3. Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Nalina
I sat in my worn rocking chair, atop a flattened cushion, in front of a fire that was too hot. The stitching in my hand was growing tiresome by the moment. The fabric was frayed and worn down, making the weaving loose so the needle didn’t catch quite the way it was supposed—
Pain shot up through my finger as the needle poked deep.
“Blast it all,” I said as blood welled up. I stuck it into my mouth and the metallic taste darkened my mood further. I shouldn’t even be working on this shirt again . Waston should have put it in scraps ages ago.
My eyes drifted away from my work and out into the cold, dark night. A subtle wind sent a cascade of leaves fluttering past my window. How nice it would be to go out there and feel that breeze on my neck. To hear it roaring in my ears and drowning out my thoughts.
Though not nearly as nice as . . . my eyes listed to my neighbor’s window. Laini and her young son Vodin were settling in for the night on the couch in their living room, snuggled up telling each other stories before bed. Across from them was the cottage of Ravil and Glori, who’d just been married last summer but acted like it was yesterday. Down further was the shepherdess Susara and her father, who often invited me for dinner. Their house was always warm and smelled of mutton stew, which I couldn’t eat, but I sat and drank their tea and enjoyed their company, nonetheless.
And then I always came back to my empty, quiet home. To a place haunted by memories of my mother and grandmother, both long gone.
I rubbed at the ache in my chest and set down my stitching. On the kitchen table, there were at least twenty projects stacked, waiting to be finished. Most were free repairs, done out of family tradition. If we made it, we would fix it indefinitely .
When my great-grandmother made the deal, she’d garnered a unique client base that came back to have her stitch entire wardrobes that could be mended throughout the lifetime of the wearer. Grandmother had continued the generosity and agreed to tailor children’s clothes as they grew for almost nothing in trade.
Mother had maintained the practice, but despite the free and cheap work, with multiple women working at once, we’d always been able to keep food on the table. One woman would do the repairs, the other would do commissions.
Now she was gone, and I was buried in so many guaranteed repairs that I could only take on a few commissions at a time. I barely made enough to maintain the little house with its single bedroom and tiny living area.
Before Mother passed two years ago, we would sit around the kitchen table every evening, stitching and chatting and laughing well into the night while we worked.
But now I was alone. I’d never found the right husband, despite my mother’s urging. She’d lectured me constantly and in my stubborn stupidity, I’d dug my heels in and refused to bend to anything less than perfection.
I wish I had. What would I give to hear another voice in this house that wasn’t someone asking me to fix up a shirt I’d already mended a million times?
The wind outside rattled the window slightly, beckoning me out into the chilly autumn night. I was not proof against its call.
I put on my cloak and picked up my sketchbook, a brown leather-bound tome no bigger than my hand, and took a moment to flip through the pages of clothing designs I’d done over the years. I carried this book with me everywhere. Inspiration struck me at the oddest times, and although most of my designs had never been commissioned, I still found joy in sketching them.
I placed the book in my skirt pocket and dipped out onto an empty street. Cabins and houses that were far too close together. Oakwall Village was growing in number and there were not enough houses to go around. I’d never minded having to share a bedroom with family, but now that they were gone, I wished I had a second one, so I could rent it out and have some company.
As I walked through the streets, my enjoyment of the cooling breeze was cut by the sight of Waston’s house on the corner. If she wasn’t so influential in our small community, I would have been able to refuse her work. Some of the people she called friends were the only ones who were willing to trade in fruits and vegetables they grew in their gardens as a hobby.
But it was late autumn now, the growing season was done. Only the orcs, using their magic, could get produce to flourish this close to winter.
I shouldn’t have left the trade so early. I should have swallowed my pride and emotions and stayed to see if any of the orc conjurers might want to commission work from me.
“Why did you bend to that old woman’s will?”
The harsh words of that blasted warrior orc still made my eyes prickle. I shouldn’t have listened to him for a moment. I should have told him to leave before he could speak so many harsh truths.
But that was the problem. They were true. That’s why they stuck in my head like sap in summer. They coated every corner of my mind and refused to let me rest.
I picked up my pace, headed for the wall of oaks that gave our town its name. The tall trees could be seen almost everywhere in town. It had been built by the orcs as a peace offering many centuries ago. A means of protecting us from anything that might do us harm. Even themselves.
But not ourselves. Now the walls that protected us were like a cage, preventing us from expanding as we so desperately needed. The limbs of the oaks were twined so tightly together not even a squirrel could weasel its way through.
One could climb over though, and that’s what I was going to do now.
I went to a secluded corner where the wall dipped inward. It could only be seen from one small section of the walking path. I knew every foothold by heart, every branch to grab and which ones would give way slightly under my weight. I’d been climbing this wall since I was a child.
The peace I got when I made it to the top was unmatched. The view of the town was nice, but its clustered houses and narrow pathways felt claustrophobic. It was nothing like the wonder of the forest. The Rove Woods seemed to stretch on for ages. Endlessly.
I took a deep, long breath in through my nose, the sweet scent of clean air and decaying foliage flooded my lungs. I could taste the crisp autumn breeze on the back of my tongue. The oranges and reds of the trees were dazzling as the wind gripped them and rained their leaves onto the mossy green forest floor.
I felt free. Wholly and completely.
And then my gaze snapped to a pair of glowing green eyes just inside the nearest line of trees and my heart fell right out of my chest.
Fades help me! There was something here!
No. Not some thing . Some one . An orc. Only orc eyes could glow green in the dark like that. And I knew in an instant which one. I’d recognize the stare that had been watching me so closely anywhere.
The orc brute stepped out from behind a bush, and I was momentarily frozen to the spot. Even so far below me, at least four of my lengths, he was huge —rippling muscles, massive thighs. I swear he could jump right up to me and snatch me down from my perch in half a blink.
“Woman, I’ve been waiting for you.” His voice was low, but the words were unmistakable, and without a second thought, I spun around to find my footholds back down into the village.
“Wait! Woman, wait . Please .”
Please?
I gritted my teeth against my curiosity. It burrowed in my chest like vines and rooted me to the spot.
“Please, Nalina. I only want a moment from you.”
This was stupid. I should just go home .
“I want to trade. For food.”
Food. My stomach twisted with want at the mention.
I didn’t need his trade. I could beg for castoffs once again. Look into Headman Gerald’s pitying face as he handed me meager rations. Feel the hot, smirking stare of Waston as I slunk back to my home with half a loaf of bread and a few old apples.
Or I could trade for fresh food right now.
The orc was at the bottom of the wall. What harm was there in lingering?
“Just hurry up and say what you want,” I said. “And keep it down. I don’t want someone to hear.”
“You don’t want someone to know you are consorting with an orc?” I could hear the smirk in his voice.
“We are not consorting! I only want to trade with you. If you don’t hurry up and make an offer, I’m going home, and you can eat your tongue.”
I could have sworn I heard him chuckling. “Just come down.”
“I told you no.”
“Are all women this stubborn?”
Anger spiked in me at the insult. I wasn’t going to trade with him, so my decorum didn’t matter. “Shove off, you brute, and may the Fades spit on you.”
It was so satisfying to finally tell someone off that I almost smiled. The tension in my shoulders disappeared as I moved to climb back down the wall.
“Wait!” He placed his hands on the trunks at the bottom of the wall as if about to climb up. “Blast it all, woman. You have to come down or my hide will be rendered to pulp. We’ve been ordered not to go near you humans.”
“How is coming all the way to the wall obeying that command?”
“You can come to me, just not the other way around. Which is why you must come down .” He backed off so he could meet my gaze. His eyes bore into mine and made me shiver. “Before I get caught. Please .”
Fades blast it all. Why did his pleading get to me like this? I was not going down there! “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t. I’ve never climbed down the other side, and I don’t know where there are footholds.”
“Can’t you just find them along the way?”
“No! It’s nearly dark. I could fall and break my neck.”
“If you fall, I’ll catch you.”
His voice sounded both warm and earnest and it made the breath catch in my throat, but logic caught next.
“You’d catch me and cart me off somewhere, no doubt. Don’t try to deny it. I’ve seen the way you’ve been watching me. You want me to play conquest for you, don’t you? To carry a son for you? I know that’s all you warrior types want.”
“Most of us do want sons. We make no secret of that.”
Fades, I hadn’t expected him to admit it.
“Don’t give me that look. I’m not of such a foul mind that I would force a woman to do it,” he said quickly.
“And how would I possibly know that?” I readjusted on the branch, wishing I could see his face more easily.
“I haven’t climbed up there and taken you by force yet, have I?”
He drew near to the bottom of the wall again and my heart seized. “Don’t you dare think about it, you beast!”
I was surprised to hear him snort with amusement. “You’re awfully huffy for a woman who keeps getting taken advantage of.”
I hoped he could see me scowling at him. “I’m not huffy. I’m angry! And that’s only because you are so insufferable. And my business is none of your concern.”
“What business? All the work you do is for free .”
“Not all of it!” I said far too loudly. “And free repairs have been our family tradition since my great-grandmother’s time.”
“It’s a stupid tradition.”
“You shut your mouth!”
“Why should I?” His voice was casual, and it only made me want to throttle him more. “Doing free work, letting yourself get trampled on, it’s as if you want to be abused.”
“The only one around here who is abusing me is you. ”
That got his eyes narrowing again. “You call me pointing out the truth abuse? You have your head so far up your own ass you’d think you’d be able to see how empty your stomach is.”
I gaped in shock at the insult.
“Don’t deny it,” he said. “I heard it grumbling today at the trade. I saw the way you glanced at the food carts. You’re so slender I could circle your waist with two hands. I could blow you over with a sigh .”
Acutely aware someone might hear, I leaned down closer to the edge. “You have no right to speak to me this way!”
“It’s a wonder you can still lift your needle to sew.”
I leaned precariously over the edge, gripping a slick branch so I could hiss. “Shut it!”
“Before long, you’ll wither away and you’ll have no one to blame for it but yourself—”
“I said shut up!”
My hand slipped from the root.
I plummeted forward.
“Nalina!”
The terrified cry was almost as surprising as my ability to grab another branch and hoist myself back up into the tree. My mind scrambled at the truth that I’d nearly fallen to my death. The forest floor was so far below me that it swirled. My heart felt like it was going to explode.
Warmth surrounded me, and the scent of wood smoke and musk were so thick it muddled all my senses for a moment.
“I’ve got you. You’re safe.”
The words rumbled like thunder in my ears. Soothing and warm and followed by a flash of bright realization that the orc had climbed up the tree as quickly as lightning. He caged his arms around me, holding me steady against his broad, muscular chest.
A naked muscular chest. I should have pushed away from him. Shoved him right out of the tree. Instead, my eyes fixed on the rippling abs along his stomach, to the smooth, soft skin pressed against my hands.
“Nalina, are you all right? Did you hurt yourself?”
The concern in his tone was so confusing and my voice was weak. “Let me go.”
He was silent for a long moment. “If you want me gone, you’ll have to push me off the wall.”
I snapped my gaze to his, irritation overriding my alarm. “You be careful or I just might.”
Instead of the anger I expected, the huge, brutish orc warrior grinned. Beamed, really. His face lit up so brightly that my breath caught in my throat and my heart did an odd little flip that sent tingling warmth throughout my body.
“You have hidden strength, beauty. You should reveal it more often.”
My cheeks went hot at the praise.
A sudden touch near my knee made me gasp, and I looked down to find the orc running his hand up my leg. My thighs clenched, and I slapped at his hand. I may as well have been slapping a boulder.
Quick as a flash, he made it to the pocket of my gown and snatched my notebook out of it.
A gasp fell from my lips, and I tried to take it back, only to be caught off balance. If he hadn’t wrapped his arm around me, I would have fallen.
“Give that back right now!” I demanded, careful of how much I squirmed as he held me steady. “It’s private!”
Instead of obeying, the obnoxious male flipped open the pages. All my designs, drawings that no one had ever seen, were on display under his ruthless, mocking gaze! Tears prickled at the corners of my eyes as I waited for him to start another round of insults.
“These are good.”
I blinked in shock.
He continued to flip pages with his burly thumb, and I stopped fighting him. His brows were lifted as if in surprise. “Can you really make these?”
“Yes. I’m a seamstress.” I said glumly, even as my irritation gave way to tentative hope.
“Don’t blame me for my shock. You had nothing like these on your trade table.” He paused on one of the men’s shirts I’d sketched with a high collar and low V neckline.
“No one commissions these things. I have to concentrate on making clothes that are worth trading.”
“How do you know these aren’t worth trading if you’ve never made them?”
His tone was so genuine it made me go quiet.
“I like this.” He tapped the sketch of the shirt. “I’ll trade you for it.”
My heart soared for a moment before realization hit, and I mumbled, “In exchange for bearing your child? You want me to play conquest for you, don’t you?”
“No,” he said so firmly I couldn’t decide if I was more relieved or insulted. Playing conquest to an orc was common for the women of Oakwall Village. The orcs traded handsomely for the act, as they should, since it took three long seasons to grow their babe, to say nothing of the birthing itself. There were a few single women who earned their livelihood by playing conquest for orcs regularly.
I’d honestly considered it once or twice when times had gotten hard, but the idea of passing the baby I’d carried, birthed, and weaned over to be raised away from me in Rove Wood Clan was too difficult to swallow. Even if that baby wasn’t my species.
“No,” he said firmly again. “I told you I’m offering food. I’ll trade you for meat.”
Meat. Of course. That’s all these warrior types could really provide. They didn’t grow produce like the conjurer orcs of Rove Wood did.
“You don’t like meat? I know you took the elk at that first trade.”
It was a little disconcerting that he could read my expression so easily. “Yes, and I traded it away for supplies.”
His jaw dropped in disbelief, and a generous view of his sharp teeth was presented to me. I would have backed up had there been somewhere for me to go.
“Are you completely without thought?” he asked.
“ Excuse me ?” I would have smacked him if I were brave enough.
“You traded away your food to get supplies to do free work for obnoxious humans who do not deserve it? Tell me I’m wrong.”
I snapped my mouth shut. When he put it that way, it was stupid.
“Look at these.” He snatched up my hand, ignoring my gasp of dismay as he circled it tightly in his massive, calloused grip. “These tiny, slender wrists are not but bone and skin. I suspect I could count all your ribs if I stripped you.”
I snatched back my hand and covered my bosom from his prying eyes.
“You are trying to starve yourself to death.” His voice was a low, furious timber that sent a tingling heat pulsing in my gut. That was fear, right? That had to be. It certainly couldn’t be caused by something else. “You’ll continue on like a battle-ax, slicing at your work until at long last you chip away under the relentless toil.”
“Well, what do you suggest I do then? I can’t stop, or I’ll lose all my customers.”
“They are not customers , you foolish woman! They don’t pay you .” He threw up his hand even as the other clenched around my waist tighter, ensuring I did not fall from my perch. “Tomorrow, I’m going to bring you as many elk as I can catch. I’ll skin them, roast them, and shove them down your throat until your stomach bulges.”
“You wouldn’t dare!” I tried to leverage myself away from him.
“I would.” He pulled me so close I could feel his breath on my face. He smelled both clean and spicy at the same time. “Otherwise, I fear, the next time I see you, you’ll be in a grave .”
“I’ll be in a grave if you force me to eat elk until I’m full beyond reason.”
He raked a hand through his cropped, short hair. “Fine. No, I will not do that. I spoke without thought, but I will cook for you, and you will eat it.”
“It better not be elk then.”
“What do you have against elk, woman? You have no leave being so picky when you are already half starved.”
“I’m not picky, you boars-ass! I can’t eat meat .”
He blinked in shock. “Why?”
“It hurts my stomach.” I blinked up at his softened features. His anger had given way to curiosity so quickly. “It always has. Every time I try, it either comes back up within an hour or I spend the whole day rolling in agony.”
He looked at me with wide, shocked eyes that seemed to engulf his face. Honestly, they were a little pretty with their nighttime glow. Soft green with a mossy outer ring.
“Have you tried all types of meat?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Yes. I’ve tried it all.”
“Fish? Wild turkey?”
“ All , you beast. I’ve eaten every type of animal that the Rove Woods has to offer and not one thing has gone down easy.”
He hummed and looked thoughtfully into the trees. I took a moment to fill my lungs with the crisp evening air and let it soothe away some of my irritation. Not enough that my palm wasn’t itching to smack this orc upside the head, but at least my mind was clearer.
“Hendr.”
“What?” My eyes shot to his face.
He gave me a lopsided grin. “My name is Hendr . Though you can continue calling me ‘beast’ if you want. It’s rather fitting.”
My cheeks heated to the point of pain. Fades, I wasn’t certain what was stranger, the fact that he was so self-aware, or how seeing that handsome half grin on his face made me feel. Like the first sip of warm tea on a chilly night.
Not handsome. This brutish, obnoxious orc was absolutely not handsome. At all.
But then he chuckled. An actual chuckle. Not the sardonic snorting he’d done before, and my whole body lit up like a beacon fire in fog.
Fades, what was wrong with me?
“Tell you what, Nalina, I’ll make you a deal. You make me that shirt, and I’ll hunt you down some food you can actually eat. How’s that, beauty?”
I should say no. I absolutely should say no .
But my head nodded as if against my will and his grin widened into a smile so bright I simply couldn’t bring myself to say I’d changed my mind.
“Meet me here tomorrow at dawn, beauty, and I’ll make sure you leave satisfied.”