Page 9 of Her Orc Blacksmiths

“Come on.” Rose nudges me. “If we don’t follow her, we’ll have to check every pool to find her.”

I step into the fog carefully, but when I’m inside it, I find I can see several feet in each direction, so I’m not in danger of stumbling or falling over. Sarrai’s tall form is barely visible in front of me. She cuts through the room, but I’m able to follow her. We pass a pool on the left, filled with water to the brim, and I realize what this place really is.

“Is the water hot?” I turn around to speak to Rose.

She’s just an outline behind me as she answers, “Yes. It’s perfect, you’ll see.”

Now I follow Sarrai more quickly, eager for a hot bath. The orcs have a hot spring sitting right in the middle of their underground palace. It’s no wonder all the corridors are so warm and dry. They must have figured out a way to pump the hot water throughout the entire Hill. Of course, if they didn’t, the great hall would be nothing but a dank cave, and none of the rooms underground would be livable without burning fires—which would cause everyone to choke without proper ventilation.

Sarrai stops by another empty pool. It’s not large—but the steam wafting off the surface of the water is so inviting, I can’t resist crouching by the edge and plunging my hand in. It’s the perfect temperature, maybe slightly warmer than I usually prepare my bath, but that’s only because I was always too impatient to get in to heat another pot of water over the kitchen fire.

I look up at the women clustered by the edge. “Now I understand why you were all so eager to get here.”

Ritta snorts. “Wait till you get in.”

She shrugs off her jacket, folds it nicely, and places it by the pool. Then she toes off her boots and unlaces her leather pants.

“Oh!” I swiftly turn around, wanting to give her privacy, only to be faced with Sarrai, who is removing her tunic. She only has an undershirt beneath it, no stays, and I gape at her ample breasts for a moment before closing my eyes in embarrassment.

A gentle hand lands on my shoulder. “It’s all right,” Rose says quietly. “Orcs aren’t as concerned about nakedness as humans are. You’ll, ah, get used to it after a while.”

I crack my eyes open to find my friend already stripped down to her undershirt, her gown hanging over her arm.

“Gods, Rose,” I croak. “You could have warned me.”

She gives me a wry smile. “I know everything seems impossibly strange tonight, but I promise you, it’ll be easier tomorrow.”

With that, she puts down her dress, pulls her undershirt over her head, and slips in the water quickly, her movements nimble. The two orc women do the same, and neither of them seem to be worried about their bodies at all.

I remain alone on the lip of the pool, my arms crossed tight over my chest. Rose, Sarrai, and Ritta strike up a low conversation while they pass around a bar of hard soap, and I get the distinct impression that they’re giving me time to come to grips with this strange situation.

Perhaps I could just wash quickly with my clothes still on? Or strip down to my undershirt and bathe in it in an effort to preserve some of my modesty? But I feel filthy after a day on the road, and a wet linen undershirt wouldn’t do much to hide me. Besides, I don’t want to get my stays wet, because they’ll be impossible to dry afterward.

Heat rises up my neck as I tug on the laces on the back of my dress. It’s made so I can get myself in and out of it without needing a maid, because we couldn’t keep a maid just to help me dress at my father’s house. My wedding gown had been an exception—but I don’t want to spend another moment thinking of it. Instead, I focus on the task at hand. When the fabric loosens, I slide down the sleeves and shimmy out of my riding gown. Then, working quickly, I remove my boots and stockings and finally draw my undershirt over my head.

I don’t look to the sides to see if anyone’s watching. Voices murmur in the mist, but none are close enough to worry me, and I do believe Rose would warn me if any stranger was too close for comfort.

It’s incredible to me that Sarrai and Ritta don’t seem like strangers anymore, and I don’t feel too indecent slipping into the hot pool beside them. Rose grins at me and passes me the soap, which is scented with sage and chamomile. The water is incredible. It envelops my body like a cozy embrace, instantly setting me at ease. Some of my tension washes away, and I close my eyes with a sigh.

“Hey,” Sarrai says, nudging me in the shoulder. “No sleeping in the pool. Morg and Torren would murder us if you drowned.”

“Morg and Torren,” I repeat quietly. “You really think they’re both my mates?”

Ritta inclines her head. “Aye. And you won’t have an easy time with them either.”

Chapter

Five

I didn’t want to cause problems with my arrival to the Black Bear Hill, but it seems that’s exactly what I’ve done.

“What do you mean, I won’t have an easy time?” I ask, then look at Sarrai. “You said they’ve been enemies?”

She dunks her head underwater, then comes up slicking back her now-clean black hair. “Aye. I don’t know either of them well enough to know the backstory, but we’ve had quarrels from them weekly.”

“And the king had to intervene once,” Ritta adds. “There was even talk of building a brand-new forge for one of them, but none of the outer rooms in the Hill were suitable for it.”

I sink to my chin, worry gnawing through me. “Oh. That’s—that’s not good. I don’t think I want to be mated to them if they’re unpleasant.”

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