Page 64 of Bound to the Orc Warlord

Better to get all of this over with as soon as possible.

“Thank you for letting us cross the Umbriall Plains.” I dip my head to Noon. “I will tell my king of your hospitality.”

“Of course,” she says, her tone regal. “I am grateful for the information about the sluagh.”

Ashley steps forward. “I’d love to come back and play with the foals again.”

“Me too!” Drakonisrevener calls out.

“I believe that can be arranged.”

“Thank you.” Midnight turns to face her mother. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you by bringing trouble to the herd lands.”

“You did as any warrior would. You stood by your fellows.” Noon points her horn toward Ashley and me, then turns back to Midnight. “I have never been embarrassed by you, daughter. You were never an indiscretion or a mistake. Your father was a magnificent beast of a male, rich with pooka traveling magic. He strengthened you, just as you will strengthen our herd when you breed.”

She steps forward so that their necks touch side to side and drapes her head over Midnight’s back. My friend repeats the movement until they stand locked in an embrace.

“In fact, I almost chosetoowell.” A note of amusement fills Noon’s voice. “Your sire was so strong you almost came out pooka. Thank the goddess for your horn.”

Midnight laughs, a soft nicker full of happiness.

Ashley’s hand finds mine, and I look down to see a tear slide down her freckled cheek as she watches the mother and daughter bond.

I brush it away with my thumb and whisper, “Don’t be sad.”

“I’m not.” She gives a little hiccupping laugh. “It’s just so beautiful.”

My bride looks up at me with a soft smile, true and yet tinted by a deeper sorrow that haunts her lovely green eyes.

And it hits me, like lightning striking from a clear sky.

I love how she sees the beauty in everything. I love her sweet, playful spirit. I love that she always finds the joy and the light even when sad.

I love her.

My bride. My Ashley, whose smile is the sun, bringing all life.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Ashley

We ride long into the night, eager to reach Moon Blade Village the next day. Dravarr’s strong arms cradle me to him as Midnight’s rocking canter lulls me to sleep.

I wake when we cross a river and stop on the far side, and he sets me at the base of a tree. I lean back against the trunk, still half caught in dream. The sound of running water fills the cool, pine-scented air. Tiny stars dot the purple-black sky overhead, and distant pixies flit through the trees in flashes of blue, but it’s seriously dark without moonlight. The kind of dark I never saw growing up in the city.

All my previous nights have been spent in a tent or a cave, insulating me from this realization. It feels… wrong somehow, for Alarria to be this dark. Different than it’s meant to be. I closemy eyes and call for the magic within me, letting the song rise in my consciousness until I can hum along.

The beautiful music ripples with power, but underneath runs a haunting melody of sadness. It’s not exactly discordant—it weaves into the whole—but I still feel as if it shouldn’t be there.

I brush my fingers over my crystal and try harder. Words and understanding tease the edge of my senses, just out of reach.

With a sigh, I open my eyes. “Who’s the Moon Goddess?”

“No one knows.” Dravarr returns with a freshly filled waterskin. “Drink.”

The cool water tastes sweet, and I take several gulps before asking, “But she’s your goddess. How can you not know?”

“She never appeared until a few centuries ago.” He shrugs. “The first any fae knew of her was when she brought our ancestors here.”

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