Page 102 of The Orc Outcast's Mate

“Your pity is kind, but you should save it for your male. Sit down there, Miranda. And clear up your mind.”

“Clear my mind? Of what?”

“Of everything. I need it cleared so I can dredge, so the Fades will let me fucking go to the hall and get breakfast.”

Oh. Miranda chewed her lip. She had no idea how to do that. The memories of Earth were constant. Endless. Even when she was distracted by a task, they hovered in the back of her brain, ready to pounce. To grind her up into a pile of useless mush. To drown her in her fear and regret and horrible guilt.

“Hush.”

Miranda’s back went straight. The seer’s hum sounded so much like Govek it was almost terrifying.

“I was trying to soothe, not startle. This isn’t going to work. It’s too thick. I can’t clear it. You have to.”

“But...” Miranda didn’t know what to do. Nothing made sense.

How was she supposed to overcome the horrors of Earth on her own? The seer was supposed to be the one helping her with that. He was the one that would show her what happened to her babies. Tell her they’d survived. That they were okay with their parents. Unhurt. Wandering Faeda and waiting for her to find them.

“Ah, that was it then.” The seer stood.

“What?” Miranda scrambled to her feet as he began to walk away. “Wait, where are you going?”

“That is what I was meant to say here. You need to clear your mind. Until then, I cannot help you.”

“But I don’t know how to do that.” Miranda’s stomach twisted.

“That isn’t my problem,” he said, and Miranda almost crumbled, begging, when he paused. His brow smoothed. His expression eased.

The seer looked so young. He couldn’t have been much older than her, but there were dark bags under his eyes, his cheeks were hollow, and his body was too thin.

He’d clearly weathered horrible storms.

Just how long had he been riddled by agony? Used as a tool of the Fades? Was there even a light at the end of the tunnel for him, or was death going to be his only reprieve?

His expression softened more. “You are far too kind, Miranda. Be careful who you offer it to.”

“Do you mean Govek?”

“Fades, no. That male came back here for you. He deserves every scrap of kindness you willingly throw his way. I mean, the males in the clan. The ones who would see your kindness and twist it into what they want.”

“Who?” Miranda asked.

“Best I not say. It will muddle things.”

“Muddle what?”

But the seer only turned away again. “My task here is done and your male is approaching. We’ll cross paths again, Miranda. Fades be.”

The male walked off into the woods and disappeared just before Govek burst up from the edge of the cliff, no spear in hand, his face a mask of anger.

“Where the fuck is he?”

“He’s gone,” Miranda said, seeing no reason to deny it. You can’t hide smell. “He went that way.”

Govek almost bounded into the woods before Miranda interrupted his charge. “You really going to leave me alone?”

He stopped short. Breathed hard. Stormed back over to her side. “Come here.”

She let him pick her up and plunk her down on a boulder. His hands stroked her limbs. “Did he hurt you?”

---