Page 6 of The Orc Outcast's Miracle

“You mean Govek, don’t you?” Miranda’s mind flitted around and put together the pieces. “You’re trying to make him lose his temper.”

“Miranda, we would never?—”

“You want him to go crazy after seeing me hurt and attack in front of the clan,” Miranda said, surprised by how quickly all the pieces fell into place despite how dizzy she felt. “You want him to be despised by them.”

“Miranda, you don’t know him. He has earned his reputation all on his own.”

“Sure, on his own, with a lot of help from you.” Miranda rose to a crouch, rage giving her strength. “You cut up those animals, didn’t you?”

Maythra’s voice was laced with genuine confusion. “What animals?”

“The animals Govek hunts. The animals that everyone says he tortured when he didn’t.”

“He does torture them.” It was Rogeth who stepped forward now. “I’m the best butcher in this clan and even I can barely save them.”

“If you were really the best butcher, you would know that those wounds were made after the animal was already dead.”

Rogeth fell silent.

“Why would you do this? Create such an elaborate rouse? What could you possibly hope to gain by making Govek seem like a monster?”

“He is a monster. They’ll all remember after this,” Maythra said, her slender body trembling.

“Remember?” Miranda managed, bile rising in her throat.

“Yes, remember,” Maythra raged. “You’ve been distracting him with your vile cunt, letting the clan forget what he is. Letting them think that perhaps with you at his side, he might be manageable, but I know the truth. I know that there is no controlling that monster.”

Miranda’s head swirled and her vision went blurry again. Fuck, how long was this stuff going to last? “You drugged me. You’re crazy.” Another thought punctured. “How long have you been framing him?”

“I never. He has done all of it!” Maythra screamed, her voice so high and shrill that the two young orcs backed up a step. “Every last fucking thing! He’s been vile since birth.”

“From birth?” Miranda sucked air between her teeth to quell her nausea. “What do you mean?”

“Corine knew it. She felt it when he was still in her womb. He’s the reason she abandoned us all.” Maythra actually began to cry.

“You... you think Govek is the reason his mother left.” Her heart seized.

“Of course, he is. She would never have abandoned her mate or young Tavggol,” Maythra said between growing sobs. “She loved them with every fiber of her being, and then Govek was conceived, and everything changed.”

Miranda shook her head. The forest was growing clearer. “You really think an infant could drive their parent away?”

Maythra scrubbed at her eyes. “You weren’t here, you don’t know. You didn’t see it. Corine was my closest friend. And she could not even tell me the whole truth of it.”

“What did she tell you then?” Miranda asked carefully.

“Nothing,” Maythra exclaimed. “She only looked pained and conflicted, and I thought it was just a rough pregnancy and then she came to us in the dead of night immediately following the birth and begged my Zayvor, my mate, for his aid. To be her guide back to Estwill.”

“She wanted to leave after the birth? Could something have happened immediately before?”

Maythra’s face contorted with rage again. “Our chief had nothing to do with his mate’s betrayal! He is a good, strong, elegant leader, and Corine abused him terribly! Why, he told me that by the end she wouldn’t even look at him.”

That was enough of an answer on its own. She glanced at the two orcs who had edged to the outskirts of the clearing. Neither of them would meet her eye.

“And then they were gone,” Maythra sobbed. “I never saw either alive again. Only days after orc warriors found my Zayvor in the woods in bloody pieces and Corine had disappeared. This clan has never been the same. My Zayvor was the strongest male in the Rove Woods. His magic rivaled that of even our great chief.”

Miranda’s stomach dropped with pity even through the nausea, even as logic gripped her. “But how could you blame Govek for that? It’s more Estwill’s fault than his. He was just a baby.”

“How can you believe that? If he hadn’t been born, they never would have left!”

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