Page 132 of The Widow and the Orcs

Itsettled more warmth inLouisa’schest, bright and steady and safe, because whenKillikmade a commitment, he wouldn’t waver.Hewould see it through.Hewould stay, and keep being a good father toSune.Hewould.

Therest of the trip toLouisa’shouse passed with surprising speed, and it turned out thatSunewas impatiently waiting in the lane to greet them, his narrow eyes darting betweenKillikandLouisa.Orrather, between their necks, which were both bearing fresh sets of teeth-marks.

Didyou claim them,Pa?Sunesigned atUlfarr.Arethey now yours, for good?

Ulfarrangled a brief, searching glance towardLouisa, because no, she hadn’t committed to thatmatepoint yet.Butblinking at him, and then atSune, and then atKillik, there was more steady certainty, circling in her chest.Whateverthey decided to call it, she was still committed to them, and to this.Shewas.

Hernod was brief, but decisive, andKillikgave a satisfied nod back before wavingSuneover toward them. “Ach,Wolfdid this, son,” he said, as he yankedSunetightly into his arms. “Finally.Youshall now never be rid of me.”

SunesqueezedKillikback with surprising intensity, his face buried into his shoulder — and then he lurched to embraceUlfarr, too.Andthe look onUlfarr’sface as he held his son was so reverent, so utterly adoring, it ached inLouisa’sbelly.Theybelonged together.Afamily.

Shehad to wipe at her wet eyes with her tattered sleeve, and when she blinked up again, she found —Cecily.Who’djust come from the house withTimo, but now she halted in place, one hand grippingTimo’sarm, the other clapping over her mouth.

“YouSkai!” she exclaimed, her voice shrill. “Whatthehelldid you all do?!”

Louisastartled, glancing uncertainly around them — but wait,Cecilywas looking at her dress.Herlovely, well-suitedSkaidress, which was now torn, stained, and bloody — and thanks toRikard’strap, one of her beautiful leather boots was ruined, too.AndwhileUlfarr’strousers might still be salvageable, they were still covered in dirt, whileKillik’snew trousers were hanging from his hips in thick, muddy, bloody ribbons.

“Ach, just a bit of hunting,”KilliktoldCecily, with a not-so-nice smile. “Mayhapsome playing, also.”

Cecilysnorted, and shot an aggrieved glare towardSune, and then towardTimobeside her. “Honestly,Timo!” she wailed. “WhydoIevenbothertrying to make them presentable?”

Timoseemed in full agreement, regretfully nodding and wrinkling his nose. “Ach, but it could have been worse,Cecy,” he said, with a reassuring pat to her shoulder. “Iken they waited untilaftertheSummitto start killing, at least.”

Cecilysighed and nodded, and then threw up her hands as she spun toward the house. “We’vedrawn you a hot bath, sister,” she called, over her shoulder. “Butthose two louts can fend for themselves.”

Louisalaughed despite herself, and called a genuine thank-you after her.Andthen, after a brief glance atKillikandUlfarr—Ulfarr’sarm still heavy aroundSune’sshoulder — she gestured toward the house, too. “I’llgo wash up, then,” she said, “and meet you three later?”

Killikmet her eyes, gave a brief nod — which meant he would use the time to talk toSune, as he’d promised.AndLouisawas still smiling as she headed for the kitchen, the warmth and the hopefulness again bubbling in her chest.Nomatter what happened, they would face this together.Theywere a family.

Thekitchen door was latched when she pulled on it, but with a familiar jiggle of one of its rusted nails, she shoved it open.Thatlatch was something else she should mention toKillik, perhapsArgarrcould make them a new one, and…

Shehalted halfway through the door, her breath caught, her heartbeat suddenly screaming in her ears.Becausesomeone was quaking and whimpering against the counter in the dim light, and it was —Elise.Elise, dishevelled and trembling all over, while a distraught-lookingJoantried to comfort her, and something — something moved.BeneathElise’sskirts.Somethingalive.

Louisa’sknife was in her hand in an instant, her breaths slow and steady, her feet moving silently on the stone floor.Feelingthe earth, breathing it in, circling for the attack…

Shewas almost, almost there whenJoancaught sight of her, her dark eyes snapped wide — and thenJoanyelped, and frantically flailed her hands between them. “Lou!” she gasped. “No!It’snot what it looks like!It’sjust — just —”

Louisa’sheart skipped a beat, her body jolted still, as she stared atJoan’sface, and then back atElise.Who, upon closer inspection, was biting her lip, her cheeks becomingly flushed, her full breasts almost spilling out of her bodice.Andher eyes were more dazed than afraid, though they sharpened into horrified alarm as they stared atLouisa, and then snapped down toward the…

Towardtheorc, now shifting out from beneath her skirts.Toward…Halthorr?!

“Ach, greetings, my lady,”Halthorrsaid toLouisa, sounding only slightly breathless as he rose to his feet, and gave a brief bow toward her. “Forgiveme, forIdid not scent you there.HaveWolfandKillikreturned, also?”

Louisamutely nodded —Halthorrhad been upElise’sskirts— and he even gave a swift, hungry lick at his lips as he nodded back. “Oughtto go meet them,Iken,” he said, too lightly, before flashing a grin atElise’sshocked face. “Mayhapwe can finish this later, my lovelies?”

Withthat, he leaned in, and pressed a sweet, chaste kiss toElise’sreddened cheek, even as his other hand gave a greedy grasp toJoan’sarse through her trousers.Andthen he turned and sauntered out the kitchen door, leaving all of them silent and staring after him.

“Um,”Joanfinally said, into the silence. “Sorry,Lou.Shouldn’thave —”

ButLouisawaved it away with a flap of her hand, and suddenly she was beaming at them, smiling so hard it hurt. “He’sa lovely orc,” she said firmly. “Ido hope you enjoy yourselves.”

JoanandEliseexchanged a brief, astonished look,Elise’seyes still very wide — but thenJoansquared her shoulders, and slid her hand aroundElise’swaist. “Wewill,” she said, hoarse. “So… you don’t mind him staying over, then?Withus?”

Louisashook her head, and felt her smile softening. “Ofcourse not,” she replied. “Thisis your home, too.Iconsider you both” — she drew in a breath — “my sisters.Myfamily.Iwant you to be happy here, and keep making your lives here with me.Andyou,Gladys, too.”

She’djust caught sight ofGladyshovering outside the opposite door, perhaps avoiding the scene, or monitoring it, or both.AndthoughGladys’ face was flushed, too, she gave them all a prim smile as she strode into the room, smoothing out her skirts. “Iknew that one had his eye on you, too,” she toldElise, with a sniff. “Youtwo had best make sure he works hard for his dinner.”

Elisegave a choked, gasping giggle, whileJoansnorted, and rolled her eyes.Lookingso suddenly, endearinglySkaithatLouisawanted to hug her, but instead she grinned between them, and stroked contentedly at the knife still in her hand.Herhome.Herfamily.

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