Page 55 of Mountain Orc Daddy

“I am just not myself when you’re away,” I tell him. I realize this sounds silly. Moments ago, I had been heartbroken and sure Uzul was deep into the afterlife.

“I’m never going anywhere, Blair,” Uzul tells me and the group surrounding him.

My face is pressed into his shoulder. All of his shoulder is wet. I pull my face back expecting blood. Blood and dust and muck and tears.

With shaking hands Uzul grabs and holds my cheeks and pulls my face close to his.

“I see you in every dream,” he tells me. “I see you every time I shut my eyes. I feel like I loved you even before I knew you.”

“I hate to interrupt!” my father interjects. “But the rogues are returning. Not to fight. Some want a quarter to start over. Some want to collect the wounded and deceased.”

“What about the minions?” I ask.

“They have faded out,” Remus murmurs. “Bees without a hive or queen.”

I look questioningly and raise my eyebrows at Rogar.

“I have no desire for witches, except for allied witches,” Rogar tells me. “If they want a quarter, go ahead and grant it. You can work with them. My orcs and myself will not harm them or stop them from collecting their deceased and their wounded.”

“Go tell them if they want a quarter, they can stay and help us clean up,” I tell Phineas. “If they want their dead, tell them to hurry and get gone before I change my mind.”

Rogar barks laughter and issues similar commands to his orcs.

I turn to Uzul. More tears are rushing to the surface. I am so grateful. I do not know where to begin.

“Thank you, big handsome,” I tell him.

“Don’t thank me. Thank Jade.”

“Wherever you went was not here,” I stutter back. “You came back.”

“I’ll always come back. Now, help me stand,” he tells me. So many arms both green and witchy reach to hoist his robust frame to his feet.

I stare up at Uzul, and the rest of the world fades away. “I don’t want to be in a world without you. I…I don’t want to be anywhere without you. I’m just so glad you’re okay. I was afraid that you wouldn’t survive it.”

“Nothing will keep me from you.” He cups the back of my head.

Jade’s voice cuts through our moment. “I think he really means that. Not even death,” Jade adds.

I stop talking, focusing on our balance so we can stand without falling over. I am falling apart. I can barely put a sentence together. I do not hear any more clashing between orcs and witches. The crowd surrounding us is getting bigger.

“You need to say something,” Remus tells me.

“Remus is right!” my father chortles. “One or both of you need to address this moment.”

The last of the rogues, those who have not fled, are grouped to the right. It is clear they want to gather and mourn their dead. The allied witches and orcs hold a close perimeter.

All eyes are on Uzul and me.

“You tell them,” Uzul whispers. “I am still having trouble breathing.”

I don’t have anything to say on hand, still overjoyed to have my big-green-handsome back. I decide then to just tell them how I feel, which usually goes over like a lead balloon.

“That Great Breath that flows through me, flows through you, too,” I yell out with my best effort to be loud but not scream. “I am another version of you, and you are another version of me. We all got hurt today, and we all lost today. We owe it to the ones we love, the ones we lost, and especially to each other, to spend the days we do have left a little better than we spent today. I think you know exactly what I mean. That’s all.”

“Nobody will ever accuse you of bloviating,” Remus snickers.

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