Page 6 of Orc's Forbidden Claim

“You disagree?” he growls.

“You know I do,” I say. “Do not be a fool.”

“A fool,” he growls, moving around the table. “You call me a fool?”

“I do.”

He stops inches away. His hot breath blasts across my face, stirring my beard. My muscles tense, ready to strike, but I will not hit first. That will accomplish nothing more than assuaging my ego.

“And what is it you suggest we do? Nothing? Wait patiently for the lizards to agree to help? They want to kill us. All of us and you damn well know it.”

“Yes,” I agree. “And I also know we cannot defeat the Shaman alone.”

I think about Saylor even as I try to handle him. She alone gives me the calm to keep this from devolving into a physical fight. He and I have fought all our lives. Sometimes I win, sometimes he does. It has long been our way to decide any disagreement. Whichever one yields first has to agree with the other.

But Saylor abhors violence. My time with her has been so much less than what I want. I desire her at my side always. If there was never a moment apart, only then would I be happy. But then I also want a world I know is safe for her and for me. And for the children, we will have. I want this world to continue, not rush to its end which is what the Shaman and his cult want.

They want to bring the next world, thinking that our people, the First People, will once more be in charge. That we will not make the same mistakes again that have led us to the point where we are. Decimated. First losing the surface, and now on the verge of losing the underground to which we had retreated from the onslaught of the lizards and the Invaders that brought them to Tajss.

Dilacs growls throws his fists around and stomps his feet. Gwen rises from the bed where she’s been quietly sitting and watching.Quiet as ever, she walks over and places a hand on his arm. Immediately, he drops his fists and lowers his head, turning towards her. She doesn’t have to speak. Her touch, her presence is all he needs.

Jealousy is as green as my skin and burns hotter than the lifeblood of Tajss, the liquid fire that resides in the depths of the mountain. Not of or for Gwen, I know she was never meant for me, but for the two of them.

Why can I not have Saylor? Though they rarely have time for intimacy they are still so close. I do give them what time I can, but even without intimacy, that would be a trade I would make to have Saylor here with me. Jealousy becomes anger, building towards rage. I know I’m right and we need the lizards, but they are also the thing standing between me and Saylor.

“Fine,” Dilacs rumbles, though I didn’t hear any question or statement.

My hands are clenched so tight the nails dig into my skin. I force my fingers to relax, take a deep breath, and close my eyes while I let it out. Anger will get me nowhere. It will not bring Saylor to my side, and it will not save my people.

“We have other concerns,” I say, changing the subject for my own sanity, if nothing else.

“The tunneling?” Dilacs asks, knowing what I’m thinking as my brother would.

“Yes.”

He nods, rubbing his chin.

“What can we do?” Gwen asks. “You’ve informed the Zmaj, Rosalind knows, what else?”

“We need to inspect, search them out,” I say. “Those tunnels were close. Too close and you know they’re not stopping. The Shaman will have his best diggers on it.”

“Blasted lizards,” Dilacs growls, balling his hands into fists as his eyes narrow. “They need to act. We should be the ones on this. They are too blind to see what is happening right in front of their faces.”

“The question is, what is the Shaman planning?” I ask, rising to get more of the cheap alcohol the lizards make. I take the skin and fill two cups, setting one in front of Dilacs, then returning to my seat.

“He is mad,” Dilacs says, grabbing the cup and taking a long draught.

“Mad or not, he is strategic. Smart enough to take the Queen out from under our noses. He does not act without a plan.”

Dilacs growls but cannot disagree.

“Kidnapping,” he says at last.

“Who? What?”

“Humans,” Gwen says, sliding into her chair at the table.

Dilacs and I both look at her in surprise. She is smart, I know this, but her insight into this doesn’t make sense.

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