Promised to the Orc, page 9
Her eyebrows shot up. “A kulator? I’ve never heard of it. Why don’t you have one with you now?”
“Many of the beasts from the Fae Realm have a hunger for kulators. We learned early on that bringing kulators to the Borderlands was a bad idea.”
A frown marred her features, and she tilted her head to the side, appearing lost in thought as she stared at a lone eagle soaring through the blue sky. “You would think, with all the magic the fae supposedly possess, that they would be able keep the beasts from their realm from escaping to wander the Borderlands and attack human villages. That is something I will never understand, and I think the fae got the upper hand when the treaty was signed. They keep to their realm—mostly—yet they are permitted to capture or curse any humans who enter, all while the villages near the Borderlands suffer and almost go broke paying for the Orc Guardians to protect them from Fae Realm beasts.”
I picked up my pace, wanting to reach the trading post before dusk claimed the land. The sooner we settled into our room at the inn, the sooner we could eat and go to bed. Going to bed meant enjoying my sweet bride, claiming her over and over until we both collapsed from exhaustion and drifted to sleep in one another’s arms. I leaned down to inhale the ever-present floral aroma of her hair. Whatever she used in her hair, she’d brought it with her, as the scent was stronger each time she washed her hair. When I straightened, I noticed the impatient gleam in her eyes, and I cleared my throat and prepared to answer her question.
“The beasts from the Fae Realm were cursed to hunger for human and orc blood by the Unseelie King himself halfway through The Hundred Years’ War, and the fae swear they are trying to undo the curse but have been unsuccessful thus far.”
“Oh.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Well, I’d never heard about that. But still, it seems awfully convenient for the fae.”
“Fae cannot tell lies, so their claims about the beasts and the lingering curse must be true.”
She made a noise of frustration. “You’re absolutely correct. I’d forgotten they can’t tell lies.” Her eyes clouded with worry. “Do you think the curse will ever be broken? The human villages near the Borderlands are suffering.”
“It’s been a long time since a Fae Realm beast made it through the Borderlands and close to a human village. Years, in fact. I am confident Orc Guardians will continue to protect your communities.”
“Yes, but our Borderland villages are still suffering. Humans devote great resources and wealth to paying Orc Guardians for protection. And then there are the women who are offered to orcs when coin grows scarce.” She growled and went on to explain how merchants rarely visited Borderland villages and neighbors fought amongst themselves for supplies, her voice infused with indignation and passion. I admired her strong spirit and lamented that I couldn’t singlehandedly change the situation that had her so upset.
But I also remembered that the Borderland villages had sent more soldiers to my clanlands. It was villages such as Fairview that were responsible for the death of most of our females and children. A female orc’s face flashed in my mind, the same familiar face I sometimes saw when I thought of the human attacks on my clanlands. I thought it was my mother and wished I’d been older during the attack on the Haxxall clan, wished I’d been able to save her.
Annoyance flared in my chest, and it quickly turned to fury. I breathed deep and tried to control my anger.
“Catrin, the Borderland villages are getting what they deserve and let me explain why.”
Challenge glinted in her eyes, but she fell silent and nodded, beckoning me to continue.
“It was the human soldiers from Borderland villages who invaded my clanlands and slaughtered most of our women and children. And now the very same soldiers who attempted to decimate our clans must pay Orc Guardians with their hard-earned coin and give us their beloved daughters. It is as fair an arrangement as I have ever known. You should be happy for the treaty—if not for the treaty, I suppose the males of my kind would simply raid human villages and steal their brides like the uncouth savages that humans believe we are.”
“Put me down,” she said, wiggling in my arms. “I want to walk.”
“No,” I said. “You are tired and it pleases me to carry you. I realize all I’ve just told you has probably come as a shock, but I encourage you to speak with others—humans—who hail from outside the Borderland villages. Talk with your fellow humans at the outpost tonight and see what they have to say about the war. You might even find a merchant who’s selling history books that contain the written truth of the many battles that were fought between orcs and humans and fae.”
“Maybe you’re telling the truth,” she said, lifting her chin as she continued struggling in my arms, “however, that doesn’t mean every human—man, woman, and child—in a Borderland village deserves to suffer.”
“I agree with you,” I said after a long moment. As I reminded myself how Catrin had suffered, my anger faded to guilt. She hadn’t wronged orcs or fae (not counting her brief trip to the forbidden realm) and didn’t deserve the hardships she’d endured in Fairview.
“What?” Her eyes widened and she ceased writhing in my arms.
“You are right—not every human in a Borderland village deserves to suffer. I was speaking of your people as a whole, Catrin, forgive me. I didn’t mean to offend you or cause you hurt. You have spoken to me of your trials and I wish you’d had an easier life in Fairview.”
She shot me an intense look. “Do you swear to me all you’ve said is true?”
“I swear it. I will slice my palm right here on the side of the road and offer you a blood oath if you wish.”
She shuddered. “That won’t be necessary. But… if we come across a bookseller, well, I would like to read the history of the war myself. You’ve contradicted much of what I was taught by my own father.” The venom had left her voice. She now sounded curious yet resigned, as though worried by what she might learn about her people.
“This is the last outpost before we reach the Orc Realm,” I said. “We will visit all the merchants, including any booksellers.”
She nodded and settled deeper into my arms. On the horizon, a band of smoke swirled upward, and I walked faster, relieved to see signs of civilization, even if it was human. We would reach the trading post soon.
Howls broke through the silence of the countryside, so distant that I doubted Catrin could hear it. I waited, but she didn’t stiffen in my arms or mention the noise.
The howls continued, still distant, but my senses sharpened and I kept scanning the landscape. Fortunately, Catrin had her face nestled against my chest and didn’t notice my reaction. I didn’t want to scare her, so I stayed silent but maintained a brisk pace, nearly a jog.
Wolves. A large pack of them. I tilted my head to the side, listening carefully, and picked out at least a dozen distinct lupine voices.
In the Borderlands, a wolf wasn’t always a wolf. Nor was a bear always a bear. There were many kinds of fae shifters, and they typically possessed greater strength than the animal they changed into, emboldened and fortified by their dark magic.
We’d left the Borderlands behind. The howls likely didn’t belong to fae shifters, and we would reach the outpost within the hour, long before the pack could reach us.
But it was considered a bad omen to hear a wolf howling during the daytime.
My blood turned cold, and I hugged Catrin more tightly to my chest, my protective instincts rising.
CHAPTER 18
Catrin
* * *
I clutched the book and scanned the pages as fast as I could, absorbing the true history of The Hundred Years’ War. The more I learned about it, the more I realized my own father had lied to me about… everything. The soldiers and Elders from Fairview had lied as well. In all the stories that were passed around in my village about the war, not one of them had mentioned human soldiers from the Borderland villages attacking orc mountain clans and murdering their women and children.
No doubt such incidents had provoked the various orc attacks on Fairview and other human villages. I thought of my mother and my heart ached. According to this book, which was written by a prominent historian who lived in Zabbos, a large seaside city on the edge of the Human Realm, humans had attacked the orcs because they wished to expand into the Orc Realm. Knowing the orc population was much smaller than that of the humans’, soldiers from Borderland villages had been dispatched to the clanlands in the Varrulian Mountains with orders to kill as many orcs as possible, women and children included.
I growled under my breath and paused in my reading, my mind racing with this new information. If the power and land-hungry human Elders hadn’t ordered our soldiers to attack the orcs, my mother would still be alive. I didn’t know much about her death, only that a random orc warrior had run her down in the street.
Thank the Goddess of All that Gregor wasn’t old enough to have fought in the actual war. If he’d been one of the orcs who’d attacked my village all those times, I didn’t know how I would be able to reconcile my growing feelings for him, the warmth in my heart that intensified each day.
I supposed the soldiers and Elders of the Borderland villages lied to regular citizens because of their guilt. They were responsible for many of the hardships faced by the Borderland villages—lack of supplies, food, and money. It was also their fault that young human women were frequently betrothed to Orc Guardians. No doubt the soldiers and Elders didn’t want to face the wrath of the villagers.
I shook my head, trying to banish the visions of war, and set the book aside. Our room at the inn was cozy, and the bed was large enough for an orc and a human to share. At some of the inns we’d stayed at during our journey, Gregor had been forced to sleep on the floor. I was glad we would be able to spend tonight, our last night in the Human Realm, in one another’s arms.
Despite our minor argument on the road, we were currently on good terms. Gregor had treated me with kindness, and I’d endeavored to follow his example, sensing he was making an effort not to take his frustrations out on me.
What a difficult thing, to marry a male who comes from the opposite side, a former enemy, a male whose life experiences have been completely different from my own.
He’d admitted, on more than one occasion, that orc warriors who’d attacked the Borderland villages had made mistakes. They shouldn’t have killed any women or children, but a few orcs had been so blinded with anger over the humans’ attack on their clanlands, that they’d killed any human in their path, regardless of age or sex.
I moved to the window that overlooked the outpost. Dusk gathered thickly and a man moved down the street, lighting the torches one by one. I watched for any signs of Gregor, troubled by his lengthy absence. He’d departed our room several hours ago, claiming he wanted to take one more pass of the vendor stalls in case he spotted any items that could be useful to his clan.
We’d bought a huge amount of supplies, as well as a wagon to transport everything. Most of the items purchased were exotic—at least to an orc—and weren’t readily available in the mountain clanlands. Rice, coffee, tea, silk and other fabrics, strange-looking tools, spices and dried herbs, and over twenty pairs of well-made leather boots in varying sizes.
The wagon was huge and currently parked behind the inn, and Gregor had hired two men to guard the supplies overnight, promising them each five silver pieces if they completed the job and ensured nothing was stolen.
The Haxxall clan.
We would reach Gregor’s home tomorrow.
My stomach flipped and nerves rippled over me.
After nearly a fortnight on the road, traveling on foot (well, when Gregor wasn’t insisting on carrying me), I was exhausted and ready to reach our destination, but I couldn’t help my growing anxiety over the unknown. I’d never visited an orc clan before. It would be a brand-new experience and it frightened me, even though Gregor assured me an orc clan was like one big family where everyone looked out for one another.
Would there be a special camaraderie among the human women?
Did the few surviving orc females resent the incoming human women?
What about the older orcs who’d participated in the attacks on Borderland villages? Had any of the orcs in Gregor’s clan killed human women and children?
Coldness gripped me. There was no way for me to learn the identity of the orc who’d killed my mother, but the male could still be alive, living out the rest of his life in the Haxxall clan or another clan in the Varrulian Mountains.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath as I paced the floor. I’d always had a tendency to overthink and invent worrying scenarios in my head. This personality trait certainly wasn’t serving me well on the eve of my arrival in the orc clanlands.
I blew out a quick breath and turned at the sound of heavy footsteps on the stairs. Orc footsteps. My spirits lifted, knowing Gregor had returned. I had missed him.
He opened the door and strode inside, his commanding presence immediately filling the small room. My pulse beat faster, and little quivers rushed over me, my body coming alive at his sudden nearness. I flushed as the familiar warm pulses affected my core.
“Did you find anything we missed in the vendor stalls?” I asked, meeting him in the center of the room. He smiled down at me and gathered me in his arms for a lingering embrace.
He pulled away and settled his hands on my shoulders, then leaned down to place a kiss upon my forehead. Safe. I felt safe with him, this huge orc who only a month ago had frightened me when we’d met in the dark fae forest. It seemed like a lifetime ago, that first encounter.
“I didn’t find any additional supplies for my clan,” he said, “but I did find something of great value. A gift for you. Here. Try it on.” He withdrew a gold bracelet from his pocket and reached for my wrist.
“Oh, Gregor, it’s beautiful.” I allowed him to fasten the clasp, then I angled my wrist toward the nearest sconce, admiring the way the light reflected off the gold.
“It’s for protection,” he said.
“Protection? Against what?” I eyed the bracelet with curiosity and a little trepidation. I’d believed the Orc Realm would be safe and it made me nervous that Gregor thought I needed extra protection.
“Against anyone or any creature who wishes you harm.” He nodded at my wrist. “There aren’t many Seelie bracelets like this left, I was overjoyed to find a merchant who had one.”
“This was made by the light fae? But they’re all dead, aren’t they? I thought the dark fae, the Unseelie, did something to make their court overtake the Seelie court, and now the entire Fae Realm is shrouded in darkness, all traces of the light magic gone.”
“Not all the Seelie are gone, though most are. Most were killed by the dark fae, while others were taken as slaves. It’s been said that a small group of Seelie escaped and live secretly amongst the humans, keeping their pointed ears hidden.”
The Unseelie court had conquered the Seelie court over a thousand years ago, long before The Hundred Years’ War. To have a golden bracelet created by the Seelie, one that was infused with light and protective magic, was practically unheard of. I wondered if it was a thousand years old or if it had been created more recently, perhaps by one of the Seelie who’d escaped the dark fae conquerors.
“Thank you, Gregor,” I said, my throat burning. “I’ve never owned a piece of jewelry.” Well, not counting my late mother’s pearls, but I no longer had possession of the pearl necklace, and my father had only allowed me to wear it on Prayer Days.
“I am glad you like it. Please never take it off, even when you bathe.” He peered at me intently. “Promise me.”
Warning bells went off in my head. Was there a danger lurking that I didn’t know about? Gregor wasn’t acting quite like himself.
“Promise me, Catrin.” His tone was urgent and commanding.
“I promise. I’ll never take it off.”
“Thank you.” His visage softened and most of the darkness faded from his eyes. He straightened and glanced at the door. “The innkeeper is serving dinner downstairs right now. Let us eat and then we can retire for the night. I’d like to depart the outpost early tomorrow, just as dawn breaks over the land.”
CHAPTER 19
Catrin
* * *
I didn’t sleep well. Howling wolves haunted my dreams. Yellow-eyed fae shifters. In my nightmare, I was holding a bag of stolen apples, running through the Fae Realm, trying to find the portal so I could return to the realm of humans. But I couldn’t seem to find the brilliant shimmer in the dark woods, the interruption I’d so easily spotted that first time.
I gave up on sleep and rose before Gregor, distracting myself by reading one of the many books he’d purchased for me.
When the first hint of sun appeared, a faint glow in the east, we left the northernmost outpost in the Human Realm. I covered a yawn as I walked next to Gregor, who was pulling the heavily loaded wagon behind him.
“I must say, I am in awe of your strength. Where I come from, it would take a team of two horses, perhaps more, to pull that wagon.” I’d known orcs were strong, but seeing Gregor pull the wagon gave me a whole new appreciation for his power.
“This is nothing,” he said. “I once pulled a wagon double this weight from the orc camp on the Borderlands to the northern caves without stopping once for a rest.”
He wasn’t even trying to be modest, but he wasn’t boasting either. I choked back a laugh and hid my smile, not wanting him to think I was making fun of him. Sometimes his intensity, his seriousness, amused me. Probably because I was rather serious myself—hard not to be when you grew up in a Borderland village—but Gregor’s solemnity overtook mine by several degrees.
“So, tell me, what does the entrance to the Orc Realm look like? Are there multiple entrances, like there are to the Fae Realm, or just one?” Stories about the orcs always focused on their brutality and their supposed crimes against humans, but I’d heard little about the Orc Realm itself. I couldn’t recall a single story that included a description of the portal, or portals, that led to the orc clanlands.
