Page 26 of The Orc's Bride

“To kill whom, Una?” Urgan asked, standing up. “You want to kill whom?”

“I not know what you speak,” she blurted, looking left and right in a panic. “I dreaming about…” Her eyes widened when she looked at him, and a pink blush rose on her cheeks. She bit her lip. “Dreaming. About things. Nothing about killing. Is it day? We ride now?”

She was obviously trying to change the topic. Urgan snorted with annoyance. He had been so close to learning her secret. But the moment was gone.

Well. He could always try the next time she fell asleep.

“Yes. We ride soon. Here.” He reached out his hand, holding his waterskin.

Una took a deep breath and walked closer to him – just close enough to snatch the waterskin out of his hand. She drank and gave it back. Urgan offered her another piece of bread.

“Not hungry,” Una said brightly, turning away from him.

But he had seen the brief moment when she had leaned towards the bread, her fingers twitching eagerly. Shewashungry. Of course she was. Lying again.

Urgan clenched his fists, calculating whether it was worth it having another forced heart-to-heart with her. He decided against it. He needed to calm down first because his anger, frustration, and lust were running too high. He didn’t want to risk losing control with her.

And sometimes, the best way not to lose one’s control was to put off some confrontations for later.

He rose and gathered his bags. Una was nowhere in sight, and he instantly became alert, reaching out with his senses. A soft trickle of water from fifty paces away reached his ears.

She was nearby, taking care of her needs. He kept a careful watch on her until she came back, making her way through the undergrowth.

“You should have told me you would be away,” he said. It came out as an angry growl even though he hadn’t intended it this way. His hold on himself was slipping.

“Fine,” she said, throwing her hair over her shoulder. “Next time I tell you.”

She turned away from him again, walking over to where Brrthak was chewing on what looked like the remains of a fat beaver. Orc horses were smart enough to find their way back to their masters, so orcs allowed them to roam freely while they camped. This way, the horses could hunt for food.

“Did you catch it all by yourself?” Una trilled in human, patting Brrthak on his side. “You’re such a good boy! Yes, you are! Who’s a good boy?”

Urgan blinked slowly. Why was she talking to his red-eyed, blood-spattered scaly horse as if it were… a puppy?

Brrthak neighed cheerfully and lowered his head to nudge her lightly with his nose. A hunk of beaver meat was caught between his fangs.

Una laughed and scratched him under his chin. Brrthak snorted softly… and dropped the meat at her feet. He was offering her food. Urgan shook his head in disbelief. Brrthak had never offered any food to him even though they’d been riding together for a decade. And yet he had just gifted half a beaver to the human female he barely knew.

“Oh, thank you,” Una said, looking genuinely happy. Urgan frowned. Would she eat the meat? Wasn’t she disgusted? He knew humans didn’t eat raw meat… “But you need it more than I do! Come on, big boy! Eat up so you have the strength to carry me! Go on!”

Brrthak snorted again, picked up the meat, and went back to chewing. Kluga, who was strapping his bags to his horse’s saddle, grinned at Una.

“That was a very good beaver,” he said. “If you didn’t want it, you could have given it to me.”

Una smiled up at Kluga. Something in Urgan’s gut clenched, and his mind filled with a red mist.

“What your name?”

“I’m Kluga. That ugly orc there is Zadran, and the pretty one with feathers in his mane is Grikh.”

Both of them turned, giving Kluga mockingly threatening growls. Una grinned at them.

“Kluga, you a big boy, too,” she said, that smile still on her lips. “You catch yourself a fat beaver. Don’t take from poor horse.”

Kluga laughed loudly, shaking his large head.

“That horse isn’t poor. He’s the best mount in the army and can hunt better than any orc. I don’t think I could match him.”

“The best, huh?” said Una. “Of course. The general must have best. Why he pick me, then?” she asked, eyeing Kluga from under her lashes.

---