Page 24 of The Orc and the Innkeeper

All I can do is listen, my mind reeling as I try to process his words. Thorak’s gaze is heavy with regret as he speaks, haunted by the weight of his past actions.

“You kept the pieces?” I ask. “All these years?”

“I did,” he confesses, his voice cracking. “After you ran away, I gathered them up, every last shard. And then I spent countless hours mending the chain and pendant.”

He traces a large finger over the intricate carvings on the stone, his gaze distant as if lost in memory. “I used every bit of skill I had, all the orcish craftsmanship I could muster, to restore it to its former beauty.”

In that moment, I truly see the man he has become—a man striving to fix what he had broken, in more ways than one.

“I did it for you, Mariah,” he says softly, earnestly. “To try to make things right, even if I didn’t know how to tell you back then. Fixing this necklace, it was my way of promising myself that one day, I would find a way to mend the hurt I caused you, too.”

Each word hits me like a revelation. Thorak kept my necklace. He painstakingly pieced it back together, pouring his heart into restoring this precious item.

And he did it all for me.

He gently takes the necklace from my hands and moves around behind me, threading it around my neck and closing the clasp.

I struggle to find my voice, my throat tight with a swell of emotions I can’t even begin to untangle. Everything I thought I knew about Thorak, every assumption and resentment, is unraveling in the face of this heartfelt confession.

With a shaking hand, I reach out and touch the pendant where it rests against my skin. The stone is warm, pulsing with a gentle, soothing energy that seems to emanate from its very core. It’s like a missing part of my soul has been returned to me, the jagged edges of my old wounds finally starting to heal.

“I don’t know what to say,” I whisper.

Thorak reaches out and takes my hand in his, his palm rough and warm against my skin. “You don’t have to say anything,” he murmurs. “Just know that I’m sorry, more than I can ever express. And I will do anything in my power to prove it to you. I hope we can have a fresh start.”

It’s a strange kind of magic, this: the power of sincere words spoken by someone you never thought capable of them.

I nod, swallowing hard past the lump in my throat. “Okay, Thorak. Fresh start,” I murmur, feeling the weight of our shared history shift into something that’s almost like...anticipation.

The next morning,I meet up with Ecco at our favorite boutique in town. She needs a new dress for her next performance at theinn tomorrow, and I need something to wear for Kingsley’s visit to the taproom tonight.

Ecco pulls a sleek, forest green dress from the rack and holds it up to me, humming with approval. “This would look stunning with your coloring,” she gushes.

An unwanted thought races through me: what would Thorak think of me in that? My hand drifts unconsciously to the necklace at my throat, my fingers tracing the delicate carvings that he spent so many hours restoring.

Ecco’s gaze follows my movements, and suddenly, her eyes widen with recognition. “Wait a minute,” she gasps, her hand flying to her mouth. “Is that...?”

I nod, my throat tightening with emotion as I remember how Thorak’s hands trembled as he fastened the chain around my neck, his eyes shining as he spoke of his efforts to mend what he had broken.

“He kept it all these years,” I murmur, my voice barely above a whisper. “After Zara destroyed it, he gathered up all the pieces and spent hours putting it back together.”

Ecco’s eyes mist over as she listens, her hands clasped to her chest. “Oh, Mariah,” she sighs. “I was skeptical of his intentions by agreeing to this deal but I think I was wrong. Don’t you see? He’s been in love with you this whole time.”

I shake my head, trying to ignore the way my pulse quickens at her words. “It’s not like that,” I insist. “He’s just guilty for how he treated me in the past. This is his way of making amends.”

But even as I say it, doubt creeps in at the edges of my certainty. The way Thorak looks at me when he thinks I’m not watching, the gentle brushes of his hand against mine that linger just a moment too long...could there be more to his feelings than just guilt and regret?

Ecco seems to sense my hesitation. She takes my hands in hers, looking at me with a knowing intensity.

“Mariah,” she says softly. “I’ve known you for years, and I’ve never seen you light up the way you do when you’re talking about him. There could be something special there, something real and powerful. Don’t let your fear of the past keep you from embracing the future.”

I swallow hard, trying not to let her words affect me. Ecco’s a hopeless romantic who is forever unlucky in love. She picks the wrong men and leaps after any inclination of her heart. She’s not someone I should be taking dating advice from.

But…what if she’s right?

I try to push the thought away, looking back to the dress in front of me.

“You should try it on,” Ecco urges, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “I bet Thorak would love to see you in that dress.”

---