“Please, help yourselves,” Nedralie said, and Varen needed no further encouragement to start piling his plate with food.
Lady Trisfiel rejoined them a little while later, but did not sit down. Two children followed her: a boy and a girl of about eight and twelve, similarly in their pajamas, but with eager expressions.
“Nedralie, why don’t you join us in the parlor with our guests? The children were quite adamant about having a second dinner, too, when they heard all the commotion,” she said. Nedralie stood with a laugh, joining the children who were giggling with delight. “Commander, Captain. Please forgive our absence. You’re free to join us if you’d like, or once you’re done, you’re welcome to freshen up and retire to the guest rooms. Any servant can guide you there.”
“Thank you very much, Lady Trisfiel,” Enriel said, bowing her head deeply.
“Yes, thank you again. We appreciate it,” Varen repeated, making a similar motion. The stoic woman offered them a small, pleased smile.
“It’s my pleasure,” she replied, and together the family stepped out of the dining hall, leaving the siblings alone.
“I know it’s just because I’m hungry, but gods, this is so good,” Enriel sighed, turning her attention back to her plate. Varen smiled; it had pained him to ration everyone’s food so strictly, hers most of all, knowing she needed as much as she could get. Here, at least, she could eat her fill of fresh, nourishing food. Hopefully, they could replenish some of their supplies, too; and that would sustain her on the last leg of their journey.
Varen sat with her until she was full, then together they went to the guest rooms that had been prepared for them. The guest rooms were on opposite sides of the same hall, a little ways away from the dining room. They were really only intended to house one couple each, with one large bed in each room, but cots had been set out on the floor.
They had been divided by gender, which left Varen dismayed. Three women to a room was not too overfull, but six men in the other? It would be very cramped indeed.
But Korik had a room of his own. His thoughts brightened; he could take a cot and set up in Korik’s room instead. Two to a room would be nice and cozy, plus they had slept just a few feet from each other each night for the past weeks, so he was sure the orc wouldn’t mind. An ideal solution for everyone.
“Are you sure he’ll even let you?” Enriel asked with a laugh, watching from the doorway as he gathered up a pillow and blankets, along with his rucksack. “I think you annoy him even more than you annoy me.”
“I’m sure,” Varen said, ignoring the quip, then he made his way down the hall. He ended up peeking into the parlor where all the other elves were eating; the room was full of merriment, but he was surprised to see that while the two ladies and now three of their children were within, Korik was not.
A servant near the parlor guided him to the music room, where, sure enough, he found the healer. He had piled up pillows and blankets on the floor and arranged his bedroll atop them. It truthfully looked a mess, but a comfortable one, at least.
The room itself had a wide variety of instruments, more than he was expecting to see: several stringed instruments, such as lutes and zithers; wind instruments, like flutes and horns; several kinds of drums that he had never seen; and others still in cases, unsure of what exactly they housed. But it looked as though everything had been pushed up against the walls in a hurry, leaving the center of the room empty.
Varen lightly rapped his knuckles on the frame of the open door. Korik turned and gave a start, clearly surprised to see him.
“What are you doing here?” Korik blurted out, and Varen laughed, grinning.
“Hello to you, too,” he said cheerfully, setting down his things. “Lady Trisfiel told me you were being put up in your own room. I thought that seemed a little unfair, so I’ve decided to keep you company.”
Korik frowned, but the protest Varen expected never came. Instead, he only asked, “You didn’t get your own room too?”
“Sadly, no,” Varen sighed. “The Trisfiel estate is lovely, of course, but notthatlarge. They only have two guest rooms. The ladies’ room isn’t too bad with just three of them, but sharing a room with five other men? I rather think you got a better deal here, Korik.”
The orc’s cheeks darkened—he always flushed like this when he was embarrassed or flustered, which Varen found rather endearing. He looked away, muttering, “I suppose you can stay.”
Varen set down his cot and arranged his pillows up against the back wall of the room, so they had some comfortable distance from each other.
A stack of instrument cases was beside him; he could see three near the bottom all had a name written on them in a faded, childish scrawl.Cheryth. Idly, he wondered again what the story was behind Lady Trisfiel’s prodigal son.
“Did you get enough to eat?” Varen asked. “I was expecting you to still be in the parlor, to be honest.”
“Yes,” Korik replied, shrugging. “I’m more interested in where you and Enriel were.”
Varen snorted. He wondered if the orc had truly gotten enough food, but he supposed he had to take Korik’s word for it, choosing not to press the matter. “Sitting in the dining room with Lady Nedralie. It wasn’t exactly formal, but it was more stuffy than your dinner, at least until the children came in wanting a second dinner, too. They have a whole gaggle of them.”
“I didn’t see them,” Korik said. “Lady Indrin said they would join us in the parlor, but I left before they arrived.”
Varen grinned over at him. “Maybe we’ll catch them at breakfast instead.”
He chattered on about how tiring it must be to have seven children as he finished setting up his bedroll; but once it was done, he laid down and asked Korik to turn off the light, knowing he was far too tired to get back up now. Varen expected sleep to take him within seconds after the candles were all snuffed, yet found himself laying there in silence for long minutes.
They had slept this close, or even closer, nearly every night since they’d set out from Drol Kuggradh; but that had been out in the open, under the stars. Being enclosed in this small room made him feel strangely, acutely aware of the orc’s presence in a way he hadn’t been before. It made his chest feel warm, his heart beating just a bit too fast for him to relax fully into sleep.
In the two years he’d been stationed in Drol Kuggradh, he’d long grown used to the presence of so many other orcs. He was not so proud that he couldn’t admit to himself there was a certain thrill of attraction to suddenly be surrounded by men so much bigger and stronger than him when he was so used to being the tallest in the room. But Korik wasn’t like that—he was tall, of course, but had about as much intimidation about him as a cat. He was… cute, maybe. As cute as an orc could be, anyway.
