Page 13 of Promised To the Orc
She remains in her spot like the stubborn flame haired woman she is. “What about the guards who came with me?”
“What of them?”
“You can put me in any other room, and they’ll stand guard.”
“I could do that, but then I wouldn’t have the chance to be close to my Alta again, would I?”
Her expression softens. I always called her my Alta and I’m glad to see it has the same effect now as it did when we were children.
She follows me and my heart soars. She takes in everything from the wallpaper to the overhead lights to the hand stamped pattern in the stone floor. I walk slower, so she has time to look. After a few minutes, she walks directly beside me. The hallway ahead is darker, and she presses even closer to me. Pulling the stick light from my pocket, I press the button to turn it on and a thin, silvery light glows through the darkness.
Alta gasps. “You still have the light.”
“I have several. I’ll give you one to keep this time.”
I hand it to her as we enter a stairwell and go up. My rooms take up the entire level, all connected by interior doorways.
Lights come on automatically as I entered the main room. Alta gasps again and spins in a circle, watching as the lights pop on one by one. “How was this possible?”
I nearly quip at its magic, the same as her mystical sword. “Filaments. They conduct a type of electricity that makes lights glow without flame. Riska could also have this technology if Jeluca would make peace with my father.”
Leading her from the main room into the main bedroom, I gestured to her to set her things on the chair in the corner. But she’s preoccupied looking around the yawning room. My bed is in the center with a large canopy over the top. There is assorted furniture here and there that I never use. This room isn’t to my taste, or my style and I’ve always found it unnecessary. I’m much happier living in my hut in the forest.
“I will show you how to operate the bathing room.”
Her eyes dart to mind. “I will not bathe in front of you.”
“I will guard the door, as I promised.”
She thinks for a moment. “Is there a bath?”
“Yes.”
“With hot water or cold?”
“As hot as you can stand.”
She pulls her lower lip between her teeth and lets it out slowly. “How long can I stay in it before it’s someone else’s turn?”
My heart melts for everything my poor Alta has gone through. I recall her telling me of the natural pool inside the ice caves where the humans bathed. It would often freeze, requiring them to smash through the ice before they could access the water. I deduce from her words the Ritka village has one pool the villagers share.
“It is a private bath. You may stay inside as long as you wish.”
She shifts her weight from one foot to the other, considering. But then she shakes her head, her eyes glowing with a slight panic.
“No, thank you. I would like to leave these rooms now.”
Her hand goes to the hilt of the knife at her hip. She’s scared again, not that I blame her. I am twice her size and belong to a clan that has done nothing but hurt her people. The only way I can help her trust me is to do as she says.
“I will send for your guards. There’s a room on the next level down that will be suitable.”
We look at each other for a long time. I wish I could touch her. Alta and I have never touched each other except through the bars of her prison. Here we are, with no barriers between us but the ones we put up ourselves, and I can’t touch her. I don’t dare tell her how my dreams have been filled with her for so many years, or how no other female has drawn my attention. It’s as if my soul always knew she’d come back to me.
First, I must ensure that my plan doesn’t fail.
“How did you lose a tusk?” She gestures to my mouth. I touch there on instinct, honestly having forgotten that I only have one.
“A fight.”
