Page 126 of That’s My Orc, Tusk Off

“This is amazing.” He took another bite. “This is the mac-and-cheese?”

“Yup. Cheap stuff but it’s satisfying.”

He ate three servings.

Greth appeared in the doorway while we were cleaning up, standing in the opening, watching us.

I held out the open cookie container.

He studied me for a long moment. Then he took two. He turned but paused in the doorway.

“Good,” he said.

Then he left.

“What just happened?” I asked.

Traig’s mouth twitched. “He gave you two cookies’ worth of approval.”

“Is that more than one cookie of approval?”

“Significantly more. He likes you.”

“Cookies are the bar?”

“For Greth? Yes.”

I laughed and put the container back on the counter.

The cottage had filled with people today, and it felt right. We’d built something here that wasn’t just the two of us pretending until the Council decided our fate.

But the month was almost up.

It had been three weeks since the scribe left. The Council’s decision would arrive soon.

I’d been marking off days in my head while I baked cookies and reorganized drawers and learned the exact way Traig liked his things. I’d told myself not to do the math, but I did it anyway.

Seven days left. Maybe less if they decided early.

Dread sat on my chest like a boulder. I could ignore it during the day when I was at work, or the cottage was full of people and creatures and noise. But at night, when it was just Traig and me, it crept back in.

What if the Council made Traig return to the kingdom?

I pushed the thought away and focused on drying the dishes.

“You’re quiet,” he said.

Three weeks had passed in a blur of learning how to build a life with someone. And now we were running out of time. I’d done my best not to let myself think about it during the day. But at night, alone with just the two of us, the fear crept back in.

What if the Council decided we weren’t enough? They might take him anyway, marks or no marks.

“I’m thinking,” I said.

“About what?”

“Nothing important.”

“Liar,” he said softly.