Page 77 of Bound to the Orc Warrior

The rest of the unicorns surrounding her all nod and make grumpy huffs of agreement.

“Fine,” Dravarr growls. “Clear more of the forest. We need firewood for the coming winter, anyway.”

Dragons have the strongest magic of all fae, but if anyone doubted their physical might, watching them tear full-grown trees from the ground like a farmer pulling carrots would put paid to it. Sheevora yanks them from the ground, and a hovering Lukendevener takes them from her and tosses them onto the pile.

The noise is too loud for talk, which gives me a few more moments to prepare myself. I hadn’t expected the meeting to focus on Avalon right away. I thought we’d discuss my bride’s powers and how to use them to open the doors of Faerie permanently.

How do I tell everyone who I am when I’ve barely absorbed any of it myself?

Everyone remains focused on the dragons—everyone, that is, but Sturrm. His eyes narrow as he studies my face. Then he claps a hand to my shoulder and yells in my ear, “Are you all right?”

A spurt of that old familiar anger flares in my chest. How dare anyone assume I’m not all right? Yet this is my friend, and my normal defensiveness has no place here. I shake my head in the tiniest of motions, but it’s enough.

He sees. “What can I do?”

“Believe me when I speak.” I meet his gaze.

“Of course, I’ll believe you.” He gives my shoulder one last squeeze.

The ripping of roots from the ground continues, followed by crashes as the trees are tossed onto a pile of their fallen brethren.

It’s a painful thing for any Wild Fae to see, and Dravarr scowls. It’s true we need wood for winter, but we usually log nearly dead trees from throughout the forest instead of clearing an area like this. Yet what else can we do? The dragons are good enough to travel to us for these meetings, since they can fly, so we need to accommodate them. I snort. That feels like such a kingly decision to make.

With a burst of magic, Lukendevener settles in the low spot made in the subsided ground, but it does little more than bring his towering head a bit more even with ours. He’s even larger than Sheevora. “Now,” he says, pulling his red wings tight to his back, “explain how you went to Avalon. All my studies indicatesuch a trip should be impossible without something connecting you to the realm.”

Naomi glances at me, and I nod. Then she turns back to the dragons. “You’re right. I did use something that connected to Avalon. I used Wranth.”

Shocked noises come from all around.

“I wanted to help him find his home, his family.” She places a hand on my arm. “I used my magic to reach inside him and find a connection. Then I teleported us to that place.”

“Avalon.” Aldronn looks at me, his voice full of wonder. “That’s why my parents could never discover your origins. But how did you get here? No one saw the Moon Goddess light the night sky.”

Naomi shoots me another questioning glance, and she’s right. This is my story to tell.

“My mother had an elf ancestor.” This isn’t shocking. Elves and orcs intermarried upon occasion back in Avalon. “And my mother had elf magic instead of that of a Wild Fae. She could teleport, like Naomi, and she used the last of her life force to send me here.”

“How did she know of Alarria?” Sheevora asks. “It’s a lost realm hidden away. No one knew of it until the Moon Goddess brought us here.”

“She didn’t know of Alarria, in and of itself. She asked Titania to take me somewhere safe.” I look at Aldronn. “Somewhere with family.”

His lips part. What will he think of my news? Will he be glad? Or will he see me as a threat to his reign? I have no desire to rule in his place.

There’s nothing for it but to speak. I will not hide from the truth.

“I’m an orphan no longer.” I lift my chin. “I am the son of King Strakk and Queen Belva.”

I don’t know who’s more surprised, Aldronn, Sturrm, or the rest of the king’s guard, who gape at me from where they stand at the edge of the clearing. Grugg looks especially confused, his gaze darting to me and looking away over and over.

My lips pull back from my teeth in something half smile, half snarl as I catch his eye.

“Good.” Sturrm claps me on the back. “It’s good that you know who they were.”

King Aldronn snaps out of his shock to shoot me a piercing look. “There are stories told in my family that when the Moon Goddess brought us to Alarria only part of the royal family made it. A princess, sister to the queen, was never found. Now it’s clear she remained in Avalon and carried on the family line.”

“It happened to many families,” Dravarr says. “Mine included.”

Sturrm nods. “Same.”

---