Page 33 of Orc's Pride

He waggles his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t that get in the way of your date? Blood spatter all over your loincloth? Or is she into that?”

I step towards him, and he raises his hands in surrender. “It’s fine with me, but you have to know the rest of the orcs are going to be a little harder to win over.”

Damn him, he’s not wrong. Hard to win over is the underestimate of the century. Most orcs are here because it’s the front line in the war against the dark elves, and human servants are not as common where they come from. Combine that withthe fact that most humans they see are linked with the elves, and it’s hard not to blame them for being guarded.

“It’s business,” I tell him. “Nothing more.”

And then I rush home.

I expect her to be sleeping, but she’s awake. She blinks in surprise when she sees me. Her dark hair is a mess, sticking out in three different directions, and she’s yet to dress for the day, wearing nothing but an oversized shirt.

My shirt.

“My tunics aren’t comfortable for sleeping with the buttons, so I thought…” She tugs the shirt down, and all I think isskin.

I drag my eyes back up to her face, and see that she’s covering her neck self-consciously with her hands.

Embarrassed, I turn around.

“I took the day off. I thought you might want as much time out as possible.”

“I’ll just get dressed.”

She goes to her room, but I keep studying the window outside. Orcs pause as they pass my home, whispering and nudging each other. When she’s finally ready to leave, dressed neatly in her tunic and scarf, the whispers and nudges have turned to outright glares.

I meet each hostile stare with my own, but I can’t change their opinions.

Maybe it’s better if we take a walk farther from the base.

“Come.”

“Into the forest?” She sounds skeptical, but she follows willingly.

“Into the forest.”

We walk together in silence, and I can see her relax out of the corner of my eye. Her eyes are still alert, and she still turns to inspect every sound. But her muscles are less tense, and her shoulders dropped back.

“Where exactly are you taking me?”

“Somewhere relaxing.” I reach to help her across a creek, but she’s already leapt over it with a neat hop.

My steps are less graceful, but do the job. Mud splatters my legs with the force of my stomp.

“Oh, yes.” Her eyes look amused. “Nothing like a relaxing trek in the mud.”

“I thought it might be better to take some time away from the others.”

She smiles at that, but it’s not a very friendly smile. “Yeah, they seem to really love me. I can feel it radiating from them like sunshine…or is that fiery rage? They’re easy to mix-up, I guess.”

There’s not much to say to that. I want to reassure her, but it would be false. And I can’t speak out against my own people, even to her. Even in private. So we walk, taking a minute here and there to examine some flowers or a buck wandering past.

When we reach the tall outcropping of rocks, she stops.

“Don’t tell me the indomitable Dana needs assistance?”

She scowls at me, but her eyes dance. “I’m just not sure where we’re going, exactly.”

“Up.”

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