“I should be asking you that,” he said. “You’ve been on edge all day. Let me help you set this up.”
Zorvut sighed, glancing away with a hint of embarrassment in his face. “Okay,” he agreed, and Taegan helped him stretch the tent over the poles the half-orc had already placed. “Iamfeeling nervous,” he admitted as they worked. “It’s just unsettling to think that by this time tomorrow... I don’t know. I’ll either know who my father is or we’ll be heading back already.”
Taegan nodded. “That’s understandable. Truth be told, I’m rather… apprehensive about it, too. But at least we’ll have some answers, either way.”
“I hope so,” he sighed, glancing away. “He might not even be here anymore, if he ever even was at all. It was only a rumor I had to go off of, after all.”
Taegan hesitated. The small part of him that wanted to return home more than anything else perked up at the thought, but the rest of him was ashamed for even feeling anything remotely like joy at that prospect. “Well, then we’ll just have to find the next rumor and follow that,” he said. Zorvut glanced at him with a wry expression, and Taegan knew immediately thathesensed it was all bravado, but he seemed to appreciate the gesture, anyway.
“You’re right,” he agreed with a nod. “Although maybe we could check in with the king first.”
“Perhaps,” Taegan said, recognizing the peace offering, though he was not sure if the prospect of going home only to immediately set back out on the road was much better. “I suppose it would depend on where the rumors lead us. But we don’t know either way yet, so no reason to make any plans.”
“True,” Zorvut sighed, grimacing. “Though that’s harder said than done. I keep telling myself there’s no point in worrying about tomorrow for today, but...” He shrugged, turning his attention back to the nearly finished tent. Taegan could all but feel his mind flitting from one thought to the next, but whatever he was ruminating over seemed to be too difficult to put into words.
“I know,” he said, more softly this time. “I wish I could make it easier. But if nothing else, we’ll always have each other.”
Zorvut smiled at that, a more tender feeling coming through the bond now. “We will,” he agreed.
They finished setting up the tent, and Zorvut helped him unroll the sleeping bags and start a fire. They roasted the fowl and rabbits Taegan had felled. Zorvut didn’t bring up his worries again.
In his own private thoughts, Taegan certainly understood Zorvut’s trepidation, although perhaps for different reasons. This human who they believed to be Zorvut’s father was all but a mystery to him, yet they would approach him from a vulnerable position, asking him for help they did not even know if he could give. What if the man denied his paternity? What if he had no magical ability of his own after all, or proved to be a poor teacher if he did? A smaller part of Taegan worried what the bard would think ofhim, the man married to his unknown son. Elves were known for fostering relationships between any combination of genders and much of the world would not blink an eye at two men together; at most, some might be taken aback at an elf and a half-orc as an unlikely couple but certainly would not protest—and yet there were always outliers, and there was no guarantee a human would understand or accept the marriage bonds of elves. All they really knew about this man was that he was a moderately successful bard, and had the fortitude to lie with an orc woman. Anything beyond that was conjecture. Maybe his adventurousness indicated an open-mindedness that would find nothing remarkable in their own relationship, but maybe not. Yet if Taegan ended up being the reason Zorvut could not connect with his father, he wasn’t sure if he could live with the guilt that might bring.
But just as he had stated to Zorvut, there was no use in worrying himself over tomorrow’s mysteries for now. He forced his wandering thoughts back to the present and leaned closer to his husband as they sat in front of the fire. Zorvut wrapped an arm around him, kissing his forehead softly. That was all he needed, tonight and any night. They would have each other, he told himself, and as long as they did, they could face anything that might come their way.
Chapter Five
Despitehisbravado,Taegandid not sleep very well that night, though he could tell Zorvut fared even worse. He slept in fits and starts, waking often, and when the sun first began to peek over the horizon, he felt Zorvut shift next to him and get up with a weary sigh. Taegan tried to sleep a little longer, but the smell of Zorvut preparing a simple breakfast and some coffee soon dispelled any hope of any more rest, and he too sat up to face the day.
“Good morning,” Zorvut said, noticing him stir. Already Taegan could feel the heated tremor of anxiety from his end of the bond. He came up beside Zorvut wordlessly, wrapping his arms around the half-orc’s waist, and they held each other silently for a few moments. “The coffee’s going to over-steep,” Zorvut murmured, finally breaking the silence, and with a wry laugh Taegan released him.
They set about breaking down the camp after their light meal, and were leading the horses back onto the road less than an hour after sunrise. It was slow going in the marshy wetlands, but even if their pace was this slow the rest of the way, Taegan expected they would reach the port of Naimere well before sunset.
But soon the road curved a bit more inland, away from the lagoon, and from the map Taegan could tell the trail would curve to the southeast for a while before making a straight shot south to the port town. More and more trees peppered the landscape as they moved out of the wetlands, going from short shrubs, to thin trees, to tall and thick ones; some with leaves that splayed out in long, swaying fronds, others with thin, flexible branches, almost like a willow tree.
“Maybe we should have a plan for if things go poorly,” Zorvut said suddenly, when the sun had reached its peak in the sky. “Maybe if he is there, but... doesn’t want to help for some reason.”
“All right,” Taegan agreed hesitantly, frowning. “Well, what do you think the worst-case scenario would be?”
Zorvut seemed to ponder that for a moment. “Either he has some prejudice against me,” he said slowly after some thought. “Or is afraid of getting involved once he realizes who we are, who you are. He either may try to hurt us directly, or may report our presence to... I don’t know, someone who will be able to get word back to the warlord somehow.”
“That would be bad. Well, maybe we can try to figure out his position about the war before revealing exactly who we are,” he offered, though he was unsure how well that might work out. “If he tries to hurt us—well, I think that would be more unfortunate for him. I’m not worried about us being able to defend ourselves. If he is afraid of somehow being targeted by our enemies, we can promise him protection, or if he casts us out, it would probably be best to simply leave without protest.”
“But I think he would suspect who we are the moment he might know we’re married,” Zorvut sighed. “Elves and orcs aren’t exactly known for getting along. Even here in Autreth, I don’t think elves would be particularly interested in a half-orc.”
“Well… You’re probably right about that,” Taegan admitted with a grimace. That was one stereotype about elves that was unfortunately well-informed by reality. Kelvhan’s words echoed in his mind—elves should be with elves—but he certainly had not been the first or only elf he had heard voice such sentiments. “Maybe we can pretend not to be married. Maybe we’re part of an adventuring group. Or we’re just… friends, and I’m helping you out.”
“But if he agrees that he’s my father, then he would know my mother is the warlord’s wife. So then why would I not be with the clan?” he pressed. “If I had been cast out before, would I not have tried to seek him out sooner? I don’t know how well I could keep up a string of lies like that.”
“Then we just don’t offer the information unless he asks,” Taegan said. Zorvut still seemed unsettled, but did not reply, instead looking distantly toward the road ahead. “If he asks why we’re traveling together, we’re friends and I agreed to help you find him. If he asks how we became friends, we met when the war was over, and when it resumed, we left for our own safety. That’stechnicallythe truth, after all.”
“Technically,” Zorvut sighed. “Maybe it would be best just to be forthcoming. If things go well at first, it would be hard to backtrack on our story... And if he has some prejudice against us, I don’t know if I would want to spend any time learning from him even if he were to offer it.”
That was understandable, though it elicited some mixed feelings in Taegan. It would be a shame to have come all this way, only to turn back of essentially their own volition. But if he were the one in Zorvut’s place, he would certainly struggle to accept help from someone who did not accept his husband, too.
“I don’t know if we can really have a solid plan that will account for everything,” Taegan finally replied. “I think maybe it would be best if we just hold back a bit until we’re able to get a better grasp of his intentions, his character. And I’m sure that if you open the conversation with you being his son, it will be a while before he gets around to asking about me, or us.”
Zorvut chuckled, glancing back over at Taegan. “I think you’re right,” he said. “Thank you. That makes me feel a bit better.”
