Page 30 of The Orc's Princess Bride
“For what it’s worth, my queen,” he said quietly, “many of us believe in you.”
The simple statement nearly undid her composure again. She nodded, unable to speak, and entered her rooms.
The door closed behind her with a heavy thud, and she heard the unmistakable sound of guards taking position outside. She was truly a prisoner now—in a different kind of cage.
She crossed to the balcony, staring out at the mountains beyond. Somewhere out there, Lasseran was plotting, weaving his web of deceit. He had succeeded in turning Ulric against her, in isolating her from her husband and her new country. The peace she’d hoped to find here had been shattered.
But he had also done something unexpected. In forcing her to reveal her secret, he had inadvertently freed her from its power. The truth was out now, for better or worse.
She wiped away her tears and straightened her shoulders. She was still a queen. Still the daughter of the Priest King. Still herself. She would not be defined by Lasseran’s blood in her veins.
And if Ulric couldn’t see that, couldn’t trust in what they had shared, then perhaps he wasn’t worthy of her heart after all.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“He is my uncle!”
Jessamin’s words echoed in the throne room long after she fled, hanging in the air like shards of ice. Ulric sat frozen on his throne, his mind struggling to process what she’d revealed.Her uncle.The revelation knocked the air from his lungs as if he’d been struck by a war hammer.
His advisors and guards stood in shocked silence, not daring to move or speak as he stared unseeing at the space where his queen had stood.
Lasseran was her uncle. Her mother was his sister.
He thought about the “evidence” laid before him—the forged letter, the intercepted messages, the suspicious coincidences—and saw them for what they were: a masterful, cruel frame-up designed to isolate Jessamin from her only protection. From him.
He hadn’t just doubted her. He had convicted her in his heart without trial, without even listening to her defense. The shamewas a physical sickness that churned in his gut. The memory of her face—the hurt, the betrayal, the rage—burned into his mind.
“What have I done?” he whispered, his voice a ragged shadow of itself.
Before he could rise, before he could go to her so he could beg for forgiveness, the great doors burst open and a guard rushed in.
“Your Majesty! An urgent envoy from Almohad sent by the Priest King!”
He straightened, his mind still reeling. “Bring him.”
Minutes later, a grim-faced priest in travel-stained robes strode into the throne room. The man’s eyes were haunted, his face etched with the weariness of a desperate journey. He bowed before the throne, but there was steel in his spine.
“Rise,” he commanded. “You come from the Priest King?”
“I do, Your Majesty.” The priest stood, his voice steady despite his exhaustion. “I bring a message not to a king, but to a husband.”
The priest reached into his robes and withdrew a signet that bore the unmistakable sigil of the Priest King himself.
“My master bid me talk to you alone, but given the circumstances, I believe speed is more important than privacy.” The priest’s eyes darted around the room. “Is the Princess—forgive me, the Queen—is she safe?”
The question was a blade to his heart. “She is.” Physically at least. How much damage had he done to her heart? “Speak your message.”
The priest nodded gravely. “The Priest King sent his daughter to Norhaven not merely as a political bride, but to save her life. High King Lasseran is her uncle.”
“I know. She just told me.”
The priest looked startled for a minute, then nodded. “Then you know he has hunted her since he learned of her existence. He is obsessed with the magic in his bloodline—magic he believes she carries as well. When her mother died in childbirth, we spread the word that the child had died as well. That worked for some years, but eventually he discovered the truth. He has spies everywhere.”
He winced, remembering how dismissive he’d been of her claim that Elspeth had been the true traitor.
“We managed to keep the Princess safe in the temple until she came of age,” the priest continued. “We hoped that Lasseran’s interest in her had faded but his agents came after her again. The Priest King saw only one option to keep her safe—to send her somewhere beyond Lasseran’s reach, to a people strong enough to protect her.”
The priest’s voice dropped, heavy with meaning. “He chose Norhaven not despite your reputation as Beasts, Your Majesty, but because of it. He believed the orcs of Norhaven more honorable than the men of his own kind.”
