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Iknockonthedoor I remember so well. I hear weary footsteps come before the door is ajar and a face a little older than I remember comes to view.
“As I live and breathe.” Owa gives me a smile. One of the most genuine and friendliest I’ve encountered since I’ve been back.
“I come bearing gifts.” I reveal a container of figs I got for her.
She beams. “Only you would remember my luxuries. Come in, young one.” She moves and I come in. We take seats.
“How could I forget you, old orc?” I say.
She chuckles. “Jani tells me you have been ruffling feathers again and you brought back something curious with you.” She takes one of the figs and swallows it.
She has a few teeth left but she is still vital. It’s strange that I left her in almost the same state, she is almost a thousand years old, and she hasn’t changed much in the last 200 years.
“I came back with a pregnant mate. She is beautiful. Her name is Aria.” I tell her.
Her eyes glisten and I know where she is headed before she speaks. “I’m sorry about what happened. I didn’t know what they planned.”
I close my eyes briefly. Owa is the oldest sorcerer of the tribe and she taught Soni and Azula. She is a great herbalist and healer too and when I couldn’t sleep before, she made a portion for me, and it helped. Her and her husband, Jani, were like second parents to me.
They raised me as much as my own parents. Jani taught me more than my father about being an orc, the lessons on honor - though I didn’t listen a lot - but they have always had plenty of patience for me.
Their only child died in their 20s and they have never had another child. But they are happy, and they were always the models of a love that I wanted for myself.
They were the only couple that stayed together in our tribe, and everyone made fun of it, but when I was growing up, I admired it. I’ve always found the idea of keeping your mate at arm’s length absurd, and they were the biggest reason for that.
So, I can never be angry at her or Jani, and I have never held any ill feelings for them.
“I did deserve it, Owa.” I say. Her eyes widen, making me chuckle. “Don’t tell them I admitted it but being away with no way to return gave me a lot of time to think. And believe me I spent decades thinking I was coming back to exert my revenge on those who betrayed me, but meeting Aria has given me a new perspective.” I pause. “What’s more? I love another more than I love myself. So, tell me, old orc, what do you think about that?”
“I’d say the humans have sent us a ghoul because there is no way you are son of Zad.” Jani says from behind me, and I turn to find him wearing a fond smile.
“I have to agree with my mate. Reveal yourself, ghoulish imposter.” They both laugh.
“No imposter, old orc, just growth.”
Jani comes to take the seat next to his mate and he takes one of the figs in the container. It always fascinated me that Jani doesn’t necessarily like figs in general but will eat them if she’s eating them. I see it with new eyes now, a better perspective and I understand.
“It is good seeing you, young one. How were your travels? Besides taking the wife of a ruling king and running away with her.” Jani grins and his vowed elbows him, but she thinks it’s funny too.
News of that sure has traveled fast. I think I need to speak to Zod. He said he went a month before I came back, that makes me wonder what he saw and if he saw me before I was taken. Or he got there when I had already been arrested and if so, why didn’t they come for me.
“They were long. Lonely. I missed my people.” I say honestly.
“And you were missed too.” Jani says, but they look at each other.
“Has your uncle told you about the new threat?” Owa asks.
I nod. “The Soko? Yes, he told me. What do you know about them?” If anyone maybe knows more about them it’s these two.
Owa looks at her mate who nods at her before she comes back to me. “My great grandmother told me about them when I was a girl. We thought they were extinct or died off, and it’s because of how vile they were that their history was erased and banished. They are magic users. Most of our practices come from them, from long ago when the tribes lived together before the first migration, a few thousand years before. They are practitioners of esoteric magic and they like using orc parts for their potions.” She says.
I am left stunned. “I don’t understand.”
“None of us do.” Jani says.
“So, is that why they were taking Bonos?” I ask.
“I believe so. Their rituals favor the Bonos because of their physical features but we can’t relax either. A few of ours have also been taken.” Owa says.
