Page 77 of Bound to the Orc Warlord

A teen apprentice runs out of the weavers with an armful of bags, and I have him divide them up between all the warriors with nets.

“Here’s our new defense against the sluagh. Killing the individual birds does no good. But if you capture one alive”—I make a swipe through the air with the net, then pull the cord that slams the trapdoor closed.—“you subdue the entire flock. Net one, transfer it to a bag, and net the next. Focus only on attacking birds. Don’t waste time bagging more than one from any given sluagh flock.”

A series of nods and cries of “Yes, Warlord.”

“Partner up. One person nets, the other bags. Go ahead and practice activating and resetting the trapdoor mechanism.” Ashley and Olivia came up with something called a “trigger” that pulled a cord to release a restraining pin. The entire thing is ingenious.

Pride fills me as everyone gets to work, teaming up and quickly deciding who’s better with the net mechanisms. My warriors are well-trained and disciplined, having learned from first my mother and then me.

Rovann and my mother partner, her with the net. That leaves me… I spin to find Krivoth stalking toward me. He yanks the bags from my hand. “Let’s do this.”

I grunt.

“Gerna!” I call out to our healer.

She looks over.

“Gather whatever herbs you have to counter deathsleep, and stay out of the main action. We’re going to need you.”

“Yes, Warlord!”

“You really think they’ll use deathsleep?” Krivoth asks.

“Of course,” I grit out. “It’s a coward’s weapon.”

My eyes scan the sky, praying for some sign of my bride.

Praying my foolishness won’t end in disaster.

I can’t bear to lose Ashley, the light of my life.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Ashley

Wind whips my tears from my eyes, sliding them back to wet the hair at my temples.

God,Dravarr. My mouth stretches into a horrible shape that pulls at my lips. A high whine comes from my throat. An ache pierces my chest, ratcheting my breath into short, sharp sobs.

How could he have hidden all of that from me? That the goddess matched and married us before we even met?

I thought he was beingnicewhen he climbed up that tree to save me. I thought it was proof he’s a good guy. Okay, so he’s still a good guy, but I didn’t know that back then.

All that time on the road, I thought he liked me, just as I thought Nick Caprio liked me.

But Dravarr was only with me because a goddess told him he had to be. Was even the sex a “duty”?

A hiccupping sob keeps me from catching my breath as the light all around me grows brighter.

I clear the treetops before I even realize I don’t have my broomstick. A flutter of panic makes my heart skip, then it dulls back to a heavy thud under the weight of my sadness. Do I even care where I go? I just left the only place that holds any meaning for me in this whole world.

The only other thing I can even think of is to try to find Drake, and I don’t know anything about his home except that it’s in the Dular Mountains.

A bitter laugh escapes me. “No prob, Ashley! Just fly halfway across the continent and search an entire mountain range.”

Would that get me far enough away from my “husband” for all of this to no longer hurt?

My heart says no.

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