Page 7 of Tryggred By the Orc

Therecognition shimmered across thisTryggr’seyes, and his smile flashed higher, warmer. “Ach, just so,Ka-esh,” he replied. “Wasjust a bit worked up,Iken.ThatAsh-Kaiis a real rabble-rouser, ain’t he?Nowonder you were in the same state last time we crashed.Mustneed a shocking amount of breaks, round here.”

Oh.Ebencouldn’t help his own shaky laugh, or his deep, sudden surge of gratefulness toward thisTryggr.Becausenot only hadTryggrnot judged him for lurking and eavesdroppingin the corridor — but now he was identifying with him, andsympathizingwith him, overKesst.AndwhileEbenpersonally foundKessthighly trying, he was also a very handsome, popular, charismatic orc, who was mated to the mountain’s brilliant, universally respectedChiefHealer— and thus,Ebenhad never heard anyone speak such blasphemy about him, not once.Orrather, not until now, until thisTryggr, and it felt warm and tenuous in his chest, almost about to burst.AndEbencouldn’t stop looking atTryggr, smiling atTryggr, even as his mouth opened on its own, about to say…

“But— why wouldDraflisend you to check onAlma?” his cursed voice asked, before he could stop it. “Orconsider her —hisresponsibility?Ithought…”

IthoughtDrafliwanted to kill her, he very nearly said, but he belatedly winced and clamped his fool mouth shut, and shook his head.Whatthe hell was he saying, how had he become this much of a mess, he should still turn around and run, and…

“Ach, well, the woman’s bonded toBoss’smate, ain’t she?”Tryggrreplied, and whenEbenblinked at him, he was casually shrugging, his eyes easy and genial, as if there’d been nothing unusual whatsoever aboutEben’squestion. “Iken it hasn’t been an easy tangle to deal with, butBossstill won’t want to see her come to harm.Wouldn’twant to risk hurting his mate, you ken.”

Hespoke with such blithe confidence, without even a trace of guile in his voice — andEbencouldn’t help frowning at him, the skepticism studding too strong in his own scent. “Buthow can you… be sure?” he asked thickly. “Howcan you knowDraflimight not rather just… be rid of her?”

Tryggrblinked, but then shook his head. “Hewouldn’t,” he said firmly. “Bossswore vows to his mate, swore to protect him with his life, andSkaidon’t take vows lightly, ach?An’ besides” — he darted an irritable glance toward the sickroom door — “he specially asked me to come check in on her just now, ach?Nodoubt knew he’d be run off by that snippyAsh-Kaiif he came himself — not thatIfared much better,Iken.”

Hehuffed a wry, regretful laugh, and gave another companionable squeeze toEben’sshoulder.Becausewait, he was still touchingEben, had been touchingEbenthroughout all this — and perhaps it was that touch, that steady certainty, that seemed to inexplicably settleEben’sstiff shoulders, his breath slowly exhaling.Andsomehow, the tight knot of dread and misery that had been festering in his chest all these past days had finally seemed to… loosen, sinking into a strange, shaky relief.Asif he almost…believedthis orc.ThisSkai.

“Naughtto fret over,Ka-esh,”Tryggrsaid now, with a reassuring little shake to his shoulder. “Bosswon’t harm her.Iken he might not like her, or be glad she’s here, and he’s bound to lose his temper over it now and again.Buthe’ll still want to make sure she’s safe and looked after, so she can’t bring any harm down on his mate.Andif it makes you feel any better, we’re all keeping an eye on him, too.Ach?”

Thecalm, confident certainty was still there, ringing inTryggr’seyes and his voice and his scent, and for an instant,Eben’smemory snapped backwards, to that moment withDrafliand the dagger.TohowDraflicould have so easily have killedAlma, andEbentoo — but he hadn’t.He’dreconsidered it, and left.Anddespite his lapses in temper afterwards, he still hadn’t made another actual murder attempt, had he?Anddid he really wantAlmasafe and looked after, could that be true, and maybe…

“MaybeIcould — help you keep an eye on her,”Ebenblurted out, without at all meaning to. “On— onAlma,Imean.Letyou know if aught is amiss.”

Wait, was he saying that because he still didn’t trustDrafli, or — curse him — because of thisTryggr.AndTryggrwas blinking at him, something shifting in his eyes and his scent, somethingEbencouldn’t at all read…

ButthenTryggrjerked a curt nod, and his hand onEben’sshoulder gave him another firm little shake. “Y’know, that’d be good of you,Ka-esh,” he said. “Realgood.Thanks.”

Realgood.Thepraise flared and rippled upEben’sspine, pulled a small, shaky smile to his mouth. “Happyto help,” he murmured, again echoingTryggr’sown words from before — and yes, yes, that was appreciation inTryggr’seyes, in the new dimple quivering in his cheek.Andoh, in the way he leaned in a little, his breath slowly inhaling, as if drawing inEben’sscent, lingering in it…

Andfuck,Ebencould scent him, too.Deep, and sweet, and rich.Strongenough that it watered in his mouth, stirred low in his groin…

“Thencome to me whenever you need,”Tryggrsaid now, leaning backwards again, givingEbenanother quick smile, another bracing little shake. “I’llkeep a nose out for your scent, ach?”

Right.Right.Tryggrhad only been teaching himselfEben’sscent, like any competent orc with a plan would do, and that was all.Thatwas all, but it was still fizzling inEben’sbelly, warming his eyes and his smile.Hehad a plan, with thisSkai.Withthis…Tryggr.

AndTryggrwas nodding again, and givingEbenone last companionable little shake before releasing his arm and striding down the corridor, away.Hissteps smooth and rolling, his soft black boots utterly silent on the stone floor, the dagger in his hair briefly gleaming in the lamplight.AndEbencouldn’t stop staring, drinking up the sight of him, of that lean strong back, that firm muscled arse in his trousers…

Nevertrust aSkai, his father’s distant voice was droning, dragging up visions ofDrafliwith the dagger — but now another voice was rising, too.Noharm done.That’dbe good of you,real good.Cometo me whenever you need.Ican show you the way…

Itseemed to keep shifting something, changing something deep and fundamental inEben’sthoughts.Andhe drew in a deep breath as he gazed down the empty corridor, tasted the remnants ofTryggr’ssweet scent in the air.

Maybehe’d done enough observing.Maybeit was time… to act.

7

Ashe’d promised,Ebenkept a close eye onAlmafor the rest of the day, and well into the evening.

She’dmostly stayed huddled under her fur, either resting or sleeping, and she’d only stirred when spoken to, usually byEfterar, who had continued working over her throat.Butshe’d remained alive and unharmed, andEben’sbreaths still came easier than before, his hands quick and efficient as he mixed tonics and medications for their patients.

Hehad a plan, with aSkai.WithTryggr.

Hecould almost still feelTryggr’sfirm hands on his shoulders, could almost taste that sweet scent in the air — and he twitched all over whenTryggrhimself strode back into the sickroom, early in the evening.Hiseasy gaze catching onEbenat the workbench, and then darting down brief and curious to the tonicEbenwas currently mixing.AndthoughEben’shands instantly began trembling,Tryggrdidn’t seem to notice, and he even gaveEbena quick, conspiratorial wink before striding across the room towardEfterar.

“How’sthe woman faring now, then?”TryggraskedEfterar, who was still hovering his hand overAlma’ssleeping body. “Anybetter?”

Efterargave a distracted, noncommittal shrug, while across the room,Kesstloudly scoffed. “Hereagain,Tryggr?” he demanded. “What, did you think we needed a helpful reminder of howAlmawouldn’t evenbein this state, if not foryourso-calledBoss?!”

Ebencould seeTryggrstiffening, his hands clenching at his sides — but instead of retaliating in kind, he jerked a shrug, and strode back toward the door.Hisgaze briefly meetingEben’son the way by, his expression shifting into something both aggrieved and amused as he gave an exaggerated roll of his eyes.

Itsent even more warmth shivering upEben’sspine, and he willingly worked late into the night, only heading for bed onceEfterarhad firmly reassured him that he’d be staying withAlmauntil morning.AndwhenEbenreturned early the next day,Almawas indeed still sleeping safely in her bed, her scent noticeably brighter and clearer than it had been the night before.

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