Page 54 of Lost to the Orcs

“She left a room with another Orc. Her pleasure was on him. Was on her. Ay did no’ mean to, sweet. Am sorry. Ay was rushing here for youer distress. Wasnae looking. Smelling. Only rushing. Apologies, my mate.” His golden honey eyes whisper over me with sorrow and my soul cracks. “Would you bathe me?”

I nod soundlessly and we gather fresh clothing and warm towel like cloth.

~~~~~

After some time in the bath, that jealous creature inside me lets Jaedason close enough for me to smell him, after I’d made him scrub his poor skin raw. It shows him nearly pinkish green. I still smell her on him. So, I grab the soap Hani made me that onlyIuse and I lather him gently in my scent and soap.

When he is completely washed and cleaned, I hug him tightly. My head to his chest, his chin on my crown. “Apologies mate.”

I make a dissenting noise. “No more. I know it is not you. It is her. I cannot even bear to think about you smelling like her. Thinking of her. I dislike her to bloody hell and back. You are mine. My mate. MINE.” I hiss with finality.

“Ach.” He murmurs, his lips grazing lightly against my hair. “Youers. Only Youers.”

~~~~~

The day’s events still taking turns rushing through my mind, I find myself awake when I should be asleep. U’snar’s snoring is usually enough to drop me off into dream land, but not today. So, I watch Jae by the candle light. “Talk to me.” I whisper to him. His golden gaze highlighted by the candle flame, look down at me from his leaning position.

“If you werenae gravid Ay would bring out my pipe t’ soothe you t’ sleep.” He says softly.

I bite my lips, trying not to laugh. “I’m pretty sure you’ve handed me your pipe once or twice just today.”

His eyes sparkle at my humour, crinkling at the edges as he gives me a flirty wolfish smile. “Ay ken you would be correct.”

Imagining him, in his harem pants leaning against pillows andsoft things, smoking a pipe, kind of makes my insides liquid. “You smoke?”

Jae shrugs. “It is meh-di-sin, Ay think is youer term. Helps with sleeping. No’ recommended for ones gravid with kits. Ay donnae get sleepless phases often. Especially no’ with you in my arms. It mostly happens when we are travailing. Ay donnae sleep well on ‘he ground.”

“And the carriages? Hani mentioned some time ago that you had those. Didn’t even know you guys had beasts large enough to pull something like that!” I say a little too loudly, nearly waking U’snar. Who snorts, but cuddles back into my neck. Breathing me in. Murmuring unintelligible words into my skin. I pet his hand cupping my belly.

“We were no’ always nomadic, you ken?” He states.

“Oh?” My brows arch in surprise.

“Ach. Stories passed down from parent t’ kit say we once bred beasts for food, o’ perfected crops. An’ we fought each other. For those lands, for those beasts, for those crops. Wasnae until ‘he Fae people came an’ turned ‘he battle in ouer favor. My kin’s favor.” Jae murmurs, slouching further, getting closer to me.

“Fae? Like Fairies? Wings and all?” Disbelief is in every syllable of my words. Orcs is one thing. But Fairies?

“Aye, they were small. Like humans. But had pointed ears an’ wings. Did magic. But none have been seen in o’er 200 years. Some say the magic was bred out o’em. Their wings an’ their ears also.” He reaches to caress my ears. A gentle graze of his finger tips.

“So you think humans are Fae descendants?”

Jae shrugs, the candle light dimming. “Mayhap. But we’ll ne’er know. No’ like there are fae t’ correct ‘he stories.”

“True. But it is sad to not have a recollection—a record, so to speak, of this people and their culture.”

Jae hums softly, my eyes drooping. “Some believe they still live in ‘he forests. Trapped o’ closed off from us. We were friends; Orc an’ Fae. But Humans came from nowhere an’ many despised us. Why? We’ll ne’er know either. So, t’ protect us, we traveled across ‘he lands of Orckin t’ Orckin. There are still more o’ us than humans. But ‘he humans are expanding. An’ this keeps us safe. Also, Ay ken it is t’ stop any uprisings.” Hehuffs a soft laugh.

I nod, my head bumping his shoulder. “Thank you. For telling me more about my new home.” I yawn, finally feeling sleepy.

Before I drop into nothingness, I hear a rumble beneath my cheek, “Any time my mate.”

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: TRAP

“—not real.” My brows knit into a frown and my lips downturn. There has been a lot of whispering around me when I am alone. Or to be more exact, if I walk around a corner, there is a lot of cutting off. Words stopping as if afraid to offend. But not enough to stop their eyes watching me with censure.

Honestly, there is only one place I can look for answers without disturbing my mates. I walk to the nursery slash school. There, talking with Ganák, is the father of the halfling living with her mother in another village that U’snar had told me about prior. I wait patiently for the two to finish because I don’t wish to interrupt them.

Truthfully though, interruptions don’t happen often here. Everyone in this mountain is pretty polite. The few humans I have met are quite friendly and most of the Orcs I’ve met are just as. Irf, I feel, has been the only one surly and annoyed about anything. Yes, you of course get bad days or the odd one who is just rude but there aren’t many and they always apologize when they are in their right mind. Or when they don’t want to offend the mate of the chieftain. Plus, I think Irf gets a pass. I mean, yeah, he’s been a dick but he’s grieving. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost my mates and my child. Let alone a mate, a father and his child!

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