Chapter 7
Orzesh
My body had been raging with lust for my tiny human mate. I had passed her trials so far. But I had not yet earned the right to pleasure myself with thoughts of her. Holding back required a strength I didn”t know I had. It felt like my cock was aching and I couldn”t catch my breath without her. I stood at the door to my cell and looked around to distract myself.
New prisoners had arrived and were milling around. Everyone”s eyes focused on one place. The huge minotaur. Not entirely minotaur, I thought, the ears and the color were different. I assessed him from head to toe quickly. He was thick with muscle and by far the biggest monster here, moving with balance and a certain grace which told me he was an experienced fighter. No eye contact with fellow inmates or guards. He wasn”t interested in interacting with anyone or proving anything.
There was also a lich standing in the corner that hadn”t been here for breakfast. A skeletal head peered out of a black hooded robe. He was old and his skin had become see through. People and monsters alike were wary of liches. But I saw nothing threatening about him. Still, you could never really tell with the undead. He caught me watching him, and empty eye sockets bored into me. I flashed him a grin. I think what his translucent lips did was a smile back. Sometimes that was all it took to make an ally. It never hurt to have people on your side. Especially if they could drain the life force from someone with one touch.
Lunch was far too small again, and my stomach grumbled at the pitiful, tasteless vegetables. Boiled to within an inch of their life, and no meat to be seen.
The hyena guard and bald one turned up afterwards to take me back to the therapy room. My blood burned in my veins with the excitement of seeing my mate again. I puffed myself up to be as big as possible as I entered the room.
She sat quietly in the chair. The pleasure of seeing her was no less than yesterday. Another red dress covered her. I yearned to rip it off her and see what lay beneath.
Something about the energy in the room shifted. My mate”s eyes seemed uneasy, but they weren”t looking at me. She focused on the ground, trying to avoid noticing something. I turned to the hyena guard; he was watching her intently. There was nothing good in his gaze. I growled, and he flinched before scuttling out of the room. The bald guard shot me a sneer before following him. Unworthy wretches. They both stank of dishonor. I turned back to my mate. My Serena. Her body was closed in. Small. Like she was trying to shrink into invisibility and hold her emotions tight to her.
”Would you like me to kill him?”
My Uk”lah”s head snapped up and her eyes connected with mine, her brows furrowed.
”What?”
”The blond guard. He makes you uneasy. He is like a hyena, watching for someone to prey upon. I will kill him for you.”
I pulled myself up even taller. I would gift her his head on a stick.
”WHAT? No. Don”t kill a guard. Are you out of your mind?”
”I am simply making an offer to you. You are displeased?”
Her response was confusing. She seemed horrified by the idea.
”I can deal with him myself.”
”Of course.”
I grinned at her. Despite being human, my mate wanted to fight her own battles and make her own kills. Pride welled up inside me. I was confident someone with such orc spirit would defeat the hyena. Perhaps she would gift his head to me.
”Please sit, Orzesh.”
”I think now you can call me Zesh.”
”Zesh? You prefer that?”
”The shortening of names is acceptable by close friends, family and Uk”lahs.”
”Okay, Zesh. Please have a seat.”
The seat creaked as I thudded into it. My tribe”s craftworkers would never tolerate such work. My mate shifted in her seat. Her body language was still uneasy.
”What is wrong, Uk”lah?”
”Nothing.”
She was lying, but I didn”t know why.
”Zesh, why don”t we start with you telling me about your home. What”s it like?”
It made sense that she would want to know about the place she would end up living with me.
”My tribe lives in the forests of Umbaria. My clan is right in the middle. We sleep surrounded by the sounds of jaguars and korkesh birds.”
Her eyes lit up, and it pushed me to keep talking.
”We forage and hunt during the day. But only as much as we need. We also trade with other tribes so we don”t take too much from the forest. That keeps the forest spirits content with us.”
”The forest spirits? Orcs believe in that sort of thing?”
”Of course! You can”t not believe in them when you live amongst the forest. We sing and dance at night to please them and to give thanks for letting us live in their place.”
She was leaning forward now, her chin resting on her hands. She almost looked surprised.
”You did not expect this?”
”Well, no. I don”t really know much about orc culture. Other than you really enjoy fighting. So I didn”t expect that you would believe in spiritual sorts of things.”
”We fight because we have always had to.”
”What do you mean?”
”Our history is brutal. Tribes warred for land. Good fertile places full of animals are difficult to find in the west. We bred like rabbits and there wasn”t enough for everyone. It was kill or be killed. Even now, there are too many of us for the space we have. We”ve tried to have diplomats who talk to each other. To trade and work together. Sometimes it works. But the rift ripped open between the worlds; now other races come and try to take what we have. We fight to survive, and I am proud that I have protected my people and our land.”
My Uk”lah paused for a moment, thinking through what I had said. Her finger ran over her lips, and then she pressed them together. I wondered if it would be inappropriate to lean forward and bite them.
”It sounds like orcs adapted to the situation they were in, and they did it well. And so did you. I respect that.”
Respect. The word rang through my brain. Respect from my Uk”lah. I sat up straighter. It felt like I was the biggest creature in the world.