Page 65 of Orc's Claim
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
RYKO
Iwake up, slung over the back of a gorja drinking by a river. This is a degrading position for a warrior. At least my hands aren’t tied to the beast. That means my grak didn’t intend to march me into camp and humiliate me before our people.
I’ve always known him to be a strict and harsh grak, but fair. But I’ve disobeyed his orders. Twice. First, by getting involved with Lily. Second, when I ignored his order to leave Pen’Kesh.
He could have slit my throat. I’m surprised he didn’t.
I slide off the gorja, landing feet first on the river’s edge. The cool water helps to wake my senses, but not fast enough. I’m too slow to recognize I’m not alone.
My grak stands nearby, watching me with narrowed eyes and his hand on a knife. The gorja, which I now recognize as his, bends to drink from the river. My gorja does not appear to be here. We’re alone, and yet his hand remains on his knife.
I don’t need to look down or reach behind me to confirm I still carry my knives and sword. Their weight in my scabbard and harness comforts me, though not much. Atox can still kill me.Leaving me my weapons only means he’s giving me a fighting chance.
“Grak?” I draw a knife and quickly slam it against my chest. “My life is yours,” I say the ritual words of apology. A warrior who defies orders cannot be depended on. I’m useless to my grak and people now.
“Your oath is meaningless, Ryko. You’ve proved as much.”
“I could not abandon my female. My mate.”
“Your first duty is to me, not a female, even one you’ve knotted.”
Atox im Grak positions himself behind me. I debate reaching for my sword, but he would relieve me of my head before I draw my weapon.
“My judgment?—”
“Is poor,” he cuts me off. “You risked everything I’ve been working toward for months!”
I spin around. “Is acquiring females not your goal?”
“Yes, but I choose how we proceed. Not you. You do not know the details of the treaty, and by taking a female that was not on the list, the humans can refuse giving us other females. They’ve only given us permission for one female to start. I will breed her to determine if more are warranted. If she cannot carry my youngling, then she is useless to us. They all would be useless, including the one you knotted.”
“I want Lily even if our species are not compatible and we cannot conceive a youngling.”
“This is not about what you want, but about you not obeying my orders.”
“I will obey your orders, do anything, Grak, but only if I may return for my female.”
He stomps toward me and bares his tusks, curling his lower lip back so I can see where they protrude from his jawbone. He’s vekking mad at me.
“This is not a debate. You obey my orders or die.”
I draw my sword, which brings a glint to my grak’s eyes as he draws his. If I find an opening, I can kill him, but it will not be easy. He’s a phenomenal fighter. And I’m not sure I have the heart to kill our leader who has kept our people together after the Undoing. He’s the reason our people will survive.
But I’m fighting for my Lily, and that alone motivates me.
With all my power, I swing at my grak, aiming for his mid-section, not his head. That is my first mistake. He deflects my strike with ease, forcing my sword aside. He shoves me back, and I stumble but recover.
“You’re flustered. That’s not like you,” he taunts. But he’s right. It’s a mistake an inexperienced warrior makes, not a warrior of my caliber. I’m not thinking clearly, mainly because I worry that if I die here, there will be no one to protect my Lily.
My grak swings his sword wide, too wide. I take advantage of the opening and switch sword hands, an advantage I have over others. My sword slices along his side, leaving a thin line of blood.
“That’s it, Ryko. Now you’re thinking.”
What the vekk? He’s using this challenge to train me?
“Are you planning to kill me, Grak?” I ask as I try to turn him until he’s wedged between two trees with no room to swing his sword.
