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An older orc woman dressed in ceremonial feathered robes pushes her way to the front of the crowd. Her wizened face has seen many turns of the seasons, but her eyes are as clear and sharp as a hawk’s.
“Shaman Otunga,” Jovak says with great respect.
“Where have you been, Chief Jovak?” she snapped with a surprisingly strong voice, despite how heavily she leaned on her gnarled walking stick. “Where have you been while our people have vanished and their loved ones have suffered so? Well? What task was so important that you had to leave us twisting in the wind?”
Shit, this isn’t good. I know that Jovak was following the dark elf army at first, but it would have been pretty obvious after at least the second day they were not a threat to his own tribe. After that, he was simply indulging his curiosity and shirking his duties.
They’re going to oust him, if not straight up kill him if he tells the truth. This is one angry mob. What can I do? He's helped Laney and me so much. He literally saved our lives again and again. I have to do something ….
And then it hits me that I do have one card to play, one move to make.
“I’m sorry,” I say in my best parade voice. All the gazes that whip my way make me feel anxious, but none more than that of Otunga herself. “It’s all my fault he’s been away for so long. You see, your chief did not abandon you for some fool’s errand. He was claiming a mate.”
Gasps rise from the gathered throng. The shaman stares at me so hard I think I’m going to burst into flames.
“And where is this mate?” she asks.
“Right here,” I say, putting my hand on Jovak’s shoulder as his mouth gaped open. “I’m his mate.”
10
JOVAK
Iturn my astonished gaze on Paige. Has she gone absolutely mad? What possessed her to say such a thing?
Unless … I am not the most familiar with human courtship rituals. Perhaps she has changed her mind? Perhaps I gave her enough time, and she’s made her decision about me? My heart soars at the thought.
Then, she catches my gaze and gives me a subtle wink. So, it is a ruse, then. But why? Does she really think this is going to make things better between the people I lead and me?
Only it seems to be working. The looks of shock are fading, replaced by everything from curiosity to alarm to hope. Otunga narrows her gaze on Paige and takes a crooked step forward.
“What did you say, human?”
Paige blanches a little under Otunga’s gaze. There are few who would not, and all of them are insane. But she stiffens her spine and meets the old shaman’s gaze spark for spark.
“I said he claimed a mate. Me.”
Otunga glances at me, and her lips twitch.
“Is this true, Chief Jovak?”
Her tone is different. She's still angry, but there’s a note of hope as well.
“Yes.” I wrapped my arm around her body, hand at her waist, and pulled Paige close to my side. “Yes, this is my mate. Allow me to introduce you to Paige the Holdfast.”
She glances at me.
“Holdfast?”
“Yes, because you held fast to your ground even when faced with a foe much mightier than yourself.” I turn my gaze to my people as they all gasp and exchange incredulous looks. “Yes, that is the right of it. I found my mate in the Valley of Lost Souls many leagues to the south.”
“What were you doing so far away as the Valley of Lost Souls?” Otunga demands.
“At first, I was tracking a dark elf army,” I reply smoothly as if it’s a matter of course. “But soon I began to feel an inexorable pull as if destiny were pulling my strings.” I looked down on Paige, and I didn’t have to feign the next part. Not the story nor my admiration for her. “When I first saw my mate, she was facing down six warriors from the Red Wyrm tribe.”
Gasps go out around the gathered orcs. Otunga glances sharply at Paige, clearly seeing her in a new light.
“Is this true?” Otunga asks her.
