Chapter 23
After our small argument, Malek left the cabin to seek out the elder Kroshak, leaving Leone and me alone. My brother resumed the conversation as soon as his footsteps could no longer be heard.
"What are you doing, Fiona?" He stared at me with a seriousness that was rarely directed my way.
I sighed and sat by his side. I looked down at my claws, feeling the raw strength that now coursed through my veins. It was a contradictory feeling; in Ceilte, I was taught that strength should be subtle, hidden beneath layers of etiquette and magic. Here, strength was in my arms and legs.
"I know what you're thinking," I said, as I shifted from my hands to his pale face. "But... the Orb of Caith brought me to Malek for a reason, Leo. I feel a connection to him that I cannot explain."
"A connection? Like a mating bond?" His eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets. Soul bonds were rare among the Fae, something many sought for centuries and died without ever finding.
"I can't say if that's what it is; I only know it's overwhelming.
And after what we did yesterday... I feel like that thread between us has become a chain.
" I saw no need to lie. Leone had always been my safe harbor, and if I decided my place was here, among the Okshai, I knew he would support me, no matter how he felt about it.
Leone rubbed his face with his hand, letting out a loud, incredulous laugh.
"You slept with Malek Strong-Axe. By the goddesses, Fi... at least, was he any good?”
I grinned, feeling the heat rise to my face. The joke was a sign that the tension between us was over.
"Better than anyone else I’ve been with." My sincerity finally shut him up. "Malek saved me, Leone. He taught me that I can be more than just a piece on Ceilte’s game board. He’s risking his leadership just to keep you alive."
"I understand all of that. But he’s an orc. What will Father think when he sees his daughter marked by the Ruk'hai of Oksha?"
"He’s my father, and he loves me," I said, my voice taking on a hard edge. "The blood oath binds me to Malek, and peace is a mutual interest. If it’s not Malek helping us, then who? Fenric?"
Leone let out a long breath, the hardness leaving his gaze.
"You were always braver than I," he admitted. "If it weren't for that stupid law of succession, you’d be the Lady that Ceilte needs."
I smirked and nudged his shoulder with mine. My new strength made him lose his balance and tumble to the side. I let out a laugh at the indignant expression he made, clearly caught off guard.
"It's going to be hard getting used to your new size..." he grumbled, eyeing me from head to toe. "Or the color. Now you look like a muscular avocado."
I rolled my eyes, looking down at my arms, which were indeed far more toned than they had been when I was High Fae.
"To be honest, I actually like my new body," I said, my voice carrying a conviction that surprised even me. "And the orcs... they aren't barbarians or savages, Leone. In truth, they’re much better than we are."
"I understand, Fi." He reached out and rested his hand on my shoulder, his pale skin contrasting sharply with the green of my own. "But that doesn't change who you are. You’ll always be the Princess of Ceilte."
"I’m not the Fiona from before, Leo. To be honest, I don't want to be.
" I sighed, feeling the weight of the invisible crown I had carried for a century finally dissipate.
"Being an orc gave me the freedom I never had.
No one expects me to be a trophy wife or a political bargaining chip.
They expect me to work and to fight. I like that. "
"And Malek?" The curiosity in his voice was tinged with caution. "Does he know that if the curse is broken, you’ll go back to being Princess Fionnuala? That this green skin and these claws will disappear?"
"We haven't talked about the 'after.' Right now, there’s only the present. The Orb brought me to Oksha for a reason, Leo, and I’m following it. I don't know if I want the curse to be broken if it means going back to the golden cage of Ceilte."
"You’re risking everything," he whispered. "Your life, the Ruk’hai’s, our father's..."
"I’m risking it to achieve the peace Father always dreamed of, Leo. But for that, I need Malek’s strength and your voice as heir. Alone, I’m just a cursed female. Together, we’re the only chance to avoid a massacre."
Leone looked at his own healing wounds and then back at me, his blue eyes shining.
"You’re the most important person in my life, Fi," he said at last. "And I’ll do whatever it takes to protect you."
"You don't need to protect me anymore, brother." I smiled, baring my fangs. "Just help me when the time comes to face the Courts."
It was his turn to grin as the Kerridan determination shone on his face.
"You can count on me, sister. Always."
"Always."
? ? ?
When Malek returned with the elder, Kroshak, the tension in the cabin tightened like a drawn bowstring.
Kroshak’s milky-green gaze settled on me, unblinking, and a chill crawled beneath my skin.
I felt laid bare under his scrutiny, as though he could see straight past the orc form, into the High Fae I struggled to conceal.
"The Ruk’hai told me your story," Kroshak said in Okshakai, not beating around the bush. "He said you are a kir’shakur. And this is your brother."
"I’m Fionnuala Kerridan," I replied. "And yes, this is my brother, Leone Kerridan, heir to Ceilte."
The elder approached Leone, who tried to stand but couldn’t due to lingering pain in his limbs. Uruha had to apply more salve to his wounds. Unlike me, he didn't have the orc metabolism, which was much faster than that of a High Fae, to heal himself.
Kroshak examined him without showing any emotion.
"A wounded kir’shakur in our home," he murmured, his voice thick with suspicion. "What is it you want with us?"
Leone looked at me, waiting for me to take the lead despite understanding what the shaman had said. I felt Malek’s gaze on my back and took a deep breath.
"Urkur," I replied, the word for "peace" sounding heavy on my tongue. "Malek and I made a bargain. I’ll help him achieve peace for Oksha, and in exchange, he’ll protect us."
The elder arched an eyebrow, skepticism etched into every wrinkle of his face.
"Peace with Ceilte? You’re too young to understand the weight of those words, ashkre. Centuries of blood separate us. Alasdair will never accept peace with the Oksha. Never."
"He will," I countered, confident. "We’re his children. If he knows that peace is the only path to protect us, he’ll do the right thing."
Kroshak let out a sound that was half-sigh, half-growl, turning his milky gaze toward Malek.
"Do you trust the word of a kir’shakur, Ruk’hai?" The question was a trap, a reminder that, to the clan, I was still the enemy.
"She isn’t a kir’shakur. She’s my krash’uk," Malek replied without hesitation. His voice echoed through the wooden walls, charged with an authority that made the very air vibrate. "I trust her."
The elder stared at me for long seconds before shifting his gaze to Malek's shoulder, where the mark of my bite stood stark against his green skin, bruised a deep purple.
The revelation caused his eyes to widen in shock, and he murmured something in Okshakai, a prayer or a curse that I could not understand.
"Have you mated?" he asked.
"Kar," Malek replied. He didn’t flinch, nor did he apologize. On the contrary, he stood by my side, his presence reaffirming that what happened wasn’t a mistake, but a choice we made to be together.
Kroshak's face lost any remaining trace of emotion, becoming a mask of stone carved by time. He stepped back, running a hand through his thin white hair. For the Oksha, mating with a kir’shakur wasn’t just a scandal. It could change the very course of the Ruk’hai’s lineage.
Leone remained quiet, watching everything with sharp eyes. He understood enough Okshakai to realize that what was at stake there was much more than a peace treaty.
I exchanged a glance with Malek. The fear that the elder might reject us tightened my stomach, but Malek met my gaze with quiet steadiness. One corner of his lips pulled upward in a ghost of a smile, a private gesture that said: We’re in this together.
My heart warmed, and my nerves settled beneath his quiet confidence.
Before I could pull back, Kroshak stepped closer and cupped my face in his rough, cold hands.
I felt Malek shift beside me and heard Leone’s sharp intake of breath, but I remained perfectly still.
The shaman’s touch slowly warmed against my skin, and a shiver traced down my spine as something ancient pressed at the edges of my consciousness, as if knocking on a door.
I closed my eyes and let it in.
Disconnected images flickered behind my eyes: fire that didn’t burn, ashes carried by the wind, a heavy sky before the storm. My chest tightened, not with pain, but with recognition. Then, I was ten years old again, sneaking through the corridors of the castle in Ceilte with Kristan at my side.
An insistent tug led me to the secret entrance of the dungeon, which I entered despite Kristan’s pleas for me not to. I saw my younger self, face to face with an orc with dark hair and brown eyes.
He was larger than me, yet small compared to the images of other orcs I had seen before. His green skin was covered in bruises and dirt. Dark green blood trickled from his nose.
I whispered a greeting to him, but he remained silent, watching me like a predator. Near him, the tug grew stronger, almost unbearable. A latent need to help him drove me to hand over the ring my father had given me for my birthday.
I ran out of the dungeon, afraid of being caught by the guards, yet a single word resonated in my mind.
Krash’uk.
The orc called me krash’uk. At the time, I thought it was his name, but it wasn't. I opened my eyes abruptly, meeting Kroshak’s greenish ones.
"I don't believe it..." Kroshak whispered.
His hands pulled away from my face, but the heat of the vision still burned behind my eyelids.
I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat, struggling to remain steady under the shaman’s gaze.
The distrust from before was gone, replaced by a smile that seemed to illuminate the wrinkles of his face.
"I swear by my name, Kroshak, that I’ll help seek peace between our peoples," I promised, my voice strong with a conviction that came from the depths of my soul. "I’m not your enemy."
The elder kept staring at me, making me uncomfortable. Malek let out a low, protective growl and stepped forward with his hand outstretched. However, before the Ruk’hai could touch the old male, Kroshak let out a loud laugh, moving away from me with his arms spread wide.
"You truly are akra’yn, Fiona," he said. Malek’s eyes widened. "Welcome to the clan, Krash’uk Fionnuala Kerridan."
His smile was wide, proudly displaying his fangs. I was left speechless, paralyzed by the word he had used. Krash’uk. The same word the small, wounded orc had spoken in the dungeon when I asked for his name. For a century and a half, I had carried that sound as if it were his identity.
But it wasn’t his name. It was a title. Princess.
I shifted my gaze to Malek and felt the ground disappearing beneath my feet.
Everything rearranged itself within me; the puzzle pieces finally clicked into place with a painful impact.
I saw him differently now. I saw beyond the imposing warrior, the scars, and the commanding posture.
He had grown, not just in muscle, but in presence.
He was no longer a lost child in Ceilte, trapped in a cage for the simple crime of existing.
The knot in my stomach tightened, painful. My eyes stung, and I had to blink rapidly to keep from giving in to tears. I had truly believed he was dead. I had convinced myself of it just to move on from the guilt of having left him behind.
The truth hit me like a physical blow: the Ruk’hai who saved me in the forest, the male who claimed me the night before... he was the same boy I had abandoned to his fate.
And years later, he had returned. Not to hold it against me or to judge me, but to save me.
My heart tightened, overflowing with regret, relief, and something even deeper, almost sacred.
The thread between us, the same one I had felt as a child, too fine to be seen yet too strong to be broken, pulsed violently. It wasn’t being forged now; it had merely awakened from a long sleep, finally recognizing its master.
"Malek…" I whispered.
He cupped my face, his expression inscrutable. Now that I understood, I noticed the familiarity in his eyes, the way he had always watched me like he was guarding a secret.
"Yes, krash’uk," he replied.
The recognition was mutual and silent, but the certainty washed over us. The wounded orc in the dungeon; the child who helped him escape; the Ruk’hai who saved her in the forest; the male who now stood before her, her lover and blood-oath partner.
Tears streamed down my face, hot and too powerful to resist.
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, my voice choked, barely able to articulate the words. "Why did you let me believe I was just a stranger to you?"
Malek closed the distance between us until I could feel the heat radiating from his massive chest. He reached out and wiped away a tear with his rough thumb, a gesture so tender it hurt.
"You were afraid, krash’uk. Afraid of being discovered, of my people, and of what you have become," he explained. "You needed help to survive, not the weight of a past debt. I wanted you to see me for who I am now, not for who I was in that cage."
"Forgive me," I pleaded through sobs, hiding my face in the palm of his hand. "For leaving you in that place... for running away and abandoning you to your fate. I thought you had died."
"You didn’t abandon me," he said, and the absolute certainty in his tone unraveled me.
Suddenly, he pulled one of his braids forward and took a red bead from it.
Before my eyes, the object transformed into the very same ring I had given him.
"You saved me, Fiona. If it hadn't been for this ring, my destiny would have been very different. "
The breath left my lungs. The gold shimmered under the cabin’s light, a relic of Ceilte preserved in the heart of orc territory. In the background, Leone let out a muffled exclamation. He recognized the jewel.
"What does this mean?" he intervened. "Fiona? What’s he talking about?"
Before I could answer, Kroshak stepped forward with a solemn expression.
"The fates have bound you, Ruk’hai." He stared at me as if he were seeing beyond my physical form. "Fionnuala is one of us now. Which means that you, kir’shakur, are part of the kuturo."
Leone stood speechless at the elder’s declaration that he was now part of the Okshai family. Just like me, he would be protected.
With the shaman’s approval, we could finally take the next step.