Chapter 85. Sentenced Part 2

Hovar arrived at the clearing with Giovanna unconscious in his arms, and Hecate and Calleb were already waiting for them.

Calleb with a calm countenance, as if he were about to be freed from a torment, and Hecate with irritation, like a child who has had her candy stolen.

Hovar carefully laid Giovanna's body on the ground. He avoided Hecate's eyes. He couldn't hate her. There had been something between them since the day he first saw her outside his hut. He didn't love her as a woman, but he felt that she was as necessary in his life as Giovanna herself. And he needed to hide that from everyone. It was a weakness. And he was strong. He had always known that his strength exceeded his brother's, ever since the day he had fought with him, and let him win, out of love. He knew that if he knew that not only was he not the firstborn, but he was infinitely weaker than his brother, he would be gone forever. And it wasn't immortality that made him we