AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You are the noblest orc ever,” I say. “Edwin spoke for you, but your mother is cruel and powerful.” My voice softens. “He told me there was naught else that he could do.”
Doug’s fingers never stop stroking my hair. If he feels any bitterness for what has come to pass, he reveals none of it in his actions.
Life is cruel and unfair. I do not want to watch him die. I still don’t quite understand what happened when he saved me from Trent—I caught only the briefest flash of white fur and huge tusks. It was Doug’s beast. I know that. Only he is not a wolf shifter. It’s something else—a part of him that roused to protective anger on my part.
“I am sorry,” I say, “that I did not talk to you about Trent earlier. He saw me run into the forest the night the bears attacked. He wanted me to lay with him. I refused. He threatened to tell… not that it matters when he forced… Goddess, I’m so sorry.” A sob breaks from my chest. “I shall be sorry for the rest of my life, for I must spend it without you all because of my stupidity and foolishness.”
He holds me closer and rocks me in his arms. He ought to hate me for costing him his life. But I know that he doesn’t.
“You could make your beast,” I whisper. “Tomorrow, as they are leading you away. You could run away.” I lift my head from his chest to look at him. “Why do you never make your beast? Does he only come out when he’s angry?”
Doug nods.
“Is that what happened with the bear shifter?”
He nods again.
“I should like to meet him.” My heart breaks just a little more, knowing I shall not. “Maybe if you get angry enough tomorrow… ”
He cups my cheek in his huge hands and kisses my forehead. And I realize what he is telling me.
The beast only comes for me. The beast only comes when I’m in danger.
My mind is sore and frantic. I ache everywhere—my whole body throbs in pain from the sorrow that consumes me.
“I love you, Doug. I shall hold your memory inside me, beside those that I have of my parents, for the rest of my life.”
He kisses me again, and then he tucks my head back down against his chest and holds me.
There are no words left to say, only endless desolation that wraps around us.
I don’t want the night to end. But all things end, and I feel the passing of time as one moment leads into another. I cherish every breath, every beat of his heart under my cheek. I cherish the touch of his hand in my hair and the feel of his body underneath me.
But eventually, as the light beyond the grilled window begins to lighten, the guard comes around.
It is time for me to go.
“I love you. When I was younger, I always wanted a prince to save me. And then, here, and so unexpectedly, I have found exactly that. But you are an orc prince who has been rejected, who has suffered terrible injustice, who must now pay the price for being noble and protecting me. I will never forget you. Know that, just like my parents, you are never gone while you live inside my heart.”
I cling to him, shameless in my sorrow. He has to pry me off and hand me bodily to the guard. The guard nods and takes me by the arm. I thought I had emptied myself of tears last night, but I sob piteously as I’m led away.
The next time I see Doug, he will be on a gallows with a noose around his neck.
ChapterTen
Jasmine
There is no market in Krug today. In the place of colorful stalls, a gallows has been built—a raised platform with wooden steps and a cross-arm from which hangs a sturdy rope.
Crowds gather to watch the white orc, who is a nephew to the warlord—and who is mute in two ways—hang.
My eyes are so swollen from my tears that I can barely see. Bard coached me not to come. Only how could I do anything else?
I am not the one who is on the gallows, but I must be a different kind of brave. I know the image will haunt me for the rest of my life, but I want Doug to see me here for him even though I cannot save him in the way he saved me.
The sun is already blistering hot, and the crowd is raucous, full of a strange, off-kilter merriment that seems misplaced in light of what’s about to happen.
Sellers call out, advertising their wares as they push carts laden with food and drinks through the throng. Bard walks at my side. I feel his worried eyes upon me as we press through the people, aided by our orc escort, at the front of which is Bron, the dark-skinned orc.
