Page 118 of The Orc Outcast's Miracle

Miranda tensed. Oh, god, for real? That fast?

“I see no reason to stay. The matter of the clan was settled today, and I have four traitors in my midst to deal with.”

The matter of the clan was settled?

Did that mean that when the clan voted Ergoth out, they’d also voted Govek in?

Without Govek’s say on the matter?

Miranda looked to Govek, only to find him just as flummoxed as Karthoc was.

Govek cut in. “Karthoc, I need to discuss the role of chief?—”

“Govek, beg pardon, but my conversation is more time sensitive,” the seer said flatly.

“More time sensitive than the leadership of Rove Wood Clan?”

“My ability to have this conversation at all is dependent on the reprieve the Fades have given me from their vicious, eternal screaming,” the seer said slowly, each word punctuated. “If they start to roar at me again, I will be unable to dredge with Miranda at all, let alone give her the details of what that dredging will entail.”

Miranda walked over to stand next to Govek and put her hand on his shoulder. “Do you want to go talk to Karthoc while I discuss things with the seer?”

“No.” Govek’s response was firm and instant. “We do this together. You can go first.”

She grinned as he pulled her down into the chair next to him. By the time she was settled, her anticipation was high all over again. “All right then. I guess go ahead, seer. What’s going to happen?”

“That depends on you, Miranda.” The seer drummed his fingers slowly on the wooden table. “You have blanks in your memory. Things that do not make sense from your time on Earth. I can see the gaps, the places that need to be filled. You do want those filled, don’t you?”

“Yes, I do.” Miranda gulped, her heart beating rapidly in her ears. “I want to know why I was the one to survive. And how I made it out alive to begin with. Everything was... well, you saw it.”

“Yes. I saw it, indeed.” The seer huffed out a long breath. “There are guards in your mind, Miranda. You are the one preventing yourself from remembering.”

“How do I fix that?”

“At this point, you don’t.” The seer shifted. “You have done all you can in the time allotted. I will have to push through what remains by force.”

“By... force?” Her hands began to tremble against the tabletop. Govek took one in his, covering it entirely with his warmth.

“Yes. There will be repercussions to breaking down those walls, Miranda,” the seer said slowly, still drumming that steady beat. “It will be violent. Brutal. I can feel the fracturing inside me already. It will fracture your mind too.”

“Fracture my mind?” Miranda’s heart drummed faster than the seer’s fingers could pound. “Like they’ll break my brain or something?”

“I do not know that, but I do know that there is death here. Danger. The severity of this dredging will ripple consequences through the entirety of your being. Your very existence is balanced with it.”

A silence descended as Miranda forced herself to process that statement enough to formulate a response.

“No.” Govek’s voice was sharp and left no room for argument. His expression was tight and his body was taut.

She’d known this was coming. She’d seen it in him. The defiance. The fear. But he’d kept it at bay before. She’d hoped he would be able to until the end.

Because no matter what he said she couldn’t stop this dredging.

“Govek,” the seer said low.

“No!” Govek said. “I will not take the risk. She will not take this risk. Fades be fucked, I’m not risking the life of my mate for your whims.”

“They are not whims, Govek,” Evythiken said, his tone jarring. Miranda’s head swam and her heart raced. Her fingers twitched as he continued. “And your mate feels it. Don’t you, Miranda?”

Miranda nodded slowly, combing back through those horrible moments on Earth. She looked into Govek’s eyes, saw the anguish there, but she could not stop. Not when she was so close. “I need to know. I’ve been saying that this whole time. Why didn’t I die with them? I survived and everyone else died.”

---