Chapter 18 #2
Nargol slid down from the beast and held out her hands to assist Orlena down. A small smile appeared on Nargol’s face.
“We are. It will shield us from the wind and from anyone who may look for us.”
Orlena’s legs wobbled when her feet hit the ground.
The adrenaline was starting to wear off.
She inhaled and tried to get control of her body.
Nargol removed her saddlebag from the shukan and led the beast away a short distance.
She murmured to it in low tones. It settled down nearby with a grunt, folding its massive body beneath the trees.
Nargol came back to her and took her hand. The went inside the hollowed trunk. The air was cool, dry, and smelled of fresh earth. Not that it was a bad smell, but it reminded her that they would be sleeping in the elements.
Orlena had never slept anywhere but in a bed. Never under the open sky, and certainly never in a tree. A shiver slid down her spine. She took in the shelter that would be theirs tonight. She released Nargol’s hand and wrapped her arms around herself.
Nargol noticed immediately.
“You are thinking too much,” Nargol murmured.
“I almost died,” Orlena sniffed.
Nargol went still. A moment passed. She moved closer to Orlena.
The memory of how her body was weightless once Yambul had tossed her over the side of the ravine filled her mind.
The air had whipped through her hair, her body had slammed hard into the dirt- and stone-covered ground.
Her fingers had raked the side of the ravine until she’d latched on to the large root. Her vision blurred from unshed tears.
“Yes, you did.” Nargol’s voice was steady. There was no dismissal in her tone for what Orlena had experienced. No attempt to brush it aside either. She rested a hand on Orlena’s shoulder. “And you survived. I thought—”
She cut herself off. Orlena blinked the tears away and looked up at her.
“What?” Orlena asked.
“I thought I had lost you.” Her voice grew raw, her hand coming up to cup Orlena’s jaw.
“I survived.” Orlena murmured, repeating what Nargol had just said. It was the truth. She wasn’t sure how, but it could only be because of Nogora.
Nargol gently caressed Orlena’s face for a brief second. She released her and turned away. She moved to her pack that she had settled on the ground and began unpacking it.
Dried meat. Hard fruit. A small skin of water. A thin but sturdy blanket. Orlena sank down against the curved inner wall of the tree. Exhaustion crashed into her like a wave while Nargol prepared their shelter.
“Where will we go?” Orlena asked quietly. If they couldn’t go back to the village, would they just leave?
“To Cardu,” Nargol said without hesitation.
Orlena’s eyes widened. She sat forward, confused. “The clan leader?”
“Yes. Everything started with him. It will end with him,” Nargol said.
“He won’t listen. They said that he was involved—”
“He will and he has no choice,” Nargol growled. “Once all is done, we will leave this place.”
“And go where?” Orlena asked. She settled back against the wall, unsure of anything at the moment.
“We will go to Udenia.”
The words should have relieved her. Instead, they made her chest ache.
Nargol handed her a strip of dried meat.
She took it and barely tasted any of it.
She ate it because she was sure she would need the energy from it.
She didn’t need to be told that they would not be able to light a fire.
There was no telling who may be hunting them.
Once upon a time, she would have been excited to go to the capital of Aghon. Now she wasn’t sure.
Yambul was dead.
She was free.
But would the orcs in Udenia treat her the same way the ones here did? Soza only tolerated her because she provided a service for them. Humans had always been treated like second-class citizens. She and the other humans were never equal to the orcs.
Nargol settled next to her and stretched out her long legs across the hollowed floor. She draped the blanket over them both. Orlena hesitated only for a brief moment, curling into her side. Nargol’s arms came around instinctively. She felt protected. Warm. Cherished. All in that moment.
Outside, the forest whispered and creaked.
Orlena paid close attention to the steady rhythm of Nargol’s breathing and heartbeat. Her head still spun. When she closed her eyes, she could still see the blood and hear the screams from the orc camp.
But then she remembered what Nargol had done to save her.
Not because she was ordered to.
Not because she was spying on them.
But because she’d chosen to.
And that made Orlena realize that it was Nargol who she was in love with. Bula—Nargol—was one and the same.
This orc holding her, who had saved her, who had killed to get to her, was who she was in love with.
She snuggled into her arms and released a sigh. Exhaustion was finally taking its toll on her. She closed her eyes and felt herself relax.
“I love you,” she murmured just as the darkness claimed her.