Page 90 of The Orc's Captive Bride
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. This could all blow up in our faces.”
“I know.”
“And if it does, if Lasseran finds out?—”
“He won’t. Not yet. By the time he realizes what’s happening, it’ll be too late.”
“You sound confident.”
“I’m not. I’m terrified. But I’m also done being his tool.”
Declar studied him for a long moment, and then he clasped Khorrek’s arm. Warrior to warrior. Brother to brother.
“If we survive this, I want to meet this human of yours. See what kind of woman can make you betray thirty-five years of conditioning.”
“She’s brilliant. Stubborn. Completely fearless in the face of things that should terrify her.”
“So she’s insane.”
“Probably.”
“You fit each other then.”
Despite everything, he smiled. “Yeah. We do.”
Declar released his arm. “I need to go. Before someone notices we’ve been talking.”
“Be careful.”
“Always.”
Declar started to leave, then stopped and looked back.
“Khorrek?”
“Yes?”
“Those orcs. The ones who died in the dungeons. They were screaming at the end. The guards said it sounded like they were begging. Like part of them was still in there, trapped, watching themselves tear each other apart.”
The image made his stomach turn.
“I won’t let that happen to the rest of us.”
“You can’t promise that.”
“Watch me.”
Declar’s laugh was hollow. “You really have lost your mind.”
“Probably. But I’d rather be insane and free than sane and enslaved.”
“Free. Is that what you think we’ll be?”
“I think we have a chance. That’s more than we had yesterday.”
Declar nodded. Then he was gone, disappeared into the shadows the way he’d been trained.
