Page 88 of Hunt Me

“As you wish,” Belzara responded with a curtsy.

Matilda tucked into her stew unceremoniously. She closed her eyes, savoring the meat and spices. It felt like home—a little piece of her that she couldn’t do without. “Belzara?” Matilda said when she had returned with more stew.

“Make it quick, Tilda. I can’t subject myself to idle chit-chat. I have others to serve.”

“But what if you only had one to serve?”

Belzara raised a thick brow. “What are you saying?”

“I meant it when I said I was taking you back to the castle.”

“You aim to abduct me?”

“I aim to make you my lady-in-waiting.”

Luka cleared his throat, drawing everyone’s attention. “Surely, my Queen, we can find a lady-in-waiting with much more experience. There are women who were trained from birth for the role.”

“Be that as it may, there are concerns regarding loyalty, and I trust Belzara.”

Belzar slammed his mug onto the unsteady table, sloshing soup over the bowl’s rim onto the table. “Matilda, I am aware that you are no longer one of us, and you live in a castle on the hill and swim in gold coins, but you cannot snap your fingers and have whatever you want.”

Matilda was a little miffed by Belzar’s attitude. However, she allowed it, reckoning that he was still sore about the “reward” he received for turning her in.

“Who do you think you are, orc?” Luka spat, shifting his bride off his lap.

“Luka, please allow me to clear up this slight misunderstanding with my dear friend,” Matilda pleaded.

Luka’s eyes burned a hole through Belzar’s head. He didn’t take too kindly to Matilda being disrespected—publicly, no less.

“As you wish.”

“Wonderful. Belzar, would you join me for a walk?”

The orc smirked at her. “Do I have a choice?”

“Of course.”

“I find that difficult to believe.”

“Let me be the first to remind you that we’re all friends here.”

“And must I be the first to remind you that over a month ago, you were beseeching anyone who would listen for their assistance with ending the vampires? King Alesi, are you aware of her disdain for your kind?”

“She tells me every day,” he answered promptly.

“And you still seek to make her the queen of your people?”

“She’ll be a queen of all people.”

“You should be cautious of a traitor,” Belzar warned.

“You speak as if you didn’t overturn her to me, who, more likely than not, had morbid plans for her. She should be cautious of an opportunist such as yourself.”

“That was business,” Belzar huffed as if that would soften the blow of treason.

Luka scoffed indignantly. “Say what you will to ease your slumber at night.”. Chairs scraped against the dusty wood floors, and the two men stood in a face-off. Matilda knew it would be bad if they came to blows, so she intervened, placing herself between them. “How about that walk, Belzar?”

“As you wish,” he growled, still staring Luka down.