Broken

[Rhonya]

“You have regained one of your blood brothers through this ritual. I would say that I am happy for you, were it not for present circumstances. Through it, however, you have also lost one. You have cast my personal advice as blood brother to the wind. As such, you have shown to me exactly what my own opinion matters to you. Though it grieves me greatly, I call upon the Great Spirits. Under their eyes and judgement, I wish to absolve my blood bond with you, Rhonya Steelheart.”

The words and the image of Kozgugore slicing his own palm open while uttering his wish were burned into her mind. Again and again they played in her head, and every time she felt her heart breaking. With his action, he hadn’t just absolved their oath. He had also ripped a piece from her heart and left a deep, black hole in its place.
There was a pain in her chest, physical and real, as Rhonya sat there wedged between two crates. She hardly fit in between but she didn’t care. The pain was there, keeping her company. It made breathing hard, her breath coming in ragged gasps, her hands pressed against her chest.
How long had she been sitting there? Time had become a bit of a moot point by now, as she hadn’t opened her eyes since sitting down here. Some Orcs had come by in the beginning, speaking to her, touching her. The words had been a blur mainly, the touches had only annoyed her. Why couldn’t they just leave her alone?
The voices. Karak, Gashuk, at first. A hand was laid on her shoulder, she felt it but it just made her angry. Couldn’t they see?
One voice left. Another joined. Her sister.
The one who got punished for the fact she had helped Rhonya. The one that didn’t deserve to be punished.
The first thing to come through clearly was a voice in her head. Gashuks voice. It had startled her but not surprised her. It only reminded her more of the pain though so she shut him out. She just wanted silence, a few moments to herself, why didn’t they understand…

Eventually she was alone. Her whole body was screaming by this point, hurting because of her balled up position between the crates. It was pitch dark around her, the only sounds those of the nightly creatures nearby. Finally, silence.

Yet, it didn’t comfort her much. Now she had no distractions, the image returned again. Kozgugores voice in her head, speaking those words.
“I wish to absolve my blood bond with you, Rhonya Steelheart.”

It was the worst punishment he could’ve given her, knowing how much she valued her bloodsiblings, how much she loved him and respected him. She had wanted to tell him that before he spoke her punishment, but he hadn’t allowed her to. Thus her chance had been taken from her and he had publicly cast her aside, breaking her heart in the progress.

It hurt. It hurt her so much.

The ritual had been something bad, she accepted that. But it had been the least bad choice, considering the alternatives that she had gotten. But no one seemed to understand that aside from Gashuk himself and Kogra. No one wanted to understand. They wanted someone to blame, someone to point the finger to and say it was her fault for bringing an ‘abomination’ in their midst. Orcs fear what they don’t understand. So she couldn’t blame them for taking the easy way of condemning her for something they couldn’t wrap their minds around.
But it hurt so much.

Years, she had given to the clan. Years of self-sacrifice, years of pain and joy, years of her own sweat and blood to keep them safe, to keep them healthy. Years so easily forgotten by most of them, it felt like.
Rhonya had been faced with an impossible choice. No matter what she would’ve done with that stone, it would’ve condemned her one way or the other.
But it still hurt so much…
Destroying the stone hadn’t been an option. She didn’t know how, it was protected plus she’d have to live with the knowledge she probably would’ve wiped out the entire existence of her bloodbrother. No afterlife.
Leaving the stone alone hadn’t been an option. That meant Gashuk would be forced to spend the rest of his days in nothingness and eventually emerge as a broken, tortured spirit, seeking for redemption and closure. She wouldn’t put that fate on anyone.
So the only option left had been to put the soul back into a body. Rhonya had been careful to avoid anything fel related, to reduce the damage as much as possible to the spirits.

But no one understood. They had seen Gashuk and made their minds up about what happened, throwing accusations at the three of them from all sides, her and Gashuk in particular. He took them without backing down.
But for Rhonya, every harsh word felt like a lash of the whip. Like they were clawing at her very flesh. Trust broken.

It hurt so much…

Tears started to stream down her face again, the image of Kozgugore once more flashing in front of her eyes.
“I wish to absolve my blood bond with you, Rhonya Steelheart.”

Her heart broke all anew. He meant so much to her, even now. She loved him with all her being, all those years they had supported one another, trusted one another. Gone. Gone with a few words, with one action. She didn’t know how to fix this.

It hurt. So very, very much.

[Gashuk]

 

[Kintka]

Oh no. I've missed much this holiday. Time to return  it think.