4. Chapter Four
Chapter Four
Hendr
M y woman had hidden fire in her and I could not wait to goad her into revealing more of it.
My blood sang, my bones quickened, and my step was spry as I looked through the storeroom. The space was truly a sight to behold. Its wooden shelves were packed full with so many fruits and vegetables that I didn’t recognize, I couldn’t count them all. There were enough supplies to stock my group of warriors for years. I’d never seen so many goods in one place before.
It was dangerous. If anyone set fire to it, it would be a horrible loss.
But no one would. Because there was no war here in the Rove Woods. No Waking Order. No soldiers. Barely even any shouting. This clan of conjurers didn’t even fight among themselves. Not even in sparring matches. Instead, they held judgments and voted when disagreements arose.
Complete idiocy and a waste of precious time. Slugging a male in the face was far easier and more efficient.
I dumped a crate of carrots onto a pile of blankets so I could use the box for gathering the supplies I was going to give to my woman. She couldn’t eat meat, but lucky for her, I had a lifetime of not eating much of it either. Most of the animals outside of the Rove Woods carried the blight and were half rotten, so my brethren and I lived mostly off . . .
“There.” I picked up a crate of dried beans and plopped it into my box. “That should be enough for a moon. Now what else . . .”
I took far less time than I had envisioned to fill the box, so I got another and stuffed it full too. Unfortunately, during my hunt, I did not find the one set of items I most wanted. The one that was sure to win her over.
“What are you doing here?”
I jerked around at the sudden voice and found that my chief, Brovdir, had snuck in behind me. The male was taller and burlier than I was, and yet he never failed to slip past my senses. I could find a flee in a blackberry bush, but this powerful orc moved as silently and smoothly as the breeze in summer.
“Hendr, why are you here so late?” Brovdir’s words were rough from overuse. The injury on his neck had long ago cut through his ability to speak and what words he did utter often sounded more like two rocks being ground together.
“Just needed stuff.” I averted my gaze.
Brovdir crossed his arms over his bare chest and gave me a hard look that made me bristle.
“The conjurer orcs told us we could take what we needed,” I snapped. “I’m not doing anything wrong.”
My chief eyed the crates I’d stuffed full and narrowed his eyes further. “Too much.”
“I’ve seen the conjurers take just as much.” I hadn’t, but I knew they could if they wanted. They had everything here.
What might my life have been like if I’d been sired here, in this clan, instead of in war-torn lands? To be raised in this blessed, peaceful place.
I snorted. I’d been such a battle hungry youth, I probably would have gotten bored.
“You must contribute first.” Brovdir nodded toward the leger at the front of the room.
“I did,” I said. “Caught ten elk this evening. They’re already at the butchery.”
Brovdir rose a brow. “ Ten ?”
“Yes.”
“How’d you find them?” He narrowed his dark eyes as if suspicious.
“Got lucky, I guess.” I shouldn’t have to explain myself. We’d known each other more than half our lives. We’d trained at Baelrok together. He knew I could scent an elk on the wind from over the mountains.
“How’d you carry them back?”
“Hauled them up on my shoulders.”
“All at once.”
“Yes.” The balancing act had been shaky, but Nalina’s bright face in my mind was more than enough motivation.
Brovdir considered this a moment, fingers tapping against his elbows. “Fine, then. Take what you want.”
With that, he turned on his heel and started for the door.
“Bro—er— Chief Brovdir.” I quickly corrected. Fuck, I needed to get used to calling the male by his new title.
He turned back, brows raised in silent question.
“Where is all that shiny fabric no one wanted?”
“Former Chief Ergoth’s silks?”
“Yes, those. They’re here, right?” I kicked the nearest barrel, and it sloshed, nearly toppling. I scrambled to catch it before it could spill fish all over the floor.
Brovdir said. “Clean before you leave, Hendr.”
“I will,” I said. “I vow it. But . . . before that, the fabric?”
Brovdir sighed as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders, and perhaps it was. He had been made chief of Rove Wood Clan rather unexpectedly and was forced to share the role with that tiny conjurer orc, Sythcol, which I was certain stuck in his ass the same way it would have in mine. He was the warlord’s brother . He should have been given full control.
But Brovdir never fought for anything. He only ever fell in line and obeyed.
“Why do you want them?”
“To trade them to a human,” I said without hesitation, though judging from Brovdir’s odd expression, perhaps I should have.
“I ordered you to stay away from the humans unless at the trade. Trade’s not for another twelve days.”
Ah, fuck. “I have. She sought me out.” It wasn’t a total lie . . . “She can’t eat the elk we provided, so she asked to trade for something else. I told her I’d keep her in food if she kept me in . . . shirts.”
Now Brovdir was really looking at me strangely. “You want a shirt ?”
“Yes.”
“A shirt made from Ergoth’s sparkling linens?”
My skin went hot. “Not from those . I just thought she’d like them. That maybe if I gave them to her, she’d . . .”
Maybe she’d like me too.
Fuck, I wasn’t about to say that out loud.
Brovdir watched me with narrowed eyes for far too long. Then he let out another heavy breath that seemed to color the whole room with his tension. I could almost feel it prickling against my hide.
“Why do you never obey, Hendr?”
The question caught me a little off guard, and honestly, I had no answer for him. I had always hated being told what to do.
“Fine,” Brovdir said after it became clear I would not answer. “But do not trade with her near Oakwall.”
My brows furrowed so tightly it hurt. “Why?”
“Tension’s gotten bad. Humans are unsettled by our presence. Sythcol doesn’t want more rumors.”
I shrugged. “What harm can words do?”
Brovdir’s voice was devoid of all humor. “Can do more harm than you could ever know.”
I scowled at that cryptic response.
“This is an order, Hendr.” I knew arguing with him further would result in him challenging me to a brawl. Usually I would have accepted readily, but I didn’t want to be late meeting Nalina. “You will be discreet. Am I clear?”
“Yes, Chief Brovdir.”
“Good.” Brovdir waved to the back of the storeroom. “Chief Sythcol put the silks back there. No one in the clan wants them.”
I could understand why. No one in the clan would want to be reminded of Ergoth after everything that had happened. “Thank you, Chief Brovdir.”
Brovdir nodded and turned away.
Only to have a conjurer orc burst into the room and nearly smack him in the face with the door.
“Chief Brovdir! You must come quickly!” The short and slender male’s eyes were frantic, and I almost scoffed. What good was this panic?
“What?”
“There is a group of angry humans on their way here. They are looking for Susara. They are saying an orc took her against her will! Chief Sythcol is on his way to intercept already.”
Before I could say anything, the two of them rushed out and slammed the door behind them. I stood in shock, wondering if I should go after them.
But no, I doubted there was anything I could add that would aid the situation, and I was certain the truth would come out soon enough.
And I had so much more to prepare.
I found the silks exactly where Brovdir told me they would be. Beautiful, shining colors. So rich it was a marvel.
My chest grew tight, knowing that this plan would work. And from it, I would win her.
I went to fetch the crates of food, vowing this night would be the last time she fell asleep hungry.