Page 79 of The Widow and the Orcs

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Louisabegan her fixing with none other thanKillikhimself.

“What’ssomething you andSunelike to do here together?” she asked him, without preamble, once he’d looked up from his own prayers beside her. “Somekind of interest you share, something you won’t argue about?”

Killikeyed her with distinct wariness, but then shot a brief glance up atSkai-kesh, and shrugged. “Sparring, or throwing knives, mayhap,” he said. “Inthe arena.”

Louisagave a decisive nod, and then waved him toward the corridor. “Thenyou need to go findSune, and if he’s well enough, you ask him to do that,” she said flatly. “Hewent through a horrible ordeal withRikardyesterday, and he seemed very upset aboutUlfarrlast night, too.Soyou need to go stand beside him, and reassure him, and remind him that you care about him.Remindhim that you’ll always be here for him, no matter what.”

Killikblinked at her, clearly nonplussed — andLouisagripped at the odd comfort of her knife-hilt at her side, and then yanked it out, pointed it at him for good measure. “Youwill do this now,Killik,” she hissed. “Andalso, for the foreseeable future, you need to make it repeatedly, excessively clear toSunethat you didn’t just adopt him forUlfarr.Youneed to make it clear to him that you fully consider him your son, too.Andif that’s not actually the case, then you should damn well seek the forgiveness on offer” — she jabbed her knife atSkai-kesh — “and then take that secret to yourgrave.”

Killikkept blinking at her, his head tilting, his hand fidgeting with his own dagger, too. “Ach, ach, well enough, woman,” he said, and though his tone was exasperated, that might have been guilt in his eyes. “AndwhilstIam off sparring withSune, what shallyoudo?”

Therewas an unmistakable challenge on his voice, andLouisadidn’t balk from it, just kept gazing back toward him, her eyes steady. “Ihave a few confidential matters to address here, alone,” she said firmly. “Withoutyou, and withoutUlfarr.Andthen,I’mgoing home.”

Killikblinked again, once, but otherwise stayed still for a long, silent moment, his eyes locked on hers.Butwhen he finally exhaled, glanced away, she could almost feel his comprehension, and then his capitulation, passing silent but certain between them.Maybeeven his permission.

BecauseifLouisadidn’t try to fight this, to fix this, it would be over anyway.Wouldn’tit?Andas an outsider, as an expendable and unwanted interloper, she had freedoms thatKillikandUlfarrdidn’t have.Shecould take their burdens on herself, and do her best to help them, even if she never saw them again.Shecould face this, and seek forgiveness.Amends.Peace.Maybenot even for them, or forUlfarr, for… for herself.

“Iwould be grateful if you could say goodbye toSunefor me, and give him my best wishes for a quick recovery,” she said, as she jerked to her feet beside the bench. “Andplease tellUlfarrIhad a wonderful time, too.AndthatI—I’llwrite him a letter, maybe.Andleave it withHalthorrat the camp.”

Killik’seyes flicked back to hers, and his throat bobbed, his breath inhaling.Butthen he rose to his feet, spun away from her, turning toward the door —

Andthen — he hesitated.Turnedback.AndbeforeLouisahad caught it, seen it, he grasped for her chin, drew her forward, and… kissed her.

Itwas light, brief, barely a brush of breath, but he’d done it, he’d done it.Andoh,Louisacould still taste him, could feel the roughness of his lips, the sweetness of his breath, the soft scrape of his claws on her chin.

“I…” he said, husky, as he drew back again, and briefly met her eyes. “Thankyou,Louisa.”

Thankyou,Louisa.Itseemed to hang there, shimmering and tangling with that still-lingering taste of him, deep and dizzying on her lips.AndLouisacouldn’t speak into it, couldn’t break it, could only twitch a shaky nod toward him.Andwhen he nodded back, it was curt, decisive, almost like… almost like a farewell.

Hedidn’t speak again as he left, just striding from the room with his back very straight, his dagger gripped in his fist.AndasLouisawatched him go, she couldn’t deny the stinging behind her eyes, the quiver on her mouth.Maybethis was still over.Maybeit was still farewell.Maybeshe would never see him again.

Butshe could — try.Shecould square her shoulders, grip her knife, take one last look atSkai-kesh’s watching, knowing eyes.Andthen she could take a breath, draw up strength from the earth, and walk out the door.

“Couldyou help me findJule?” she asked the first orc she saw in the corridor, aSkaishe vaguely recalled meeting the day before. “I’msupposed to meet with her today.”

Thankfully, the orc didn’t seem at all disconcerted by this request, and wavedLouisaafter him up the corridor.TowardtheAsh-Kaiwing, perhaps, the floor tilting higher, the corridors broadening and brightening.Andwhen the orc stopped outside a room, and nodded toward it, she profusely thanked him, and strode inside without looking.Into— a meeting?

Butyes, it seemed to be a meeting in progress, with a handful of attendees all seated on the floor around a low table.TherewasJule, leaning into a large, heavily scarred orc — her mate, surely — and flanking them were two unfamiliar orcs, one lean and grey and severe, one broad and green and genial-looking.Andthere was a smilingRosa, too, with a large stack of papers in front of her, and her handsome mateJohn-Kaby her side.

Butnearest to the door, on this side of the table, there was —Simon, andMaria.Bothof them glancing back towardLouisa,Mariawith palpable unease,Simonwith dark, settled solemnity.

“Louisa!”Juleexclaimed, into the sudden silence, as she leapt to her feet. “I’mso glad you’re up.You’llcome join us, won’t you?”

Louisablinked, as a distant whirling part of her brain pointed out that she’d perhaps walked straight into them discussing this situation, discussingher— but then there was the vision ofSkai-kesh again, the echo ofKillik’swords.Heshall guide us to amends, and peace.

SoLouisanodded, and thankedJule, and smiled asJuleintroduced her to the orcs she hadn’t yet met.Firstwas the big scarred orc, who indeed turned out to beJule’smateGrimarr, the captain of the entire mountain.Nextwas the genial green orc, who was namedBaldr, fromClanGrisk, and the severe grey orc —Louisa’sattention sharpened on his face — wasDrafli, ofClanSkai.Surelythe sameDrafliwhoKillikhad mentioned, theDrafliwho served as theSkai’sRightHand.Oneof those traditionalSkaileadership positions, together with theEnforcer.

Draflididn’t speak toLouisawhenJuleintroduced them, but instead briefly touched his fist to his bare chest.Itwas the signLouisanow knew to be the standardSkaigreeting, so she signed it back to him, and then flattened her hand to saythank you.Earningin return a brief rise ofDrafli’seyebrows, as if he was surprised, or maybe even impressed.

Itwas something, somethingLouisaneeded to cling to in this, because if she was going to make any headway here, she needed to convince thisDrafli— as well asSimonandMaria, and likely the rest of them, as well.Andshe needed to stay focused, to make a clear case, to show them she wasn’t an enemy, but a friend.Soshe signed anotherthank you, and then sat down besideMaria, and drew in a deep breath.

“Ifyou’re all willing,I’dlike to discuss theSkaicamp on my lands,” she said, before anyone else could speak. “Iunderstand the camp is a tactical advantage for you, isn’t it?Anda support for your women and sons, and a shelter and safe stopping place for travellers, as well.”

Therewere a few exchanged glances around the table, and thenJulecleared her throat, and nodded. “Yes, of course,” she replied. “ManySkaiprefer the camps, and it’s to all our benefit to have reliable outposts that can pass on information, guard our own lands around the mountain, and support our strategic priorities as needed.”

LouisashotJulea grateful smile, and drew in another breath. “I’mglad to hear it,” she said, “because the camp is a benefit to me, too.Thefinancial support has been very helpful, and theSkaithere have kept us fed, and made multiple improvements to my property.However, as we discussed yesterday” — another smile towardJule, more wavering this time — “the orcs’ presence has also led to some… conflicts, especially with my neighbour,LordRikard.He’strespassed on my property, made multiple threats, and put up dangerous traps on his borders — one of which severely hurt an orcchildyesterday.”

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