Page 27 of Loved By The Orc (Monster Orc Brides #4)

Varguk :

MY POSITION IS NEAR the royal guard, my beautiful mate near my side.

This time, she doesn’t look like a halfling.

She is fiercely gorgeous in full Blackheart garb, and looks like the warrior princess that she is.

I am proud to be her guard, an up-close and personal spot where I’ll be hard to miss.

I stick out like a sore thumb in my Southpeak furs and loincloth. Strategic, I’m sure.

Brachard is a respected and feared king by other clans for a reason.

Drummers play a solemn, slow beat that eerily mimics a funeral procession. I have no doubts that my father—had he remained king of his line—would have employed the tactic to scare and intimidate others after seeing Brachard do it.

As Clan King Agor approaches first—his own personal guard around him—my father doesn’t walk by his side. Good, his status has been changed, then. King Agor’s gaze falls upon me before he glances away to focus on Brachard.

“Clan King Agor, welcome to my village,” Brachard says mockingly.

We all know that Solaya isn’t their actual village but instead a guard town that blocks the gates to their mountain home.

“Aye, King Brachard.” To his credit, Agor isn’t blustery nor does he show off the way my father might have .

“You are here to show me the penance I magnanimously allowed your own clan to dole out?”

Agor’s lip tightens and for one moment, I think he doesn’t appreciate Brachard’s taunt. But then I realize he’d be a fool to show displeasure to Brachard. Nay, there’s another reason for his concern.

Mayhap he’s worried that my father didn’t measure up to the task of maiming his sons.

Sure enough, when Agor steps aside, my father, Leviton, and Auglesh step up. None of them look at me.

Both of my brothers look perfectly whole. Fine.

Brachard takes a long moment to look them up and down. Then, in a dangerously quiet voice, he turns to Agor and says, “Might you be so kind as to point out their injury?”

My father swallows.

Agor doesn’t let him off the hook. “King Vronas is no longer. His title has been remanded, his wealth redistributed, and several males compete for the right to rule. And now, with your permission, I will let him tell you what he has done to his sons.”

“Go ahead,” Brachard barks directly to Vronas.

My father stutters. “M-my firstborn, Levi, is my protector. Trained in the highest court his entire life—”

“—aye, against his own brother, who is now a Black Mountain protector.” Brachard waves his hand. “We appreciate the fine standard of training now that we have it in our village. Get on with it.”

“I-I couldn’t have Levi’s hands injured if he is to hold a sword. Throw his knives. I couldn’t poke out an eye, he wouldn’t be able to judge distance from my enemies. Again, he is my sole source of protection. So I offer this.”

He steps forward with a small box.

Brachard looks inside. His face is expressionless. Then he turns to Leviton. “Show me. ”

Curious, several people watch as Leviton steps forward. He kneels, then removes his shoe to show his smallest toe has been replaced with an angry red scar.

Brachard leans back. “And the look-alike brother? I imagine he has a toe chopped off also?” His voice is a sneer that sends shivers down my spine.

The Southpeaks should be wary. Brachard is not happy with this outcome. My father is an idiot.

“N-nay.” My father produces another box.

“Small enough for a penis?” Negan whispers loudly and chuckles roll about the crowd as Auglesh pales.

Brachard barks out his laughter, loud and booming. “Aye, my sweet, you were always one of my favorites. Can’t deny the Blackhearts raised you right. Remember the last time we met here, you asked for a boon? You shall receive it today.”

With those mild words, he turns back toward my father and looks into the box. Then he stands and without gracing Auglesh with words, raises a heavy eyebrow.

Auglesh produces his left hand—which is not his dominant—and shows a stub of a pinky. So not even his entire finger, just the tip, lay in the box.

“Is this a joke?” Brachard bellows. “I shall dole out the punishment myself! You earned your sons two new mutilations,” he says to my father.

King Agor nods his approval. He expected no less.

“Negan,” Brachard says softly. “My sweet girl, your boon.”

I tense when Negan steps forward, following just a half step beside her to make sure she is safe.

Brachard hands her his own knife.

When she takes it, he places his hand over hers. “Not the penis,” he scowls. “You may do that only if they complain or cry out in pain. But I rather like the idea of them procreating.” His next words are meant to chill a male’s soul. “Because they will never know when I come after their sons.”

Not if . But when .

Negan turns to Auglesh, whose eyes are wide, flickering back and forth from the blade to her face. The expression he sees makes a dark stain appear at his crotch.

She looks directly into his eyes. “You drugged me. Made me feel helpless. Told me in no uncertain terms you would rape me. And I hate your face. Not for that but because such beauty only belongs to one male. So, I will make sure you never look like Var again.”

She uses my shortened name so often, I shouldn’t notice that she does it deliberately in front of my family. And it shouldn’t send the same thrill through me that it does each time she uses it.

With a quick pop, she reaches forward and it’s done.

The tip of her blade produces an eyeball, bloodied strands hanging off the back end so it doesn’t even look round.

Auglesh opens his mouth to scream, but my father steps forward and covers his mouth.

He grunts and shudders instead and his empty eye, bleeding profusely, begins to swell shut.

Leviton is still as a mouse when she turns to him. Negan tilts her head, her eyes hollow. I’ve never seen her in full Blackheart mode, but I fully understand the terror they bring. My father was a fool to play with these clans. To try to force an alliance.

“You told me you would never allow me to carry Varguk’s baby to term. That you would fuck me until it ran from between my legs. You made me scream. You will never hear me scream again.”

She strikes just as swiftly as she did with Auglesh, her blade angling down the side of his face, taking a braid and… his ear.

But she’s not done.

She turns the blade and pops it in, twists for good measure, and then does the other side .

My father does the same for Leviton that he did for Auglesh. He saves his son’s cock from being cut off by covering Lev’s opened mouth with his beefy hand while his ruptured eardrums bleed down his neck.

Negan bends down, uses the tip of the blade to pick up the ears, and puts that in Brachard’s box. Then she turns, wipes the blade, and hands it back to her godfather.

Who calmly kisses her forehead like she presented him with baked cookies instead of bloody lumps of flesh.

She returns to my side and I pull her close to me with an arm around her shoulders.

“And his punishment?” King Agor asks, looking at me. “He is to remain a prisoner of your clan?”

Probably I hardly look like one with my arm around the most beautiful female in the village.

Brachard shrugs. “Aye. ‘Tis a lifetime sentence taking care of that vicious one. He failed the first time so he has the rest of his life to get it done right.”