Page 21 of The Orc Outcast's Miracle

“More suitable?”

“Fishing or trapping. Things that did not require the use of claws or teeth.”

She stroked back his hair. “So you learned how to hunt on your own?”

He nodded. “Geblon, the lead hunter, had shown me a few things before he was sent to the war when I was fourteen. He taught me how to stalk large game and kill clean, told me of hunter traditions and ceremonies. I have worked to honor him since, respecting their ways and holding seasonal ceremonies on my own as best I can.”

His saddened gaze was trained on the window, out into the woods. She crumbled and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him against her.

“So . . . they abandoned you?”

He stiffened against her. “They did what they had to for Faeda, and they worked hard to prepare me to take on the mantle of hunter before they left.”

“Take on the mantle of hunter? So, you started hunting for the entire clan when you were fourteen?”

“Yes.”

He said it so easily, like it wasn’t any huge thing to be the sole hunter for a clan of three hundred orcs when you’d barely hit puberty.

She pressed her forehead against his, took a few deep breaths to quell the tightness in her throat and the prickling of her eyes.

They were all assholes. Every last one of them.

And the unfairness of the night before proved that. Everyone had turned against them. Not a single person wanted to listen to their side.

But she would make them listen. Her eyes trained to the little bag of evidence she’d collected for the judgment. The roll of parchment where she’d written down all her notes.

She’d show the whole clan that Govek wasn’t the monster he’d been made out to be.

She’d get justice for this. For Govek and herself.

And once she did, the seer could dredge with her.

“It is time to leave for the trade, Miranda.”

She pulled back and found him tense with worry. She rubbed his shoulders. “It’s going to be all right, tough guy. You just gotta speak your peace to a couple people from Oakwall and I’m sure the truth of what happened between you and Yerina will get around on its own quick enough. Then we’ll trade a few things, schmooze, and come on home.”

“Sch…ooze… what?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Chit chat. Make friends.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with ‘oozing.’”

She laughed. “Oh my god, Govek, no, it’s schmooze.”

His eyes twinkled, and her stomach flipped over. She kissed his cheek, thankful beyond words he was mostly back to himself after last night.

“What exactly is the clearing?” She remembered how quiet and still everyone had gotten every time the pungent incense had flooded the room. The smell had been overwhelming, but it clearly had an altering effect on the orcs.

And it was not for the better.

He adjusted her slightly, sitting up. “It aids in concentration and maintains peace. You needn’t worry. It will not affect you. Like bindings, Sythcol created it to only effect orcs.”

“Aids in concentration...” she mused, thinking on how the air had felt so still and cold. “Is that really all it does?”

He gently removed her from his lap so he could stand. “Yes.”

“Then how come you couldn’t even talk?”

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