"Who are you making yourself so pretty for, commander?" Vildon asked as he stood behind me, watching how I'd finished another braid and now tied a leather band around the end.
The tone in his voice pissed me off. "None of your business," I replied, using one of my pointy claws to section some hair, before I began to braid the other side of my head. "And if you speak in that tone to me again, I will punch your nose till it points in the other direction."
"My nose just healed, Orvar!"
"I know." I glared at him.
Perhaps I was just annoyed with myself, because Vildon just hit the nail on its head, didn't he? I'd washed my body more thoroughly today, I'd cleaned my pants. I had even spent extra time to pick and scrub my teeth for this woman.
"I was just asking a question," Vildon whined, rubbing his nose. It was still a bit bruised, his light green-gray skin decorated with a slight hint of yellow.
"No, you were asking a question in a mocking tone and I will not have a boy make fun of me," I replied. "When my father was still our commander, I wouldn't think of speaking to him like that. He would've cut my nose off instead of breaking it."
Vildon scratched the back of his head. "Jeez. I'm sorry."
"It's my fault for spoiling you."
A silence fell until Vildon spoke again. "Here," he said, stepping closer to hang something around my neck.
"Why did you give me your necklace?" I asked, looking down, seeing a strand of animal teeth, bones, and shiny gemstones hanging around my neck.
"Because it looks good on you."
I took it off. "It's yours. You don't have to suck up to me. Here."
Vildon shook his head and held his hands behind his back. "I can make another one. I enjoy making them. It is a gift. From one orc to his commander."
Vildon was a creative soul, skilled with his hands. I could never make a piece like this, something so well-made.
I huffed. "Fine."
"So you like it?" Vildon asked before giving me a wide grin. "You'll take it?"
"Yeah, yeah. Thanks, you brat."
"Now that was a touching moment," said Jarla, standing in my door opening.
"Come in. And you." I looked at Vildon next. "Leave us."
After Vildon left, I told Jarla that I was heading out for the day and that he would be the one in charge. I didn't foresee any problems for today, but just in case, I told him to blow the big horn if there was trouble. That thing was so loud that I would be able to hear it where I was planning on taking Gyda with me.
~
On my way out, I bumped into Ston and Betsy.
"When will you pop that bairn out?" I asked, eyeing Betsy's belly. The woman has been waddling around like a duck for days now. Wide-legged, her enormous belly to the front and hands in her back.
"Fuck me, I don't know. But I'm so done with it. I can't even sleep anymore! Look at the size of this belly!"
"It's the most beautiful fat thing I've ever seen," Ston said, caressing his woman's belly.
"Shut up." She slapped his hands away. "And don't touch me there. I cannot stand it!"
"Well, I would not want to leave this warm nest either if I was him... And he's strong too," Ston looked at me. "He's kicking her so hard, she's crying out." The man seemed to be proud instead of pitiful.
Betsy glared at him. "You're such a dumbass sometimes." She then looked at me and grabbed my hands, putting them on her round bump. "You're the commander. Now, command this brat to come out."
"What?" I asked. "How would that help?'
"Do it," Betsy pressed. "Maybe the little bastard will listen to you!"
I didn't have time for this crap, but she seemed desperate.
"O-kay..." I said, hearing Ston chuckle in the background. I gently patted her belly. "Leave this womb, you little one."
Betsy scoffed. "Put some power in it, orc! How is this a command!"
She made me shout at her belly for a minute straight, which was possibly the weirdest thing I've ever done.
As a thank you, she told me to pick some flowers on my way. She smiled and said women liked flowers.
I didn't understand how Betsy knew. I had told no one where I was going.
~
Gyda stood where I asked her to stand. She was no dream, no figment of my imagination, like she had been so often these past two weeks. She was real, waiting for me at the border of her land and the blood passage.
Her hair was decorated with small white flowers. A few strands of shorter hair fell down her face while the rest was tied into two small knots.
I realized she had made herself beautiful for me. For me. For no one else.
"I have to say I was a little shocked when I heard where you wanted to meet me," she said as I guided her through the pass.
"Because this place scares you?" I asked, knowing that the blood passage was seen as dangerous by humans. It was a narrow, shadowy pass, not gaining much sunlight because of the high mountain walls, but it was not dangerous. It was just darker and thus also colder than the Trimar pass. There weren't any flowers to pick either, so I supposed I had to take Betsy's advice another day.
"I'm not afraid now that you are with me," she replied. "To be honest, I think you're probably scarier than any wild animal. I-I mean, you can be scary if you want to be... You're not scary to me..." She looked up at me, sucking on her bottom lip as she smiled.
I could hardly control myself. Bloody hell.
I growled. "You're right about that," I replied while helping her as she scrambled up a mound of rocks.
"Where are we going?"
"A spot I sometimes go to if I want to get away from everything."
"You mean a place you visit if you want to be alone?" she asked.
"Hm. I think you'll like it. It's a magical place."
"I want a place like that." Gyda sighed. "But I suppose I'm lucky to have my own room in a house with sixteen other people. Everybody else, except for Mother, has to share a room with their sisters, or kids."
"What did you tell them you were doing today?" I asked.
"They think I'm in the library, studying the council." She pointed at the bag I carried for her. "There is actually a book in there. I have to read a bit of it, just in case my mother will ask me about it..."
"While you are with me?" I asked.
"Well...I must. Even if it's for thirty minutes. It was either that or leave you sooner. And I didn't want that..."
I laughed. "Fine, woman. I will even help you. I cannot read every word of your language, but you can tell me. I'll gladly be tortured if it means you stay longer."
Her cheeks colored. "Thank you, Orvar." She looked at the ground, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I don't understand how you can walk on bare feet. It seems so painful with all these hard and sharp rocks."
I shrugged. "I'm used to it."
We talked for another half hour or so until I finally spotted the entrance of the cave. I pointed at it, excited like a little child about the prospect of her liking what I was about to show her, what was behind those gray walls-the other world that lay inside.
"There," I said. "That's the place."
"Are we going in?"
I growled in response and offered her my hand. She took it and it felt like such a tiny little thing. "Come."
Inside the cave, her eyes grew wide. "Wow..." she gasped.
"Do you like it?" I asked.
The first time I'd ever set foot in this cave, I was mesmerized by its beauty. There were things growing in here that I'd never seen in another place. They looked like pillars, white like snow and dripping ice, growing from the ceiling and the ground, some big, some small.
There was a little lake too. It wasn't deep enough to swim in, but it was nice to sit there, dipping my feet into the water. I came here most after a battle, when I was feeling overheated and had to clear my head.
"Yes, I like it!" Gyda answered. "I've never seen such things before, not even in one of the books. What are they?"
"We call them dripstones," I said, following her when she walked over to the biggest of them. It was even bigger than she was. "They form over time when water slowly drips through the cracks of the mountain and becomes hard. The bigger, the older."
"Can I touch them?" She asked. I didn't know why she bothered to ask, though, as one of her fingers was already gently caressing the ribbed surface.
"They're not mine," I answered. "You can do whatever you want."
"But I don't want to damage them."
"Some are fragile, but not the one you're touching right now."
"Oh, it feels like a cold, wet stone!"
"I think it kind of is."
I watched her while she marveled over all the magnificence that was to be seen in the cave. "This place is truly beautiful," she said, looking at me.
I think I forgot how to breathe for a moment.
Fucking hell.
"Yes, rather beautiful..." I answered.
"Thank you, Orvar. I love it." She smiled, sucking on her lip again.
Those lips...
I let out a growl. "Okay, that does it, woman," I hissed, taking no more than the two big steps needed to reach her.
And then we kissed.
This was the end of this excerpt. I've had the book online for months, but due to copying (bastards), I only have it behind a paywall now. You can read it on my Inkitt subscription page, Patreon, or buy the (E)book on Amazon. Thank you.