Page 29 of Orc's Possession
“I don’t want to be like my father, a grak who only knew how to usurp and destroy, but what I do, I do to protect my people.” And maybe myself. “I cannot let you go.”
Silence. She doesn’t move.
“I don’t belong here, Atox,” she says at last, her voice softer, but without acrimony.
“Grak. You will call me Grak.”
If she’s nodding, I cannot see it in the dark.
“Tell me, female, why did you not turn on the lights in my chamber, especially if the dark scares you?”
“You’re assuming I knew there was a light disc. A woman pushed me in here and closed the door. I didn’t know where I was or what dangers were in here. If I stepped away from the wall, I could have fallen into a pit. Then…”
She hesitates. I don’t have much patience for fear of any nature, especially fear of me. I’ve proven myself to be a just grak, nothing like my father. At least this is what I believe. Perhaps my people follow me out of fear which they hide from me. Ossa would tell me if that were the case, would she not? Vekk, I don’t know. Perhaps she fears me, too.
“Speak. I will never punish you for telling the truth.”
“Only for being weak.”
“I do not punish weakness. But I do not reward it either.”
“That is… fair.”
“Then finish explaining what happened here before I arrived.”
“I thought I heard someone in here with me. But I guess it was my imagination. Or my memory.”
“Explain.”
“When we were traveling here from Earth, a cendagi sent me down to the cargo hold for an extra temperature gauge for the engines. I descended the ladder and started routing through the storage bins looking for the part. The lights went out. I called out, but no one answered. I thought it was a power failure until I heard someone moving toward me. I was…” A slight cry escapes her and an anger rises in me as I do not need the details to know another has hurt her.
“I was thrown to the ground. When I screamed, he struck me several times. I started to black out, but then I grabbed a tool from the floor. I think I knocked over a bin when I fought him. I struck him with whatever it was and he fell on me. Dead orunconscious, I couldn’t tell. I pushed him off and ran. Somehow, I found the ladder and escaped. By the time I got my father to listen to me and report it to the guards, the guy was gone. I don’t even know if the guy who attacked me was human or cendagi. But I remember the terror and the sickly smell of fetid water, like from a marsh.”
My fists clench and my muscles knot with the need to punch someone, preferably a cendagi. They often smell of swamp water, as it is where they bathe. Their ships even had a swamp aboard, with special anti-grav generators for the water.
For attempting to take what wasn’t his and instilling such fear in my female, one day I will find that cendagi and tear him apart limb by limb, starting with his cock. But my first priority is addressing my female’s fear.
“Along the wall of my chamber, I’ve driven hooks into the smaller cracks. Wind often travels through the cracks, moves my weapons enough to grate against the stone. This is what you heard. You will acclimate, female. It takes time, like when we all arrived on Kovos.”
The bed shifts as she returns to the edge. “Perhaps we can reach an agreement, Grak.”
“Your people agreed to trade. One female in exchange for protection against the vints. I’ve already sent several of my warriors to secure New Earth’s perimeter.”
“You reached an agreement with them, but not with me.”
I admire her logic, but it does not apply here. “They gave you to me, and now you are mine.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
ATOX IM GRAK
My quarters serve as my sanctuary away from the daily problems of my people. I brought my female here instead of giving her a separate cave because what is mine is hers. But she doesn’t look upon my meager belongings, my pledge to her, or even the calm of this space, as a boon. Her fear overwhelms her, and this will not do. Not for an orc, and certainly not for the mate of a grak.
“Paloma, give me your hand.” When she doesn’t, I say, “I pledge as your grak that I will never hurt you.”
“I want to believe you.”
“Then give me your hand.”
