Page 17 of Bewitching the Orc Chief

The fire had died to barely glowing embers, leaving shadows to dance across the walls. Fitting, really.

“I didn’t know.” My voice cracked under the weight of my shame. “Not until we prepped for the next dark baptism months later. Not that it excuses anything.”

The silence stretched between us. I forced myself to meet his gaze, waiting for the disgust. The condemnation. The order for those chains, after all.

“You left.” It wasn’t a question.

“I ran.” The cowardly correction burned like acid. “I burned everything in their archives and destroyed the altar, but the damage was already done. Someone lost their gift because of me. Because I was too fucking curious, too hungry for power, to question any damn thing.”

Tears pricked my eyes. I blinked them away angrily. Self-pity accomplished nothing. Least of all atonement.

“That’s what dark magic really is. Not some mystical corruption or demon taint. Just... people. Hurting other people because they can. Because they want more power, more knowledge, moreeverything.”

“And now?” His expression stayed carefully neutral. “What do you want now?”

“To be better.” The words came out barely above a whisper. “To use what little talent I actually have to help people instead of hurting them. To...” I gestured helplessly at the space between us. “To belong somewhere. But we both know that’s not possible anymore.”

Osen slumped in his chair, dragging a hand down his face. The exhaustion lining his features felt mirrored in my soul. “I told you my father died six months ago, yes?”

He waited for my nod to continue, not quite understanding what one had to do with the other.

“He was killed in what everyone calls an honor duel.” The words came slowly, weighted with grief. “A young warrior murdered a human hiker near our borders. Father chose tohonor Silvermist’s jurisdiction rather than shield him from justice.”

“That must have pissed off your shaman.” The words slipped out before I could stop them.

“Alris and Father butted heads often.” Osen’s jaw clenched. “The shaman believed a return to isolation would keep us pure. Father saw the old ways as incompatible with our changed world. And the warrior’s father…”

“You inherited their fight.”

“Along with a fractured clan and impossible expectations. I think…” He ran a hand through his hair. “I understand choosing between what’s right and what others demand. I understand duty and decisions that feel like betrayal.”

His eyes met mine across the darkness. I knew I shouldn’t hope, shouldn’t wish to lead anything like a normal life. But the temptation to be seen beyond my sins curled treacherously around my heart.

Shouts erupted outside, followed by the thunder of running feet.

“Help! We need help!”

Osen was on his feet in an instant, practically ripping the door off its hinges as he charged outside. I raced after him into the early morning light.

The scene that greeted us was chaos. A cluster of orcs gathered near the village center, their voices tight with panic. Through gaps in the crowd, I caught glimpses of blood-stained ground and still bodies.

Including Torain.

“What happened?” Osen demanded, his voice cutting through the chatter.

“Felling accident,” one of the less injured orcs gasped out. “We were working on a lodged tree in the eastern woodlot when?—”

But I’d stopped listening, my attention locked on Torain. His skin had gone ashen, breaths coming in ragged gasps. The wound on his side pulsed with each labored heartbeat, dark blood seeping between the fingers of whoever tried to staunch the flow.

He was dying.

Alris pushed through the onlookers, staff raised. “Stand back. I will heal him.”

But as the shaman began his chant, wrongness crawled across my skin. His magic reached for Torain like grasping claws, ready to drain rather than heal. Whether through incompetence or intent, the spell would steal what little life remained in Torain’s body.

I didn’t think. I shoved past Alris to kneel at Torain’s side. Dark magic surged beneath my skin, power I’d sworn never to use again clamoring to be unleashed.

“What are you doing?” Alris snarled. “Get away from him, witch!”

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