“Bringing an end to an endless war can only help our people,” Gorza said blandly. “What are you doing out here? Did you come from Zesh’s camp?”
“Fuck you, fuck all these little pointy-eared bastards, and fuck every traitorous orc like you,” the orc snapped, turning away from her. “Kill me if that’s what you’re going to do. You won’t get another word out of me, or any of us.”
“Where is the camp?” Gorza pressed.
“Fuck you.”
“Who’s supplying his information?”
“Fuck. You.”
The two orcs stared each other down for a moment, then Gorza finally rose back up to her feet with a sigh, dusting off her trousers.
“As useless as I expected,” she said in elvish, stepping toward Galred and the elves again. Alwyn’s eyes flickered between her and the three orcs on the ground, considering the exchange. She seemed entirely unfazed by what they had said to her, but he wondered what to make of their conviction.
Most elves—at least, most elves he knew—had no problem with the unification, if that was what it took to end the war. It had been shocking when the former warlord had accepted themarriage proposal between Prince Taegan and his son, and there would always be those who resisted change. For the most part, however, the elves of Aefraya had generally been in favor of an alliance with their neighboring orcs.
The vehemence of the orc’s words made him realize he truly knew very little about the overall orcish sentiment about the peace treaty and subsequent union between their nations. Zesh started this rebellion because of his belief that he was owed the crown his younger brother now wore, surely; but there had to be more to it than that for him to have amassed enough support that it threatened the new peace.
But it wasn’t his place to think about these things. He would let the kings and nobles and advisors worry about the politics of it all. He could hear his master’s wisdom clearly when he considered it: “People may live with uncertainty and weakness, but a weapon has its imperfections beaten out, existing for a singular purpose.”
Galred’s voice shook him from his thoughts. “We have other means of extracting information, if you would so prefer...”
The elves not in the Order seemed to shift uncomfortably at Galred’s implication, which made Alwyn wonder whattheythought of all this. They were trained as fighters—spies as well, to some extent—but the torture that Galred was hinting at was certainly not part of their curriculum.
Gorza appeared uncomfortable with the prospect, too. Her brow furrowed, and after a beat, she shook her head. “I don’t want to make a rash decision. We have them secure for now. Let’s wait until we have everyone before we decide how to proceed.”
Galred only nodded. “Then we shall wait.”
It was over an hour before Krujha and the scouts returned.
In that time, the elves had meticulously gone through each of the captive orc’s saddlebags for anything magical or mundane that might be useful, or else give a hint to their intentions; but the map that Krujha found seemed to be the most valuable item. The best that Alwyn could figure, the three of them had not come from whatever host Zesh had gathered, but were part of an offshoot supporting camp. The purpose of such a camp, or the reason they were in such a remote place, was unclear; but from their gear and supplies, Alwyn suspected they had, in fact, been out here to hunt. Like him and Krujha, they were probably tasked with supplementing food for a larger force.
When his thoughts circled back to the orc, he found himself once again unsettled at how quickly and easily Krujha’s entire persona had changed. It was an impressive skill for any spy, of course, but it did make Alwyn wonder how real the friendly, chatty version of Krujha was. The thought made him feel strangely relieved that he never had to remain under cover in the field for long. He could pretend to be someone else for a short time, but never had to lose sight of who and what he really was. Living day in and day out, all while wearing the mask of someone else, seemed like a surefire way to slowly lose one’s convictions—or even one’s whole personality.
But perhaps his imagination was getting the best of him. Krujha was clearly a good actor, but Alwyn was likely overthinking. Maybe he’d been living in his own thoughts a little too much lately; after all, it had only taken him a handful of nights to finish the adventure book he’d brought. He had, in fact, re-read it and wondered what the next installment might hold.
When Krujha, G’mol, and Myrra returned, Krujha’s jovial personality seemed to have returned too, but the other two looked visibly concerned about what had transpired.
“It worries me that they recognized me so quickly,” Gorza said after she’d explained the situation to the two scouts. They were all gathered together, and the captive orcs remained tied up, sitting a few paces away. By now they were confident that the trio did not understand a word of elvish, so Gorza stuck to that tongue. “I had hoped I wouldn’t be as much of a target, but I suppose anyone allied with Zesh would have been told to look out for me—for any of his siblings.”
No one replied, instead waiting for her to continue. Finally, she sighed and spoke again.
“I don’t want to risk this happening again, and my presence here is not critical. I’ll take G’mol with me to bring these three to Drol Kuggradh, so the king himself can decide what to do with them. The rest of you will continue on without me.”
Surprise rippled through the group. Krujha was the first to speak, stepping closer to Gorza with his brow furrowed.
“Are you sure that’s the best move?” he asked, frowning. “Truth be told, I don’t think you should leave.”
But Gorza waved a dismissive hand. Alwyn’s eyes lingered on Krujha, though, as the prospect of Gorza splitting off seemed to disturb him more than the rest. Whatever that might mean was beyond him.
“I wouldn’t be able to go into the camp with you, anyway. Our group would always have to split at some point. It’s just happening a little sooner than I hoped,” she said. “No, I trust you. I trust that King Ruven sent his best for this, too. I’ll try to send word from Drol Kuggradh, but I believe in you all to see this mission through, even without my oversight.”
Krujha’s frown remained, but he nodded once in acquiescence and didn’t protest again. Galred glanced at the other elves, considering, before saying stiffly,
“We have appreciated your leadership. But I am confident in our ability to continue with a smaller group.”
Gorza laughed. “I think that’s the nicest thing an elf has ever said to me.”
