AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Instead, I continue to sit up and tell him about the mission.
“If I don’t get the ransom, the contract says that I’m supposed to kill you and the rest of your family. But I am not going to do that.”
Denve lays back on the bed, and I turn to look at him.
“Well,” he says. His voice is light, and I know laughter lingers behind every word. “If you have to kill me, you’re going to need to sate my curiosity first.”
I raise an eyebrow at him.
“Let me talk,” he says, and he does laugh this time. “What are you? Where are you from?”
I suppose it is time to let him know what and who I am.
I sigh and reply, although I still do not tell him everything.
“I come from Prazh. I’m a purna – well, half of one anyway. That’s where I get my magic.”
“The purna of Prazh.” Denve says reflectively. “I’ve heard about your people but not much.”
I laugh mirthlessly. “Yes, we try not to let a lot of information get out. We are a very secretive group.”
“So you’re a purna?” Denve’s voice is still gentle, but he is also asking me to continue.
I take a deep breath. “Yes, I am a purna. For most of my life I lived in Prazh. Until several years ago when half of my coven was killed in an attack.”
I get up from the bed then and start pacing up and down in front of him.
There is one more question he has to ask me. One question that I am not sure how to answer. A question that I do not want to answer.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” he says to my surprise. I stop pacing and turn to look at him. “But how do you know my brother?”
I exhale heavily and sit down again.
“I was in love with Ocuri,” I say simply. I ignore Denve’s sharp inhale and the way his body stiffens next to mine. “I was in love with him, and I thought he loved me. So I revealed myself and my coven to him.”
“What did he do?” There is a new urgency in Denve’s voice. He seems to know that this story will end badly.
But then, he does know his brother better than I ever did.
“I revealed myself to him, and he brought a platoon of dark elf soldiers and launched an attack on the village where my coven was located. Half of my coven was killed in the attack.”
I continue speaking before Denve can interrupt me. This is one story that I need to get through as soon as possible.
“After the attack, I was banished for revealing myself to the dark elves. I had nothing left there, no family except the coven who did not want me. So I left, fled to Milthar, and trained to be an assassin.”
I do not tell him about Nakam.
“My goal was to take revenge for everything I had lost. I tracked you and your family down and came to Vhoig with the intention of killing you. I needed to even the scales somehow.``
My voice breaks on the last word. I look at Denve, even though I am afraid of what I will see on his face.
“I couldn’t take revenge by killing your brother. So I decided that you were the next best thing.” I whisper these words.
I have grown to care for Denve in the last three days. I won’t kill him as per my ransom note.
But I do not know how he will react to the information I have just given him.
I am ashamed. I am ashamed that I betrayed my coven in the way I did. I am ashamed that I hurt Denve the way I did. And I am ashamed that I was planning to kill him and his entire family.
