Chapter 27

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

GOVEK

G ovek kicked the door to the hall so hard it nearly flew off its hinges.

"Where the fuck is he?"

His roar sliced through the clan instantly bringing many of the orcs to their feet. He must have looked insane—covered in blood, wreaking of blight, eyes wild as he clutched Miranda.

Glowers and demands to explain himself from the males blasted Govek and licked the flames of his rage higher. He didn't give a shit what the clan thought of him. He had attention for only one being in this room.

Ergoth.

The vile chief scrambled up from his precious little throne and narrowed his worthless beady eyes in Govek's direction. "Govek! How did you survi—how dare you bring your anger and strife into this hall?— "

"I challenge you!" Govek roared so loud that Miranda covered her ears. The words echoed around the hall and ricocheted up the Rove Tree, reflected into the crystal leaves and rained down upon the whole of the clan.

"You what ?" Ergoth began to laugh. Govek trembled with the need to rip his mouth off his face. The only thing that stopped him was Miranda held securely in his arms.

His mate. She was all right. He needed to breathe.

"I challenge you," Govek said. "For sending a boar and nearly killing my mate?—"

"A boar? What is this about a boar?" Ergoth said. "You're covered in blood . Did you hurt her?"

"The boar attacked while we were fishing, there were children present," Miranda said. And thank Fades because Govek's throat was constricting. "You could have gotten them killed."

"Is everyone all right?" Hovget rose from one of the center tables. Wellia followed suit. "Was anyone hurt?"

"Yes, Hovget, please, go and check over those who were attacked. Quickly," Ergoth said.

"How dare you feign concern when you were the one who sent it!" Govek snarled as Hovget went still. Govek needed to calm, needed to get his raging inferno under control before he lost his ability for reason.

But fuck , Ergoth stood there looking so smug . He smoothed his robes, and turned up his nose, and barely bothered with the fact that he'd nearly destroyed the only thing Govek cared about in the whole world.

"Govek." Miranda stroked the side of his face. His breathing was so labored it made his head dizzy. "Tough guy, you've got this. "

He squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated on her soothing fingers.

"My son. You know not how your accusations wound me," Ergoth said, filling Govek's mind with poison. "I have ever done right by you, but you accuse me of this ? Of sending a boar to kill you? How could I even do such a thing?"

"You did. With your magic. The blight cannot hide the scent of it. I know it too well. The magic on the boar might be tainted and dark, but it is still yours. " Govek trembled, teeth gnashed. "Just the same as the magic on the boar that attacked me on the way to Estwill."

He'd been too muddled at the time—too distracted—to place the scent, but now the memory was clear.

His father had been trying to kill him this entire time .

Govek's spine straightened as Karthoc burst into the hall behind him.

Ergoth scowled. "Karthoc! You have no right to?—"

"I have every right. I was attacked in the woods just as the others were with their mates and children ," Karthoc roared. "Attacked by a boar you sent."

"I don't know what lies my son has told you, but I would never have risked the lives of?—"

"Govek speaks the truth!" Karthoc yelled over the crowd. "I was there . I smelled it and can confirm that it is Ergoth's magic that lingers on the boar that tried to kill Govek. It sought him blindly , wanting no others but him." He pointed a finger to Ergoth. "You sent a boar to kill your own son !"

"How dare you accuse me of this!" Ergoth walked to the edge of his platform. "With no proof but your own senses. "

"The boar is preserved. Any can go and check it, even the seer. "

"The seer is false ," Ergoth countered with a flippant wave of his hand. "Even you say that he is muddled of late. That his prophesies are warped and wrong."

"You vile scum—" Karthoc started.

"Karthoc speaks the truth."

Hovget's voice punctured the room, silencing it once more. Wellia stood at her mates' side, looking confident in her support.

Govek leaned into Miranda for support of his own, twisted up at the horrors of what could have been.

He'd almost lost her. Again.

Fuck .

"Healer, I suggest you hold your tongue," Ergoth said. "This does not concern you."

Hovget continued, undaunted. "I did not want to believe it at first. Even still, I don't. But in light of this, I can no longer stay silent for you, Ergoth, even if you are my chief?—"

"You don't know what you're inferring, Hovget. I have never silenced you."

"Against Ergoth's direct order, I took blood from Govek." Hovget's voice rose to stop Ergoth from speaking over him. "From the wound a blighted boar made on Govek's flesh. I gathered the poison that was planted within him and examined it thoroughly."

"I ordered you not to interfere," Ergoth cried over the clan's voices. "How dare you go against my command?"

Hovget lifted his head and faced Ergoth. "I found Rove Wood magic within the poison. Your magic. "

The blanket of stillness that settled over the hall grew suffocating, nauseating. Govek's thoughts narrowed on a single conclusion that tore him apart and stitched him new.

His father really had sent that boar to kill him.

And Govek was barely shocked. In fact, the knowledge was cleansing. It flushed out his head and helped him see clearly—see every horrible thing Ergoth had done, every unfair judgment, every cruel word.

From this moment forward, Ergoth was no longer Govek's kin.

Govek balled his fists, blood zinging. He centered his gaze on Miranda, his true family. He touched his forehead to hers. Soaked up her determined expression. The fire in her eyes. Her damp skin was hot with fury as she drew the same conclusions he did, as the whole clan did.

Hovget was still speaking. "And I have kept the sample. I can bring it here, now, to prove my word."

" My word is the only one that?—"

The orcs tensed, eyes narrowed, and the energy in the hall turned dark. Equality had been the driving force behind Ergoth's control.

And now it would bring his downfall.

"We do not need to bring proof into our great hall." Ergoth changed tactics, slithering around like the disgusting serpent he was. "We have better methods. Sythcol, bring the clearing. We will hold this judgment now. "

"No." Sythcol rose to his feet as he spoke the single, clear word. So simple and yet with such power.

"I am your chief ," Ergoth said. "You will do as I command."

"No longer," Sythcol said, holding his slender chin high. His posture radiated with the power that Govek had always admired. The control over his strength that Govek longed to carry within himself. "Did you think, after what happened during Maythra's judgment, that I wouldn't examine the methods used by the clearing? That I wouldn't examine the herbs and magics? You should be ashamed of how you twisted our minds."

"I did nothing ," Ergoth insisted. "And even if I had, you were the one who always used the clearing."

"Yes, after you created it and ordered me to do so."

Govek went very still. Ergoth had invented the clearing?

The voices of the clan rose with agreement and Ergoth's eyes went wide before he snapped back into place, straightening his robes. "You twist my words harshly, Sythcol. I am not to blame for this. It is true negligence on your part to not look into it before implementing its use. After all, you are the lead conjurer of this clan. I am merely its leader."

"You told me the clearing was to help concentration."

"And that is what it does."

"No, the combination of herbs you used strip thoughts. It doesn't aid them. It strips them and allows anything you desire to take its place. The first words spoken are branded . I am studying it now, uncovering its depths as we speak."

"Only now? Are you saying that after I gave it to you, you used it without bothering to even look at it?" Ergoth's eyes gleamed. "That seems more negligence on your part than mine."

"I trusted you," Sythcol said loudly as he gestured wide. "We all trusted you. But no longer. I will never blindly trust again. Not you or anyone. I will ever seek to find deeper truths on my own and guide my magics with clear purpose. I will never allow any other to play on my conscience and coerce me into performing acts against my better judgment."

"I have never wanted you to do anything less, Sythcol," Ergoth said, his expression that perfect mix of pure pity and remorse. It socked Govek right in the gut. Ergoth lied so easily. Why had he never seen that before? "And if you were ever given the impression I did, then I apologize."

"You have manipulated us all using this clearing. You forced us to follow your every whim."

Ergoth's face went slack, as if he were truly wounded by the accusation. "Of course I didn't. You followed me of your own wills. Because of the good I have done. Tell me"—Ergoth stretched his arms wide to address the clan—"Who created the ability to vote as a group? Who implemented the storerooms? Who increased the production of crops and allowed magic to flourish? Who kept Rove Wood pure all these many years? Why, more than half the mates currently residing in this clan joined during my reign."

Govek clutched Miranda tight, despising the insinuation that Ergoth had anything to do with her decision to stay with him. To love him.

And judging from the tension of the other mated males, they felt the same.

Iytier suddenly appeared in the door and stormed into the room. Jehvlek followed close behind. They stood at Govek's side and his tension eased as the warmth and strength of their support humbled him.

"Ergoth, how dare you try to kill?—"

"Stand down, Iytier. This does not concern you. "

"Doesn't concern us? Our mates were at the spring," Jehvlek snapped. "Our children ."

"I don't know what you think, but I would never have sent that boar. You all know how precious your sons are to me." Ergoth insisted so vehemently that a rumble of confusion swept through the clan. "Someone has framed me for this act."

"Framed you the same way Govek was framed for the torture of his kills?" Jehvlek asked. "Evythiken tells us Rogeth isn't the one who did it. So, tell me, Ergoth , who is truly responsible for that heinous deception?"

Ergoth's cheek twitched under his eye. "Are you trying to imply that I mutilated the animals?"

"You were the first to know about them, weren't you? Govek was ordered to report all his kills directly to you as soon as he brought them in. What was your reasoning for that?" Jehvlek's voice carried as the clan fell into a hush again.

"To ensure they could be butchered while fresh," Ergoth said between the clench of his teeth.

"Would not the preserving magic have been enough for that? Rogeth and his butchers worked in the butchery every day . Was there really such need to interrupt your work as our chief just to ensure Govek's kills were addressed immediately? Or was there another reason you wanted to see his kills first?"

Govek's stomach clenched, and his palms sweated, and the pieces snapped into place so easily, so firmly, he could feel the jolt down his spine.

Iytier cut in before Ergoth could respond. "And what of all the lies you have told us about Govek? About his unchecked fury and his demands that we stay away from him? Did you really think we would not eventually discuss among ourselves and discover your deception?"

"You wouldn't have." Govek found his voice beyond his shock. The clan turned their full attention to him, but this time Govek felt not a single desire to shrink away or vent his fury. Instead, his words continued cold and clipped and even. "You wouldn't have, because the clearing forced your silence."

"You will be silent , Govek!" Ergoth raged as his body shook and his teeth gnashed. His mask was dropping away and Govek stared as the true face of his father broke through.

He found his voice, drawing from decades of his father's manipulation. "Calm down, Ergoth. Control yourself."

Ergoth's face contorted. "You wretch, how dare you?—"

"All my life you've demanded I control myself, but that was only to control the clan , wasn't it? To taint their opinion of me."

"You have no right to speak among this clan."

"Why shouldn't he?" Iytier demanded. "He is next in line to be chief of Rove Wood."

"He will never be chief!" Ergoth pointed his finger at Iytier. His clawed finger. Govek could see the tip of it starting to slink out. "You think I would ever let my vile traitorous spawn come into power here? When the role should rightly go to Tavggol's perfect child? You would have Tavggol's son robbed of his rightful place by this disgusting monster?"

Govek felt each word like the slice of a blade, cutting deep and twisting until his insides were turned to mush and he could hardly find the will to stand .

"You're the monster!" Miranda cried.

"Be quiet. Everything I fucking did was for this clan!" Ergoth took the tray of food next to his throne and shattered it, splattered its contents across his podium. "Every speck of this food is from me . Every magic is from me. Every trade and success and joy you feel is by my doing. I brought light to this clan. I am the reason you thrive. This clan would be nothing without my rule.

"And now you want Govek? That abomination of the Fades born with power beyond your reckoning? He'll gain control and become a tyrant. Do you not see how having magic and strength is dangerous ? You bring your own doom! Even Corine couldn't face him. His warrior blight would not even be known for years and still she left him. She would rather risk death , abandoning him than bear to even hold him after he was birthed from her womb."

"My god," Miranda said, her exclamation somehow cutting off Ergoth's tirade. "Maythra said the same thing, and now I know where she got it. Govek was a baby when his mother left."

"She left because she knew he was vile . She knew that he would grow to have a bulging hideous warrior frame and could not bear to raise a child so monstrous."

" You just admitted no one knew Govek would have a warrior build until years after his birth." Miranda's voice was loud, steady, and it radiated through Govek. Brought clarity to his mind. "Why did you reject him before you knew?"

Fuck . . . all these years. Why had he not seen . . .?

Miranda continued. "Tell me, Ergoth, did you banish him to the outskirts of Rove Wood Clan when he was seven because he was a warrior or did you always despise him? "

Ergoth really had been responsible for all of it. Every. Last. Thing.

Govek went cold from this truth.

"I did what I had to do to protect this clan!"

"It wasn't for the clan. It was for you! Because you couldn't stand that your mate left because of you !"

"It was not me! It was not me! " Ergoth roared through the clan, swept them all up in its spiral. "No woman would ever leave me! I am the chief of Rove Wood! Second only to the Fades themselves. Corine should have scraped at my feet, slaved over my whims. She was meant to worship me as a good woman should. It is Govek's fault she left, not mine! Not mine! "

Govek was going to vomit. His whole body shook so violently he was nearly forced to set Miranda down.

"I built this clan," Ergoth raged, eyes bloodshot and bulging. His claws were fully extended now. "Every scrap and being in it belongs to me, and no one will fucking take it from me."

A surge of power coursed through Govek's body, ripped away his anguish, tore out his fear. His own claws snapped out unheeded and Govek relished it.

He stepped forward, bold, determined. "I challenge you, Ergoth. Your time etching malice into this clan is over ."

Ergoth's eyes flashed, as if coming back to himself a moment. "You can't?—"

"A challenge has been issued, Ergoth." Karthoc's voice was a pool of rage. "By the laws of our kind, you will fight or you will yield."

"I will not! I demand to select a champion!" Ergoth said so confidently that Govek wondered if this had been his plan all along. To elect someone to fight Govek in his stead. Perhaps many .

But a deadly hush settled over the males of Rove Wood. Ergoth had destroyed himself already and was too delusional to see it.

Karthoc snarled. "You coward. You will fight your own battle."

Govek cut in. "No. I will accept it." He gave Miranda's hand a final squeeze, earning her strength in return as he stepped forward to address the clan. "Any male here who wants to fight on Ergoth's behalf, step forward now. Step forward and I will fucking cut you down and throw you out of the Rove Woods along with him."

No one twitched.

"You cretins!" Ergoth snarled, shaking wildly in his fury. His hair came undone from his queue. His face was so dark it was a wonder it didn't pop. "I am your chief . You will stand and fight. I command it!"

Not a single orc stood. Not one of them spoke on his behalf.

Govek's chest swelled, and his mind reeled, and his thoughts turned to the stark similarities between now and that night that Ergoth ordered him to Estwill.

"Karthoc. Warlord. Nephew. " Ergoth raised his chin so high Govek could see into his nostrils. " You will fight for me. You are duty bound to answer the?—"

Karthoc bellowed laughter so loud it thundered through the room. "You are a fucking fool, Ergoth. Your Rove Wood rules don't apply to me. You must fight your own battle and I have a mind to challenge you when Govek is done! If there is anything left of you."

"You'll have to get in line after me." Miranda's seething tone sent a shiver up Govek's spine, and he could not tell if he was more terrified by his mate's fury or impressed.

He reached to touch her cheek once more before he stalked toward Ergoth's pretentious platform. Govek's blood turned to pure energy as he barreled toward his father. His eyes pinned the male. The chaos of his mind swirled dangerously high. Govek struggled to comprehend what he was feeling.

All he knew was that his claws were aching to sink deep into something other than his own palms.

Ergoth held up his hands as he attempted his holding magic, a desperate effort to stop Govek's advance.

But the magic was barely a glimmer in the back of Goveks mind. Hardly a prickle along his flesh. Govek used his rage like a shield and Ergoth's magic was nothing against his furious power.

Ergoth's eyes widened in shock, and he took a step back. His hands fell as he changed tactics. He address the clan again. "How dare you abandon me this way! I have only ever done good for you! I was saving you from having a tyrant for a chief. You all know Govek needed to die. You all know how vile he is! You wanted him as your leader? To follow in my footsteps? To steal this clan away from Tavggol's son? The rightful ruler?"

Govek stormed up the steps, barreling his weight onto the wood. For the first time in his life, the platform welcomed him, beckoned him. He felt not a drop of hesitation as he approached his father.

Ergoth spun to face him and screamed. "Get away from?—"

Govek lifted his foot and slammed it into Ergoth's chest .

The male flew backward, hurtled to the ground below. Ergoth slammed onto the stone, gasping and writhing.

And Govek felt no better for it. Instead, his chest only tightened and the foot that had struck his father broke out into pins and needles. The swirling turbulence in his mind popped in an instant. The desire to waste one more motion on this sniveling male was gone, disgust rolled into his stomach.

Govek lowered his foot, watching his father swing back around to his hands and knees. Ergoth tried to rise to his feet, but he tripped on his own opulent robes.

Further violence would only make Ergoth the victim and Govek the monster all over again.

So Govek looked to the clan, found the males tense, wide eyes engulfing their faces, fists balled as if they were prepared for Govek to go mad.

Instead, Govek stepped back away from Ergoth's revolting form. A hush fell over the clan. A calm Govek had never sensed from them before.

Ergoth gasped and sputtered. Rage contorted his face when he saw that his once loyal males were not instantly coming to his aid. He rose to his knees. "Seize him, you fools. I did not accept! I did not accept the challenge! You see? You all see how vile he is? He attacked his own father?—"

Miranda appeared from nowhere and the crack of her palm across Ergoth's mouth was so loud it reverberated through the hall. His own cheek began to prickle and burn. Ergoth started to speak again, and Miranda spat on his face.

Somehow, after everything, that was what stunned Ergoth into silence. His eyes glazed, his quivering hand hovered above the wet glob running down his cheek .

Govek swung down from the platform and picked Miranda up before his brave little mate could start battering Ergoth further.

"All those who choose to remove Ergoth from his role of chief, stand," Sythcol said loudly.

A symphony of clattering bodies and feet as the entire clan rose soothed the anguish from Govek's chest. He tucked Miranda in close, soaking up her warmth, and looked into the strength on her face.

"You want him? " Ergoth raged, finally managing to rise. His hair was a tangled mess, and his eyes were wild. "You want the fucking male who butchered the whole of Clairton? You will regret this!"

Govek shuddered, stepping back further. His mind slipped into memories he wanted to forget, of rage and blurs of color, followed by agonizing clarity and carnage. Human men slaughtered, bloody pieces of them strewn about. His body covered in that blood. Their blood.

"The whole of?" Karthoc snapped. "You mean the twenty fucking soldiers who were packing up the remains of the town?"

"The remains?" Iytier asked. "What do you mean by remains? By twenty soldiers?"

"Silence!" Ergoth spat, but no one seemed to hear him except Govek.

Iytier continued. "Ergoth told us that Govek slaughtered everyone in sight, including women and children. That he razed the town against your orders."

"I said silence!"

"You will be silent!" Karthoc roared. "You dare spread such lies about your own kin? To say he murdered children ? "

"He may as well have! How many sons would I have now if he hadn't driven Corine away!"

Govek went very cold only to have warmth wrap about his neck, his chest.

"Govek," Miranda said into his ear. Her tone soothing, strengthening.

"You think that justifies sending a boar to kill him?" Karthoc's voice was a tangible thing, whipping up the clan into a whispering frenzy.

"I have only ever done right by this clan!" Ergoth said. "I have been faithful and loyal and worked too fucking hard for everything I created to pass to this vile?—"

"This is the truth!" Karthoc said, his voice echoing above Ergoth's. "We found Clairton abandoned. Scouts had warned them we were coming and they wisely chose to leave. Only a few hands of males were still cleaning up. All soldiers. And yes, we slaughtered them. We all did. Govek was in battle rage with the rest of us. But there were no women or children."

Govek's stomach heaved, and he closed his eyes as his body shook.

There had been no children that day.

But if there had been . . . if there had . . .

"Govek, tough guy, breathe for me." Miranda stroked the back of his neck.

"Lives are lives!" Ergoth snarled. "And you will have a murderer as your leader."

"Better that then a traitor! Govek killed only in self-defense after they tortured your son to death!"

At that moment, the hall doors burst open again. Estoc led Brovdir and two other burly orc warriors into the room.

Karthoc waved them to follow and stormed through the hall toward Ergoth. Govek found himself carrying Miranda toward the wall of the hall, to the dim spot where the stairs up onto the platform were located, watching, waiting.

Waiting for Ergoth to be taken away.

Govek may never see him again. His throat closed even as his mind scrambled. He fought for something to say, to make sense of the growing dread in his gut.

This couldn't just be it.

"Ergoth, you have been stripped of your role. You have attempted to murder your own kin. You have deceived your clan and abused your power. You will be held at my camp until adequate punishment can be chosen."

"No!" Ergoth wailed as Karthoc took up the male's hands and wrenched them behind his back. He did this so easily, taking action where Govek was frozen stiff.

"This clan is mine . They belong to me !"

"Govek," Karthoc said after binding his father's hands with a length of rope. "Do you want to take him?"

This was really it? This was all? He'd take Ergoth to Karthoc's camp and then what?

What would happen from there?

What punishment could Ergoth suffer to ever make any of the tortures Govek had endured heal?

"No," Govek barely managed. Ergoth's face contorted and Govek felt his entire body contorting with it.

What good would hauling off this male do now?

Govek would recover nothing from spending a moment more in his wretched company.

Ergoth was screaming something as Karthoc dragged him away but the clan was so loud it felt like it would rupture Govek's ears.

He saw Iytier start toward him in the crowd. Estoc too. A few other males from the clan were also looking eagerly in his direction.

They wanted answers. Wanted to voice opinions. Wanted to add more chaos.

"I need to go," Govek managed. Looking for an escape, searching. He found it atop Ergoth's platform. At the back stair that led to the private space none could enter without permission.

"Then let's go," Miranda said instantly.