Page 59 of Bound to the Orc King

May and Naomi pop back into view, sharing a laugh over something they’ve seen or said.

My heart clenches tight, then releases as I leap to my feet. “You’re back.”

They’re obviously fine, so I bite back the other questions that crowd my mouth, longing to pour forth: Are you all right? Why were you gone so long? Don’t you realize I worry?

Yet Wranth’s words echo through me as I watch May’s eyes twinkle with delight. Do I really want to steal the smile from her face?

I do not.

Maybe I don’t know what love feels like.

But that doesn’t mean I can’t practice it.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

May

A muscle jumps in Aldronn’s jaw, and his lips press into a thin line like he’s about three seconds away from exploding.

I brace. A million other incidents from my past tell me that’s the look someone gets right when they’re about to lay into me for something I did wrong.

Surprisingly, his expression smooths, and he asks a neutral tone, “How was it?”

Pleased surprise flutters in my chest.

“It was great,” I say. “Naomi teleported us to the clearing and then took us to the top of the standing stone. Without an ogre tugging on my ankle, I finally got a chance to look around.”

“It’s quite the view,” Naomi says. “It gave me an idea I’d like to discuss with the group.”

“Everyone.” Aldronn’s deep voice carries through the clearing effortlessly, as if he’s practiced a lot of public speaking. “If we can gather around.”

Naomi asks Wranth to get out the map they brought, and he pulls it from his pack and spreads it open across the mossy ground.

Everyone gathers around him, a feeling of expectation hanging in the air. Rune and Shadow edge in close, ringed by the orc guards and unicorns.

Naomi lifts onto her toes, neck craning as she looks around. “Sheevora the Magnificent, may I speak with you?”

The unicorns and orcs of the guard part to let the dragon through. She’s been writing all morning and still carries paper and quill. “I am here.”

“Wranth, can you tell me again how long it will take to get to the Northern Wastes if we ride?”

“Well over a week.” His finger traces a line across the map, sliding from green to an area left white. “And that’s just to reach the border. Once there, we have no idea how far into the Wastes our destination lies.” He glances at me to confirm.

“Yeah, I have no clue where I’m supposed to go.” I shrug. “The only thing I know for certain is not south.”

“I have an idea for how to get to the Northern Wastes a lot more quickly,” Naomi says. “Or actually May had the idea.”

I take over. “We were looking north from the standing stone, and Naomi mentioned using it to spot a place to teleport to. So I said it was too bad she couldn’t fly up and get an even better view.” I crouch down beside Wranth and glance at Sheevora. “Which is when I thought of you. If you could fly Naomi up high enough to get a lock on each teleportation site, we could skip across the landscape.” I tap my hand against the map in a series of jumps, like a rock skipping across the surface of a pond.

“Even with the help of the red crystals, that would be too much teleporting for Naomi,” Wranth growls, his lips pulled down into a scowl. “Twenty people are too many for her to take on multiple trips a day.”

“He’s not wrong,” my friend says. “I can do maybe fifty trips total a day.”

“Right.” I nod. “Which is why you don’t take all of us. We go as a smaller, faster party.”

Aldronn looks at everyone gathered around, his gaze assessing. “We could leave my guard behind.”

“My king, I must protest,” an orc says, the rest of the guard nodding in agreement.

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