Page 36 of Orc's Little Human
Varok's face twists with something like triumph, as if I've just handed him exactly what he wanted. "Then you've chosen her over your own clan. Over the people who depend on you for survival."
"I've chosen not to murder someone based on fear and ignorance."
"Call it what you want," Mol growls, already turning away from the fire. "But when that human brings ruin down on all our heads, remember that we tried to stop it."
He stalks off into the darkness, his heavy footsteps echoing across the encampment. Varok lingers just long enough to giveme a look that promises this isn't over, then follows his ally into the night.
The silence they leave behind feels heavy, oppressive. Grakul stares into the flames with the expression of someone who's seen too many councils end in division, too many clans tear themselves apart from within.
"You know what this means," he says finally, his voice carrying the weight of decades. "You know what Varok will do now."
Challenge me. Openly.The thought doesn't surprise me—I've been expecting it ever since I claimed Selene. But knowing something is coming and being ready for it are two different things entirely.
"Make sure you're making the right choice," Grakul continues, rising from his seat with the careful movements of someone whose joints ache with old wounds. "Because once blood is spilled over this, there's no taking it back."
He walks away without another word, leaving me alone with Onog and the crackling fire. For a long moment, neither of us speaks. Then the older warrior shakes his head slowly, disappointment clear in every line of his weathered face.
"Thirty years I've served this clan," he says quietly. "Thirty years of watching chiefs make decisions that determine who lives and who dies. And I've never seen one stake everything on something so uncertain."
Uncertain.The word follows him as he disappears into the shadows, leaving me alone beside the dying fire with the weight of my choices pressing down like stone.
17
SELENE
The silence in Korrath's chambers feels different after he leaves—heavier, like the air before a storm breaks. I pull the furs tighter around my shoulders, but the chill seeping through my bones has nothing to do with temperature. The burn cream he applied still tingles against my collarbone, a constant reminder of how exposed I am now.
Thali perches on the edge of the bed, her amber-gold eyes studying my face with the intensity of someone trying to solve a puzzle. She's arranged her collection of shells and stones on the small table by the window, but her attention keeps drifting back to me.
"Does it hurt?" she asks, pointing toward where my tunic covers the mark.
"Not as much as it did." The lie comes easier than the truth—that the physical pain is nothing compared to the terror of what Korrath's council might decide. "Your brother has skilled hands."
Her face brightens at the praise, pride shining in her young features. "He taught me how to make the burn cream. We gather the herbs together when the seasons change."
Family.The word hits me like a physical blow, unexpected and devastating. I've spent so long focused on survival, on escape, on simply making it through each day that I forgot what it felt like to watch someone's face light up when they talk about the people they love.
Footsteps echo outside the longhouse—too many of them, moving with purpose rather than the casual gait of warriors returning from duties. Thali's head turns toward the sound, her expression shifting from contentment to confusion.
"That's not Korrath," she says, sliding off the bed to peer through the gap in the shutters. "He walks differently."
He walks like he owns the world.The thought sends ice through my veins as I recognize the truth in her observation. Korrath moves with the confidence of someone who's never had to question his place in the world. These footsteps belong to people who are still trying to claim theirs.
The door to the main room crashes open with enough force to rattle the weapons hanging on the walls. Voices flood in—harsh, aggressive, though I can’t make out the words.
Thali spins toward me, her young face pale with sudden understanding. "We need to hide."
Before I can respond, the door to the private chambers explodes inward. Varok fills the doorway like a storm cloud given flesh, his dark eyes scanning the room until they lock onto me. Behind him, Jorth and Mazg crowd into the space, both wearing the eager expressions of predators who've finally cornered their prey.
"There she is," Varok growls, his tusks catching the lamplight as his lips pull back in something that might be a smile. "The human witch who's corrupted our chief."
"Get away from her!" Thali darts between us, her small frame dwarfed by the massive warriors but her courage burning bright as forged iron. "Korrath said no one was allowed in here!"
Varok's gaze flicks to her with something like amusement. "Korrath is no longer in a position to give orders, little one."
No.The word screams through my mind as the implications hit me. Either they've killed him, or they've moved against him while he was distracted at the council. Either way, the thin protection his claim provided is gone.
"What did you do to him?" The question tears from my throat before I can stop it, raw with a fear I don't want to examine too closely.
