It’s a few minutes before I hear a cough and I peer over the edge of the roof to find three of the human men, including Tom, peering up at me.
‘Coming for a pint, Morgan?’
I can’t help my surprised look. ‘Aye. I’ll just finish the last one and I’ll be there.’
They walk off and I stare down at where they were standing for a moment, a small smile playing on my lips. Perhaps the tide is turning.
I hammer down the final tile and slide down the ladder to the ground, putting the tools I’ve been using inside the first cottage with all the others. Then, I head toward the tavern.
The Gray Shrew is at the top of the village. It’s one of the only other stone buildings, a testament to how important the place is to the humans here.
I go inside, stooping down to fit under the door frame. As I do, the dull hum of conversation drops, and I try to ignore it.
‘Morgan!’ Tom calls loudly when he sees me, raising his tankard in my direction and eyeing the other patrons with a determined expression.
I wonder sardonically if Lia and Dane have asked him to publicly acknowledge me as a friend, so that the others warm to me.
But, I go over and gamely greet the other men who’ve been working on the cottages with me. One of them, Ian, I think his name is, sloshes a pint toward me.
I take it from him before he empties it over me and give him a nod of thanks.
‘Got that entire roof done today, did you?’ Ian asks.
I nod. ‘Aye, it’s finished. Won’t matter if it rains now.’
Ian nods, looking over at one of the others and pointing. ‘Didn’t I tell you? Didn’t I say it?’ He looks at me. ‘I told ’em when you first started. That’s the Mountain, I said. He’s built like a giant and strong as twelve oxen.’ He nods. ‘And you proved me right. Aye, you rightly did. We’d have three cottages, not five almost finished if it wasn’t for you, orc.’
I say nothing to his words, slightly amused and wondering how deep in his cups my new human friend is.
‘Don’t mind him,’ another one called Holt mutters next to me. ‘Can’t hold his ale, this one.’
Ian splutters and tells Holt to fuck off, and they both guffaw. I stand with Tom and the others for a while, basking in the camaraderie, speaking with them about the next phase of the build and how many cottages will be planned for the summer. I notice some of the other villagers eyeing us, but for once notwith the fear and distrust I’m used to when I’m here with Jak or Locke. It’s easy, and, for the first time, I wonder if I will perhaps settle here for the long-term.
After the group calls it an evening to go home to their families, I sit by the fire in a corner as the tavern fills. I’m alone, but at least no one has left because I’m here, which has happened more than once. I see Jak enter with a supply pack a little while later and I give him a nod. He grabs a drink and comes to sit with me, taking a long pull of his pint before putting it on the table in front of him.
He gives me a look. ‘You’re not usually here when it’s so busy,’ he remarks.
‘Tom and the others asked if I was coming for a drink,’ I reply.
He raises a brow. ‘Congratulations.’
‘Get through the supplies?’ I ask, changing the subject.
He nods. ‘I did. Took the whole day though. Whatever healer they had come from the Underhill while we were gone left it in a right state. I thought Gwen would see to it, but nothing was in the right place. Fucking fae.’
I snort a laugh. ‘You are fae.’
He simpers at me. ‘You know what I mean. The Under-born.’ He leans in and lowers his voice. ‘They always act like they’re our betters.’
I rumble my ascent. I had noticed, but I thought it was because I’m clearly half orc, not because I’m notfromthe Underhill.
‘Do they treat all the fae who came from Varrik’s fold thus?’ I inquire, but Jak just shrugs.
‘Who gives a fuck? We don’t live there.’
‘Aye,’ I mutter. ‘We just go out to the Dark Realms to do their dirty work.’
He shrugs again. ‘You could leave.’
