Tension
Drokahr?
My conversation with Malek kept echoing in my head.
What was Hannah to me? Precious. That much was clear.
I had always felt content as a warrior, my status within my clan being the most important thing to me, besides my brother and his family.
However, now she felt like a piece I never knew was missing until she showed up.
She was light and warmth, sunshine and the sun itself.
Protecting her—her light, her warmth—felt instinctive.
Hannah wasn’t a pet to me anymore. I had spoken the truth to Malek.
At night, I would lie awake next to her, looking at her sleeping face, not wanting to tear myself away.
During the day, I kept her close, brought her everywhere I went.
But still, I couldn’t name the need I felt to have her by my side. I went through my days lost in thought.
I was distracted at practice. Solen eyed me warily. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, just… thinking.”
He snorted. “You can think?”
Irritated, I landed a blow against his chest. “Uff — no, seriously, Drokahr. It’s getting obvious you are spaced out.”
I glanced over. Hannah was sitting at her usual spot, watching me.
Solen followed my gaze. “I see. Look, we can all see that you like her… a lot, but this is getting out of hand.”
“It’s nothing,” I said flatly, irritated that he thought he could judge our relationship.
Solen opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a sharp, “Drokahr!”
It was Rohen.
“The Chief wants to speak with you. Now,” he said sharply.
I nodded. Looking over to Hannah, I motioned for her to come along. “Without that pet,” he said clipped, eyebrows furrowed.
“Go home. I’ll be with you shortly,” I said to her softly. She nodded and left.
Following Rohen across the training and gathering grounds, we soon arrived at Solkar’s tent. “In,” he said at the entrance.
I went first; he followed behind. The light was dimmer than usual — during winter, all tent walls were down. The only light source was a fire next to the Chief’s chair. There was tension in the air. Solkar looked displeased. Rohen took his place right next to him, crossing his arms, expression hard.
“Drokahr, I heard you lost your temper,” Solkar started.
I opened my mouth to answer, but he held up his hand. I closed it.
“You are distracted. Not joining fellow clan members for food or drinks. You are isolating yourself with that pet of yours,” he spat the word out.
“Seems like you two are spending an awful lot of time together. I saw you two at the Founding Tale — couldn’t keep your hands to yourself. In front of the others, no less. Care to explain?”
“She is just a pet, Chief,” I said, trying to keep tension out of my voice.
My heart had started to pound in my chest. Something unspoken hung in the air. Pure instinct shot through my body — protect her. Solkar had always been a great leader, an inspiration to me ever since I was young. Now he felt threatening, a danger towards Hannah.
I clenched my fists, then released them. Rohen and Solkar followed my every move.
“Just a pet, eh? I may be missing an eye, Drokahr, but I am neither blind nor stupid, you hear me? What do you think you are doing? There are rules. The second you became a warrior, you put your clan in front of your own desires,” his voice rising with anger.
“Listen, and listen well. If this doesn’t stop now, there will be consequences. You don’t want your pet to get hurt, do you now, Drokahr?” he said harshly.
My blood ran cold. Hannah — hurt? No. Never. The thought of her being in pain seized my heart, strangling it.
No, I couldn’t let that happen, I thought frantically.
“Do you understand? Answer me,” Solkar demanded.
I looked him straight in the eyes, trying to keep my expression neutral, swallowing my panic. “Yes.”
With a wave of his hand, I was dismissed.
Outside the tent, Solen waited for me. “Hey, everything alright?” he asked, concern in his eyes.
“I need to think,” I said, leaving him behind.
As I made my way back home, I thought of a million ways to ease the tension in camp, to keep Hannah safe. With a heavy heart, I entered the tent, knowing she wouldn’t like what I was about to do.
Hannah
Our visit to Drokahr’s family had inspired me.
Our tent was beautiful and cosy, but through Nara I had seen what was possible to make a space feel even more like home.
While waiting for Drokahr to return, I imagined paintings, maybe vases filled with flowers on our dining table once the last bits of snow were gone.
There was an unmistakable scent of spring in the air.
The days gradually grew longer, it became warmer, and the snow had almost completely melted away.
Only underneath trees and other shaded spots were bits of snow remaining.
I was excited for spring, remembering Tom’s description of the festivities at the beginning of it.
I wondered how Orcs celebrated this change of season.
I was looking forward to finding out. Nara’s tapestries crossed my mind, and I wondered whether she would show me how to make one of them.
While I would never reach her level of craftsmanship, I hoped that with a bit of practice I could maybe make something similar.
Smiling to myself, I heard Drokahr’s unmistakable footsteps approaching.
Excited to tell him all about my plans for decoration, I spun towards him—but then my smile dropped.
He stood at the entrance, a grim expression on his face.
“What’s wrong? Did something happen?” I asked, concerned.
His lips pressed into a thin line, eyes downcast, avoiding my gaze. Now being sure that something had happened while he talked to Solkar, I asked once again, “Drokahr, what happened?”
At that, he looked me in the eye and said, “You will remain here in this tent. You are not allowed to leave it. Do you understand?” There was tension in his voice.
I was flabbergasted.
“What?”
“I said you are not allowed to go outside,” he spoke firmly.
I was taken aback. Opening my mouth and then closing it, I tried to wrap my head around what he had just said.
“Why?” was all I could manage.
“Because I said so.”
With that, he turned and left. I couldn’t believe what had just happened.
Why wasn’t I allowed to go outside? What happened?
I looked around, suddenly unsure what to do with myself.
The tent felt smaller, suffocating. I needed to move.
I walked around our tent—from the bed to the sitting area, to the bathroom, and back.
There wasn’t much distance I could cover, but I couldn’t sit still.
My thoughts were racing. I rubbed my arms up and down, trying to soothe myself.
Thinking about the past days, I went through every single little thing I could remember, trying to find a piece that felt off, that could have predicted his sudden change toward me.
Had I taken too much? Did I do something that offended him?
Everything seemed fine up until he went to talk to Solkar.
What had they talked about? Did Solkar see me do something that angered him?
What if I’ve ruined everything? Whatever it was, I would gladly apologise. Anything to set matters right.
I will ask Drokahr. I will apologise to Solkar, I thought desperately.
I was willing to show him that I would do anything to be part of this clan, to be part of Drokahr’s world. Having made up my mind, I exhaled a slow breath, trying to steady my erratic heartbeat.
“I can make this right,” I whispered to myself.
I would wait for Drokahr to come back, then we would talk. He always comes back… doesn’t he?
With that, I sat down at the sitting area, pulling my knees towards my chest.
But that night, he never returned.