AllFreeNovel
Share Us
His words are a challenge, but he knows that I’m not willing to counter the challenge just yet.
“Get over her,” he said dismissively. I want to retch from his hot, stale breath in my face. “You can find another whore. After we return the tome to the King, he will give us all whatever we want.”
I turn away woodenly, walking back to my quarters mechanically.
As I walk, the old demon’s words replay in my mind.
Will you betray your people, your family, for this human whore?Tessa is not a whore, the voice in my head says, sharp and hot.
I’m willing to betray my people for her. I will betray the King if it saves Tessa.
I came to the conclusion so easily that it’s almost a relief to know what I’m going to do.
I also know I would not have made any other decision. Because I’m starting to fall in love with Tessa.
SIXTEEN
TESSA
He left me.Those are the only words I can think of as I stand at the crest of Miller’s Point.
The place where we had our first kiss.
And he did not even have the decency to tell me before leaving.
I’m not even sure why he left. All I know is I was confronted by dozens of villagers who hurled insults at me.
I deal with it alone before going home to my parents, who do the same.
My father has never shouted at me like this before.
But I feel no shame at their words. I feel no shame at having been with Varzig. I’m simply sad that they were demeaning me like that.
After I brought Varzig here to help us. To protect us from the orcs.
But I know they will never believe me. Nor will they care. They simply want a target. They just want someone to hurt.
I do not think there is anything they can say that will hurt me. What Varzig did, however, hurts more than anything the villagers could say.
Not even my parents can say anything to hurt me more than his leaving does.
Before he left, everything was fine with us. I enjoyed spending time with him, and he asked me to marry him and travel to his realm. I agreed, so why did he leave?
I was reveling in my feelings for him. And his feelings for me. As I walked back to my bedroom, I started doubting everything again.
Maybe he had never had any feelings for me. Maybe he had turned me into a whore, and now that he’s done with me, he has discarded me.
I let out a sharp exhale as the shame and hurt reared their heads in my chest. The demon just used me. It seemed all the villagers were right.
It doesn’t matter, I told myself and pressed my lips tightly together.
I will use the book to create an entire army of knights who can protect the village from the orcs.
They will not only protect the village, but they will also decimate the entire orc population.
Now that my intentions are set, a new determination fills me. I cannot allow myself to care about Varzig’s disappearance.
My only priority now has to be protecting Camp Shadows. My home. My family.
