He crouched in front of my chair.
“Khala…” He drew in a deep breath, hugging my hips with his big hands. “When I saw your stomach ripped open?—”
“My stomach never was ripped open,” I reminded.
But he didn’t seem to hear me, lost to the horrors he’d gone through that morning.
“…with your guts spilling out—” he continued.
“Those weren’tmyguts.”
He just shook his big head with a horrified expression on his face.
For a moment or two, I had allowed Grat to believe that what he saw was true, that I had died from being ripped apart by a predator. And those brief moments still haunted him.
“I’m so sorry, Grat.” I hugged his thick neck and kissed his scarred cheek. “It all happened so fast. I saw a chance to get them out of our lives for good, and I had to take it. Then I had to stay still until all Reizon’s guards ran far enough away that they wouldn’t witness my ‘resurrection.’ I had to make them believe that I was really dead, so no one would ever come back searching for me again.”
I couldn’t let anyone get the idea of using me as the stepping stone on their way to the Avilet throne ever again.
“I will never leave you behind again, don’t even ask,” Grat vowed.
I smiled. “The only thing I’ll ask from you is to be with me. Always.”
“Khala…” he exhaled, drawing me closer. “I love you, sweetheart, so much that my head is spinning from this feeling, and I can’t think straight.”
Happiness filled my heart, spreading through me like sunshine.
“I love you too, Grat. It’s a little scary because I’ve never been in love before. But it’s also so exciting, I just can’t stop smiling when I think about you, which is pretty much all the time now.”
His eyes glistened with emotions.
“Khala…I…” He paused, as if searching for words to express his feelings.
But Grat was a man of action, not words, and I loved that about him. Instead of talking, he focused on my ripped, dirty clothes.
“Let’s get you clean.” He helped me get out of my blood-soaked dress and blouse, then carried me to the tub.
The warm water felt amazing not just for my body but for my soul too. The tension of the past few hours had finally ebbed, and I relaxed, leaning my back against Grat’s broad chest. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight for a few moments, then he unbraided my hair and started lathering it with a piece of berry soap.
He fell silent, and I sensed that something was bothering him, but I didn’t ask, letting him first work through his feelings on his own.
“Khala,” he finally said. “Are you sure this is what you want? To stay in the Wetlands? To be with me?”
He sounded worried, and I turned around to see his face.
“What are you talking about?”
“You’re a princess,” he explained. “I don’t even know everything that a princess may need in life, but I fear I can’t give it all to you.”
My beloved orc had no idea how precious he was. I took his face in my hands.
“You give me everything I want and everything I need, Grat, even the things that no king, no lord, and no duke has ever given me.”
“What are those things?” he asked skeptically.
“Things like this.” I pointed at the tub water.
He looked confused. “A bath?”
