Page 39 of The Orc's Bride

Which was fine. Of course. I should have expected it.

But it also put me in a hopeless mood. Because how was I supposed to make him want me back? I was no seductress. I couldn’t polish his sword suggestively and keep a straight face. I would burst out in nervous giggles before I could even try it.

What I needed to do was show him he could trust me. That I wasn’t trying to use him. But building that sort of trust would take months if not years! I didn’t have that kind of time.

“If we make haste, we’ll be home before sundown,” Urgan said to his orcs.

Aha. So I had until sundown… unless I caused some sort of delay? I shook my head to myself. No. No more scheming. I had to be trustworthy… And I shouldn’t be working against Urgan’s goals for my selfish reasons.

He believed getting to the capital fast was important, even though the forest was bursting with birdsong. Clearly, no ragghits were after us.

He probably just wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible.

Which was fine. I should have expected it.

I bit the inside of my cheek and focused on the mild pain to stop my tears. Stupid, stupid Una. Crying over an orc.

Urgan got Brrthak ready for the journey and put me in the saddle without a word. He avoided looking at my face, and his expression was stony.

It was hopeless.

He sat in the saddle behind me, and I hesitated. Should I snuggle into him? I badly wanted to. It might be my last chance to be this close to him.

So I did. I fell against his hard stomach, turning my head closer to Urgan’s chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. I looked at the skin over his wide, strong ribcage. It was scarred and uneven, a deep shade of forest green. A sigh escaped me, my breath fluttering over his skin.

Urgan grunted, and his bicep, which I had a good view of, tensed, cording with meaty muscle. But he said nothing, so I just stayed like this, enjoying him. Although… he was getting a bit too pungent.

None of us had bathed during this journey, of course. Which meant I probably smelled too, even though I couldn’t really tell.

We were off. Every step bringing us closer to the end of the journey. I didn’t know what to do to get him back. My mind was working frantically as we traveled along narrow forest paths, the forest chirping and rustling around us.

Soon, we stepped onto a proper road that looked like it was used regularly. There were cart tracks imprinted in the packed earth. We had reached a common trade route. We were out of the Wilds – and close to the orc capital.

“Say, Urgan,” I said some time later. “Orcs have such a great sense of smell, right? So… What do you do if people around you smell bad?”

Urgan chuckled. He was in a good mood. Relaxed, too. I guessed he was expecting the rest of the journey to be safe and easy.

“Am I too much for your human nose right now?”

“Just a bit,” I said honestly. “But I wonder… you know… if I’m not too much for you.”

Urgan’s chest vibrated with a silent laughter. I scooted just a bit closer to him. This felt intimate. And intimate was good. Trust-building.

“Not yet. This nose has smelled battlefields and many human villages where people believe bathing causes illness, so they do it once a year.”

I wrinkled my nose. Thankfully, it hadn’t been like that in my village.

“But orcs usually bathe daily. We can smell ourselves quickly, so this is why. Your human noses just shut down when the smell is too much. Ours don’t.”

I pondered this in silence. Cultural differences. I was learning more and more. Not just the orc language, like during my lessons with the Tradesman. But all sorts of very important details that only talking to an orc – an orc who was aware of the differences between our races – could explain.

It slowly dawned on me that my naïve revolution plans had been even more doomed than I had thought. Because when one was planning a revolution, everything mattered: starting from orc mating rituals, ending on their bathing habits.

Urgan whistled, and Zadran, who was jogging in front of us, turned his head.

“Say, Zadran,” Urgan called. “What’s the worst stink you’ve ever smelled?”

Zadran turned to face us, running backwards now.

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