Page 95 of The Orc's Captive Bride
“Leaving us with nothing.”
“Leaving you extinct. Within a generation, maybe two, there would be no more orcs. Just Lasseran sitting on a throne of power he stole from an entire people.”
He turned away, his shoulders rigid.
“He knew,” he said quietly. “All this time, he knew what he was doing.”
“Yes.”
“And he didn’t care.”
“No. He cared about power. About control. About being more than human.” She went to his side. “But this also means there’s hope.”
He looked at her. “How?”
“If the power was stolen, it can be returned. If the balance was broken, it can be restored.” Her mind was already working through the possibilities. “I need more time, more research, but I think I can reverse the process. Take back what was stolen and return it to the covenant.”
“You can cure the curse.”
“I can heal the blessing. Restore what it was meant to be.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched. “That would mean…”
“Children. A future. Everything Lasseran’s bloodline stole from you.”
He closed his eyes. “That’s not possible.”
“It is. The knowledge is here, waiting for someone to find it.”
“For you to find it.”
“Yes.” She grabbed his hand. “This is what he brought me here to discover. He wants to make sure he can take it all, but he doesn’t know what the text actually says. He doesn’t know that it reveals his entire plan.”
“And exposes how to undo it.”
“Exactly.” She squeezed his hand. “We can stop him, Khorrek. We can save your people.”
He opened his eyes and the devastation in his expression made her heart break.
“At what cost?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“You think Lasseran will let you walk away with this knowledge? That he’ll just accept defeat?”
“I—”
“The moment he knows you’ve translated the text, he’ll take it from you. Force you to tell him what it says. And when he has what he needs, he’ll kill you.”
The words were brutal, but she knew they were true and her stomach clenched.
“Then we don’t tell him,” she said. “We make him think I’m still working on it. Buy more time.”
“Time for what?”
“To finish the research and figure out exactly how to restore the balance. And then…” She trailed off.
And then what? Confront one of the most powerful men in the Five Kingdoms? Tell him we’re undoing centuries of his family’s work?
