Those long-lashed eyes blinked at her, but he didn’t speak. And when Rosa gave an exasperated wave toward the door, he finally shoved back his chair, picked up his book, and smoothly rose to his feet.
And. For a fleeting, frozen instant, it was like the room had stuttered, catching itself on the bizarre, inexplicable sight of it. A tall, broad, grey-skinned orc, with his long braided hair and harsh face and square jaw — andpointed ears— was standing across the table from Rosa, holding a book in his long clawed fingers, looking down at her with bottomless black eyes.
And for perhaps the first time today, Rosa was briefly, acutely aware of her own appearance. She’d stayed up late into the night researching, and had only had time to hurriedly wash up and dress this morning — in one of her own shabby, comfortable dresses, rather than the fancy, tight-fitting ones Lord Kaspar provided — before rushing over to work in the rain. Which meant that her long blonde hair was still wet and straggly, her dress baggy and rumpled, andwhywas she thinking these things, he wasn’t Lord Kaspar, he was anorc—
“Get in,” she ground out, and finally, thank the gods, the orc turned, and went. Opening the room’s latch with an easy flick of his hand, and striding inside with long, graceful steps before shutting the door tight behind him.
It left Rosa standing there alone by the table, dragging in deep breaths, clutching her book closer to her chest. It was fine. She’d managed the situation. This was anopportunity.
And when she walked back out toward Susan, it was almost easy to smile at her suspicious face, and setThe Lady Brightback down on the desk. “It actually worked,” she said, as brightly as she could. “He’s gone. I sent him out the back door, so as not to further alarm you.”
Susan’s relief was so palpable, she actually dropped the feather duster, and by the time she’d collected it again, she was already happily chattering, back to her usual self. What would her neighbours say when they heard she’d seen anorc, had he truly still pretended to be able toread, and had Rosa managed to avoid giving away her scent, so that the orc wouldn’t follow her home to the boarding house and kidnap her afterwards?
“Oh, I don’t think he was interested in me in the slightest,” Rosa said, her voice coming out oddly flat. “He only cared about his book. AnAntidotarium.”
Susan clucked and protested at that, kindly recalling the various men who had lost their heads over Rosa, and if only Lord Kaspar wasn’t so entangled with Lady Scall, Rosa might yet have a chance of landing him for good, perhaps?
Rosa didn’t waste any breath correcting Susan of that delusion, and instead nodded and smiled at the appropriate pauses. Until Susan finally stopped talking and took her leave, shutting the door behind her with a self-satisfied bang.
And finally —finally— silence. Enough that Rosa could finally breathe again, despite her too-present awareness of that closed back room, with that tall, disconcerting orc inside it. In her library. Reading abook.
But there was no actual sign of him, only the silence, spreading wide and close and familiar. It was likely to be a quiet day, what with the unpleasant weather outside, and Lord Kaspar was sure to be away for at least another two weeks.
And in the meantime, Rosa would make a plan for this orc. She would impress Lord Kaspar. And no matter what it took, she would start this damned war.
4
Rosa spent the rest of the morning frantically working at the lending desk, sketching out a plan.
She needed to get beyond her sources, and all their useless, unverifiable bollocks. There had already been an endless war between orcs and men, driven by all those tired, familiar claims — and as much as Rosa hated to admit it, Lord Kaspar was right. To start a new war, he needed something new. Weaknesses, he’d said. Scandals. Shocking atrocities. Something compelling enough to incite a full-scale rebellion.
And it wasn’t like this orc was going to offer up such damning information on a platter, of course. But Rosa could try. She could attempt to make conversation. Build a rapport. The orcs were supposedly drawn to women, wanted women — and Rosa had extensive experience in giving powerful males exactly what they wanted. Didn’t she?
By the time she’d filled her sheet with her increasingly cramped writing, her hand felt shaky and clammy, her heart beating erratically against her ribs. But she nodded as she scanned her neat script, and mentally reiterated the main points. Introductions first. And then offers of help. And then, perhaps, admitting a partial truth of her research, asking for some guidance on some non-offensive questions. And then…
She set aside the quill with trembly fingers, and again reached forThe Lady Bright, clutching it close against her chest. It was a good plan. It was the best that could be expected, under the circumstances. It was an opportunity.
She turned and strode with quick steps toward the back room, her eyes fixed on the floor, her heartbeat echoing even louder in her ears. And before she lost the nerve, she raised her hand, and rapped firmly upon the still-closed door.
“Hello?” she called. “Are you still in there?”
There was a sound much like a grunt in reply, so Rosa swung the door open. Only to find the orc again sitting and reading, this time at the little table beneath the room’s small window.
His big frame looked almost comically large against the table, and he seemed to be perched rather precariously on the stool — but he also managed, somehow, to yet make the pose look easy, languid, relaxed. He hadn’t yet finished his book, perhaps now halfway through, and he was still intently reading, his eyes scanning steadily across the open page.
And now that the initial shock of seeing him had passed, Rosa could admit that his appearance didn’t at all match her sources’ descriptions, either. Orcs were supposed to be hideous, crooked, fleshy, broken. Their skin was supposed to be rough and scarred, their hair chunky and matted, their bodies hulking and coarse and displeasing.
But this orc — Rosa’s eyes flicked up and down his seated form — was none of that. His face was strong and angular and sharp-looking, yes, his braided hair long and black, his skin that disconcerting grey — but it was all smooth, balanced, unmarked by scars or disease. His nose was straight, his jaw square, his ears tapering to those elegant points against his thick, shining hair.
And despite its size, his big body was just as well-formed, broad and strong-looking, the hard ridges of muscle clearly visible beneath the thin fabric of his tunic. And Rosa felt her eyes lingering, first on his corded forearms and wrists, and then his too-large hands. Noting how long and graceful those clawed fingers were, as they closed the book between them, again taking care to mark the page.
Something twisted deep in Rosa’s belly, powerful enough to bring a quiet, heated gasp to her mouth — and when her eyes finally, belatedly darted up to the orc’s face, she was suddenly, intently aware that heknew. And perhaps evenapproved, his sharp tooth just visible against his lip, his black eyes sweeping swift and strong up and down Rosa’s trapped, trembly body.
But then, inexplicably, the orc’s gaze flicked purposefully across the small room, toward Lord Kaspar’s empty cot. Lingering there for a long, twitching moment, before sliding back to Rosa again. And this time, there was only a determined wariness in his eyes, and maybe even disapproval.
“Woman,” he said, voice flat. “For what do you wish now.”
He spoke as though Rosa had been harassing him all morning, and she mentally grasped for composure, for her plan. “We didn’t actually meet properly, did we?” she said, with an attempt at a smile. “Hi, I’m Rosa. Rosa Rolfe.”
