Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Alwyn
Much to Alwyn’s relief, Galred was nowhere to be found as he and Krujha spent the afternoon together. They ate lunch in the galley, then sat out in the courtyard for a bit, watching the activity surrounding the tower and its connected elven outpost.
King Zorvut, his husband Prince Taegan, and their daughter were probably up in that tower somewhere, Alwyn thought as they sat in its shadow.
Sometimes the whole situation still seemed hard to wrap his mind around.
Just a few years ago, an elf and an orc together—even just sitting beside each other as Alwyn and Krujha now were—would have been unfathomable.
Now, it was entirely mundane; not a single passerby gave them a second glance.
Alwyn shook himself from his introspection, instead focusing on the story Krujha was telling him—something about a brewer in the city, and how much Krujha hated their ale.
“Looks like you’re thinking of other things, though,” Krujha concluded, a laugh in his voice. Alwyn snapped back to attention.
“I’m listening,” Alwyn protested.
“I get it. I’m a little nervous, too,” Krujha said, grinning down at him. “It’s a big deal, after all.”
“I don’t think you get nervous,” Alwyn said. He tried to scowl, but found himself struggling to stifle a grin, as Krujha laughed aloud at that.
“I’m glad you think so,” he chuckled, leaning back. “Means I’m good at only showing what I want.”
“How do you do that?”
“I don’t know. It’s just always been easy. I can make my face say whatever I want it to,” Krujha said, shrugging.
“You would have made a good elf,” Alwyn said, and Krujha howled with laughter again. Alwyn turned away, but couldn’t quite wipe the smile off his face, despite the heads that swiveled in their direction.
“You really want to know how I do it?” Krujha asked when his laugh faded.
He was still smiling, but his voice carried a more serious edge now.
Alwyn raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
“I spent a lot of time watching people. Mimicking their expressions, figuring out how to mirror their faces. And I spent a lot of time listening.”
“So, spying,” Alwyn replied dryly. Krujha chuckled, shrugging.
“You could call it that. I suppose that’s what spycraft is, really—it’s not about deception or lies.
Or at least not completely. It’s about seeing all the details from all angles, then focusing on what you need, moment to moment.
So my face isn’t so much a lie as it is an exaggeration of the truth.
Framing that truth and getting people to see only that, and nothing I don’t want them to see. ”
Alwyn nodded but remained silent, unsure how to respond.
The topic made him wonder again how real this Krujha was, or if he was just showing Alwyn the face he thought Alwyn wanted to see.
And if it was about reflecting the things he saw, what did Krujha see in him? What was he reflecting back to Alwyn?
Luckily, Krujha seemed over the conversation, leaning closer to him. “I think I’ve gotten enough sun for now. Let’s head back.”
They walked back to the barracks where they were staying. Alwyn figured they would rest until supper—but when Krujha opened the door to his room, he held it open for Alwyn, as if expecting him to follow.
Alwyn blinked, surprised, then stepped inside—more on impulse than any rational decision.
Krujha was already closing the door behind him by the time he realized what he’d done. He didn’t know why Krujha had invited him in, or why he’d so readily accepted; but now they were both in here alone.
The room was the same size as Alwyn’s, but the bed was bigger to accommodate an orc-sized tenant.
Like his room, there was a chair and a desk in one corner, and a chest at the foot of the bed.
With how much larger they all were, there was just barely enough room to walk between the bed and the table to reach the opposite wall.
Krujha sat down on the edge of the bed with a sigh, and a warm rush of desire pooled into a sweet ache between Alwyn’s legs. No, that was hardly the reason Krujha would have invited him in—what in all the hells was he thinking?
“You can sit there,” Krujha said, raising an eyebrow at him when Alwyn remained frozen in place. He was gesturing to the simple wooden chair. His face burning with embarrassment, Alwyn sat down quickly, desperately willing his half-hard erection to remain unnoticed.
If Krujha detected his discomfort, he didn’t show it—though they had only just been discussing how good he was at keeping his thoughts off his face.
Alwyn had to believe he hadn’t, or he might have fled in shame.
Krujha pulled something from the pocket of his cloak; Alwyn blinked in surprise to see a glass bottle of elven honey-wine.
“Where did you get that?” he asked, frowning. Krujha chuckled. He popped the cork off with an audible sound, then winked at Alwyn before taking a sip.
“Just noticed it all by itself while we were walking,” he said, offering the bottle to Alwyn. “I don’t think anyone will miss it.”
They had walked by the mess hall on their way here, but Alwyn couldn’t recall seeing anyone with honey-wine.
Still, he took the offered bottle and lifted it to his lips for a cautious sip.
The golden liquid was cool and almost cloyingly sweet, disguising the bite of the alcohol.
It was delicious—and something he would only partake in sparingly.
After one sip, he handed it back to Krujha.
“Now that,” Krujha said after another long drink, “is far better than the ale I was telling you about.”
Alwyn stifled a laugh; he supposed it had come full circle after all.
They sat quietly, sharing the wine for a moment, then Krujha spoke again, his voice softer this time.
“How are you feeling about tomorrow?”
Alwyn grimaced. The question made the warmth of the alcohol in his belly turn sour.
“I’m ready,” he said, too quickly. Krujha raised an eyebrow at him.
“That makes one of us,” the orc chuckled, though Alwyn knew he could easily see through his bravado. “I’m a little nervous, I admit. It’s good we’ll have an ally in the camp, but knowing it will be just the two of us when it used to be a full team... It will be much more challenging, I think.”
“Yes, maybe,” Alwyn admitted.
He could still feel Krujha’s eyes on him, and he squirmed uncomfortably at his scrutiny. Why did the room feel so warm? Why was Krujha looking at him so intensely?
“Alwyn,” he heard the orc say, and his eyes darted back up. Krujha was now leaning forward where he sat on the bed, hands on his knees. His tunic was loose and unlaced near the top, so Alwyn could easily see glimpses of the green skin and defined muscle of his chest.
“What?” Alwyn asked after a beat, frowning. Krujha lifted one hand and held it out to him, palm facing up.
“Give me your hand,” he said.
The few sips of wine couldn’t be affecting him. Still, Alwyn didn’t know why he immediately offered his hand without question, letting Krujha’s warm fingers close around it. Before he could ask why, though, Krujha was pulling him up out of the chair.
All at once, he was pressed close to the orc—one hand still clutched in Krujha’s, and the other now braced against the orc’s shoulder. He pushed away on instinct, but Krujha’s other arm had come to encircle his waist, holding them close.
“W-What are you doing?” Alwyn stammered, heat flooding his face.
They were so close now that his nose would have brushed against Krujha’s chin if he hadn’t turned his face away.
Even with Krujha sitting, and Alwyn standing, he was so much shorter that they couldn’t see eye to eye until Krujha leaned back.
“I know you’ve noticed by now,” Krujha murmured, his voice low.
His arm squeezed Alwyn’s waist tighter, and with another flood of embarrassment, he realized Krujha could certainly feel the growing hardness of his erection where it was pressed against the orc’s stomach.
“This might be the last time we’re alone together in a place that’s comfortable and safe… so it’s now or never, I think.”
“For what?” Alwyn interrupted, his voice shaking. A faint huff of a laugh escaped Krujha’s lips, and the fervent expression he’d had broke into that familiar smile—which only made Alwyn’s heart race even faster.
“I want to take you to bed with me,” Krujha said.
The rush of blood and heat to Alwyn’s face left his ears ringing. I want to take you to bed with me. He couldn’t possibly have heard that right.
“Bed?” he repeated weakly, and Krujha’s grin widened.
“To bed, yes,” he agreed, his eyes practically sparkling now. How was he still so cheerful, his voice almost teasing, when Alwyn felt like he’d been pushed completely off-center? “If you’d like to, of course.”
Alwyn stared at him in shock for a moment longer. He could feel his mouth working silently, trying to form words to speak in response, but it felt as if everything in his mind had suddenly drained away.
Did he want to? He’d found the orc attractive long before this; and he was hardly a blushing virgin, though his past sexual encounters had been few and far between—one-off encounters to blow off steam during stressful assignments or exams.
And this was by far the most stressful assignment he’d ever had. So it would only make sense to relieve some of that stress now, wouldn’t it?
“Yes,” he heard himself saying, the words escaping him the moment he had the thought, before he could consider it any further. Krujha’s grin widened, and Alwyn’s heart flip-flopped painfully in his chest. “Yes, but—but I—that is, I don’t think you’ll—you know, fit.”
Krujha chuckled at that. Both his arms now snaked around Alwyn’s waist, pressing their bodies closer together. Something hard pressed against Alwyn’s thigh—the orc’s interest was becoming as apparent as his own.