Page 53 of Orc's Pride
“‘Stole something’?” I repeat. “What could you have possibly taken that would warrant them wanting to kill you?”
She slowly slides herself off my lap, her movements jerky and filled with too much shaking that has me wanting to reach out to her to pull her back into my arms. I hate that whatever it is those bastards did to her, has made her so frightened.
She shouldn't be. I’d protect her at the cost of my entire clan.
That thought dawns on me suddenly, the force of it ripping through my mind at such velocity that I’m shocked I hadn’t realized it earlier.
I’m truly falling for her. Hard.
Dana lifts her leg and sticks her hand into her boot, producing a small, folded up piece of paper that looks so innocuous in her hand that I have to force myself not to laugh.
“A piece of paper? They want to kill you over that?”
Her hands shake more as she unfolds it. “It’s not just a piece of paper, Pitha. It’s a ledger.”
When she hands it to me, I take it and look it over. There are dozens of names on here—most of which I recognize, but there are a handful that I do. One of them being Ishta’s.
“What…?”
“They’re all working with the dark elves,” Her fingers wring together. “To conquer us all.”
My eyes shoot up to catch hers again. “Oh, Dana…”
She’s kept this secret to herself, not knowing if I was one of the ones on this list. No wonder she’d be skeptical to trust me.
“How did you get this?”
She looks away from me. “I… got myself kidnapped and taken into one of the dark elf encampments closest to here. Malik… he’s a Chieftain to a clan that took me in a while ago.
I’ve been running letters back to him for months in order for him to decode. I found that when I was looking for letters to take.”
My heart hammers in my chest.
What a brave woman. How in the world did I manage to find her? She should be regarded as a hero. While the credit to the translating should of course be given to Old Malik, he would have nothing if it wasn’t for Dana’s—and whoever else he’d sent out to collect letters—bravery.
“Come here.” I hold out my hand, placing the list next to me.
Her eyes widen, focusing back on me in surprise.
Her hand slides into mine after a long moment, and I immediately pull her back onto my lap. She settles into me comfortably and without hesitations, something of which warms me deep inside my chest.
“You,” I cup her face. “Are incredible.”
23
Dana
My heart pounds at the words.
Incredible? Me? How has he managed to think that with me confessing that I’ve been hiding something this huge from him?
Isn’t he angry?
Pitha holds my face in his hands, the tender look in his eyes making my stomach flip with butterflies.
“You… aren’t mad at me?”
His thumbs stroke over my cheeks. “Why in the world would I be mad at you?”