Chapter 23

Chapter

Twenty-Three

MIRANDA

M iranda’s stomach dropped at Hilva’s wild accusation.

Govek tortured animals? What was she saying?

Why did no one at any of the tables say anything to refute the woman’s mad claims? In fact, all of them looked... Miranda’s stomach twisted.

They looked at her with pity .

“Calm down, Hilva,” Beleda demanded, gesturing for the woman to sit. “Let’s not make a scene.”

Too late for that. The room had already hushed, listening in. Some even blatantly turned to watch.

The only solace was that Govek was nowhere to be seen. The platform with the wood throne was vacant, but for that one older guard standing at attention next to the stairs.

Govek must have already been meeting with his father somewhere in private. Thank god. She didn’t want him to have to hear these horrible lies.

“No. Why should I? Why shouldn’t we speak of it? It’s horrible. He’s horrible ,” Hilva said, shaking off the hand of the woman so she could remain standing. “He might have hidden it from you for a few days, but he can’t hide it forever. He tortures animals for his own pleasure. No natural orc would ever hurt one of Faeda’s creatures like that. His magic is twisted and foul.”

Miranda gripped her bowl of hot stew so tight it was a wonder it didn’t shatter. “You saw him do that?”

The woman’s expression contorted. “He’s kept you secluded for days, so of course you’d be on his side. But mark my words, the truth will come out, and then you’ll?—”

“ You’ve seen him torture animals? ” Miranda demanded again, her voice solid and low. The young woman glanced at Beleda, clearly shaken by Miranda’s harsh tone.

Beleda spoke carefully. “No. No one is allowed to watch him hunt. He’s too dangerous. He could go into a battle lust.”

“I’ve watched him,” Miranda said. “And he never tortured anything.”

Hilva scoffed, crossing her arms. “He is hiding it from you, then. I know it’s hard to believe, but?—”

“I’ve watched him take down every animal he’s hunted since he got back here, including that elk,” Miranda said loud enough for all the listeners to hear her clearly. “And he gave every single one a clean, easy death. He never even considered torturing them.”

A few of the women at the table looked between each other, but Miranda could tell most didn’t believe her.

“You don’t have to defend him, Miranda,” Hilva said. “We know what he’s like, and we know he’s deranged. You’re just making yourself look foolish with these lies.”

“You’re calling me a liar ?” Miranda didn’t realize her voice could go so deep and chilling. Hilva flinched.

“Of course, she isn’t,” Beleda said quickly, gesturing for Miranda to sit again, but she wasn’t going to sit down until Hilva did. “That isn’t what we mean. We’re all just confused.”

“I am not confused,” Miranda said carefully. She turned to look around the room. She didn’t know who had butchered the animal, but she could be fairly sure her words would get back to them. “No one else here can hunt elk but Govek, right?”

The room was so quiet it prickled along her skin like nettles.

“When he wrapped it up in the butcher cloth, it only had two injuries—a snapped neck and punctures on its flank, where he initially grabbed it. There was not a single other cut or wound on it.”

“I don’t believe you,” Hilva said haughtily, even as one of the other women snapped at her under her breath and tried to pull her down.

“I honestly don’t give a rat’s ass if you believe me,” Miranda snapped. She was so fucking tired of all this bullshit. “But before you continue passing judgment on things you haven’t even seen with your own eyes, why don’t you ask the butcher who skinned the animal what parts of its fur were bloody?”

Hilva blinked, clearly confused. As were most of the faces watching her.

Miranda called upon every crime scene show she’d watched on Earth. “Animals don’t bleed after they die. If Govek tortured it while it was still alive, it’s fur would be stained around the marks just as it was around the punctures in his back.”

Whispers sounded from the crowd, and one unknown voice broke out. “He-he could have washed it.”

Miranda glanced but couldn’t see which orc had spoken in the crowd. “He washed the slashes but not the punctures? For pity’s sake, do you even hear yourself?”

“He could have,” Hilva insisted.

There was clearly no changing anyone’s mind.

Miranda threw up her hands in surrender and muttered under her breath, “Fuck all of you. I’m leaving.”

Her steps were heavy and hard as she made her way to the doors and out into the chilly night. No one got in her way or called out to stop her.

The doors slammed behind her, and the icy woods cooled away her anger so fast, she lost her breath. The exhalation came out shaky, and her eyes prickled.

Damn, it was no wonder Govek had left for the war. She wanted to leave after that. There was no reasoning with those assholes. She hoped the conversation he was having with his father was going better than her conversation had.

More like a fight than a conversation.

She sighed, scrubbing her eyes and walking over to stand to the left of the doors so she could wait for Govek to come out. He’d be able to find her by her smell, she was sure. Hopefully, he wouldn’t go ballistic when he found out she’d left without him. Or maybe she hoped he would. They deserved it.

Miranda collapsed against the Great Rove Tree. Exhausted. They deserved it, but Govek didn’t. And lashing out would only cement their awful opinions about him.

He couldn’t defend himself. There was no one on his side.

No wonder he’d stayed silent.

The tears she’d been trying to hold back slid down her cheeks in icy tracks and dripped onto the cloak Govek had made for her.

Light burst to her left.

On a gasp, Miranda straightened up and looked into the now almost pitch-black woods. The sun had set, taking its beautiful colors with it.

But in the darkness of the forest there was a glow.

The soft light flickered between the trees, casting eerie shadows on the damp, icy ground. The leaves were colored oddly in the dim, a sea of deep maroon. Her stomach twisted.

And the light grew brighter. Shining from deep within the foliage.

It felt . . . familiar .

Miranda got to her feet. It was stupid. She shouldn’t go into the woods alone.

She shouldn’t .

But the light grew higher, and her curiosity overcame her sense of reason.

Govek would find her if she got into trouble. All she had to do was call him.

She drew away from the hall. Her hand slipped from the rough bark, leaving the grounding texture of the Great Rove Tree behind as she stepped onto the stone path. Wandering nearer to the light until she was as close as she could get while still staying within the light of the lamps illuminating the pathway.

At her feet, the warm yellow glow from the firelight mingled with the odd, bright white glow from the woods. They didn’t have lights this color on Faeda. All their illumination came from natural sources.

This light was crisp and white and breathtaking.

And oh, so familiar.

She stood on the precipice between the protection of the clan and the unknown of the woods. Grappling. Debating. Warring in her mind.

And then, on a deep breath, she stepped off the path into the white.