Chapter 23 Thavros
Thavros
The following morning, I lay in bed holding Seraphine close.
She looked so peaceful with the blankets pulled up over her shoulders, but with her head on my chest and a mess of curls spread out around her.
I ran my hand through those curls and breathed in her scent: wildflowers and books.
It was the most intoxicating smell imaginable.
I knew she feared she might be our destruction, but as I lay there watching her sleep. I couldn’t imagine her being anything other than our salvation.
It was clear to me that she was my mate, but I worried about what that meant.
Because while I did truly believe she would not bring our destruction, there was clearly something sinister at work here.
If it had anything to do with the Westerly Clan, Frema would figure it out, and then I would find out how to undo it.
The mating would only further complicate it. But she was worth it.
As I stroked her hair, her eyebrows scrunched, and her breathing turned into little pants. It was happening again. The same thing that happened every morning.
“Shhhh,” I soothed as I kissed the top of her head. “You’re alright, little flame.”
She jolted up out of bed as a scream ripped from her throat. It broke my heart that someone had caused such deep harm that she was tormented by her subconscious, but what could I do now except offer comfort?
I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close.
“Thavros,” she said, clinging to me. “You’re here.”
“Yes, Seraphina, I will always be here.” I held her, stroking her hair until her breathing returned to normal. “Would you like some tea and breakfast here, or do you wish to go to the great hall?”
She sat up and looked at me before pushing a strand of hair off my forehead and reaching up to kiss me. “Let’s go to the great hall. I want to see if I can help with any of the preparations.”
I don’t think I could have helped the broad grin that spread across my face.
The fact that she was trying so hard to become a part of life in this mountain gave me a sense of joy.
It was the reminder I needed to get through whatever this was, because what I had to look forward to was a happy life with her here among my people.
After we got dressed, I guided her through the halls until we came to the doors of the great hall. When we entered, I looked down at her and for a moment, a look of trepidation covered her beautiful features, but that melted away as she found Callie waving to her from the table with my sister.
With my hand on the small of her back, I guided her across the hall, but before we got to the table, we were stopped by Cook.
“Well, aren’t you two a sight for sore eyes. I’m just so happy to see more couples in this mountain more ma–”
“Why don’t you go save us a seat?” I said to Seraphina before Cook could finish her statement. I didn’t want any more pressure on her.
“What is going on with you?” Cook said, narrowing her eyes at me.
“It is nothing. How can I help you?”
“I was looking for Khuldruk to see if there was to be anything different in our prep for the New Year's feast this year.”
“Why do you ask?”
While the mating celebration added the Yule Feast, it did change things. This was the same New Year's celebration they’d done every year.
“Well, with the visitors we had this morning, I wanted to make sure that there would be enough food.”
“Visitors?” I ask.
“Yes, there was another orc and two humans here this morning. Khuldruk said they were guests.”
“Do you know where they were from?”
“I’m the one asking the questions here. I just want to know if I need to prepare more food for the feast tomorrow. If I do, you need to send someone to the village to get more provisions.”
I scanned the hall for Khuldruk, but couldn’t find him. We were not expecting visitors, especially not now. The time between Yule and New Year's was always seen as a time to set intentions in your home for the rest of the year. Most people in the north stayed home.
“Thavros, please. This is not the time to be changing plans.”
“I will find Khuldruk and find out, you have my word.”
That seemed to appease her, and I gave a curt nod and headed back into the kitchen.
By the time I made it over to the table, Seraphine already had her plate filled. When I approached, she scooted down the bench and smiled up at me. I gave my head a little nod, holding her gaze as I sat down next to her. Just being near her settled something deep inside me.
When I looked up, breaking out of the moment, I saw my sister grinning at me. “Good morning, brother.”
“Where is Khuldruk?” I asked before she had the time to say anything inappropriate. This was Frema after all.
“He and Ulgar had something to take care of,” she said carefully.
Callie and Seraphine chatted happily, but the concern in Frema’s eyes wasn’t lost on me. I raised an eyebrow at her.
“They have it handled.”
I nodded as I took a spoonful of porridge.
Why couldn’t things just be simple? That was all I wanted.
I wanted a simple life, especially now that I have Seraphina.
I wanted to spend my days researching in my study and, at night, lost in Seraphina.
In time, if we could fill our spare time with the care of orclings, I would have everything I could have ever wanted.
It looked like it was going to be a struggle getting there, but if that was where it led us, I would do it happily.
When we finished lunch, we went to my study. For the first time in a long time, I had some ideas of where to start the research. The meeting yesterday had unlocked a few ideas.
“What are you doing on this side?” Seraphina asked as I climbed the stairs to the far side of the war room. “We usually do our research on the other side?”
“Yes, but this side is where our clan’s records are kept. I’m hoping I might be able to locate more information on who gave us … well, who gave us you,” I said as I wound one of her rogue curls around my finger.
“I thought we knew that,” she said as she sat on the bench close to the railing.
“We know you were from the Westerly Clan, but I thought the more information we could find, the more we could understand.”
I looked through the ledgers until I found the one that was from the correct time period. When I pulled it out, dust puffed up around it. No one had done anything with these books in a long time. I laid it on the table and opened it with a thud, looking at the dates.
“Why didn’t we look here sooner?” she asked.
I sighed. “I had been so focused on the magic and how to save the magic. We are at a dead end there. I thought this might give us something. I had no clue when you’d come. I don’t ever remember the statue not being there. Now we know, so I will find out more.”
I started poring over the entries from the estimated time the clan received the statue. Seraphine curled up on the chair next to me.
“I was talking to Frema this morning about the New Year’s Feast. I’m excited. I don’t know if I’ve ever been to a feast before,” she said as she walked over to the window that overlooked the gate below. “This one doesn’t look as busy as the Yule Feast did.”
“No,” I answered as I kept looking through the ledger. “That was a special Feast to announce Khuldruk and Callie’s mating.”
“Are all mating ceremonies that big?” she asked.
“No. Not that I recall anyway, there haven’t been any in decades until this one. Usually, it is just a clan celebration, like New Year's will be, but because it was our chief and it was the first mated pair in decades, Khuldruk wanted to announce to everyone that our magic had finally returned.”
I looked up at her as she had her feet tucked up underneath her, watching the orcs below.
Her being safely here with me squeezed my heart.
She was my heart. How was I lucky enough to get a mate as wonderful as she was?
I wanted to tell her. I wanted more than anything to complete the bond and make her mine completely.
I just needed more information first. At that thought, I returned my focus to the ledger.
Then I found it. An entry for a statue given by the Westerly Clan, delivered to us by a man named Wolfrick.
“Wolfrick?” I said out loud. “That doesn’t sound like an orc name.”
“Wolfrick wasn’t an orc,” she answered absent-mindedly.
My head snapped up to her at the same time hers did to mine. “Do you know him?”
“Yes… I think I do. But he’s not an orc, he’s something else.”
“What is he?” I asked as I made my way to her.
“I don’t know, but I do remember him from before.”
“Before what?” I asked eagerly, taking her hands in mine.
“Before the screaming,” she answered back so matter-of-factly it broke my heart.
“What do you remember about him?”
She cocked her head to the side and bit her lip. “Not a lot. He was there when I first arrived. He brought me rock candy once. I think he might have been the one who brought me to the clan.”
“Do you remember anything else about him?”
“I don’t. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry, little flame. We know more now than we did before. We’ll figure it out.” I watched her for a moment. T
The sadness was back in her eyes, and I couldn’t bear it.
“What do you say we get out of here?” I asked.
“What? I thought you wanted to work.”
“I think we’ve done enough work for the day. I want to show you something.”
“Okay,” she said before a small smile tugged at the edge of her mouth, and she looked up at me.
I made a quick note of my discoveries before guiding her out of the war room.