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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

U lric floated in a sea of pain, his consciousness ebbing and flowing like a tide. The world around him blurred into a haze of indistinct shapes and muffled sounds. Only one thing remained clear—Jessamin’s hands on his skin, her voice calling his name with increasing desperation.

“Ulric! Stay with me!” Her fingers pressed against his face, cool against his burning skin.

He tried to focus on her, but the poison worked its way through his veins like liquid fire. His enhanced senses, usually a blessing, now amplified every agonizing pulse. The poison was designed specifically for his kind—a cruel, calculated weapon meant to bring down even the strongest orc.

Through the fog, he heard her voice again, ordering him to drink.

He swallowed obediently, the bitter liquid burning down his throat. Then the antidote collided with the poison in his system.

His back arched, a silent scream locked in his throat as the two substances warred inside him.

The blackened veins around his wound began to recede, the unnatural color fading.

The raging fire in his blood cooled to a smoldering ache.

His vision cleared enough to focus on Jessamin’s face, frantic with fear and hope.

“Jessamin,” he rasped, his hand finding hers.

The relief in her eyes was a balm to his soul. “I’m here,” she whispered, pressing her forehead to his. “I’m right here.”

She turned to Khorrek. “Come with us. You saved his life. Lasseran would kill you for that alone if he knew.”

Khorrek’s face hardened. “He is still my king.”

“He is a monster. You know this. You’ve seen it with your own eyes.”

“It’s not that simple,” Khorrek said, his voice low. “There are others?—”

“They would be welcome in Norhaven,” he managed, his voice weak but firm. “All of them.”

“No, they wouldn’t be. What he’s done to some of them…”

“Isn’t that even more reason to come with us?” she asked.

“He had to do it,” Khorrek insisted. “He is going to bring peace to the Five Kingdoms by bringing them together as one united kingdom.”

“Through fear and brutality? That isn’t peace, it’s enslavement.”

Khorrek shook his head, avoiding her gaze. “It will be better. I have to believe…” He climbed slowly to his feet. “You saved my life and I saved his. We are even. Do not expect mercy if we meet again.”

Despite the harshness of his words, he looked at Jessamin for a long moment, then bowed his head. “Goodbye, Queen Jessamin.”

“Goodbye, Khorrek.”

He vanished back through the tunnel as Wulf scowled after him. “How do we know he isn’t going to run right back to Lasseran and tell him where we are?”

“He won’t,” she said calmly, and to his surprise, Egon nodded as well.

“I agree. He could have killed me during our previous encounter and he didn’t. And he told us what Lasseran is planning.”

Wulf threw up his hands.

“I can see I’m outnumbered, but just in case I’m right, I think we should get out of this city as fast as we can.”

The explosions that Egon had set off in the armory had uncovered an entrance to the catacombs, a vast, labyrinthine network of tunnels, crypts, and forgotten vaults, a remnant of ancient civilizations long before Velmora’s rise.

Wulf and Egon helped him to his feet, and they fled from the palace and into the catacombs.

There was still a risk that Lasseran’s guards would follow them, but it was better than braving the streets while the city was in an uproar and he doubted anyone could track them through the twisted tunnels and hidden chambers.

Fortunately, Egon knew enough to guide them back to the tunnel through which they’d entered the city. His delicate little bride didn’t even flinch as they made their way through the sewers and out under the city walls.

Storm seemed more appalled, tossing his head reluctantly as he mounted and lifted Jessamin up in front of him.

“How far can you ride?” Wulf demanded.

“As far as necessary,” he snapped. “I want Jessamin as far away from here as possible.”

“There’s a way station used by smugglers about two hours from here,” Egon said calmly.

The way station, when they finally reached it, was little more than a crude cave carved into a rocky hillside behind a waterfall, with another larger cave nearby for the horses.

A collection of basic provisions—dried meat, water skins, and medical supplies—had been cleverly hidden behind a false stone wall that Egon triggered with a deft flick of his wrist.

They all took a turn under the waterfall to wash away the lingering stink of the city and Egon built a small, almost smokeless fire at the back of the cave near a natural chimney.

Once they were fed and dry, Egon stood guard at the cave entrance while Wulf slipped into the darkness to check for any sign of pursuit, leaving him and Jessamin alone in the cavern’s quiet solitude.

Jessamine hadn’t left his side, and she insisted on cleaning and bandaging the wound.

The antidote had neutralized the worst of the poison, and it was already beginning to heal but he was still weak.

But not too weak to hold his wife in his lap, pulling her down to join him as he sat with his back to the rough stone wall.

She traced a finger over the fading wound in his chest, her touch as gentle as a whisper. “You came for me,” she murmured, her blue eyes luminous in the flickering firelight. “You saved me.”

“You saved all of us,” he corrected her, his thumb stroking over her cheek. “The brazier. Quick thinking.”

She shrugged, clearly uncomfortable with the praise. “I just did what needed to be done.”

“Like a queen,” he said, cupping her cheek. “My queen.”

The memory of her in the ceremonial chamber, so fierce and defiant, surrounded by flames, triggered another memory.

“Flames,” he said slowly. “Lyric had a vision of you surrounded by flames. Perhaps the Old Gods really are taking an interest after all this time.”

She leaned into his touch, her eyes closing briefly. “I was brought up to believe they were always watching.”

“It appears they’re doing more than watching now.”

“Then we should be grateful. But right now I’m more concerned with getting you back to Norhaven,” she said. “You need proper healing, and our people need to know what’s happened.”

“This isn’t over,” he said grimly. “Lasseran won’t stop. Not until he has what he wants.”

“But without my blood, he can’t alter the Curse, can he?”

“I’m afraid it’s not that simple.” He hesitated, but he’d promised her the truth. “He can already do it, but on a much more limited scale. Egon saw the results.”

Her eyes went wide with horror. “You mean he’s sacrificing other people?”

“I believe so.”

“He sacrificed Elspeth,” she whispered. “What she did was unforgivable, but no one should have to die like that.”

He made a noncommittal sound. The woman had almost cost him everything and while he wouldn’t have wished such a fate on her, he felt no sorrow at her death.

Wulf returned, reporting no immediate signs of pursuit. “They’ll be searching the city first,” he said. “We have some time.”

“A few hours, no more,” he warned. “I want Jessamin back in Norhaven as soon as possible.”

Egon joined them, dropping more wood on the small fire. “I’ll take the first watch,” he said.

“Get some rest, Ulric. You look like hell,” Wulf ordered. “We’ll leave at first light.”

He wanted to protest, but the poison had taken more out of him than he cared to admit. With Jessamin nestled against him, he fell into a deep, healing sleep.