Page 93 of The Orc's Thief
The soldier with the bloody nose advances on me, his dark eyes burning with fury.
“That’s enough,” the first man booms. “Yield.”
I look up and find a fourth man standing a ways off, aiming an arrow at me. His longbow is almost as tall as he is, the bowstring pulled taut, yet his arms aren’t shaking, not even a little. He’s used to handling the weapon, and no doubt deadly with it.
I lower my elbows a few inches, shielding my heart rather than my head. If I were the shooter, I’d aim for my torso, the bigger target. If he’s any good, he could probably shoot me in the eye at a distance this short, which makes my move rather pointless.
“Drop the knife.” The leader of the band of orcs points the tip of his sword at my throat. He’s panting slightly, and I smirk at the sight, until he adds, “I don’t want to kill you, but I will if you keep fighting.”
Cursing inwardly, I throw my knife to the ground between us and kneel in the dirt. Another warrior wrenches my arms back, his grip firm. Running my tongue over my teeth, I check for any loose ones and find none. Not that it will matter if they decide to kill me anyway. I spit out the blood pooling in my mouth, aiming for the leader’s boots, but he anticipates my move and steps out of the way, his reflexes quick.
“Where’s the girl?” he demands.
I glower up at him. “What girl?”
He motions to the man standing behind me. Moments later, my hands are tied with a rope, the knots painfully tight. The archer doesn’t lower his bow. Smart. They’re being careful, which tells me they’re well-trained and experienced enough to know I’m still a danger.
“The girl you’re traveling with,” the leader rumbles with exaggerated patience.
“I’m traveling alone,” I retort. “Just passing through.”
The men—there are at least four of them, perhaps five, though I can’t see behind me—turn to look at Tessa’s horse as one. If Clover weren’t wearing a saddle, I could pass her off as another pack horse, but these soldiers would have to be stupid to believe my lie.
“Is that so?” The leader scratches the stubble on his skin, the rasping sound too loud in the stillness of the forest. “Well, she’ll turn up sooner or later. Or she’ll die out here, all alone and defenseless. You could save her, you know. Just tell us where she is, and we’ll treat her right.”
My vision tunnels at the insinuation. I grit my teeth and force my expression to remain impassive. I cannot give away thefact that she’s my mate. The information would be too valuable to these warriors. They’d know immediately that I would doanythingto protect her. If any of them are lucky enough to be mated, they’ll realize how much she means to me.
I keep my eyes fixed on the leader, never once looking downstream where Tessa went to relieve herself. I don’t know exactly what she’s doing or how far she is, but I pray she stays away. If she stumbles out of the bushes unaware, she won’t have a chance to run. These men are fast and capable, and surrounded our little resting spot while I was too busy kissing Tessa to notice.
A mistake I might pay for with my life. What’s worse, Tessa’s life might be forfeit, too, if she doesn’t escape. I need to distract them. The longer we remain here, the higher the chance she’ll be seen.
“Well, you’ve got me all tied up,” I drawl, eyeing the leader. “Want to tell me what this is all about?”
He regards me coolly. “You’re the one who crossed our border without an invitation.”
I raise my eyebrows, my surprise genuine. “The Stonefrost Clan still claims these lands? I thought they were abandoned, given the state of…” I glance at the road behind us and the blackberry bushes extending their thorny branches over it. “Well. Let’s just say I wasn’t expecting to meet a patrol so far from the Fortress.”
The leader sheathes his sword and steps closer to flick aside the edge of my cloak, revealing the yellow and green embroidery, my clan’s colors. He drops the fabric with a snort. “Bellhaven. I should have known.”
Before I can ask what he means by that, he turns his back on me and motions to the others. “Take the horses and clean out everything you see. We leave nothing behind. The girl will come to us if she’s hungry enough.” He points at the man who bled allover his tunic. “Go wash that off. We don’t want the wolves any more interested than necessary.”
I frown, following the crew’s movements closely. They pack up the remains of our lunch, close the clasps on our saddlebags, and untie the horses’ reins. When Pip tries to take a bite out of a soldier’s head, I snicker, and the man glowers at me before leading him away.
“What wolves?” I ask finally, unable to hold back the question.
The warrior behind me tugs on my bound arms to get me to stand. “Ah, that caught your attention, did it?” He lets out a rude chuckle. “We have a bit of a wolf problem. Turns out, the beasts breed fast if left alone. They’ve had a few years of peace since the old king died, and some of the packs that roam these woods have grown too large for a single unit of us to handle.”
I stare at him in growing horror. Tessa is out there, all alone. I barely keep myself from glancing in the direction I last saw her.
Then another thought pierces through my fear. “King Trak is dead? Wait, is Charan…?”
I look from one orc to the other, waiting for the answer. I didn’t like King Gorvor’s younger brother when I met him at our Hill, but they made up their differences in the end. If it’s beenyearssince King Trak died, and no one bothered to tell King Gorvor about it… I smell bad news.
“That’s King Charan to you,” the leader barks, frowning at me. “When you meet him, you’ll address him as such.”
I’d miss my guard’s reaction if he wasn’t holding my arm, but his grip tightens for a brief moment. I glance back at him and catch the faintest glimpse of disgust in his expression before he schools his features into a neutral mask.
Interesting.
