Free The Shadows of Grace by David Dalglish

strength to pull her carriage, she gave him his shirt and granted him permission to sleep beside their fire. His back had been to them, but he was curious about the sounds he heard. Rolling about, he peered through the flames. Tessanna knelt, one hand shakily supporting her body, the other holding back her hair.
    “Breathe,” Qurrah told her, who knelt beside her with a hand on her shoulder. “Deep breaths. The nausea will pass.”
    Tessanna heaved, but only tiny bits of spittle and acid came out. Jerico frowned, remembering a comment she’d made to Qurrah as they left Veldaren. She was a pregnant woman. He had been so focused on the carriage and remaining silent, he’d let the comment pass right over him, but now he truly pondered its greater meaning. The girl with blackest eyes was with child, most likely the halforc’s.
    How dangerous a spawn, he wondered. But Keziel said daughters of balance never bore children…
    He focused, for they were talking again.
    “I don’t think it wise to keep him much longer,” Qurrah said when her heaves were gone. Tessanna stared at the earth, her lips quivering and her breathing raspy and uneven.
    “What other mode of transport do you suggest?” she asked.
    “You have your horse.”
    “Too jarring. You know that.”
    Qurrah stood, pulling her to her feet with him. “Then have a tested pull your carriage, I don’t care.”
    “I don’t like them,” she said. “They’re like dogs with rabies. They’ll bite us soon.”
    The halforc fell silent. So far neither knew Jerico watched, and for that he was glad. Surely one of them would gouge his eyes out if they realized.
    “Forgive me, Tess, but you two worry me,” Qurrah said at last. He seemed almost ashamed to admit it. To this the girl crossed her arms and suddenly turned shy and quiet. Jerico had to strain to hear her words over the crackling of the fire.
    “He confuses me,” she said. “And he excites me. But he also makes me angry, very angry, Qurrah. I want him to fuck me, and then I want to kill him. He is something that this world no longer needs, and I want to prove it.”
    The halforc swore and looked away. Jerico swallowed, his mouth suddenly very dry. He knew his life hung by a thread, but never realized how fragile that thread was.
    “You’re mine, and mine alone,” Qurrah said. “Torture him however you wish, but do not let him take you. Promise me that.”
    “I will be the one doing the taking,” Tessanna said, the shyness all but gone.
    “Promise me.”
    He turned back to her. She met his gaze, unafraid, unwavering.
    “I will do as I desire,” she said. “That is all I know how to be.”
    Qurrah shook his head and muttered something Jerico could not hear. Still muttering, he left their camp. Tessanna followed, drawing her knife and calling her lover’s name. She was furious, that was obvious. Hidden well, however, was her fear, but Jerico saw a tiny spark of panic when Qurrah had left.
    As he was pondering ways to use the situation to his advantage, he heard footsteps behind him.
    “Do you now understand?” Velixar said as he sat beside the fire. “You are nothing that you wish to be.”
    The paladin remained silent, still holding onto his original plan. Velixar shrugged, not bothered in the slightest.
    “You wish to be a light in the darkness,” the prophet said. “But to Tessanna you are a temptation. To Qurrah you are a threat. To the rest in this camp, a nuisance. To no one are you a beacon. To no one are you an example. This is what our world shall be. What role do you have within it?”
    Velixar crossed his arms and leaned forward, knowing he would receive no answer.
    “I do not share the blind hatred of my brethren, Jerico. You are not an animal needing exterminated. You are strong, intelligent, and carry enormous faith. But you are wrong. When you boil it all down, you are wrong. About this world. About mankind. About your faith. It is not too late to rectify that