* * *
When Zorvut left the next morning, Taegan was up and about but still hesitant to leave their shelter so stayed behind another day.
“We’ll move over to the tower tonight,” Zorvut said before he left. “Since we don’t have many personal belongings with us, it should be a simple process.”
“I’ll gather up what we want to take with us, at least,” Taegan answered with a shrug, gesturing around the room. Nothing in the tent was really theirs, but it had its use all the same.
A groan escaped his lips as he stood and stretched, his bruised body protesting the movement.
“You should really take some time to rest, so you can heal,” Taegan said, watching him with a concerned frown. He would certainly like to, Zorvut thought, but he shook his head.
“Too much to do,” he sighed. “Maybe in a few days everything will calm down a bit. But for now I have to go talk to my sister.”
Then he had gone to the tent Gorza had asked to meet him at, followed by two elven guards who kept watch outside. The tent was vacant when he opened the flap to peek in, so he stepped inside and sat down in one of the chairs pushed up against a long wooden table that took up the bulk of the space.
A large world map was spread across the table; a pile of markers was pushed to one corner that Zorvut imagined must have been carefully placed along the map not so long ago. There was an unused weapons rack near the entrance, and a few tall lanterns spread around the room, but other than those the tent was quite sparse. Whether it had always been so empty or if it had been cleared out of all but the necessities like so many other facilities Hrul had kept, he could not say.
He was not alone with his thoughts for long, though, as the tent flap burst open suddenly and Gorza entered with an almost exaggerated swagger. A scowl was on her face, but her eyes were glancing back at the elves that must have been standing guard outside the tent, and she was muttering under her breath.
“Everything alright?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and sat down across from him.
“Yes. The elves didn’t recognize me at first. Tried to give me a hard time,” she grumbled. She took in a long, slow breath as if to steady herself, and when she looked back at Zorvut the irritated expression that had just been on her face was gone, replaced with a carefully neutral one. “Thank you for having us speak in private.”
“Of course. What did you want to talk to me about?”
“Well, it’s not so good news,” she said bluntly. “I’m sure you’ve already suspected this, but there is probably going to be more fighting in the near future. There have already been people talking about a group getting together to try and either challenge you, or leave. I’m hoping they’ll decide to leave. But I’ve heard both stories, and I don’t think it’s two different groups.”
“Hmm,” Zorvut replied with a sigh. His sister was not one to beat around the bush, but he wasn’t sure how much he appreciated her forthrightness in this case. “That is bad news. Have you gotten any names?”
“A few,” Gorza said. “I’m keeping an eye on them. So far it seems like just talk, but you know how these things can go.”
“And you’re certain? How do you know this?”
At that, an amused grin spread around Gorza’s tusks. “Oh, you know me,” she said with a shrug. “I get along with everyone. I’ve made a lot of connections. I know Mother would berate me for being undisciplined, but I figure if you know the right person for the job that’s one less thing you have to do yourself. So I know whose ears are to the ground, and I know who’s reliable.”
Zorvut stared at her for a long moment, then laughed. It was part surprise and part relief, but Gorza’s expression became decidedly unamused as he laughed.
“Sorry, sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m just, well, surprised, but also very glad. I would have been happy to have you on my side regardless, but it sounds like you’re exactly the person I needed.”
His words seemed to assuage her and she chuckled in response. “Well, you definitely needed someone on your side with all this. Have you heard from anyone else at all? I know Zesh was on a hunting trip and Velda was visiting another clan, but I haven’t heard from any of the others.”
“No,” Zorvut sighed. He had been trying not to think about that. His other siblings’ silence couldn’t bode well; at best it could be entirely neutral, but at worst… “No, no one’s reached out to me like you have. But… With everything that happened with Mother, I’m sure everyone is having rather mixed feelings about everything. I certainly have. To me it seems the best case scenario would be if they quietly left to join up with the other clans if they really can’t stand me, but I don’t think I should bet on that happening.”
“No, I don’t think so, either,” Gorza agreed. “I’ll ask around about them, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Velda ends up staying with the mountain clan, I think she had her eye on a man from there she met on a hunt last summer. This might just be the excuse she needs to marry into a different clan. And Zesh…” She frowned, glancing away. Their fiery eldest brother needed no explanation. “Well, we both know Zesh is a loose cannon. If anyone’s going to put up a fight about this, it’s him.”
“And of course he’s away when all this happens,” Zorvut sighed. He certainly didn’t disagree. As the eldest, Zesh would have had the best standing to become warlord next, though orc customs certainly made no guarantee that the firstborn child would inherit power the way the elves’ did. Plus he and Zesh had never gotten along, and he could easily see his brother harboring resentment toward him for killing the warlord and taking up the mantle that Zesh very well might have viewed as his for the taking. “I don’t know how far your connections may reach, but if you can keep an eye out for Zesh, too, that would be ideal.”
“I’ll do what I can. I know he was riding east when he left, but who knows if he’s even heard the news yet? We can at least have a scout keep an eye out on the wilderness roads out there. But I don’t know what more can be done that far out,” Gorza answered. He had no reply to that, so they sat in silence for a beat, each considering what the silence from their siblings might mean.
“Really, Gorza, thank you,” Zorvut finally said after a moment, glancing up to meet her gaze. “I don’t know what I’d do without someone like you here to help me. I definitely wouldn’t be able to keep as close an eye on everything on my own. I owe you much.”
A self-satisfied grin crept across Gorza’s face, stretching her lips taught around her tusks, but when she replied her voice had a similar softness to his own.
“I know. That’s what family’s for. You don’t have to thank me.” She reached over to squeeze his shoulder, then stood. “So when am I going to meet this elf of yours? I said maybe all of two words to him at your wedding but I don’t think he understood me. My elvish isn’t as good as yours.”
Zorvut laughed at that. “Soon, hopefully. He was feeling better today, and we’re going to move over to the tower so he should be more comfortable. Once he’s up to checking everything out he’ll be staying close to me. I know it’s dangerous, and I thought of sending him back to Aefraya, but… I don’t know. All of this happened because we were apart. It seems silly to leave each other now, even if he would be safer in his home.”
Gorza studied his face for a long moment, and he shifted uncomfortably under her stare. Finally, she spoke as if making an announcement, “You really love this elf.”
