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“Han’zir!” The orc lets out a roar and charges towards me. I fall back, ready to defend myself no matter how pointless it might be against someone his size.
He’s changed his mind. I’m going to die.
Chapter 3
Drazak
This idiot. He may be a magician with the crops, but he’s useless when it comes to the practical. And now he’s worked the damn woman until she’s bleeding from that big gash on her arm.
When Han’zir figured out what she was asking of us, what she wanted to trade in exchange for her keep, I shouldn’t have stormed out of the barn like I did. But I still can’t stop thinking about the way that human looked at me. Somehow... I recognized her, like when you see a plate fall and break, and you’re certain that same plate has broken before, in that same way but in another time.
In another time, I knew her, whoever she is, and that feeling does not sit well with me.
Then when Han’zir suggested she stay, I liked how that felt even less. The prospect was... enticing. Enticing in a manner that doesn’t fit into the order that is our lives, a fantasy that can’t work. Things are simple here on the farm, and whatever she is, she promises to be complicated. I heard the sweet lilt in Han’zir’s voice as he tried to make an agreement with someone who can’t even speak our language. He’s immediately taken a liking to her.
This is even less promising. He’ll be sorely disappointed when it all goes wrong, and I’ll have to pick up the pieces.
As I barge outside to learn what he’s been up to for the last hour with his new pet, I find her on the ground, whimpering with pain while dark blood, almost black, drips down her arm. Her face is flushed, her forehead dripping with sweat, and I know just by looking at her she has a fever.
“Han’zir! What have you been doing?” I snarl, rushing towards her. She shrieks and tries to escape, but stopping her takes as much effort as restraining a grasshopper. Holding her captive by her good arm, I peel up her sleeve to get a look at the wound.
Fuck. I should have seen to her injury when we first found her. Now Han’zir has gone and fucked it all up even worse.
“Filling your bath!” he announces proudly, stepping aside to reveal the full, big tub.
“What?” I don’t know if I’m hearing him right. “You had the human bring in all the water?” Once more I look down at her bright red face. She’s squinting like she expects me to hit her, so I release her good arm, but that doesn’t mean I’m done with her yet.
“You’re coming with me,” I growl at her, and she flinches again.
Han’zir rolls his eyes. “That will certainly make her want to comply,” he says, batting me away. He crouches down in front of her, like he’s talking to a small child. “Come on. I fucked up, puppy. We have to take you inside.” He points at the house, and the woman’s eyes follow the direction of his hand. She swallows and nods.
He’s a human-whisperer, even when he’s the reason she was on the ground in the first place.
Uneasily, she gets up and I lead her into our kitchen, where I dig out some old supplies for bandaging wounds. My skills aren’t much, but maybe they’ll be enough. If not, I guess she’ll probably die. It’s not like we can call the village healer to attend to our little human. But that would disappoint Han’zir immensely, since he’s already rather attached to his new puppy.
Once she’s seated at the table, looking like a child in one of our big chairs, I pull one up next to her to get a good look at her wound. It’s angry and red and starting to leak pus.
“This is bad.” Again I glare at Han’zir over my shoulder, and he has the sense to look sheepish. “You didn’t think at all, did you? About how much work you were making her do?”
“She wanted to prove herself!” He pouts. “I liked it. And I thought you’d enjoy a nice bath.”
Of course he did. Not using his head at all, but somehow still sweet about it. I bring over a bowl of water and clean out the wound. The human mewls and pulls back, but I don’t relent. There’s all sorts of dirt in it. No wonder it’s gotten infected.
“Shit,” I say with a grimace, and she flinches. I shoot a look at Han’zir. “Go into town. We need something to help your little puppy fight this infection.”
He nods quickly. “Fine, fine.” After shrugging on his pack, he heads out the door. In the meantime, I investigate the bath he had her fill, and find the water already quite warm. Good.
“Come with me,” I tell the human, taking her by the wrist. She resists, whimpering like a small animal. Yes, she has every reason to be terrified, but right now I need her obedience—so I lower my voice and urge her on with a gentler command, pointing out the door. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Eventually her suspicion thaws enough that she gets up and follows me outside. I lead her to the tub and indicate she should climb in. Her eyes widen. Some hot water will do her good, and a soak might help the wound, too.
“Get in,” I instruct. She hesitates, glancing down at her body and then back up at me.
Great. Modesty. With a grunt of annoyance, I turn around, and then comes the sound of her stripping her clothes off. A tiny voice speaks up behind me.
“Aru haas?” When I look back, she’s trying to get into the tub, but it’s too high up. Her body isn’t curvaceous, but her hips flare out into pert cheeks and her breasts are shockingly large—much bigger than an orcess or trolless in comparison to her tiny shape.
What’s even more surprising is how my body reacts to it. I shiver as blood rushes into my hips, and my cock nudges at my pants.
