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“Perhaps that is true. However, this weapon is not meant to harm you.” I gesture at the groaning child. “How fares the youngling?”
She seems to remember the child about then. Still keeping a wary eye on me, she crawls to the girl and then gently shakes her.
“Laney,” she says. “Are you all right?”
The child mutters something and tries to open her eyes. I see a large knot swelling on the side of her head. My anger boils over. Only the lowest of the low would harm a child, no matter what species they are from.
I reach into my belt pouch and pull out some somerset seeds. Then I crouch beside the two humans. The older one startles, but then she sees the seeds in my hand.
I chew them into a paste, then spit it into my palm. I know she doesn’t want me to touch the child, so I offer her the remedy.
“Here,” I say. “Put it in the wound. It will help.”
She reaches for the paste, not upset that it’s been in my mouth. She keeps giving me looks, though, like she thinks I could go crazy and harm her or the child at any moment.
I provide a strip of leather to use as a bandage, again being careful not to get too close to the child. I think the child might be her daughter. They have similar sandy-blonde hair and freckles.
“Thank you,” she says. Then we stare at each other. She’s waiting for me to say or do something, but what?
I need to get back to my tribe. I’ve been away for far too long as it is. I yearn to take her with me, but … it might not be safe for her with my tribe. It might not even be safe for me any longer.
“I wish you well,” I say, touching my knuckle to my forehead in the traditional orcish way. “And I will take my leave.”
I walk a few steps when I hear the sound I was hoping for.
“Wait.”
5
PAIGE
The word scarcely leaves my lips, and I wonder if it’s a mistake.
I mean, an orc leaving is a good thing, or it’s supposed to be. This one didn’t try to kill or enslave us, though. In fact, both Laney and I owe our lives to him.
Still, he was leaving us, which is as rare as water in the desert. Maybe I should leave well enough alone, but I already said it, and now he’s turning around.
He’s an unusual looking orc. Slimmer than most with a sleek musculature and long limbs that move with liquid grace. His eyes have more of an almond shape than most orcs I’ve seen, too, and his hair has a splash of white at the temples though I don’t think he’s all that old.
His hair is pulled back into a tight topknot, baring his face to the first twinkling stars winking into existence overhead.
Now, I’ve always sort of secretly thought orcs weren’t as monstrous as other humans do. In fact, I kind of think they’re aesthetically pleasing. Some of them were even attractive.
This one definitely qualifies as hot, that’s for damn sure. I’ve never seen so much definition on a body before. He’s like a Greek god chiseled out of stone.
He’s staring at me with dark purple eyes. What should I say to him? I told him to wait.
“I …” Why is my mouth so dry all of a sudden? “I want to thank you.”
He nods. “No need.”
That’s all he says, but he doesn’t turn to leave. He remains, an inscrutable light in his lavender eyes.
“Where, uh, where are you going?”
“Back to my tribe. I’ve been away too long.”
Well, that makes sense. He’s clearly not with the Red Wyrm Clan. Suddenly I have an impulse to ask him to take us along. I don’t know why other than the fact that he fought bravely and well to save us ... and asked for nothing in return.
