“A performance?” I repeated weakly. “Hockey?”
“Even better.Ice dancing.” Before I could groan—I already suspected where this was going, Maddie continued eagerly. “You know the Bramblebluff Complex is home ice to Lila Fairbanks, right?”
I frowned, not having any idea who she was talking about. “Does she play in the youth league?”
Maddie grinned in excitement and tapped her fingers against the tabletop, as if her energy couldn’t be contained. “She’s a nationally ranked figure skater, or she was, before she gave it up to work for her father. Now she only skates for fun.”
To my surprise, the memory of the appealing female in the hall popped into my head. Had there been a resemblance between the goddess and Mr. Fairbanks? Perhaps. Was that Lila?
“So our idea is for Lila to choreograph and perform a duo ice-dancing exhibition for the donors. Fairbanks Enterprises hosts them here at the ice complex, and believe me, we’re going to ask any of the team who are willing to wear tuxedos to show up and schmooze.”
I still didn’t understand where this was going, and why I was here. “Uh—sure. I mean, I don’t know that any of us own tuxedos, but I know a lot of the guys are interested in helping?—”
“Oh, don’t worry, we’ll rent tuxedos big enough to fit them. Probably from the same company we’ll hire to make your costume.”
Here it was, the other shoe about to drop.
“My…” I swallowed. “My costume?”
SurelyMaddie could see I wasn’t thrilled with her scheme, but her response was to throw herself even more enthusiastically into her explanation.
“Lila can’t skate alone. Or shecould, but she wouldn’t draw the kind of attention we need. We need her to partner with someone who is beloved by the fans already, someone peoplewantto see more of, someone with a reputation.”
Gods below, she was talking aboutme, wasn’t she?
Some of my horror must have shown on my face because Maddie hurried to reassure me. “I know you don’t have any ice dancing experience, Kardok, but that’s okay. Lila has agreed to help, and one of the youth skating coaches will be compensated for working with you both. You’ll have four weeks to get it perfect—we’re going to schedule the gala for right before the exhibition games start for the season—for both the team and the youth league.”
“Oh. Good,” I managed to rasp weakly. “Why…” I cleared my throat and tried again. “Why me?”
For the first time, Maddie seemed less certain, her expression falling just slightly. Her hand twitched, as if she wanted to reach for something—me?—before she curled it into a fist.
“Because you need this, Kardok,” she finally said in a soft voice. “PR-wise. You have a…a reputation. And ice dancing…well, it’s the opposite of that reputation, isn’t it?”
With a sinking feeling in my stomach, I slouched in the chair, realizing she was right.
I was no expert when it came to figure skating, but I remembered the clips I’d seen over the years, or the rehearsals I’d glimpsed as I was leaving our own practice. The humans who did it were graceful and elegant and refined.
There were noorcishice dancers.
For a good reason.
In our world, males made a place for themselves with their strength, their courage, and their ability to beat the shit out of their enemies—with sticks or blades or rocks. When we’d come to the human’s world, many of us had taken to the human’s sports as a replacement for that competition. But it had been hockey—and the formation of the Orc Hockey League—that had given many of us a home.
The OHL had reached out and said,Here’s a place for brutes like you. Let humans pay good money to watch you beat each other.
Blood on the snow. A familiar image of our childhood. Here, there was less blood, less pain, but just as much violence.
We were good at it.Iwas good at it. The best. Kardok the Wicked. Give me skates and a stick, and I could make any opposing defensemen flinch. It was my role on the team.
Yeah, and look what happened last time. Maybe you need to be more than just an enforcer, eh?
Maddie had been silent, watching me thoughtfully as I dug through all this shit, and now she blew out a sigh and nodded.
“Your reputation has served you well, Kardok,” she said softly. “Not just with the ladies, but in the League. But you’re starting to believe it a little too much. You’re not just a blunt weapon on the ice—you’re scary, yeah, but you’re a talented skater too. This exhibition will prove that.”
“Ice dancing,” I repeated flatly.
Who’d ever heard of an orcfigure skater?
