Chapter 13

Drundak takes the lead to the door, every step casual, as if he hadn't just prophesied my death. The guard steps aside to let us through the door, but there's a grin on his face.

"Oh, yeah," he rumbles. "You better hope for him to be in a good mood. Which is never."

I search for Drundak's reaction, but he says nothing as he walks out of the infirmary. Shooting a last grateful smile at Nell, I follow him. That Nell didn't correct the guard doesn't go unnoticed.

Until now, their opinion about the king has been terrifying across the board. Great.

At least he'll understand me when I tell him to fuck off.

Drundak ambles down the corridor, which means I have to stride to keep up. Gorbag keeps himself a couple of steps behind us. A blessing, truly.

My eyes adapt to more light. Sunlight filters through the tall windows, casting a lattice of shadows on the log walls. The golden light makes it almost cozy.

I can almost forget where we're going.

"Is it true, Drundak?" My question interrupts the silence between us. "Is the king that… volatile?" He let me live yesterday. Why would he change his mind this soon?

"Like a storm over the Great Peak," Drundak says, waving a hand. "But storms pass and Thorn is wise. In his own way."

Thorn. That must be the king.

I swallow hard, smothering the urge to shiver. Reminder: Never expect reassurance from Drundak again. He's not very good at it.

The notion that this Thorn guy might want me dead churns in my gut. He must be the orc who found me. The one who threw me over a shoulder like I weighed nothing.

He was big big. Bigger than every other orc I've seen, though these weren't many. It's comprehensible that he's the king. Tall and strong, somehow he still has a quiet but powerful presence.

He's scary, but scary-sexy.

I jerk in surprise at my thoughts. The approaching death must be frying my brain. Orcs aren't sexy. They're monsters. And I should not find my potential killer sexy. That's not healthy.

I must stop thinking about Thorn's body and think more about his ax.

"Where I come from," I say, hoping idle chatter might distract me, "orcs are fairy tales. Or characters in books. Crazy, isn't it? There are no orcs there, but we know the idea of orc."

Drundak's brows raise in interest. "Curious. Maybe other humans slipped through the portal before you, and they took the stories back with them."

I nod, my mouth opening in surprise. "Makes sense."

Of course! If these stories exist in my world, then people must have crossed the portal before. Here and back again.

And that means I can also hop back into my world.