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“At least tell me what happened,” insists my second. “The last I knew you were missing, and the regent was in the dungeons. And did you say that you did a death scream?”
“Why was she in the dungeons?” I remember now, Friza saying something like that in the hedge maze.
“Because you weremissing! Because we were here as a part of a plot I didn’t fully understand at Regent Santir’s orders and then you were gone? What was I to think? I thought she had double-crossed us and that you were in danger.”
“I was in danger, but it wasn’t because of Pellia. And where the fuck was Korovi? Why did he let you take her?”
Friza has the grace to look chagrined. “He didn’tletus take her. He fought three orcs at the same time and was only taken down because the regent distracted him. I have him chained up in the healer’s tent.”
Though I am still distressed waiting for news of Pellia, I have a brief moment of amusement. “You were busy, weren’t you?”
“You were gone! Taken! What would you have had me do?”
“Not throw my m . . . the regent into the dungeons. However, I suppose I can’t fault your suspicion. Korovi will need to get a commendation after this, though.” Perhaps I will petition for him to go to Garden Manor so that he can find a bride of his own.
Friza is unamused by my errant comments. “Stop dodging the question. Where were you? What happened? Why is the regent on death’s door?”
The reminder of Pellia kills any other thoughts I might be having. I grimly respond, “I am not dodging the question. The Cabal took me to their secret tower to be ritually sacrificed.”
My second makes a strangled sound of shock and protest, but I continue on. “The tower is hidden in the maze where you found me, cloaked under some sort of illusion. They meant to summon the strength of the demon lord they serve, but accidentally summoned the demon himself. He’s the one who almost killed Pellia. When I saw it, helpless to stop it, as hesqueezed the life out of her . . . the death scream came. I can’t explain it and I am not sure I could do it again, but it came. I killed the rest of the cultists, but the demon fled.”
“Gods! Which demon?”
“Grazrath, Lord of Pain.”
Friza swears. “Those crazy bastards! They brought that depraved torturer into this realm? If half the stories about him are true . . .”
“I would believe them,” I state grimly. Damn it, where is that healer? Why does he not come out of the room? Is there still no news?
“Then we should send scouts to find him, try to bind him before he can do more damage. Where is the mage?”
“Do not send any orcs looking for him. In fact, order all the orcs back to the castle,” I command.
“Why?”
“They mentioned that they needed the blood of an enemy to seal the ritual. They didn't say that they specifically needed my blood, though I was the one they took. Still, I don’t want to risk that the demon gets the blood he needs from another source. Without it, his body was already falling apart. I think that if he doesn’t get orc blood before this night is over, he will be sent back to the Nether.”
“Then we should at least send the human guards to search for him. They won’t reach the criteria of an enemy, would they?”
“I don’t know,” I admit. “Maybe not. But if they are truly on our side, maybe they would. I think it would be best to leave it well enough alone until tomorrow. We can search for evidence that he still lives then. But maybe we should send some of the human guards to the tower where I was held. There is dead to burn there. I killed all of them with my scream. We should do it quickly since they died in such a cursed place. They could become undead.”
“If you killed all the others, why didn’t Pellia die, then?” asks Friza.
“I don’t know. Maybe because she was unconscious whenit began, so she couldn’t fully hear the scream, or perhaps already too far gone to be affected. Maybe a bored god mercifully intervened. I don’t care, I only know that I need her to wake once again.”
Friza nods and says, “Alright, I’ll send them to gather the bodies. We’ll burn them soon. We should be able to find the tower by following the trail of your scent.” She clasps both hands to her chest and then turns to leave. Then she turns back and says, “I’m sorry, Warchief. I hope she lives.” Then she is gone.
Me too,I think.Life will not be worth living without her.
???
The light of morning is firmly in the sky when the healer comes out of the room. He looks wan and spent and for a moment I fear the worst. Then he smiles faintly and says the sweetest words I have ever heard, “She’ll live.”
Then everything goes black as I collapse.
Chapter 26
Pellia
