Page 111 of The Orc Outcast's Miracle

But how would things have been different? He would still have had to come back here.

There was magic around the door, but not on the frame. Govek lifted his foot, the same one he’d used to kick Ergoth off the platform, and slammed it into the wood. Splintering it with a single thrust. It took a few more hits to work the door free. He was gasping and shaking by the end.

And found the interior filled with Ergoth’s stench and rolling waves of his magic. The small workspace loomed before him. There was a desk in the center, a table to the left, cushioned chairs, and a window seat.

He forced his way in and gritted his teeth against the sight. Walls of shelves littered with scrolls, all labeled—potions, conjurings, building plans...

Govek yanked down those scrolls and threw them on the desk. Nearly tearing through them in his haste.

But he found nothing. Nothing of consequence. Nothing of value.

He blindly yanked down more scrolls, making a tattered mess of them in his search for anything. Something that would explain why Ergoth did this. Why the male despised him.

It couldn’t only be because his mother had left after his birth.

How did that single event shape an entire life of lies? Did Govek deserve to believe himself vile for every one of his twenty-eight years because his mother had decided not to raise him? Just like the mothers of so many other orcs?

“Govek?”

Miranda had come in, her eyes coaxing, her posture easy. He shuddered under the weight of her light.

“That’s it?” he grated.

She tipped her head, waiting.

“That’s fucking it?” he asked, looking around the half-destroyed room again. What did he hope to find here? What answers did he seek? He longed for an ease to this agony looming in the back of his mind. It soaked into his gut, grinding him up inside.

“A whole fucking lifetime of feeling worthless and powerless and furious.” Govek swiped his claws against the scrolls that littered the desk. He tore into them and they fluttered to the ground. “And this is how it ends? That was his motivation for torturing me?”

“I’m so sorry, Govek,” Miranda said softly.

He shook so much he felt his limbs might vibrate off his body. “What the fuck do I do now? How can anything ever make up for this?”

“I know,” Miranda said, her eyes haunted. “I know.”

His chest squeezed, tightening around his heart. She did know, didn’t she? He’d watched her feel this. And fuck, he wished that made it better. That he could find a solution for both of them.

He went to her, jerked her into his arms, and curled around her.

“They want to punish him, but what’s the point?” He drank in the freshness of her scent and let it drown out the stench of his father’s odor. “What will killing him or banishing him or forcing empty apologies from him even do?”

Miranda brought her hands up around his waist, buried her face in his chest.

He squeezed his eyes shut as brutal, violent images assaulted him. “Should I fight him, Miranda? What would that cause but more pain? Would crushing his face to a pulp or ripping apart his limbs make this endless burning agony diminish? Or would it just increase it?”

Miranda tightened her hold, soothing him with her touch.

“And what’s left after that?” His voice broke and his eyes burned. “Fucking talking? Fucking going to ask for an explanation? Just so he can twist up my words and justify his actions and push me back into the role of monster all over again?”

Govek saw it so clearly now, how Ergoth effortlessly contorted him into a vile wretch from a few simple statements.

And now it was a part of him and Govek wasn’t sure how he would ever let it go.

“I know.” Her voice was hot against his chest. “It’s not fair. I’m so so sorry.”

She did know. She knew because this is exactly what Earth was for her. No chance of justice. No way to turn back time. Endless questions and a lifetime of trying to work past the anguish, knowing answers would probably never come.

He clasped his hands under her ass and dragged her up to him, pressing his forehead to hers. So, they could be equal in this. Face to face. Side by side. Walking this path together.

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