Page 105 of The Orc's Captive Bride
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The bundle of scrolls pressed against Thea’s chest through the layers of her cloak. Khorrek carried most of her documents, but she’d insisted on carrying the six parchments that had provided the key to the riddle.
Evidence. Truth.And possibly a death sentence.
She followed him through the narrow servants’ corridor, her soft-soled boots whispering against the stone. His broad shoulders blocked most of the dim torchlight ahead, turning him into a familiar shadow, comforting in a way that should probably terrify her more than it did.
I’m fleeing a palace with an orc warrior who spent most of his life as an assassin. But it’s fine. Totally normal academic behavior.
Her mind wouldn’t settle, still spinning through the discovery. The hidden meanings woven into those ancient texts. The elegant symmetry of the original covenant—a balance between human magic and orcish strength, power flowing in both directions like a river finding its natural course.
And then the theft. Generations of it. No wonder the orcs were dying out. Their half of the covenant had been drained dry, leaving nothing but dregs and desperation.
Khorrek raised a fist, and she froze.
Voices drifted from somewhere ahead. Male. Bored. Guards complaining about night shifts and cold drafts and someone named Marcus who never brought his share of the wine.
Khorrek gestured towards a side passage she hadn’t noticed, and she followed him silently. Grateful for once that her academic life had involved plenty of scrambling through ancient burial sites and crumbling temples in the middle of nowhere. She knew how to move quietly when it mattered.
The voices faded, but he waited another long moment before continuing forward. He’d done this before, moved through these passages in secret. The thought was both comforting and disturbing. How many missions had Lasseran sent him on that required this level of stealth? How many people had he?—
No. She wasn’t going to think about that. Not now.
She needed to focus.
Except her mind kept churning. Kept turning over the pieces of the puzzle. The covenant. The balance. The theft. And something else. Something that had been nagging at her since they’d decoded the final passage.
The ritual Lasseran was planning required a focus. A conduit. Someone or something to channel the stolen power and complete the transformation of the Beast curse from symbiotic blessing to absolute control.
The texts had been vague on that part, deliberately so.
But Vorlag had mentioned balance multiple times during their research sessions. Had asked pointed questions about reciprocity and consent and the natural flow of magic through living systems.
He knows something. Something he couldn’t or wouldn’t say directly,she realized.
She needed to talk to Vorlag before they left the city and disappeared into the wilds between here and Norhaven.
“Khorrek.”
He stopped immediately. His expression was hidden by shadow but she felt him focusing on her.
“What’s wrong?”
“We need to make a detour.”
“No.”
“Just listen?—”
“Thea, we don’t have time. Every minute we stay in this city increases the chance of getting caught. Lasseran probably already knows something is wrong.”
“I understand that, but I need to see Vorlag.”
“Absolutely not.” His voice was flat. Unyielding. “The Veilborn serve Lasseran. Going to their temple would be walking straight into a trap.”
“Vorlag helped me solve this puzzle. He gave me access to restricted texts, and asked questions that led me toward the truth instead of away from it.”
“That doesn’t mean he’ll help us commit treason.”
