Page 176 of The Orc's Captive Bride
Another long silence.
He waited, breathing hard, his fists clenched.
Please. Please let this work. Let me trade places. Let her live.
“Very well.”
His heart leapt. Hope flaring bright.
“If you can reach her, I will release her. Allow you to take her place.”
“Where is she?”
A faint golden light appeared in the distance, barely visible through the mist but warm and beckoning
“There. But understand—the path between here and there is not empty. It’s filled with truth. With consequences. With the weight of every choice you’ve ever made.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You will. Take a single step and you’ll know. But once begun, you cannot turn back. Cannot pause. If you hesitate, if you stop, she’s lost forever and you with her.”
He stared at the light. At the impossible distance between him and salvation.
Truth. Consequences. The weight of my choices.
He’d made terrible choices. Followed Lasseran’s orders without question. Hurt people. Killed people. The guilt lived in his chest like a constant ache.
Is this my punishment? To face what I’ve done? To feel the pain I’ve caused?
Probably. But he didn’t care.
She is worth any price. Any punishment. Any pain.
“I accept.”
“Then go. Reach the light before time runs out. Save your mate. Or die trying.”
Khorrek took a step forward and agony exploded through him. Not physical pain. Worse. Emotional pain, raw and overwhelming.
He saw them. All of the people he’d hurt. The lives he’d destroyed.
A merchant caravan, ambushed on Lasseran’s orders.
“Please! We have children! We’re just traders!”
He’d killed them anyway, brutal and unquestioning. The memory hit like a blade between the ribs. He felt their terror. Their desperation. The final moments as life fled.
No. I didn’t know. Lasseran said they were smugglers. Criminals. That they deserved?—
But the excuse felt meaningless.
I should have questioned. Should have looked closer. Should have cared.
He staggered but forced another step. Another wave of agony. Another memory.
A village burned. Lasseran wanted to send a message to those who refused to acknowledge his authority.
“Mercy! We’ll pay the taxes! We’ll comply! Just don’t?—”
