Page 103 of The Savage Vow
“Where we go first.”
Orlena stared at her. Nargol tapped the map gently. Orlena glanced down at it, and her heart skipped a beat.
“You mean…umm…” Orlena could barely formulate a word.
She flicked her gaze back to Nargol who watched her with a smile on her lips.
“I promised you that I would show you the world. Now where would you want to go first?” Nargol said.
Emotion swelled suddenly in Orlena’s chest. She looked down at the map again and reached out to trace the inked mountains with shaking fingers. It had always been her dream to travel and see all that she could.
“I just thought you were saying that,” she whispered. She had believed Nargol before, but she thought it would be some fantasy. Never would she have thought Nargol would follow through on it. She had given her so much already.
“I never say things I do not mean,” Nargol murmured.
Orlena grinned and hopped in place.
Where…oh, where should they go first?
“This place is huge. How am I supposed to choose where to go first? I don’t even know where to start!” Orlena leaned against Nargol who wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She studied the map more closely. “There are so many places.”
Forests. Cities. Towns. Villages.
It felt impossible to see everything that Aghon had to offer.
“I may have an idea.” Nargol brushed her lips in a soft kiss on Orlena’s forehead. She reached forward and tapped a tiny settlement near the western border, near the ocean. “Here.”
“Where is that?” Orlena moved closer to the table.
Nargol’s arm slipped from her shoulders. Orlena leaned down to see the town’s name.
Begoz.
“It sits along the Kuzgun Sea. It’s one of Aghon’s biggest harbors for the import and export of goods,” Nargol said. She cocked her head to the side as she pointed to the sea and the lands nearest the town. “I hear it’s beautiful around this time of year. You should definitely go visit.”
“Really?” Orlena frowned.
“I received a report this morning. I found someone,” Nargol said.
“Someone?” Now Orlena was confused. She glanced at the town of Begoz, and she’d never heard of it until now. Why would she be seeking someone out there?
“Your brother is there.”
The world seemed to stop. The room, the firelight, the rustle of the wind beyond the windows.
Everything seemed to pause.
Orlena blinked and had to remember to breathe.
“My brother?” Orlena whispered. She rested a hand on her stomach as nervousness overtook her.
“He’s alive and living in Begoz.”
Tears spilled down Orlena’s cheeks before she even realized she was crying. She stared at Nargol. This woman was more than anything she could have ever wished for. She’d told Nargol of her upbringing, how her father had traded her off and how she wished she could find her brother.
“What about my father?” she asked.
“He died some years ago,” Nargol said softly.
