Her hands were busy with a white cloth and a crock ofsomething foul-smelling, but I saw her blue gaze dart toward me from under her lashes.
“You must miss—” Once more, she bit down on her words, then focused on scooping the contents of the crock onto the cloth, spreading it with her fingertips. “Your celebrations sound louder than ours. Yours are outside?”
I imagined her people celebrated in their fancy Grand Hall.
“Aye,” I rasped, watching her work. “We honor the gods by standing in their cathedral.” When her eyes widened in surprise and her gaze jerked to me, I explained.
“The moon and the stars over us, the flames reaching toward them…the longest night doesn’t seem so long when we’re all together, eh?”
Her chin ducked against her chest again and her fingers moved faster. “And when that happens… Your grandmother is there?”
She was curious about Nan? Well I suppose that made sense. I would explain, if only to keep her with me longer. The Lady Lillian was the most intoxicating female I’d ever smelled. Or mayhap the fever was melting my brain.
“Orcs have been Mating with human females for generations, Lillian.” Was it my imagination, or was that a shudder? “Some of our elders believe ‘tis the only way for our race to survive.”
She put the crock on the tray but didn’t put the lid on it. When she reached hesitantly for me, I forced myself to keep talking.
“There are pathways that open between our worlds on the night of the full moon, for a short time only. ‘Tis mostcommon for warriors to raid then, to steal human females to be their Mates.”
Lillian made a small noise, her focus on wrapping the cloth around the wound on my right arm, and I couldn’t tell if it was an agreement or interest or she wanted me to stop talking.
I wasn’t going to.
“When an orc Mates with a human—fooking hells,” I hissed in pain, trying to jerk away from her touch. “What the shite is in that?”
Lillian glanced at me—at the ruined side of my face—her expression neutral. Then she focused on my wound again, chasing my arm until the chains meant I couldn’t pull away any further.
When she pressed her palm to the cloth, smearing whatever that stickiness was against my wound, I hissed again. “Torvor’s spear, lass, are ye trying to kill me?”
And in that moment, I had the awful, horrible fear that mayhap thatwasher intent. Mayhap her kindnesses of the last two days had been merely to lure me into calmness so she could cause this pain, this fire which spread through my arm and up my shoulder and into my chest.
“The poultice contains mustard seed,” she finally said, her tone even. “’Twill draw out the infection that is causing your fever. What were you saying about orcs and humans tupping?”
Tupping?
Such a carnal word, coming from her lips, distracted mefrom the pain. My gaze landed on those lips—pressed thin in disapproval. Of me? Of my wound? Or the topic?
“I spoke ofMating, lass,” I said gently. “’Tis verra different than tupping. ‘Tis a partnership?—”
“Like marriage.”
Nay. Aye.
“I havenae noticed anything particularly egalitarian about human marriages. In my world, human Mates are honored partners.”
The pain had dissipated…or mayhap I was fooled into believing that when Lillian’s clear blue eyes—so big and bright, at odds with her cowed body language—swung my way.
“My sisters are married to Bladesedge warriors.”
Aye, that’s what got us into this mess in the first place.
“I ken.” I couldn’t help but growl.
The Bladesedge clan had been our enemies for generations. So long, now, I doubted any of us even rememberedwhywe hated one another. Each autumn we raided, stealing resources and cattle, although we rarely killed unless in battle against one another.
Last summer, the Bladesedge chief received a vision from his holy woman that his Mate waited for him in the human’s world. He intended to steal one of Tarbert’s daughters, but two other kinswomen came along, and the last I’d heard, his brothers had each Mated one of them.
In one full moon’s time, Bladesedge clan had gained a powerful human ally several times over, making my clanmore vulnerable. Last fall, thinking to nip that competition early, Bloodfire warriors crossed through the veil to show Tarbert we weren’t to be targeted.
