Page 50 of Valpar

I sighed heavily. “The goat doesn’t like me.”

“You threatened to eat it, didn’t you?” Sugha snorted, trying to contain his laughter.

“I did not know the goat was her companion. Once you get a miresa, I cannot wait to watch how you handle her!” I stomped toward him to hit him in the face and match bruise on the other side of his face. He dodged and hopped on my back to pull my hair. “Get off, you worthless piece of fungus!” I pulled on his leg while he laughed, and I slung him onto the ground. He continued to laugh as I huffed.

Osirus pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Valpar, we have something important to discuss. First, where is Calliope? Melina and Sugha can keep her company.”

I cleared my throat and straightened my shoulders. “No one will see her. She’s mine. I don’t need my brother to try and take her from me.” I glared at him. “And I don’t need your miresa trying to talk her into leaving the cave without me. She’s mine!” I roared, banging my chest.

Sugha covered his mouth, his eyes darting between me and the king. “Wow, I guess orcs get unstable with this whole miresa-mate thing, huh?”

The king nodded. “Noted. You orcs are possibly more possessive than the shifters. It’s rather fascinating to me, but her parents won’t be pleased.”

Melina scoffed. “This should have happened years ago. Valpar should have taken her sooner; my girl needs to get laid. With that being said, I need to go talk to her. She snagged herself an orc and I need to tell my girl some moves.” She pushed her hips forward and backward. “I’m super jealous. She will be one of the first humans to get some orc dick—”

“Darling!” The king snapped. The king’s eyes lit up a bright gold, his eyes narrowing at his female. “Calliope will be quite fine. She’s read enough of those books you kept sneaking into her room. Now behave.”

The queen’s smile turned mischievous. “You think so? You know how she can be sometimes. A bit oblivious, but she is quite resourceful. Where is she, Valpar?” Melina smiled sweetly, and I got an uneasy feeling in my stomach.

“She is tied to the bed where she will remain. What do you want? I will not give her back.”

The queen’s bright wings fluttered excitedly. “I bet she loves that,” she whispered to Osirus.

These fae.

The king untied the top part of his tunic, letting the light sources beam down on him. “Come Valpar, it’s best we talk about Calliope in private. I’m sure you will want to understand where she has come from and why she is the way she is.”

“She’s perfect,” I roared as I stepped forward. “I wouldn’t change a thing about her. I dislike how you speak of her that way.”

Osirus gave a small smile, his eyes twinkling with warmth. “It’s true you are best for her, no doubt about that, but even you must recognize she acts differently than most of the souls you’ve met in Bergarian thus far?”

My rigid stance softened, and I loosened my fists. It was true, she was different, but I hadn’t spoken to any other human before. The only concerns I had were why she did not rememberher past and why did she hold hardly any fear. The king would have the answers.

Whatever it was, Calliope was perfect for me.

“Fine,” I heaved out a breath. “No one enters the cave.” I crossed my arms.

“Fine.” Melina crossed her arms in return. “We will wait until you and Osirus are done. Just hurry, I can’t guarantee how long your bonds will keep Calliope in place.” She brushed her nails over her dress.

“What?” I turned around as she stood guard by the cave entrance.

“I’ve taught her everything she knows when it comes to restraints. She can get out of any knot.” She wiggles her eyebrows.

I chuckled deeply. “Well, if she wants to be rewarded, she won’t leave the bed.”

Chapter Sixteen

Valpar

I refused to venturetoo far from the mouth of the cave. The queen was standing just at the edge, talking to my brother. They were highly engaged in conversation.

Too engaged.

Were they plotting something?

“I’m not going to sugarcoat about Calliope’s past, Valpar. I don’t think orcs appreciate fluff in conversation,” Osirus said as he put his hands behind his back.

No, we didn’t. We took what we wanted; we meant what we said. We don’t like formalities with other species. They were pointless. The peace treaties we all signed with each kingdom were not straightforward. There were balls and handshaking, bowing, for-mal cloths and showing best behavior before we signed a piece of paper. I would rather poke out my own eyes with my sword and willfully let a vampire feed off my ass than do the extra fairy-glitter defecating nonsense these creatures wanted.

---