Page 32 of The Widow and the Orcs

“Now, you ought to eat,” he said, in a tone she couldn’t read. “Comewith me, and hunt for a spell.”

Wait.Really?KillikwantedLouisato come with him?Hunting?Now?Andshe could only blink at him, blank and disbelieving, while he grimaced, and then pulled something out of the rear of his trousers.Something… wait.Louisa’sknife?

Andyes, yes, it was her knife, but it was also… different.Slimmer.Brighter.Sharper.Lookingmore powerful, more deadly, than before.

“OursmithArgarrwas at the camp, soIhad him alter this for you,”Killiksaid, flipping the knife in his fingers, and passing it intoLouisa’shand. “Thisshall now better serve you, and keep you safe.”

Louisablinked down at the knife — it even had new soft leather wrapped around the hilt — as more warmth simmered in her belly.Killikhad taken her knife, and then he’d… fixed it.Improvedit.Tohelp her.

AndwhenLouisaglanced up at him again, he was intently looking away — but that might have been a faint flush, creeping up his neck.He’dhelped her.He’ddone it on purpose.Maybeeven… as an apology.

“Nowcome, woman,” he said, deep and decisive, coiling more heat, more hope, intoLouisa’sbelly. “Andlearn to hunt like aSkai.”

18

HuntingwithKillikwas… delightful.

Itmade no sense, because he still wasn’t kind or considerate, not in the slightest.Hehad no qualms with hissing orders atLouisa, curtly waving her this way or that, or glowering at her whenever she stepped on an errant cracking twig.

Butdamn it, he knew so much.Hesaw so much.Hepointed out prints and burrows, he followed paths she’d never before noticed, and he could track scents with astonishing ease.Andbefore they’d even walked half a furlong, he dodged sideways, into a small thicket, and came back bearing a dead rabbit in his bloody clawed fingers.

“Breakfast,” he said, with satisfaction. “Youken how to make a fire, woman?”

Louisadid, and soon she had a small blaze crackling between them, whileKillikskinned the rabbit with rapid, astonishing efficiency.Hisdagger flashing swift and silver, his clawed fingers tossing multiple bloody bits into his mouth as he went.Asight that should have setLouisa’sstomach churning, but instead her mouth felt dry, her eyes oddly caught on his deft hands, his sweaty bare chest, the blood trickling down his chin.

“Thisis a good one,” he said, with satisfaction, as he put the meat onto a makeshift spit, and set it up over the fire. “IkenIought to gain you herbs or mushrooms, or some such, butIam not much for fancy cooking, ach?”

Louisawaved it away, and shot him a wry, grateful smile. “Me, neither,” she replied. “Thisis perfect.Thankyou.”

Killikshrugged, and turned his focus to cleaning and sharpening his daggers, pausing only to occasionally sniff at the air around them.Butit felt almost… companionable, somehow, sitting here across from him over the crackling fire, as the late morning sun streamed through the trees around them.

Themeat indeed proved to be delicious, too, and onceLouisahad eaten her fill,Killikpolished off the rest, and stomped out the fire.Andthen he stretched, straightening his long arms over his head, as he turned to the south, and drew in a slow, deep inhale.

“Next, your supper,” he said firmly. “Iscent a buck to the south, just beyond that bog.”

Foran instant,Louisastared at him — he wasn’t really going to hunt her supper, too? — but then she made a face, and shook her head. “Youcan’t get through that bog.You’llhave to go around, and by then the buck will be long gone.”

ButKillik’sbrows only snapped up, his mouth curving into a smug smile. “Tryme, woman,” he said. “Nowcome.”

Itseemed impossible to resist the draw of his wicked eyes, his quirking, satisfied smile.AndsoonLouisawas indeed following him on a narrow, convoluted, often muddy, but perfectly viable path through the bog — a pathKillikhad again apparently determined by scent alone.

“Thereis naught to it, for most orcs,” he said over his shoulder, in answer toLouisa’squestion. “EvenifIcould not scent the earth,Icould yet scent which way the buck went, before us.”

Louisa’ssmile toward him was awestruck, maybe even envious. “That’sincredible,” she said, her voice thick. “You’reso lucky to be an orc, and have skills like this.”

ButKillik’slaugh was low and hard, his head twitching back and forth. “Iwould not call being an orc luck, woman,” he replied, clipped. “Intruth,Iken it is more of a curse.Aplague of blood and darkness anddeath.Mostof all for theSkai.”

Louisablinked toward him, and suddenly her thoughts swarmed with visions of the night before, of all those vicious scars, marked all overUlfarr’shuge, powerful body, cut straight across his most vulnerable place.Andhow he’d looked at her, how panicked his eyes had been, as he’d said,Ihad no intent, cannot bear to bring more shame, more harm, more blood and wrath and death…

Ithad all spoken so strongly of… hurt.Ofsuffering and pain.Andwhy hadn’tLouisabeen more focused on that, rather than her own mess?Howmuch darkness hadUlfarr— andKillik— faced, in that endless war between orcs and humans?Howmuch death and agony had they borne, at the hands of men likeLordScall?

“I’mso sorry to hear it,” she said, quiet, towardKillik’sstiff back before her. “Isit… getting better for you, at least?Nowthat the war is over?”

Killikkept walking in silence for a few breaths, his shoulder shrugging. “Itis… better,Iken,” he said finally. “Butthe war yet left many wounds, both from within and without.Andmany of these have not yet healed, ach?Andmayhap” — he sighed — “mayhap they never shall.”

Astab of sympathy shot throughLouisa’schest, while those visions ofUlfarr’sscars,Ulfarr’ssadness, again swarmed behind her eyes.Andthough she couldn’t relate to wounds from a battlefield, she still knew too much of hidden darkness, of scars.Gods, even these past few days had shown how deep her own scars went, how those griefs and fears still whispered, long after their source was gone.LordScallwas dead, dead…

“I’mso sorry,Killik,” she said again, and gods, it sounded so paltry, punctuated with a suckingsploochas her boot slipped into a puddle. “Hasthe camp… helped, at all?Yousaid” — she cast her thoughts backwards — “it’s given safety to your clan’s families.Anda home they didn’t…fear.”

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