Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
Calypso
Calypso woke up contented and relaxed from the afterglow of last night’s earth-shattering orgasm. If she had known orc tongues had such capabilities, they could’ve had more interesting nights during her initial capture.
Her brightness instantly dimmed when she saw the seriousness on Vidorak’s face. To be fair, it was always like that, but now it looked acutely grave.
“What is it?”
“I need to talk to you about my uncle’s plans.”
“I have a feeling I won’t like them.” She crossed her arms over her chest to keep from fidgeting.
His expression was grim. “You won’t. He plans to attack your stronghold in Taybe. He sees your coven as weak.”
This time she didn’t even correct him in referring to it as a stronghold. She had not anticipated this possibility. Coils of disgust swirled within her. She had been relishing his kisses and pleasure while her sisters, the rescued witches, and all she strived for were at risk.
If her mind could be so easily swayed, then she was too weak to carry out her plans.
She steeled her heart as she looked at Vidorak.
He may desire her, but that didn’t mean his loyalties automatically lay with her.
While he clearly had his disagreements with the chieftain, Urim was still his blood relation.
“I see,” she said through gritted teeth.
His dark eyes hardened in response, and he stalked toward her. She stiffened, flames licking at her fingertips. If this were a trap, she was completely at his mercy. Could she trust him and risk ruining all the plans she’d set into motion?
“Stay back!” she warned, her eyes turning golden around the edges as she warred with her mind.
He didn’t slow in his progress, taking her by the shoulders and wrapping her in his embrace. The small tendrils of fire born of her restless emotions swiped at his skin. She wanted to control them, but she felt too much.
She struggled to get out of his grasp, but his hold only tightened.
His hand went to her chin. “Look at me, Calypso.”
He rarely used her name, and hearing it did something to her. Her golden eyes went to his dark ones, and she felt anchored once more.
“I will not let that happen,” he promised. “I will protect you. It doesn’t matter if that is against my uncle or against the king.”
Her heart beat fast at these words. “Why?”
It was too much. The gentle way he touched her, the loving words he spoke—it messed with her already fragile mind.
It made the hurt and lonely part of her wish for more.
She loved her sisters fiercely, but she knew the ugly parts of her got in the way.
With Vidorak, she’d not held back, but he persisted in showing her compassion that mended the cracks in her heart.
“Because you have bewitched me,” he started, but then hesitated. The tumultuousness she felt inside her was reflected in his eyes. “Because it is what’s right, and it’s something I should have done long ago.”
He does his duty against a tyrant chieftain.
Unlike the previous evening, she didn’t feel confident enough to refute the voice’s claims. Her rapidly softening heart wanted to hope his proclamation of protecting her was more, but she didn’t trust the judgement of her maddening mind.
She pulled out of his hold, having regained some control. As intoxicating as things between them were, she reminded herself that love was not for her. In a way, it might not be for him either. She had her revenge, and he had his clan.
“He is your uncle and chieftain. I do not see how you have a choice but to follow his plan,” she stated.
“There is always a choice. I’ve been preparing to challenge my uncle.”
“Challenge him?” she repeated.
Grabbing power for himself was a motivation she could understand, but she felt it was more given all that she’d seen from Vidorak. He cared for the clan and wasn’t happy about the hardships they were suffering. From his mother’s words last night, clearly not all supported Urim’s leadership.
“You were correct last night. Things have worsened since my uncle became chieftain. I am not sure if it was his grief after my father died or if he was always this way, but the clan will be destroyed if we continue like this.”
“What do you plan to do?” she asked.
“The clan will only support a chieftain who wins through challenge. I have spent months ensuring everything is in place for this, but we need to worry about his plans first.”
She wanted to push him more about it, but could tell by the hardness in his eyes he didn’t want to discuss it further. For all his evil deeds, Urim was still his blood relation. She couldn’t imagine Vidorak making this choice easily and wondered how deep Urim’s violence went.
As much as she wanted to know more, she let it go. “Tell me why he has set his sights on Taybe.”
“He wants to attack because there have been more sightings of the demon hounds by patrols in the wastelands. He thinks the witches sent them as revenge for kidnapping you. I won’t let that happen.” He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. “But there is more to this you haven’t told me.”
Denial was on the tip of her tongue, but he had earned her trust, and she chose to answer him. “Hugh Davinger is sending the demon hounds. He must have realized I’d escaped capture somehow.”
Vidorak frowned at the mention of the king regent. “He’s a man.”
“That’s debatable,” she muttered, but understood what he meant. “It’s rare for men to perform magic, but some can perform simple spells with the help of runes.”
“This does not seem like a simple spell.”
She shook her head. “It’s not. Davinger has become quite powerful.”
“How?”
“I am not sure.” She grimaced, hating that she still lacked so much information. “I think that’s why he had my mother killed. She must’ve found out what he was doing.”
“And now he’s the most powerful man in the realm,” Vidorak finished for her. “I see your motivation in wanting to stop him.”
She gave a bitter laugh. “Don’t make it out to be more noble than it is. I am not doing this for the betterment of a realm that abandoned us. There is no hope for witchkind. I am doing this for revenge.”
He stared at her for a moment before speaking. “You are not without hope.”
That healed another crack in her heart even though she knew it was a lie. “The amulet would certainly help. I will need all the magical aid I can get.”
He nodded. “I will meet with my uncle and the jarls today. But tomorrow, I plan on getting the amulet you seek. Then Nazghor will escort you to Taybe.”
She should’ve been happy getting what she had been searching for after all these years, but the idea of parting from him caused an ache in her chest.
“I could help you here with your challenge against Urim,” she offered. “You have seen what my fire can do.”
“I know. But you need to get back to your coven.”
Unfortunately, he was right. She had been absent for too long.
He kissed her forehead, which made her scowl, and then took a step back. “I need to go now. My mother will help you during the day.”
With that, he left the quarters and disappeared down the stone corridor. It wasn’t long after that Mor left her bedroom and came up to her. Calypso wondered whether she’d overheard them, given her Orcish hearing.
“How are you feeling?” Mor asked.
That was a question she wasn’t ready to analyze too closely. “As well as I can be a hundred feet underground.”
“If Vidorak says he’ll get you back home, he will.” She put a reassuring hand on Calypso’s arm. “He’s a lot like his father. He has a strong sense of responsibility but is very stubborn in accepting help. I always imagined Vidorak mated to someone strong-willed.”
Calypso’s mood darkened with the sudden rush of jealousy at the thought of Vidorak mated.
The question had been on the tip of her tongue to ask at the springs last night, but she couldn’t muster the courage.
The thought of him forming a deep bond with another female made her unreasonably furious and bloodthirsty.
Even knowing he’d likely had prior orcess lovers pricked at her.
She kept these thoughts to herself because there was no way she was going to talk to Vidorak’s mother about her son’s past lovers.
“Can you show me the kitchen? I am eager to distract my mind for the moment.”
Mor took her to the kitchens through a winding tunnel branching off the main corridor. The path was still difficult to memorize despite her going through it for the third time.
They reached a crossing point, but instead of going straight into the dining hall, they turned to the left. The kitchen came into view shortly after that.
For the first time since entering the mountain, Calypso saw non-orcs.
A dozen human females of varying ages were completing tasks while an orcess stood guard at the entrance of the kitchens, her half-shaved head highlighting the red Orcish markings on her scalp.
Mor filled a bowl of porridge and handed it to Calypso before going to talk to the orcess guard.
While they chatted, Calypso scarfed down her food and observed the other women. From what she could see, they didn’t seem to have any bruising, and their clothes, while plain, were clean. That was a small mercy, given they were captives here and forced to do labor.
After she finished eating, the orcess guard came over to her, carrying a hefty bucket filled with root vegetables. She set it on the ground and handed her a small dull knife.
“Peel.”
Calypso raised her eyebrows at the short, gruff command, but wordlessly started her task. No one talked to her, and the women worked stiffly.
That was fine with Calypso, and she took out her frustrations on the potatoes.
She was not one to sit still when there was something she wanted.
The amulet was within her reach, and she wanted to slam this dull dagger in Urim’s eye and grab the Eye of Azara herself.
It spoke to how much she trusted Vidorak that she reined in her natural urges and continued to prep the food.
From time to time, male orcs would come by with excuses of wanting something to eat while stealing glances at them until the orcess guard chased them off.
“You’ll last longer if you choose one and go to their bed.”
Calypso looked over her shoulder to find a young woman about her age with round, stormy blue eyes and short-cropped brown hair. “I have no interest in taking any of them to bed.”
She only had interest in one orc.
“The others stay away for a bit when they sense the smell on you. It’s not too bad if you get one that’s more careful. Sometimes they even give you gifts.” She started mixing dough next to Calypso, giving her a soft, friendly smile. “I’m Dalia.”
Those words burned Calypso like hot coals inside of her. To be glad of such a pittance for the use of her body.
“Calypso.” After a beat, she asked, “Where are you from?”
“Rava.”
Calypso paused her chopping. The cliffs of Rava spanned the southeastern border of Shalimar. “I did not know the orcs raided so far south.”
“They don’t. I was visiting my aunt up north when I got captured. What about you?”
“Taybe.” Which was more or less the truth. Then Calypso recalled what Dalia had first said. “What do you mean, last longer?”
The orcess guard towered over them, killing their conversation. “Less talk, more work. Evening meal is soon.” Her speech was guttural, as if she weren’t quite comfortable with the feel of the common tongue.
With a silent nod, Dalia moved away and went to finish her task. They rushed to complete the cooking as hungry orcs appeared in the dining room. There was no time to say more than a few words of direction as they fed the mountain.
Calypso observed the different orcs that arrived to eat. Because of the war, many of the clans across the realm had migrated north seeking refuge at the mountain. It wasn’t easy, but she spotted patterns in their appearances.
She thought of one type as the “bead orcs.” They were tall and their bodies slim, but toned, reminding her of the elven kind.
Their faces appeared softer with their shorter tusks, and their hair had strands interwoven with colorful beads.
While most orcs wore their hair long, a few preferred it short to the scalp.
That group had dark green skin and short and stout bodies.
She saw many with hoops up their pointed ears, like Vidorak, and others that wore necklaces of bones.
That’s as far as her analysis went, as half of them spoke Orcish to her and she couldn’t understand a word of it. Perhaps she should ask Vidorak to teach her some phrases. It would only help her here.
It wasn’t until they were washing the dishes that she had another moment to chat with Dalia.
“Explain to me what you meant earlier.”
Dalia looked around before lowering her voice and speaking quickly. “I don’t want to frighten you, but it’s important you know. Once a lunar cycle, one or two of the human women go missing.”
“Where do they go?” Calypso growled out.
Dalia’s blue eyes filled with sadness. “No one knows. I’ve been here three years and have yet to see any of them return.”
“What about the others?” Calypso glanced over the other women.
“They haven’t been here as long. The ones that take a warrior to bed are less likely to disappear.”
The noise outside the kitchen told them their time for conversation would be coming to an end.
“We will speak more later,” Calypso promised.
Dalia nodded and walked away, but not before Calypso caught a glimpse of a black mark of magic at her ankle.
It seemed she wasn’t the only witch currently at the mountain.