Page 144 of The Orc's Captive Bride
It was something he’d been denied his entire life—something precious—and it made him stronger.
“Well,” Ulric said, speaking with a calm authority that drew everyone’s attention back to him. “If you’re planning a suicide mission, you should at least do it properly.”
He moved to the table and spread out a detailed map. The Five Kingdoms were out in precise detail. Mountains. Rivers. Cities.
And in the south, the dark smudge that was Kel’Vara.
“You’ll need to move fast and stay ahead of Lasseran’s patrols.” Ulric’s finger traced a route north from the camp and through the mountains, out onto the plains. “The stone circle is here. Three days’ hard ride once you leave the mountains.”
“Then five days from there to Kel’Vara,” Khorrek added. “It will be tight.”
She studied the map and nodded. “We’ll need to time it precisely. The lunar alignment has to be exact.”
“What do you need?” Jessamin asked.
Thea blinked and looked over at the young queen.
“For the ritual,” Jessamin added. “Are there any specific materials? Or things that can be prepared ahead of time.?”
“I—” She paused to organize her thoughts. “Specific herbs. Crystalline structures. Texts for reference. And?—”
She stopped because something was happening. Something strange. Knowledge was bubbling up in her brain—not from her research or the ancient texts, but from somewhere deeper.
“We’ll need salt, as pure as possible.” The words came automatically. Certain. “Honey scented with herbs.”
Everyone was staring at her, and she felt heat rise in her cheeks as she pushed her glasses nervously up her nose.
“I don’t… I don’t know how I know that.”
“The Old Gods,” Lyric said softly. “They’re showing you. Guiding you.”
“That’s not—” She stopped and took a deep breath. “I’m a scientist. A scholar. I don’t believe in divine intervention.”
“What you believe doesn’t change what is.” Lyric’s voice was gentle. “I was the same. Practical. Logical. But then the dreams started—the knowing.”
“How do you handle it?”
“I stopped fighting it and started listening.” The other woman gave her a small understanding smile. “It’s terrifying, but also… liberating.”
She wanted to argue and demand proof, but she’d been pulled through a portal into another world. She’d encountered orcs and magic and generational curses.
Everything I thought I knew has been shattered. Why not this too?
“We can get the materials,” Jessamin said practically. “The Veilborn will help. They have access to most of what you’ll need.”
“And the rest we can find on the journey,” Lyric added. “Springs. Growing things. The land will provide.”
“You sound very certain,” Egon observed.
“I am.”
Ulric studied them all thoughtfully, then nodded once.
“You leave in two days which gives us time to prepare. To gather supplies and to coordinate the distraction.”
“Distraction?” she asked.
“Lasseran needs to be looking outwards rather than watching his own city.” Ulric’s smile was sharp. Predatory. “We’ll give him something to worry about. Raids on his supply lines. Attacks on his outposts. We’ll make him think we’re preparing for a major assault.”
