Free Honor Among Orcs (Orc Saga) by Amalia Dillin

might send her on her own way.
    Better, she thought, to learn it now, than discover it after they had crossed through the mountains and she had no way of turning back. He probably hoped it would dissuade her, that he might leave her behind earlier on his journey, settled in some sheepfold to satisfy his honor.
    She slipped out of the tower and returned to her own room.
    It made no difference now if she chose to weep.

    A soft touch freed his wrist from the iron. He groaned as the tension on his shoulders eased, nearly falling to his knees. He steadied himself against the wall before he became aware of Arianna beneath his arm, one hand braced against his chest. It was morning. And he had never been so glad to see her as he was in that moment. In the depth of the night, he’d almost convinced himself she would never return after the things he had said. The things they had both said.
    “The king?” she asked.
    He shook his head. “Not yet.”
    She pressed her lips together, glancing back toward the glass and the door beyond.
    “He does not often come so soon after he beats me senseless, preferring to let me suffer in the dark for days. Perhaps we will be fortunate again today.” Shadows played strangely around her throat. The shape of a man’s hand. He clenched his jaw. Not shadows, after all.
    She moved from beneath his arm, reaching for his other wrist. The iron cuff fell away, and with it, the chains around his ankles dropped loose. He rubbed his wrists and straightened, dropping his gaze from the bruises on her neck. The gown she wore missed its bodice, the satin falling straight to her hips. Wide hips, even hidden. Everything about her spoke of strength. How did she not see it?
    “Thank you.”
    She lifted her chin. “There will be no moon tomorrow night.”
    “Shadow has ever been a friend to me.” He brushed his knuckle over the marks on her neck and she made a soft noise in her throat, turning her face away. “Lord Alviss?”
    Her hands balled into fists. “Lord Alviss had the pleasure of seeing me punished twice, but the bruises he leaves are far more deliberately made.”
    He swallowed a growl along with his rage. The king would die. A just payment for all she had suffered. But death was too good for Alviss. “Do not go to him.”
    “He will give complaint to the king. I will be found, beaten, and delivered.”
    “Not if you remain here.” The right words, this time. He grasped for them, held out his hand as if he might give them up. “Let me serve you in this small way.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “For your honor?”
    “If it were only honor, I would never have offered you a home beyond the mountains. You would be safer in the foothills, and that was my oath, to do you no harm. Bringing you north to freeze is a—a selfish wish.” He dropped his hand, for she made no motion of acceptance. “I would have you with me, where I might see your freedom with my own eyes. But is that not a cage of a different sort, to bind you in such a way?”
    “I—” She pressed her hands against her stomach, turning away. “I don’t know.”
    Her back.
    He had thought the scent of blood from some scratch upon her palm, as she had done the days before to free him from his chains. He had not imagined—was this why she had not come to him sooner? Blood stained the satin black, the ivory fabric sticking to her skin. When she removed it, the wounds would break and bleed again. He understood now, why she wore no laced bodice.
    The growl rose from deep within his chest and she spun to face him, stepping back.
    “It’s nothing.”
    “Nothing! When he spills your blood like this?” He stalked forward, catching her by the arm. “Do not go to him, Arianna. Do not allow yourself to be found. Or else, bring him here and let me end this!”
    “One more night and it won’t matter anymore,” she said fiercely, “but if we’re discovered before then, everything will be lost. Your suffering, mine, all for nothing if we’re