Alfred played the part of the perfect gentleman as he walked Ella toward the horses, and then pulled down a cloak to tie around her shoulders. Dressing her,Alfredwasdressing her,and she couldn’t meet his eyes, couldn’t breathe, could only taste the bile rising in her throat —
“Why don’t we walk for a few moments together,” Alfred said, his voice thin, not a suggestion. “I’m sure there are a few items we must discuss.”
Ella numbly nodded, and allowed Alfred to lead her away, toward what seemed to be a road, leading away from the east of the mountain. She hadn’t even known it had existed, but Alfred’s men surely did, half of them riding ahead on horseback, half behind. They’d also let the dogs go, and suddenly all three of them were here, circling and running and barking fiercely at Ella’s heels.
Ella froze mid-step — they were doing this because they smelledNatt— and beside her, Alfred shoved his foot at one of the dogs, sending it yelping away. “They seem to smell something upon you, darling,” he said, not pleasantly. “I wonder what that might be?”
Ella’s heart was wildly racing, and she drew in breath, let it out. “They smell the orc who your men attacked, without provocation, upon my lands,” she replied. “He was the orc I escorted back to the mountain. He was grievously injured and bloody, and needed much assistance, so I’m sure his scent has lingered.”
She held her eyes straight ahead as she spoke, but she could feel the twitch in Alfred’s arm, the bore of his eyes into her skin. “Yes, the orc my men tell me you claimed to know. You claimed he was working for you.”
“Yes,” Ella said firmly, “he was. I hired him to patrol my forest. I have been seeking to support the peace treaty, especially since we live so close to the mountain, and thought this would be a good means of accomplishing it.”
But beside her, Alfred gave a light, tinkling laugh, sending a hard chill down Ella’s spine. “I’m afraid you’re lying to me, darling,” he said coolly. “You see, Iknowthis orc. I have known this orc for a very long time. And he is not an orc that would agree to be hired by a human as a petty forest-warden. He is a kind of — prince, among his people. He bears a rare, powerful dark magic, that the orcs seek to use against us.”
Shit. Ella’s eyes briefly closed, and she sought for a reply, a rebuttal, something — but nothing was there, and beside her Alfred laughed again, harder this time. “Iknowyou’re lying, darling,” he said. “And it’s a waste of your breath and my time, and quite frankly, an unmerited insult to my intelligence, and my generosity in coming here to rescue you, and being made to cool my heels outsideOrc Mountainfor half this morning. So” — he drew her to a halt, his voice deepening — “why don’t you try telling me the truth.”
The truth. The word dragged at Ella, plucking deep inside, and it was enough to bring her eyes darting up, finally, to Alfred’s face. His handsome, oddly pinched-looking face, so smooth and unmarked. He hadn’t suffered, like Natt had. He hadn’t given his soul for his people, like Natt had. But hehadcome for her, he hadn’t yelled or shamed or called for war, yet. And maybe — Ella swallowed hard — she could, at least, give him truth.
“The truth is, that orc and I are friends,” Ella heard herself say, to those watching blue eyes. “More than friends. I care for him very much. And therefore, Alfred” — she took a breath, drew herself tall — “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I must call off our engagement. I no longer wish to marry you.”
Something seemed to slip in those blue eyes, sudden and alarming, but then they blinked and it was gone again, only the smile remaining. “I’m afraid I expected you were going there, judging by your missing engagement-ring,” he said, with astonishing coolness. “I must say, it is rather brazen of you, trying to jilt alordfor anorc.”
The unease pounded higher and higher in Ella’s chest, but she gave a hard shake of her head, holding those eyes. “That’s not the only reason,” she said. “In truth, Alfred, I should never have agreed to marry you in the first place. I barely knew you, you barely knew me, and our entire engagement was only a — a transaction. I mean, you only want my inheritance, your attempts to bring me pleasure were positively laughable, and you betrayed me with another woman at ourengagement-party.”
Those eyes seemed to change again, flaring into something bare and frightening, and this time it reached Alfred’s smile, cold, brittle, vicious. “And you think anorcwould do better?” he hissed. “You really think an orc would stay faithful to you, once he got what he wanted from you?”
Ella kept her chin lifted, her eyes fixed on his face. “Yes,” she said, “he would. If he swore a pledge to me now, he would keep it. Helovesme.”
The certainty was there, thankfully, the conviction true in her voice, but Alfred’s blue eyes were only blinking at her, again, again. “Does he, now,” he said, slowly, sending ice down Ella’s spine. “Well, darling, at least you’ve madesomeuse of yourself, in all this foolishness.”
He grasped at Ella’s arm again, propelling her forward with surprising strength, but her feet were dragging on the earth, her eyes searching his smooth, pinched face. “What do you mean,” she said. “What, Alfred.”
But Alfred only shoved her harder, setting her stumbling, and his hard eyes glanced over her shoulder, up to one of the riders behind her. “Change of plans,” he snapped. “You’re taking her home to Tlaxca, Byrne, while I go on to the war-council. She’s too deluded to be anything but a shit witness anyway, and also, I can’t stand the smell of her.”
Ella couldn’t move, couldn’t think, and when Alfred shoved at her again, she only dug her heels in, and glared up at his face. “I donotwant to go to Tlaxca, Alfred,” she hissed. “I want to gohome.”
Alfred gave an exasperated sigh, and then another rough, impatient shove toward Byrne’s horse. “Too bad, darling, because we are getting married, as planned,” he drawled. “As soon as my allies properly sanction this war, in retaliation for your kidnapping. This ordeal has made you quite mentally unsound, I’m afraid, and in need of much care — and likely even confinement, once you arrive in Tlaxca. You truly ought to be grateful for myexcessivegenerosity in keeping mypledgeto you.”
It felt like a slap, like a sharp punch deep into Ella’s undefended stomach, and she had to gasp for air, gaping into Alfred’s eyes. They were getting married. Mentally unsound. Confinement. Hispledge.
“I willnotmarry you, Alfred,” she breathed, through her suddenly chattering teeth. “Ever.”
But Alfred only snorted, and grasped for something Byrne had thrown at him — and then there was pain, jolting and screaming, as Alfred wrenched Ella around, and shoved her wrists against her back. Lashing something around them, binding them together, good gods, what washappening—
Ella desperately squirmed and kicked and flailed at him, but it was too late, and Alfred was still far too strong, yanking the knot tight. And when he shoved her away from him, he was breathing hard, and — Ella pulled and twisted — her hands were firmly bound behind her, with what felt like a length of thick leather.
“Let me go!” she shouted at Alfred, but he only grasped for her again, dragging her over the dirt toward Byrne. And here was the understanding, thoroughly, brutally shocking, that Alfred was truly going tokidnapher, and take her back east, and force her tomarryhim?!
“You utter asshole,” Ella spat at him, aiming a hard kick straight toward his leg. “I willnevermarry you. I will see youdeadfirst.”
Alfred’s face spasmed, but his grip on Ella’s arm only went tighter, lancing pain wide in its wake. “Lovely,” he muttered, still breathless. “I always knew there was something seriously wrong with you,darling. Iknewthere was a reason that bastard’s scent was all over your lands. And Iknew” — he shoved her bodily upwards, into the hard clutch of Byrne’s gripping hands — “if I proposed to you, that slippery fucker would finally come out of the woodwork, and get what he fuckingdeserves.”
The words streaked through Ella like a shot, like burning ice from her head to her feet, and she whipped around to stare at Alfred, while the disbelief — and then the sickening, horrible comprehension — screamed white in her thoughts. Alfred had only proposed to Ella because of Natt?! Alfred was kidnapping her, now, to get atNatt?!
“You truly mean that?” she gasped, her voice not hers. “You proposed to me as part of yourhunt?”
But Alfred only gave that cold, terrifying smile, and reached to grip at Ella’s chin, giving it a hard little shake. “Yes, you idiot peasant,” he said smoothly. “Well, for that, and your coin, which we plan to makeverygood use of, after today. Now, unless you want to find yourself dead on this road, reeking of orc, wearing ugly orc gold, with orc-spunk leaking between your legs” — his smile tightened, his hand roughly releasing her chin — “you’ll do as you’re told, and be the bait you were always meant to be.”
