Page 24 of Promised To the Orc
I’ve no desire to marry Tor and be trapped in this village. He’s unwilling to marry me and put me at risk. Even though we’ve found each other, we’re still very far apart. I don’t know what it means for us if the resistance is successful in usurping King Zalcom, but I can’t fathom that Tor and I won’t find a way, one day, to be together.
What we shared this afternoon meant everything. I can make effective weapons and I can fight if I need to. And I’ll help Tor in any way that I can if it means we can be together, but only if all humans can be truly free.
My stomach rumbles and I realize we never ate the meat pies that Tor had purchased in the market.
“I need food,” I say to my guards. “And I’m not interested in sitting in that room any sooner than I have to.”
They accompany me as I wander through the halls, unsure of where I’m going. The palace is remarkably quiet as we traverse a series of hallways and levels. Catching the scent of baking bread, I follow it down another level, but it leads me to a meeting room of some sort. The door is cracked, and I notice the king inside as I pass by. My lip curls in distaste.
“I needed you here!”
Tor’s voice snaps back. “I was occupied.”
“Yes, fucking the human. I’m aware.”
“Father—”
Glancing over my shoulder at my guards, I motion for them to back up. I don’t need them hearing this. I shouldn’t be hearing this, but I can’t bring myself to move.
“It’s fine. Get it out of your system now. Your marriage will be short lived.”
“Listen to what you are saying!”
“Don’t act so surprised, Tor. This is how you pay me back for failing in your duty all those years ago and letting the humans get away. You have the chance to redeem yourself.”
Clamping a hand over my mouth, I force myself to be completely silent and still. The king drums his fingers on the table.
“I know you won’t let them get away this time. Your bride will be the perfect example of what happens when a human disobeys. Don’t you think?”
There’s a long pause, then Tor’s deep, low voice. “Yes.”
Tears flash in my eyes. Signaling the guards to creep back the way we came, I crouch low and turn the corner, then stand and hurry down the hall. “I have to leave right now!”
The guards suddenly sandwich me, the tallest taking my shoulder in a death grip.
“I’m sorry, Alta, but that’s not going to happen.”
One clamps a hand over my mouth and drags me back to my room where I’m shut inside with their big, traitorous bodies blocking the door.
Chapter Nine
MorningcomesandIcan only hope that Lilygrin’s message has gotten to Ritka in time.
I didn’t dare go to Alta last night. By the time I broke free from my father, I had a clandestine meeting with my spies, who delivered the news that my father joined forces with his adversary, former king Vol, to create a new army that would conquer the remaining clans. We were up the night through planning and sending word to the surrounding clans. It’s taken months to gather this intel, and one drunken game of dice between Vol’s man and one of my spies revealed everything.
Vol had created a small but mighty following in the North and pledged his warriors to combine with my father and make their first strike against Ritka. They’d wait until Jeluca and her warriors arrived at the palace for the Great Feast and then infiltrate the village and kill the humans, and anyone else who got in the way, in a show of power. What better way to show off than to defeat the enemy that got away? He and Vol would finally have their human-less society, along with whatever promises my father made to Vol.
He planned to kill Alta in a grand show during the feast to mark the end of human existence in the kingdom.
What he doesn’t know is how many orcs are against his tyranny and long for a more peaceful life. The clans wish to live in peace, with a ruler who doesn’t work so hard for anything but. I don’t know if we’ll be able to notify the other clans in time. I may have to stop this myself.
Sash follows me from the basement room to the weapons vault I’ve been slowly stocking for months. My father doesn’t use the lower dungeon anymore, and the series of catacombs make for secure meeting locations. The spies easily come and go through the outside tunnel that empties from the catacombs into the forest beyond the palace.
If my father was less of an egotistical idiot and paid more attention, he might have caught on. Instead, he was too busy planning how to kill to notice those within who might want to kill him.
“What’s the plan, Tor?”
I wish I had a solid answer. But it all depends on if, and how quickly, warriors from the other clans can move in to protect Ritka. Jeluca and her entourage may very well be on their way here now. Lilygrin will know how to deliver the message to the first person she encounters in Ritka, but not how to intercept its leader. In the meantime, it’s up to my allies and myself to do the heavy lifting.
