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I take it, but I make no move to drink it, and he shrugs. ‘It’s not poisoned, little female, but if you don’t want it, give it back.’ He holds out his hand, but thirst wins, and I unstopper the bottle, taking a long pull of the cool water inside. I drink and drink until I can’t anymore, and when I finally pull it away from my lips, his eyes are glued to my throat.
I hand it back to him without a word and shy away from the one behind me when I feel his body at my back.
The bigger one gives his companion a look. ‘Stop it.’
‘But it would be so easy,’ he whines, a hand stroking down my spine.
I shudder, praying to all the gods I know that the one in front of me will stop his friend.
‘Enough,’ the bigger one says, but his eyes don’t leave me, and he’s beginning to look more than tempted.
‘How does Orik usually kill those who take what is rightfully his?’ I ask, meeting the large one’s eyes.
He purses his lips and quirks a brow. ‘Clever one, aren’t you?’ He snorts. ‘He’ll beat that out of you if you’re not careful.’
But he turns and continues down the path, leaving me to follow quickly lest his friend gets his grubby claws on me.
We walk for another few minutes before I smell the smoke of a fire and meat cooking.
We come upon a camp with at least twenty other orcs and I glance at the one I’m following. ‘You were part of the Horde,’ I murmur.
‘Aye. But it’s been disbanded for a long while now.’
As we walk into the camp, the orcs stop what they’re doing, and a hush falls over them, all of them watching me. I’m brought to the largest one, who I assume is their leader, Orik. He’s sitting by the largest fire, sharpening a long sword slowly.
‘Orik, we found this in the forest. Caught in a net.’
The orc leader doesn’t look up for a moment, but when he finally does, he looks surprised in spite of himself.
‘A human female? Here?’ He laughs loudly as he looks me over. ‘Gods, you took an unfortunate wrong turn, didn’t you, girl?’
He looks at the two who brought me in. ‘You’ve done well. You can have her after I’m finished with her.’
They nod, and without another word, they join the others by the fire some distance away.
Orik regards me and then beckons me. I walk woodenly to where he points at his feet. ‘Kneel.’
I do as he says, and he touches my hair. ‘How did you find yourself here, tiny human?’ he asks.
‘The Gate.’
He nods, unsurprised. ‘I thought I felt the tremors earlier. Alone, little one? With no weapons?’
‘Alone,’ I say, not wanting him to know about the others. ‘Escaped my master this morning and got through the Breach.’
‘Didn’t care for the bull you were given to, eh?’ He laughs again. ‘Well, perhaps you’ll like me better.’
‘Perhaps,’ I say, and he looks surprised.
‘Not afraid?’
I shrug. ‘There’s lots to be afraid of in the Dark Realms. I’m just glad to be out of the forest before dark, my lord.’
He chuckles, preening a little. ‘That’s true enough, little human. That’s true enough.’
He looks away from me and starts back on his sword again, drawing a whetstone over it again and again. I sit at his feet, trying desperately to come up with something because, despite what I said, I think I’m more likely to last out in the forest overnight than in their camp if he’s going to give me to his men.
I take in everything I can. Where the orcs are, their movements, and how much mead they’re drinking, hoping for an opening to slip away since Orik hasn’t even bothered to tie me up. I can hear lots of noise at the perimeter of the clearing, but it’s past the trees where I can’t see. There’s a large animal roaring, orcs shouting and whooping, and soon, many of the others in the camp are drawn to whatever’s happening.
