Page 68 of Bound to the Orc Warlord

“Speak for yourself,” Midnight says from behind us.

We all laugh, but when I glance back, Dravarr’s not smiling. Why? Is he worried about bringing the sluagh so close to his village?

After we push through one last stand of pines, the forest opens up around us. Huge tree trunks fill the area, with lots of open space in between. The lower part of each trunk is smooth, with branches not starting until a good twenty feet up. Then they spread wide, covered in green heart-shaped leaves the size of plates.

As we round the tree, windows and a door appear, set into the trunk.

I gasp.

“Moon Blade has the best woodworkers in the clans,” Leyna says, pushing open the door and waving me forward. “They craft our cottages out of the living wood of the heart trees.”

I step into a large circular room, everything finished in honey-colored wood. A semicircle of comfortable chairs and a sofa covered in dark-brown leather sit in front of a stone fireplace. A kitchen lines the back wall with a long wooden table separating it from the living room. There are a couple of doors, which seems impossible. Isn’t this room already bigger than the tree I saw outside?

“All of this doesn’t hurt the tree?” I wave a hand.

“Not at all.” Leyna shakes her head.

“The self-composting toilets actually fertilize the trees.” Olivia walks over to open one of the doors, and I peek inside at the simple bathroom. “There’s even running water.”

“Where’s the bath?”

“We use cleaning cloths a lot, and the village has communal hot spring baths.”

When I turn back to the living room, Dravarr stands there, watching me intently. I swallow a bit of disappointment. I assumed I’d stay with him.

“This is all a lot,” I say. “I can’t put someone out of their home.”

“This is my cottage,” he says. “And yours.”

“Oh!” Joy skips through me, jolting my heart. He wants me to stay with him! That’s got to be a good sign, right?

“Come. I’ll take you to the weaver to get you measured. You need new clothes.” Leyna cocks an eyebrow at her son. “Properly fitting clothes.”

He grunts but nods in agreement.

“Dravarr did the best he could with what he had,” I say in his defense. “He gave me his spare shirt until his other one got ruined by a mace.”

“I didn’t realize your injury was so serious.” She studies him, concern wrinkling the skin around her sharp eyes. “Do you need Gerna?”

“I’m fine,” he growls.

“You’d say that even if you weren’t.”

A huff of laughter escapes me. She sure knows him well.

He repeats it, softer this time. “Go ahead and take Ashley to the weavers. I need to take care of Midnight and send a message to the king so that he can be here in time to meet with the dragons.”

Olivia and Leyna walk me to the door, and I take one last glance back at Dravarr to find him watching me, his eyes dark with an emotion I can’t interpret.

Moon Blade Village is like something out of a fairytale and yet also… so very real at the same time. Children play on the village green, a wide circular space covered in soft green moss instead of grass. It’s some kind of game with a ball and lots of tackling, which they do with the reckless abandon of the young, their shrieks of laughter and smiling green faces lifting my spirits.

The heart trees ringing it hold businesses. There aren’t any signs, so the women point out what everything is. Loud yells and laughter come from the open door and windows of the pub. There’s a general store where you can trade for items from other villages. A smithy rings with the high sound of metal striking metal. The woodworker shop is silent, Leyna explaining that most of the crafting is done using magic instead of tools.

They pull me into the weavers, where most of the room is taken up by orcs running spinning wheels while anotherpresides over a large loom. A smaller area to one side holds bolts of cloth and tanned leather, a table, and sewing materials.

Leyna waves the weaver over. “I’ve brought Dravarr’s… friend.”

That was a weird pause. But I get it. Dravarr and I haven’t exactly had time to have the talk where we sit down and figure out what we are and how we’re going to define our relationship.

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