Page 49 of Orc's Little Human
I wait until Thali's breathing settles into the rhythm of true sleep before I move. Selene sits staring into the fire, her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around her shins like armor.
"Come," I say quietly, extending my hand.
She looks up, confusion flickering across her features. "Where?"
"Away from listening ears."
Understanding dawns. She takes my hand, letting me pull her to her feet. I lead her to a cluster of rocks twenty paces from camp—close enough that I can still see Thali's sleeping form, far enough that our words won't wake her.
The largest boulder provides a natural windbreak, creating a pocket of relative warmth. Moonlight filters through the canopy above, turning everything silver and shadow.
"Sit," I tell her, settling against the stone.
She perches on a smaller rock across from me, the distance between us feeling deliberate. Defensive.
"Are you all right?" The question comes out rougher than intended, weighted with everything I can't quite put into words. She killed two men today. Spilled blood to protect what matters most. That changes a person, marks them in ways that don't always heal clean.
She shakes her head, the motion sharp and brittle. "I—" Her voice cracks. "Those men. Jorik and Halvdan. They were the ones who captured me. Who dragged me to that place."
The camp. The death camp where they marked her, tortured her, branded her skin with magic she still doesn't fully understand.
Rage builds in my chest, molten and violent. If those bastards weren't already dead, I'd kill them myself. Slowly.
"I didn't think they'd find me," she continues, words spilling out in a rush. "I thought I was far enough away, that enough time had passed. But they were hunting me. Still hunting me."
"They're dead now." The statement carries all the finality I can pour into it. "They'll never hunt anyone again."
"But there will be others." She looks up at me, eyes bright with unshed tears. "Don't you see? I'm putting you in danger.Both of you. Thali could have been—" She stops, swallowing hard. "I should go. Before more of them come."
The words hit like a physical blow.Go.As if she could simply walk away from this, from us, from what we've built together.
I move before conscious thought takes hold, crossing the space between us in two strides. My hands frame her face, tilting her chin up so she has to meet my eyes.
"Listen to me." My voice comes out low, fierce. "There is nothing on this planet that will keep me away from you. Nothing. You are not going anywhere."
She tries to shake her head, but my grip prevents the movement. "Korrath, you don't understand?—"
"I understand perfectly. Threats will come. Enemies will find us. We'll face them together. All of them." My thumbs brush across her cheekbones, feeling the dampness of tears she's trying not to shed. "You think I'd let you walk into danger alone? You think I'd choose safety over having you beside me?"
"Why?" The word breaks on a sob. "Why would you do that for me?"
The answer rises from somewhere deeper than thought, truer than anything I've ever spoken.
"Because I love you."
She goes perfectly still beneath my hands, eyes widening with something like shock. As if the possibility never occurred to her.
"Can't you feel it?" I continue, letting the truth pour out of me. "This connection between us? The way your magic calls to mine? The way everything feels right when you're close and wrong when you're not?"
Her breath catches. "You... love me?"
"I have never known what those words could mean before you." The admission tears something open in my chest, leaves me raw and exposed. "I thought love was weakness. Something that made warriors soft, made chiefs fall. But with you..."
I trail off, searching for words that don't exist. How do I explain that she makes me stronger instead of weaker? That protecting her doesn't diminish me but completes me?
"With me, what?" she whispers.
"With you, I understand why men fight wars. Why they'd burn the world down to keep what matters safe."
