Page 113 of Warlord's Plaything

If I do—I might lose whatever’s left of my fucking sanity.

"Curious, isn’t it?"Kaelith muses, pacing in front of me.

"She never told you, did she?"

He crouches down again, his smirk widening.

"That she is orc-born. That she belongs to something bigger than you."

The words land like daggers in my ribs.

She never told me.

The ink on that parchment is still fresh.

Which means?—

"She didn’t just sign away her freedom."Kaelith’s voice is a fucking whisper, smooth and slow, savoring every syllable."She signed away yours, too."

He taps the paper.

"Marrying an orc chieftain in exchange for an army. An army to take down my Council. To bring war to my lands."

His eyes narrow.

"To burn it all to the ground."

A cruel fucking pause.

"And she didn’t even tell you."

Something in me snaps.

The chains groan as my muscles coil, tension building, fire in my fucking bones.

"She didn’t?—"

The words die on my tongue.

The answer eludes me and the only thing staring back at me is cold, hard proof.

Her name.

Her choice.

And it wasn’t me.

"I can see it now,"Kaelith hums, watching me unravel."You thought she was different, didn’t you?"

I say nothing.

I fucking believed in her.

"She is just like the rest of them."

He steps closer, voice lower now, meant for me alone.

"She let you fuck her. Let you touch her. Let you think you could have her."

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