Page 69 of The Orc's Innocent Plaything

“Do ye ken me?”

I watched him warily, waiting for my chance to tell Myra to run.

“Aye.” I set my chin and rolled my shoulders. “They call ye Stormseeker, and ye are in command here.”

“We are the Battleborn of Islay,” he announced arrogantly, still studying me, “and my warriors can match aught on the field of honorable battle.”

“Aye, I’ve heard,” I acknowledged warily.

“And ye…” The Stormseeker’s lips twitched, “are Vartok Bloodfire, who has been chief of his clan this last half-year.”

My hammer dipped slightly. He…knewme?

Why would he bother to know anything aboutme? I was just a blacksmith trying to keep my clan together. I’d deliberately avoided going to battle against Stormseeker’s men, not wanting to send my warriors to their deaths.

But then the other male switched his attention to Myra, and myKteer, which had been growling quietly, began to howl.

“And this,” he murmured, “must be yer Mate.”

In that moment, I realized the danger. Vrogul Stormseeker could use Myra against me. With her in peril, I would do aught, and he would realize it. Hecould notknow how much she meant to me, who she was to me.

“Nay.” I swallowed and tried to keep my tone steady. “Nay, this is my pet. Myplaything.Go on now, Myra, leave as I told ye.”

When a moment passed without the sounds of the horse’s hooves wheeling about and trotting up the slope, the Stormseeker’s brow rose almost mockingly.

So I hardened my voice.

“That was a command, lass.”

From behind me came her icy voice.

“I know, Vartok. I heard it.”

Vrogul Stormseeker, scourge of the islands, threw his head back and laughed.

I heard the warning in that laughter, and I tightened my hold on my battle hammer, lifting it in both hands and sliding my feet into a defensive stance.

The other male saw the motion, and his laughter immediately stopped.

“Ye would fight for her, Vartok the Smith?”

“Aye, of course,” I spat. “I’ve seen what the Battleborn do to females.”

Mayhap ‘twas the wrong thing to say, to remind him what we’d spied upon last night. The other male’s eyes darkened.

“No’ us. That was the mainland sept of the clan, and their passions are…crude.”

I remembered how the two groups seemed separate last night, and none of the black-cloaked males had watched the public fooking.

Vrogul seemed enraged at the insinuation, yanking both blades from their scabbards. “I would fight ye for thatinsult alone.”

It looked as if I wasn’t going to get out of this.

“Myra,” I called one last time as I lowered my shoulder and charged. “Get out here!”

Vrogul and I slammed together, metal catching metal. My hammer was larger, but his blades were faster, and he had two of them besides. He quickly went on the offensive, and I blocked blow after blow.

“Ye’re a blacksmith forced to take the chieftain position when his brother disappeared,” the other man scowled, not even breathing heavily. “I heard ye were a diplomat.”

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