Page 198 of The Orc's Captive Bride
She opened her mouth to explain, then closed it again.
Because… was it different? Really?
She’d had no preparation for any of this. No training in portal magic or ancient languages from another world or rituals that required goddess-touched sacrifice.
She’d just… figured it out. Step by step, question by question, using the tools she had and refusing to give up.
Oh, she thought with sudden clarity.That’s what he means.
“You’ve spent weeks studying the records,” he continued, his voice gentle but firm. “You know more about how Kel’Vara works—how it’s supposed to work—than most people who’ve lived here their whole lives. You’ve seen what Lasseran did wrong. You know what needs to change.”
“Knowing what’s wrong doesn’t mean I know how to fix it,” she protested, but her argument was weakening.
“Then you ask.” He moved to stand directly in front of her, his golden eyes warm. “You have Vorlag and the Veilborn. You have Ulric and Jessamin’s support. You have me and the others who’ve lived in this city, who know its rhythms.”
His scarred hand came up to cup her cheek, thumb brushing across her cheekbone.
“You don’t have to know everything, Thea. You just have to care enough to learn. And that…” His mouth quirked in a small smile. “That you’re incapable of not doing.”
Despite everything—the exhaustion, the fear, the overwhelming impossibility of the situation—she felt herself smile back.
“That’s a very diplomatic way of saying I’m nosy.”
“Curious,” he corrected. “Thorough. Determined.”
“Stubborn.”
“That too.”
His smile widened, and something warm unfolded in her chest.
He believes in me, she realized.He actually thinks I can do this.
The thought was both terrifying and oddly steadying. Her mind, never able to stay still for long, immediately started spinning with questions. If she was really going to do this—and it seemed she had little choice in the matter—then she needed information.
“The city administration,” she said abruptly. “How does it work? There must be some kind of bureaucracy, officials who handle day-to-day governance. Lasseran couldn’t have managed everything himself.”
He blinked at the sudden shift, then laughed—a warm, genuine sound that she had heard far too rarely.
“There she is,” he said, fondness clear in his voice. “I was wondering when the questions would start.”
“I’m serious! I need to understand the existing power structures before I can—mmph!”
He kissed her, cutting off her increasingly frantic planning mid-sentence.
And just like that, every coherent thought in her head evaporated.
His mouth was warm and demanding, one hand tangling in her hair while the other wrapped around her waist, pulling her flush against him. She made a small sound—protest or encouragement, she honestly couldn’t tell—and melted into him.
Yes. This. This makes sense.
Nothing else did. Not the goddess’s choice, not the crown she hadn’t asked for, not the massive responsibility that had been thrust upon her.
But Khorrek—solid and real and hers—made perfect sense.
She kissed him back with desperate intensity, her hands fisting in his tunic, anchoring herself to something she understood. The mate bond thrummed between them, warm and reassuring, a constant reminder that whatever else might be uncertain, this was solid.
Real.
