Page 10 of Steel & Thunder
He considers me for a moment. “I apologize. I was not sure if your ignorance was authentic or not. You will be coming with me.”
“For the night?” I cross my arms, becoming more aware of my nudity the more he gets dressed.
“Yes, but you misunderstand. You are coming with me indefinitely. You now belong to me.” The fuck?
“What are you talking about?” Belong to him? “Do you mean what happened out...there? That was—”
“It is simple,” he cuts me off as he reaches down to tie his boots. “You lost the battle and are now mine. I own you.”
“The hell you do!” What the fuck is this orc talking about!? “That is not what I signed up for!”
“No, apparently you signed up for a death match.” He stands, instantly towering over me. “Is that what you would prefer?” The threat is empty, but it does the trick.
“I—”
He steps even closer. “I know I was rough,” he cuts me off again, hand reaching out to stroke my cheek. “But surely you found it more enjoyable than dying.”
“That’s not—”
“Here. This should be large enough for the time being.” He turns and grabs his leather tunic, practically forcing it over my head. I struggle in vain but quickly relent, sticking my arms through the holes in the shoulders so I’m not helpless. It’s fairly large on my frame and just long enough to keep me decent, though I wouldn’t trust any strong winds.
“Can’t I at least wear my—”
“No.” He stuffs my former underwear in his pocket like it’s the final word on the subject. “Come now. You can have your shoes, and then we’ll get this on you.” He turns to reach for an item on the far side of the table I somehow missed earlier.
“What the hell is that?” I ask, knowing full well what it is.
“A collar. Are you not famil—”
“I know what it is!” I snap. I know I asked—shut up. “I am not wearing that!” A sudden realization comes over me. He wasn’t showering with me like a lover. He was bathing me, like I’m some kind of— “And I’m not your fucking pet!”
“Call it what you like, but you are mine.” He walks toward me, collar in hand, the amusement quickly draining from his face.
I take a step back as he comes near me, and I start thinking about potential exits. I can make out a door behind him, and there’s the way we came in on my right. There was also a third door in my room, the one the ladies exited through, but I don’t want to chance looking behind me for it. Arena it is. Dammit, this is gonna suck without my boots but... I make a break for the door.
I hear a sound of confusion behind me, but I don’t look back, throwing open the large wooden door and bolting through. I can see freedom at the end of the tunnel in front of me, sunlight streaming in through the archway. The doors of the gate are open, and I can use the crisscrossing beams on inside of them to climb out of the arena. Piece of cake! Now I just need to—
The bolas wrap around my ankles in an instant and send me flying face-first to the ground. I skid along the dirt, my arms taking the brunt of the damage as I come to a stop. I try to lift myself up, but I can already hear the footsteps behind me. Flipping onto my back, I watch the orc captain draw closer before he squats over my prone body.
“That was very stupid.” He holds me by my elbow as he inspects the damage from my fall. “Nothing too bad. I can take care of these when we get home. Come.”
I only glare in response. Expecting to be helped up, I squawk indignantly when I’m thrown over his shoulder again. Once we’re back in the room, he sits me on the clothing table, cords still wrapped around my feet. The first thing he does is bind my wrists again, this time behind my back with leather bracers attached by a ring. I’d like to fight him, but I’m not sure how I would. After that comes the collar. I glare daggers straight in his eyes as he buckles the leather around my neck. Finally, he untangles my feet, replacing the throwing weapon on the wall he grabbed them from. I didn’t consider those when I made a break for it.
“Alright, one last thing.” He stands after lacing my boots, grabbing a final item on the table.
“Oh, fuck off.” It’s a leash. The collar is one thing but a leash?! I try to wriggle out of his grasp.
“Quite the mouth on you.” He grabs the back of my neck and quickly attaches the leash to the collar. “I cannot exactly trust you not to run off, can I?”
He stands in front of me, leash in hand, looking way too satisfied with himself. He is of course shirtless, and if it weren’t for the collar and leash, it might not be blatantly obvious that I’m the one wearing his shirt. The lower half of my thighs are exposed, as are most of my arms. I look ridiculous. And I can’t stop glaring at that fucking leash.
“Okay. Let us get you home.” Ironstorm ruffles my hair like a fucking kid before helping me off the table. Leash still tight in his hand, he pulls me to the door and leads the way through it.
We’re back inside the arena, same as when I was brought in. There are a few orcs milling about, and when they see us exiting the room, we get some cheers. Self-conscious, I try to use my bound hands to pull the tunic down farther, but after giving his audience a wave, Ironstorm is already walking away. Not wanting to risk being dragged, I try to keep pace, though once we are outside, the distraction of the city makes that difficult.
We’re getting plenty of stares, but I do my best to ignore them, instead focusing on the city around me. The buildings that line either side of the street are all made of wood and stone, the architecture a lot less crude than I would have expected. I mean, you hear the words “orc camp,” and you picture everyone living in tents. But this isn’t that unlike the last town we stayed in. The style is different: the lots aren’t packed together, and I don’t see a building taller than two stories, but I don’t know how you could possibly mistake this place for anything other than civilization.
I notice a familiar building on my left—the jail—before Ironstorm turns right at the next road, looking back to make sure I’m following. He’s been occasionally glancing back at me the whole time but for the most part seems content to lead in silence. Fine by me. I don’t wanna talk to him anyway. Even though I have a million questions about where we are and what we’re doing.
