal led me down the bridges and walkways towards the softly glowing earth. Vrathgar went ahead of us, his presence tense, murderous. Khal’s arm stayed around me, as his gaze swiveled in every direction. My breath clouded in the night.
“Only a moon till we abandon the haven,” Vrathgar bit out. “The timing couldn’t be worse. If this had waited till after the sporing…”
“It was going to happen anyway.” Khal’s voice was tight. “Better to get it over with.”
Vrathgar snorted, but he kept turning, kept watching the dark. Down below, flames gathered. A bonfire? Torches? I clung harder to Khal’s arm.
With a grunt and a smack, a figure landed behind us. The shadow towered above all three of us, two heads taller than Khal as he pushed me behind him. He didn’t draw his sword, just stared up into the black. “Jarlass,” he said.
Two more impacts, bracketing Vrathgar. I could see them, if I let the power go to my eyes, but I wouldn’t, didn’t.
“Sorry, little Khal.” The voice was deep, as massive as the figure. “No hard feelings. You know how she can be.”
“And you know I’m not running. So how about you walk us down.” There was a steel edge under his words.
The large figure chuckled. “Fine, then. If there’s no trouble.” He took a long step forward, and Khal, maintaining himself between the giant and me, turned back to move me again.
“I heard,” Jarlass rumbled again, “that congratulations might be in order. Or condolences.”
Khal’s step didn’t falter. “It will be congratulations.”
Someone snickered up ahead, and Vrathgar snarled something.
“Now then,” Jarlass boomed. “A little optimism never killed anyone. Give the young ones space there.”
We could light them on fire,I thought, and immediately chastised myself. These were Khal’s people. This was Khal’s home. And I…I wasn’t sure how much fire I could even make with the terror-power that I worked to keep trapped beneath my skin, wasn’t sure if I’d have more than a few seconds of seeing in the dark before this power in me winked out like a candle.
I told myself that, but as warmth surged in my fingertips, I knew that it was more than that.
The earth at the bottom of the cavern pressed soft under our feet. Ahead, in an open circle ringed in low boulders, dark figures were illuminated by flame.
There were so many.
As we drew nearer, I made out the differences between this host and Khal's band, many older, their weapons more varied than the steel he and his brethren wielded. And there were women, more than half of them, hair braided or shaved, eyes fierce or calculating. Khal’s band was meant to work for the human lords, to scout, to remove the dangers of the wilds. But this was a war band. These were orcs in the wild.
Khal’s hand closed over mine, angling me behind him as he stepped into that circle of firelight. Some of the warriors’ faces were curious or amused as their gazes raked over me, butmany…many were angry. One at the center, with shining, pearly teeth woven into her hair, actually snarled in disgust. Khal stopped, stared at the snarler.
His voice was stoic, calm. “Hello, Mother.”
Khal’s motherwas hardly taller than me. I don’t know why I’d pictured someone taller. The face that had captivated Khal’s father was fierce, sharp cheekbones, dark brows, and eyes of deep, molten gold…eyes that burned on me with open hate.
The words flowing off her tongue sounded like fire cracking, like a cat’s rising growl. Khal answered her, steady. She snapped, stepped forward again. It was not only her responding to his words. There were snarls on more faces, more anger. There were so many of them. And they were armed, and Khal was fast, he was good, but he fought monsters, not groups of warriors. With me to weigh him down, we’d already seen how easily he could be captured. And now, injured…
I slid my hand out of Khal’s grasp, to press my heating palms against my thighs. The flashes of blinding color and heat stabbed at the outskirts of my vision. The magic wanted out, and I…I wanted to understand. I wanted to know what was happening, what on the Goddess’s green earth was being said. I had listened to minds once, hadn’t I? If I knew danger was coming, I could help, at least for a moment. If I could just know what they spoke. The words, snarls and growls and spit, Khal’s many consonants and rolling tones, they rushed on my mind like an enemy. And with my terror, I felt the power break loose, felt it mix with those words rushing on my mind, until, clear and shining, I understood.
Khal, those rich, even tones of his voice, he said, “I gave my oath. Should that mean nothing?”
“You gave your oath? What about Terzha? You made her a promise!”
“No. You did.”
A growl ripped out of the line to the left of him, but he didn’t flinch.
“You betray our people forthis?” The hand she jabbed towards me was smeared with paint. “This weakling? She looks like a chipmunk could kill her. Is that what you wanted? Some weak thing to make you feel strong?”
