“Once again, then,” Killik said, with a sharp edge on his voice. “Our tale next finds our captain sending a call to Rathgarr, welcoming him safely home again, upon Kesst’s wishes. This summons was delivered by my own hand, for when I learnt of the job from Drafli, I had also just learnt of the vow and the hidden hoard from Ulfarr, ach? Thus, I wished to help him, and learn what else I could of this — and I did not hide from Drafli that there was good cause to grant me this job. And since Skaitrustother Skai” — he narrowed his eyes between Kesst and Rathgarr — “he sent me.”
Geva swallowed, her eyes again glancing at Rathgarr, who was now looking decidedly grim. As though this had answered one question for him, at least — but he didn’t speak. Just kept watching Killik, waiting for the rest.
“So I watch Rathgarr, all these next days,” Killik continued coldly. “I watch him plot and scheme around his return, in true Ash-Kai manner. I watch as he begins to journey home, and how each day, he seeks out plunder to steal. He raids manors and houses and shops, in breach of the treaty we have all given so much to gain.”
His lip was curling at Rathgarr, who in turn was looking warily at Kesst. At where Kesst’s mouth had fallen open, and then clamped shut again. “Of course it was all stolen, as a scheme to impress us with your trove-room, and make us think you were perfectly content with your wealth,” he snapped. “Ofcourse, damn you. Gods” — he winced, shook his head — “how could it not have been? As ifyouwere out there doing honest work all that time, when you could have been blatantly violating our peace-treaty instead?!”
Rathgarr grimaced, but didn’t even attempt to defend himself, and Killik kept frowning between them both, his eyes contemptuous. “And to make these thefts easier for him,” he continued, “Rathgarr took care to choose places that were either empty, or only held lone women inside. And once he had pressed the woman to help him, he would either pay her to stay silent, or take her to bed. Or both.”
What? Now it was Geva’s mouth falling open, her eyes jolting to Rathgarr’s face, while the shock — and yes, the hurt — recoiled in her belly. He’d targeted isolated, unprotected women like her on purpose? He’d bedded them on purpose?!
Rathgarr’s eyes were looking rather hunted now, glancing between Killik and Geva and Kesst. “I only did this, for the treaty!” he said, too quickly. “I ken you see me only as a self-seeking thief, but I yet care for my kind, and did not wish to draw the lords’ and magistrates’ eyes toward us. This way, these women helped hide my deeds, ach? And you can be sure” — he curled his lip at Killik — “noneof them were left grieving our time together!”
Killik rolled his eyes at that, but Geva was suddenly just feeling sick, her stomach seething, her eyes blinking toward the floor. She’d just been another target. Just like the rest of them.
“But next,” Killik’s inexorable voice continued, “he meetsthiswoman. Geva Okoro, a poor, mistreated governess. This woman helps him with his raid, and grants him his father’s dagger. And when men come near to finding him, she hides him away, and keeps him safe. So when he learns the truth of her despair, and her fear that she will be blamed for his deeds, he offers her a job. One month, play-acting as his mate at Orc Mountain.”
The words landed like a stone, like a swinging, staggering strike, deep in Geva’s belly. They’d known. They’d known. And gods, of course they had, and why hadn’t she suspected it, when Killik had spouted off her entire life’s history in that damned first Educational Congress meeting? They’d so obviously been spying on her — gods, Killik and Ulfarr had walked straight in on her and Rathgarr in the forest — and why hadn’t she put it together? How could she have been so foolish?
Her hands had clapped over her mouth, her eyes frantically, helplessly staring at Rathgarr. At how his jaw was very set, his eyes dark and bleak, as he swallowed hard, and glanced at Kesst beside him.
And Kesst looked — stricken. Sick. The hurt and the disbelief flashing across his eyes, as his mouth quivered, and his shoulders slowly slumped, his hands dropping heavy to his sides.
“Right, then,” he said dully. “Well, you did get me on that one, Rath. Though honestly” — he cast a sharp, searching look over at Geva — “I suppose I did guess, didn’t I, sis—”
Geva’s stomach dropped, because he’d broken off with a wince, his face hardening, his eyes darting back toward Rathgarr again. “Ididguess,” he hissed at him. “Iknewsomething was off. I knew she was way too good for you, I knewyouwould never actually pick out someone decent and hardworking andresponsible,and then do something ridiculous like swearvowsto her, or havesonswith her!”
Now Rathgarr was wincing too, glancing at Geva with distinct guilt in his bleak eyes, and Kesst’s answering laugh was painfully shrill, scraping through the room. “Oh, so the rubbish about not being ready for a son was part of it, too,” he growled. “You lied toEftas part of your horrible little scheme? You had himhelpyou trick me?!”
And suddenly Geva couldn’t stand it, couldn’t bear it for another breath, and she lurched closer toward them, her hands wildly flailing in midair. “No!” she gulped, her voice a broken rasp in her throat. “No, Kesst. I wasn’t trying to trick you. I wasn’t ready for a son. Iwasn’t.”
She was desperately searching his face, silently pleading toward him, but he was giving her a sad little smile, a grim shake of his head. “Of course you weren’t, sweetheart,” he said, very smoothly. “Since Rath was your employer, not your mate, and he only gave you a month to do the job! Or” — something shifted, flared in his eyes — “maybe that wasyou, was it, sweetheart? Didn’t want to end up being stuck at Orc Mountain permanently, hmmm?”
Geva blinked blankly back toward him, fully about to refuse — but then her eyes caught on Rathgarr again. On where he was wincing, and rubbing at his mouth, looking even more bleak than before. As if… as if he thoughtshehad wanted that? As if he’d thought the month washerdoing?!
But as she cast back, and back, searching for the truth of it, the certainty seemed to keep slipping away, escaping through her fingers.One moon, mayhap. I do not seek to stay long. You would most certainly be the very last orc in the realm I would choose…
“She wished — to journey across the sea,” Rathgarr finally said, his voice a low sigh in the silence. “To find her true kin again. I did not wish… to take this from her.”
Gods damn it. Damn it. Damn him, damn her, damn this entire awful mess they’d made. And suddenly Geva just wanted to weep, to sink to the floor, to disappear, away from all this misery, all the secrets and lies.
But she was still here, still with all these eyes staring at her, and she had to keep moving, forward, forward…
No. No, damn it, no. She had to face the past. She had to try. She had to.
“If you’ll listen to one more tale,” she whispered, “I’ll tell you everything.”
45
Geva’s tale was quite possibly the most incoherent one she’d ever told. Her voice rushed and broken, her words tripping over themselves, her memories surging far too strong, and often in an entirely different light than before.
But somehow, somehow, she managed to cover it all. How Rathgarr had broken into the Fitzwalds’, and then made her that offer. How they’d spent the next five days travelling together, getting to know each other. How Rathgarr had told her, again and again, that his first priority in going home was Kesst. How deeply Rathgarr had missed Kesst. How he’d wept at Geva’s tales in the dark.
And how Orc Mountain had been — a surprise. How she’d truly enjoyed meeting the other women and orcs, spending time with them, getting to know all the orclings. How Jule had offered her the teaching job, and how she’d willingly accepted it, because she’d loved spending time with the orclings, and had wanted to help.
And, too, how much she’d liked Kesst. How she’d hated seeing him and Rathgarr like that, mistrustful and at odds with one another, when she knew how deeply Rathgarr grieved it. How she’d done everything she could — even those small falsehoods — to bring them together.
And finally, how much she cared for Rathgarr. How with every day that passed, she’d wanted and appreciated him more. How they’d unexpectedly had so much in common, from their tastes in clothes to their affection for children. How she’d wanted to convince him to stay, but hadn’t once spoken of it, because she’d been afraid of what he would say. So how instead, she’d just kept working harder, being the best mate she could be, trying to show him, to sway him, to gain his trust.
