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Casualties Pt 1 - Orenda
Last Updated:
2025-05-20 16:04:19
Latest chapter
A Queen Among Tempests Casualties Pt 3 - Orenda
I grab a hair clip from the bathroom sink and push down the wave of anxiety rising inside me. With shaky hands, I put my hair up in a bun, taking slow breaths as I remind myself over and over in my head that just because I can’t feel my hair on my neck, doesn’t mean it isn’t there. I repeat the mantra as I strip down and climb into the tub, the wonderfully hot water easing the tension from my muscles as I breathe in the scent of the bubbles, letting them calm me down as they surround me with their frothy warmth.I look up to see Azadou standing by the tub, his face a little flustered as he looks down at me. “What does pampering involve, exactly?” he asks with uncertainty.“Well, in this case, you can wash my back for me since I can’t reach, and then my feet because I can’t reach them either,” I say with a cheeky smile, letting the anxiety drift to the back of my mind.I grab my loofah off the edge of the tub and hold it up for him. He takes it from me, eyeing it curiously, then sits o
A Queen Among Tempests Casualties Pt 2 - Orenda
***“You’ve been staring out that window for hours,” Azadou’s sonorous voice sounds, filled with concern.I glance over my shoulder, meeting his worried gaze from the post I have taken on the sofa. I sigh, shifting so I can face him. “I just want to be here the moment Aya returns.”“You have no idea when that will be,” he points out.“So?”“So, it’s not good for you to perch yourself on this couch indefinitely. Have you even eaten?” he inquires.I purse my lips to the side guiltily, his question making me realise just how hungry I am. Have I really just been sitting here for hours?“You’re carrying a celestial being, Orenda; you have to keep your body strong,” he reprimands me, disapproval etched into his face.It’s so strange hearing him say my name, but I like it…just not when I’m being scolded like a child who didn’t eat their greens.“You have really gone from one extreme to the other,” I muse. “First, I can’t get you to care about me, now you won’t stop fretting over me,” I say i
A Queen Among Tempests Casualties Pt 1 - Orenda
Entering the living room, I see Ayawamat sitting on the sofa, staring intently at his laptop screen, his face morphing from disapproval to adoration and back like the flipping of a switch.I walk over to him. “What are you looking at?” I ask curiously.He looks up, his expression turning unusually bashful. “I…um…”I sit down and clasp my hands on top of my belly. “Well, it’s not porn. You wouldn’t look so shy if it were,” I tease.He chortles, the sound lifting my spirits and putting a bit more life back into his eyes.“It’s not porn. I…was looking at baby things,” he reveals, turning the laptop so that I can see.My eyebrows almost disappear into my hairline as I take in the webpage displaying rows and rows of adorable baby clothes. I’d been so focused on whether or not the baby and I would live to see tomorrow that I hadn’t given any thought to baby necessities.“This is so thoughtful of you,” I gush, reaching out and squeezing his hand.He shrugs half-heartedly. “The least I can do
A Queen Among Tempests Light At The End of the Tunnel Pt 4 - Orenda
Agreeing to disagree is just a lazy way to end a conflict, but without the benefit of a resolution. I may as well have said I’d rather be right than find a compromise. Have I always been this stubborn, or does Azadou just bring it out in me? Once Aya and I sort things out I will ask him.“You’re right…I’m sorry,” I breathe out, feeling contrite.“You…really?” he mumbles, looking caught off guard.I nod slowly. “I tried to kill the conversation instead of finding a compromise or explaining my feelings. I’m sorry,” I humbly apologise.He quirks his eyebrow suspiciously. “Just like that?”“You explained why you said what you said, and your explanation made me realise that I was wrong, so I’m apologising,” I articulate for him.“I can’t believe Jartre was right…” he whispers incredulously to himself, looking off in thought.“Right about what?” I ask curiously.He shakes his head, turning his attention back to me. “Nothing. Forget about it. I’d like you to explain why you’re taking on blam
A Queen Among Tempests Light At The End of the Tunnel Pt 3 - Orenda
His confession has my mind spinning and my stomach twisted in knots. Even without a bond between us, my essram still aches painfully to hear him confirm what I suspected. To hear him confess that he wanted to hurt me…“Zarseti finally explained it, and maybe it was because I was so broken, but I was finally able to take in what she had to say…which only made the suffering worse,” he admits glumly, his eyes filled with regret, pain and sorrow. “I spent every minute of every day reliving everything I had done to you and hating myself more with each recollection. You showed me nothing but kindness time and time again, and I repaid you with derision and maltreatment. The day we first met, you took a stand against the Gods and your own maker for me,” he recalls with awe. “Despite everything, you stood there defending and shielding me…no one had ever done that for me before,” he utters desolately.My heart clenches to see him so vulnerable, sitting next to me, stripping himself bare for the
A Queen Among Tempests Light At The End of the Tunnel Pt 2 - Orenda
I hear a chair scraping against the wooden floor and glance to my right, seeing Azadou sliding a chair towards the bed and taking a seat.“Still too kind for your own good,” he muses, shaking his head.“What?” I choke in confusion, my throat constricted by the tears I continue to shed.“He hurt your feelings, yet you feel bad for hurting his, even though you were just expressing how you felt about a trauma you endured,” he observes, his brows furrowed in bafflement.“So because I’m hurting, I should want to hurt him?” I ask, affronted by the notion.“I didn’t say that,” he carefully points out. He sighs and rests his elbows on his knees as he appears to gather his thoughts before eventually speaking again. “I have never claimed to be moral or virtuous, but I know what those things are. From what I’ve witnessed since my return, very few people care whether or not they hurt someone. I had noticed the nuances of malice but hadn’t truly appreciated them until now.”“What does that have to
A Queen Among Tempests Light At The End of the Tunnel Pt 1 - Orenda
“Thousands of years of protecting the people of this Earth, but I couldn’t even protect myself,” I sigh despondently. “Some guardian I am,” I snort.Aya furiously shakes his head, squeezing my hand as his arm around my shoulders holds me tighter. “Orenda, you survived. So many people would have given up and taken the easy way out, but you didn’t. You stayed strong and survived, and because of that, you’re here right now. I’m so proud of you for not giving up,” he commends, kissing my temple tenderly.I take an uneasy breath and I rub soothing circles against my belly. He’s praising me for not giving up when the truth is I did. It feels like he’s applauding a fraud.“You don’t agree,” Azadou’s deep voice – like rumbling thunder – observes, making my head shoot up.I still can’t comprehend that Azadou helped to save me or that he’s still here. It’s been two days since they brought me home, and he still hasn’t left. Even more shocking is that Aya hasn’t attempted to kick him out once, h
A Queen Among Tempests Swallowing Pride Pt 2 - Azadou
I step out into the hallway and wait for Jartre to join me. He steps out, closes the door behind him and looks at me with that same paternal look he gave Orenda, making me suppress a sneer.“If you’re about to lecture me, I don’t have the energy for it,” I forewarn.He responds with a brief, half-hearted smile as he shakes his head. “Orenda is alive right now because of you, if anything, I want to thank you.”I raise an incredulous brow. “Thank me? She nearly died because of me,” I remind him. How fucking stupid is he?“So…you don’t want me to lecture you, but you don’t want me to thank you either,” he ventures. “Are you trying to put me in a precarious position or are your emotions in that great a conflict with one another?” he gages thoughtfully.My nostrils flare and my mouth sets into a hard line. “What the fuck do you want me to say?”Jartre takes a deep breath and scrubs his hands down his face. “Azadou…” he begins. “I’ve been where you are. Not exactly the same,” he clarifies b
A Queen Among Tempests Swallowing Pride Pt 1 - Azadou
Appearing in Orenda’s bedroom with Ayawamat, I lay her on the bed with cautious movements, listening for the faintest sound of pain or distress, but still she remains silent. Now that I have an unobstructed view of her face I see the swollen bruise forming on her right cheek. My mind races, painting vivid and nightmarish pictures of what Orenda endured for the past month to have caused her to be in the state she’s in now. I step back and let Ayawamat tend to her but continue to allow the energy of my essram to radiate around me. I can’t tell if it’s helping Orenda, but I know it’s at least helping the baby. There was a sense of desperation coming from it that has now subsided somewhat. It wasn’t like a thought or an emotion but more of a primal survival instinct.I watch, feeling helpless as Ayawamat kneels on the floor, assessing Orenda and covering her with blankets with a focused look ingrained on his face. I’m unsure of what to say or do. I feel compelled to stay but I also feel l
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