Page 191 of Warlord's Plaything

Everything I cannot say. Everything I have fought against. Everything I have ever been too afraid to feel. And when I pull back, breathless, raw, I finally whisper.

"You already knew."

The survivors rise.

The orcs do not attack.

Menias watches but does not interfere.

And Xyron and I?—

We walk away from the ruins together.

Side by side.

Not rulers.

Not conquerors.

Just two broken souls who found something worth living for.

And that is enough.

The weeks pass in a blur.

The remnants of Herox’s people regroup, rebuild, find a new way to live.

The gladiators who fought for their freedom choose their own paths—some staying, some leaving, but all finally free.

Menias vanishes into the wilderness, no longer my enemy, no longer my family.

We find our own way forward.

It is months later when he finally asks me.

We are standing beneath the stars, the air warm, the aroma of night-blooming flowers filling the air.

He turns to me, eyes soft, something unreadable flickering beneath them.

"Mate with me."

I inhale, my heart stuttering.

This is meant to be.

He would wait until I was ready.

And I do not fight it.

Not anymore.

I reach for him, threading my fingers through his silver hair, tugging him down to meet my lips.

"Yes."

The word is quiet.

But it is enough.

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