Page 52 of Orc's Forbidden Claim

Before I realize it, I stand and inhale deeply. I want to shout, scream that this is not the end. That the Shaman has lied and misled us. None of this is the way it should be. There is hope. We can, all of us, love again. In this life. I want to tell them that I have found my love, my dragoste, and I know they can too. Now is not the time to give up, which they have. I know because I had. I stop before I shout.

Stupid. Get caught and they’ll kill me. Probably won’t even wait to hook me up to that infernal machine.

I resume my crouch and continue to study the edge of the city. I’m looking for anyone I know for certain who is in theresistance. I need an ally. Someone I can trust, which is a rare thing for sure under the rule of the Shaman.

Patience is often the key to finding what I need, so I wait. Crouching in the shadows and studying the people who pass by until I see one I can trust. A smile forms on my face. He walks boldly down the street between the hovels with his head held high and his shoulders thrown back. I am glad he’s free as I wasn’t sure if he’d been captured when Dilacs and I escaped with the Queen but there he is. As bold and as carefree as the last time I saw him.

I pick up a small stone and take careful aim. He turns and walks by right below me. I drop the stone, and it hits him on the shoulder.

“Heh,” he says, looking around.

The moment is perfect as there is no one else close by. He turns a circle, looking for the source. I stick my head out of the tunnel and make a hissing sound. His head jerks up, eyes wide with surprise even while his brow is furrowed.

When he sees me, his eyes widen then a broad smile forms. He doesn’t keep looking up but instead looks around carefully now, ascertaining if anyone has seen his odd behavior. I also look around from my vantage point, but I don’t see anyone.

When I look back down, he is gone. I am certain he’s coming to find me, so I sit with my back against the wall, waiting for him to arrive. Muda helped Dilacs and I infiltrate the dark keep of Kala Tavara to save Gweneth, which led to us finding the Queen. He is young, barely out of his youngling years, but smart as a whip and reliable. He will know the lay of the land below and will be able to help me get what I need.

Deciding I’m too close to the opening, I get up and walk down the tunnel. There is an intersection a short distance within, which should be the way he comes up here. I’ll wait for him?—

The ground rumbles, the only warning before everything is shaking violently and I’m thrown from my feet as rock and dirt fall.

35

SAYLOR

“He didn’t have a choice,” I argue.

My blood pressure is rising. It’s so high it feels like my eyes might pop out of my head. My temples are throbbing as I argue with Rosalind. Me. Fighting with Rosalind. Never in a million years would I have ever imagined this happening.

“No choice?” Rosalind says.

She doesn’t raise her voice, but she doesn’t have to. She hits this tone that makes me feel like an idiot without her having to say it. Her fingers drum a steady rhythm on the desk in front of her. The Zmaj she’s mated to, Visidion I think? Whatever, he is standing at her side watching with an unreadably passive, calm look on his face.

“No, there wasn’t. If he didn’t go, then Sek’su would die.”

“You’re a medic?” she asks, arching one eyebrow.

She was leaning onto the desk, but now she straightens and bends partially backward, stretching her back. Her belly isimpossibly huge. She’s not a big woman but the way her stomach distends it looks like she’s about to burst.

I know we say that often about pregnant women who are near the end of their terms, but this is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. She’s huge. Bigger than huge. Massive? I’m not being mean, Rosalind is a lithe, fit woman, especially for her age, but wow, her belly is swollen and all out of shape. It’s a miracle she can even stand upright.

She has both hands on the small of her back and Visidion has one of his on her lower back and the other between her shoulders to give her more support. She has her eyes closed and groans loudly then the groan becomes a cry that is clearly one of pain.

“Are you okay?” I ask, actually concerned.

She bends forward, leaning onto the desk with both hands. She looks pale and sweat is beading on her forehead.

“No, I am not ‘okay’,” she snaps. “Far from it, and now I have this to deal with.”

She slams her fist onto the desk making me jump and at the same time, she lets out a long, low groan. I take two steps toward the door.

“Uhm, I can… come back….”

The glare she gives freezes me in place. I’ve never directly interacted with Rosalind before and I’m wishing I wasn’t right now. I’ve always thought she was intimidating even from afar, but now it feels like there’s ice-water running through my veins.

“No,” she says, gasping every couple of words as she pushes through the pain. “Tell me, again. Why, he’s out, there.”

“He said he knew something that would counteract the poison,” I repeat what I’ve already told her.

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