Page 81 of The Savage Vow
Warrior.
Protector.
Lover.
“Was it true?” She swallowed hard. The question had tumbled from her lips before she could stop it breaking the silence between them. She just had to know. So much had been said about Nargol, yet she had barely said anything at all to Orlena.
“Was what true?” Nargol slowed.
“That you were sent to Soza as a spy.” The words felt even weird to say. She had believed that Bula—Nargol—was exactly what she’d said she was. A nomad. A drifter. A person with no ties to any home.
Now it would appear she did have ties.
The daughter of the chieftain. A fierce warrior. Someone who was strong enough to eliminate a group of orcs all by herself.
“I was sent to gather information. To find the ones responsible for a resurrection against my father, the kingdom. It is my responsibility to bring those people to justice,” Nargol admitted. “Someone planned an attack against my parents in front of the public. They were trying to get a rise out of orcs to go against the royal family. We will not stand for it. I was sent to find the enemy.”
Orlena paused. She tried to concentrate on where she was walking. The mountain path dipped sharply. Nargol reachedback without looking and jerked Orlena to her to keep her from falling.
Her hardened body revealed the muscles. She was toned, and Orlena had assumed it was from living off the land. Not training as a lethal warrior. She breathed in the familiar scent of the female she’d come to trust. In the shadows underneath the trees, she could see Nargol staring at her. Nargol’s hand came up to cup her cheek.
“I may have been sent here for a mission, but I found something else. Someone who I will fight for. Someone who completes me.”
Orlena’s heart pounded. She held Nargol’s gaze. Her expression was raw and unguarded. Deep inside, Orlena knew Nargol was being truthful.
“And who is that?” she whispered.
“I found you.”
The world seemed to narrow to that space between them.
Orlena thought of how Nargol always looked at her as if she were something precious. Or how she cared for her. How Nargol’s kisses and touches made her feel.
None of that had been faked.
She felt it to her bones that everything between them had been real. The last thin thread of doubt inside her snapped.
“You had no choice but to lie to me about who you really are,” Orlena said softly.
“No.” Nargol’s jaw flexed. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Orlena’s forehead. “That will be the last time a lie will ever spill from my lips to you.”
She entwined their fingers and continued their journey down the mountain. They walked in a silence after that. Nargol was still on guard. The way her body tensed at the slightest sounds alerted Orlena to the fact that they could still be in potential danger.
The trees thinned on their descent. The mountain gave way to dense forest at its base. The darkness deepened there, swallowing the moonlight. Orlena blinked, trying to wait for her eyes to adjust.
Orlena’s pulse spiked at how dark it had got around them. In the low light, she could barely see Nargol’s form in front of her. It was darker than any night she had known in the village.
No lanterns.
No rays from the moon.
Only endless trees.
She instinctively moved closer to Nargol who gave her hand a squeeze.
“You are safe with me,” Nargol said quietly.
Flashes from the camp and the bodies that lay around the dying fire came to mind.
