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“Jasmine!”
Bard’s call follows me, but I don’t pay him any heed for I am already skittering along the narrow passage, down the stairs, and into the lower passage that leads to the courtyard.
As I round the corner, the door to the courtyard swings open, and I collide with an orc. His hands shoot out to stop me.
Chest heaving, I look up. It is Bron, the one who is a friend of Doug’s—the same orc who spoke up on my part last night to Edwin. He is dark for an orc, a shade of grey that is not far short of black. His eyes unexpectedly hold a sensitivity that I do not readily associate with orcs.
I swallow.
“There is trouble,” Bron says.
My breath saws unsteadily. “What kind of trouble?”
“She has taken Doug while Edwin is away.”
I frown, my eyes darting toward the double gates that lead into the streets. “She?”
“His mother.”
I feel the blood drain from my face. “What does she want with him?” As the words leave my lips, I already know that whatever it is, it cannot be good.
Bron shrugs, glancing over his shoulder through the open door like he’s worried someone might see us talking. “I don’t know how she found out. She’s a nasty bitch,” he says with heat, bringing a catch to my breath. “The warlord is also away. From what I’ve heard, he was the one who saved Doug when the bitch tried to drown him at birth.”
My ears begin to buzz. “What do you think she might do with him?” I whisper.
Bron shrugs. “You can be sure she’ll order double whatever Edwin intended. She was broken when his father betrayed her and has been hell-bent on breaking Doug ever since. She is an accomplished warrior, but she never took another mate and she has dedicated her life to the war. It’s common knowledge that she and the warlord do not get along, on account of him stepping in with Doug. He tolerates her because she is a fearsome general and shares his enthusiasm for death.”
“Did you see Doug before he left? Do you know if he was well?” I want to ask so much more, but the matters of my heart are of little consequence anymore.
“He was under guard all night. Refusing to eat, from what I heard.”
My lips tremble, and tears sting the back of my eyes.
“You care for him,” Bron says, nodding at me. “You looked wary when Trent cornered you. But I wondered if I’d read it wrong. I’ve known Doug since we were younglings, both of us with no parents, albeit in different ways. It was his mother who ordered the surgeon to cut the wolf part from him, and I worry what she will do to him now that she has her hands on him again.”
Bile rises in my throat.
“Bron! Get back to moving the fucking bricks!”
His head swings around to acknowledge the order before he turns back to me. “I will keep you updated as best I can.” And then he strides away.
I return to Bard and tell him what I have learned. Somehow, I get through the day, although I hold myself together by will alone, sick with anxiety as I wait for news, all the while, terrified for Doug, for what might be happening to him.
As the light fades, Edwin returns. Soon after, with dread churning in my stomach, I am taken by an orc guard to his office.
The room is much as I remember it, save there is a defeated air to the orc general who sits at his desk and beckons me over.
Once I approach him, he delivers the news bluntly.
“The warlord’s sister has taken Doug. He is to be hung tomorrow. I’m sorry, Jasmine. I pleaded his case, that he was a good worker, that he was defending a mate.” He runs his fingers over his face. “Short of storming the prison where she has taken him, the matter is closed.”
My mind whites out, and a strange, wounded whimper escapes my throat.
I see the flush darkening his cheeks. He is sorry for me, yet also reminds me of my lowly place and that I have no route to redress what has happened.
Neither does Doug.
He is going to hang tomorrow.
