Page 18 of Promised To the Orc
“Does it speak to you, too?”
“W-what?”
“That damn sword. What magic does it have? It spoke to me.”
I’m dumbfounded. “What did it say?”
He runs a hand down the back of his head. “Not to let my father hold it.”
I huff an incredulous laugh, thinking of how it vibrated this morning. “It really doesn’t like your father. It’s been forged with magic; I suppose, but I didn’t know it could speak…”
“Your hands are the magic. The way you create such perfect weapons. It’s a gift.”
He looks at me with so much reverence and affection that I almost believe there is a happy ending for us. If this were any other circumstance, maybe I could be his wife. Tears threaten again. It’s frustrating and unexpected. I don’t cry.
“Tell me about this revolution.”
He hesitates and drinks his brew. “For your own safety, I won’t go into detail. All I can say is that the free clans are coming together to preserve that freedom. My father is planning a coup, but I’m not sure when or with what army.”
“Why does he want me to be your wife?”
Tor lifts his chin and squeezes my hand. His eyes flash with anger. “You’re free from the promise you made all those years ago. I don’t want to marry you, Alta.”
Chapter Seven
It’saliewrappedin a truth.
Of course, I still want to marry her but not like this. I was always afraid of being the reason that she was hunted, and I would never knowingly put her in danger. Her brow crinkles and I can’t tell if she’s distraught or relieved. Maybe it’s a little of both.
“I’m ready to return to Ritka now.”
She says the words softly while looking at her mug. My words have wounded her somewhere deep inside, even if she doesn’t want to admit it. Running my thumb over the back of her smooth hand, I urge her to look at me.
“It’s not because I don’t desire you. I do. I suspect my father wants to make an example out of you and I refuse to allow him to destroy you the way he did my mother.” Draining my mug, I slam it on the edge of the table for Sash to refill. “This is all a game to him, Alta. And you are just a playing piece. We all are, even me and I’m his son.”
She strokes a finger around the rim of her mug, thinking. “Are you going to overthrow him the way he did to King Vol?”
“I don’t desire to sit on the throne, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“I wouldn’t judge you if you wanted to. You would be a better ruler.”
What I experienced in my youth is nothing compared to what Alta went through, and I hate to even attempt to make a correlation. I don’t want to insult her by insinuating that I suffered as much as she did. But in a way, I did… Just in a differently. My mother married my father to join their two clans in peace. King Vol promised that if my mother entered this union, he wouldn’t come for their land. She hadn’t wanted to marry my father, but she did it for her people. And she suffered for it, greatly. The king didn’t completely keep his word and my father was terrible to her.
When I came along, things got worse. I would lie with her some nights as a child, cuddled against her side while she told me stories of the village where she grew up and her longing to take me there. Several times, she made plans to escape my father and take us to her clan. But as I grew older, and it never happened, I realized she was locked in this marriage forever. Returning to her family would break the promise that she and the king had made and there would be nothing stopping an invasion of her homeland.
She sacrificed for her people until the moment of her death, and as much as she tried to shield me from my father, there was never any escaping him.
Coming to the ice caves to visit Alta was my escape. As my mother turned inward and became a shell of herself, my hatred for my father grew. The only way to temper that anger was to spend time with my human friend. She doesn’t know that she saved me so many times.
“I never wanted to be a ruler, Alta. All I want is a peaceful life, somewhere safe to raise my children, and spend good years with my wife.”
Her eyes search my face. It would be so easy to tell her everything, but I can’t. The less she knows, the better.
“If there was a way that I could make you mine and live up to the promise we made to each other, I would. But I can’t love you and keep you safe, not yet. Not now.”
Her eyelids flutter. “What should I do?”
“Play along. Tell my father that you agree to be my wife. It’s the only way to appease him for now. I’ll get you back to Ritka.”
