Zorroku and Peaches
Part 1- Worth Her Salt
At dawn you awoke out of a deep sleep when you heard riders coming into the village. They came right past your house, and circled it a few times. Speaking in a language you didn't know or understand. The sound of heavy draft horse hoof beats pommeling the ground woke you up and gave you a start. You and your sisters all seemed to stir and sit up at the same time to the same disturbance. Your twin Grace shared a worried glance through the lightening darkness of the early part of the dawn. As you alyou both got up and got your little sisters, who were twins as well and only six and made sure they were tucked safely under the bed and hidden just in case as you and Grace lit a tiny candle and quickly got dressed before you heard your father's knock on the door.
"Bella, you're needed." Your father, Micha bid urgently before you slipped out of your room.
"Yes Papa?" You asked, trying not feel as panicked as you were inclined to feel. Hoof beats, especially right next to your house, extra especially when you weren't expecting them was not a good sign.
"I need you in the kitchen, make a very good breakfast also a very big breakfast and some sweet fruit and honey cakes." Your father ordered as you frowned in confusion as to why but nodded in understanding and slipped quickly into the kitchen to get to work, pulling up your long auburn curly hair so that it wouldn't get in the food and rolled up your sleeves and set to work before your mother joined you.
"What do you need?" Your mother asked before you told her what you needed help with before she got to work too while your sisters were safely locked into their room, Grace keeping your sisters calm so they wouldn't start crying and draw attention to themselves.
Your father was the head village elder of this human "village" when in reality, it was only a small collection of other human families that found themselves in servitude to the Warchief and his family that was inside a much larger orc village, it was not uncommon to get woken up and expected to churn out a feast that evening- at the drop of a hat at your house, usually this brought you joy, to host people and give them great food but there was an edge to both of your parents and your stomach could only knot. Your mother was usually half way through telling you what was going on by now but she wasn't saying anything which to you said she didn't know what was going on either, then your father came in, carrying in three freshly slaughtered goats, already beheaded, gutted, skinned and their legs below the knee already taken off too.
"Papa? What's going on?" You asked him as you quickly grabbed your good spices and slathered the flesh with them before he put them on the spit in the fire place.
"An alliance was just now struck between us and the Thunder Herd Clan, the two warchiefs and their sons are coming to have breakfast at our house and discuss the details." Your father answered. Usually your warchief would come to you days or even weeks in advance so you could get things prepared and ingredients gathered for proper feasts for new alliances, so this was out of the ordinary. That and alliances were never struck up with the Thunder Herd Clan, not unless they had decimated your army of warriors first and the survivors tried to strike up an 'alliance' usually slavery or servitude so they wouldn't be slaughtered too. For the Black Wolf White Rock Clan to strike up an alliance with them first without going to war meant...you didn't know what that meant, but you had a job to do and you needed to do it as well and as fast as you could.
"How many sons?" You asked and your father just shrugged, not knowing the answer but considering the variables of two warchiefs and at least the three sons your warchief had including at least one son on the other side and considering orc's appetites, three goats wasn't going to cut it. "We'll need at least three more goats then." Was all you could say in response before your father nodded and left again to get your older brothers who were in charge of the herds to get more animals slaughtered. For some reason, your warchief, Khagra, of the Black Wolf White Rock Clan, the orc clan that ruled your overall village really liked your father and considered him a friend and for the human pocket within the clan village, your father's house was where all the political alliances the Warchief liked to conduct them. It was the best house in the human village but that was solely for Khagra's bragging rights that even the humans in his village did so well, it also helped negotiations to have a nice place to eat and do business, it was considered almost neutral because orcs liked to protect their private dwellings but could open up anyone else's and if negotiations didn't go well and the other clan wanted to start war immediately right where they were, at least the warchief's house and his family wasn't ground zero.
It worked out though because that meant that your family was never the target of any violence, hazing or abuse from the rest of the clan and was respected in the Black Wolf White Rock Clan itself and your family was blessed with a title Borgan, which meant honorary orcs and that meant your family theoretically had the same rights and freedoms other orcs in the clan had but you also knew that outside the Black Wolf White Rock Clan, that meant nothing and so you never presumed on that whenever you got to host other orcs from other clans. But that also meant that your father kept you and your sisters on very short leashes and kept you indoors or in your walled garden and out of sight for protection just in case.
But you were one of Khagra's most prized possessions, you were smart, sweet, respectful, obedient and could cook outstandingly well, you had a passion for it and your mother was a prolific gardener and you could make just about anything your mother grew delicious which made you invaluable during negotiations which always went smoother if there was great food on the table. Your father was the village's master of spirits so he was in charge of the wine, beer and whiskey. The three drinks also helping negotiations a great deal too.
Your father returned with another three goats and was half way through rubbing a different spice mix into the flesh- there was a knock on the door from the kitchen to the outside that your father answered before you all recognized Khagra's voice as he thanked your father and your family for doing this on such short notice. You dusted yourself off and rinsed the blood off your hands and went to the door, greeting your warchief respectfully and pleasantly with a charming smile to mask your nerves. A skill you had become proficient in.
"So how many am I blessed to be feeding this morning?" You asked sweetly, as if you weren't scared shit-less because the Thunder Herd Clan was known to be very fierce and you knew little else of them other than that and their penchant for always riding huge draft horses.
"Twelve." He answered.
"Wonderful." You answered. "And about what time will you be needing the meal Chief?" You asked, keeping your voice sweet and even boarded on excited, praying it wasn't an hour or less.
"Two hours." He answered and you felt relief, two hours was doable.
"Very well, we'll have it ready." Your father answered for you before Khagra smiled and nodded and left and your father shut the door.
"Papa, we'll need at least three more goats then, a pig won't roast in time and we'll need the girls on the spits, that'll make nine or even ten goats, which will leave one goat for each warchief and their sons will have to split the rest." You shook your head, not knowing how else your family was going to pull this off in two hours but you had to try, Khagra was counting on you.
"I'll go get them." Your mother nodded and left before your sisters joined you, all of them starting to make quick sweet bread dough as your father stoked up the spits in the garden as you slathered each goat with a slightly different spice mix for variety's sake before you and your father put them on the rotating spits and you set a bucket of spiced vinegar to cut through the fat and the grease of the goat, next to each of your sisters to slather on the goats as they roasted with help of an herb brush as you went back to the kitchen to knead all the dough and continue to move the meal along. You got done just as your father got done setting the table and getting things ready in the dining hall and you heard your father greet your guests and you could practically feel the floors shift under their massive weight as your nerves frayed as you and your family all silently prayed to the gods for it to go well.
Your father came back to get the fresh hot loaves of bread and some oil, fruit preserves, butter and honey to spread on it and left again and you and your mother waited behind the door and both grinned when you heard the orcs groaning and moaning when they bit into the bread before they marveled at how soft and sweet it was before your father came back and got the rest of the feast you had prepared, being the server to spare your mother and your sisters and yourself from having to deal with them personally, out of protection mostly and you weren't surprised when your father came back and got a keg whiskey, barrels and kegs of ales and wine already in the dining hall itself and returned before he was invited to join them as you, your sisters and your mother rested and recovered, finally ate yourselves as the dessert continued to bake in the oven as you half heartedly listened to the negotiations.
But when the cakes were done, you knocked on the door that led from the kitchen to the dining room from the kitchen's side to let your father know it was ready but instead you heard Khagra beckon you personally to bring it out and you exchange a worried glance with your mother and your sisters who took your apron off and quickly fix your hair so you're presentable before you took all three pans of fruit and honey cake out and you try not to panic as every orc seemed to freeze and stare at the sight of you as you put the first between Khagra and the other warchief who was seated opposite each other in the middle of the long table before you put the other two at the other ends of the table and moved to leave again, not wanting to look up and make eye contact, you were just there to drop off the cake and leave again, no need for anything else. These orcs were not only huge, even by orc standards, but they were a grayish blue in hue, if not just plain blue, some of them even had a slight green tint to the blue which was gorgeous to you, you had never seen orcs that color before but you couldn't look up and really take notice except through your peripherals, lest they take offense because some orcs took offense to humans looking or staring at them in the eye.
"Thank you Bella," the warchief's youngest son, Shuzug, thanked you meekly, he had just turned 10 and was considered a late teenager for an orc since 12 was considered an adult for an orc in these parts- before you lifted your gaze and smiled at him fondly before you reached into your pocket and handed him the peach you had been saving for yourself since you knew that was his favorite and squeezed his forearm with a very quick and almost whispered 'you're welcome' after you slipped it into his hand before trying to retreat again but the moment the peach appeared, all the Thunder Herd Clansmen blurted out 'Peaches!' excitedly looking at you with equal excitement as if they had been waiting for that and you couldn't help but practically jump in your skin before you forced yourself to stay still and not cower in fear or run away.
"Uh, yeah, the first crop just became ripe, if you would like some- I could go fetch some for you." You offered, still keeping your gaze down respectfully even though you can see out of your peripherals that the Thunder Herd Clansmen are ducking their heads to try to catch your gaze, which is very odd to you while you are hoping that they didn't take offense that you had handed Shuzug something and not offering them the same thing even though orcs usually didn't go for fruit or for sweet things, usually meat or savory things, in your experience, you just thought your warchief and his family had simply gotten used to your cooking and your own penchant for sweet things.
"Off the tree?" The other warchief asked hopefully and you nodded in agreement before you left and used your skirts to gather them out of the trees, trying to get the best ones from the top of the tree, not seeing how the Thunder Herd Clansmen were watching you from the window that the dining hall had over the back of your garden. You were blessed to have two different kinds of peaches, one was an orange-ish yellow color flesh while the other was a very pale yellow, almost white in flesh and every peach tree you had was very special in that it was 'ever bearing' which meant in early spring you had a crop and then if you picked each peach carefully, another would grow in it's place until late fall, all your fruit trees and all your plants and bushes that were in the garden were this way, they had been blessed by a particular witch when it was first planted and it was why your orc village fared as well as it did and no one ever went hungry here, a rare blessing indeed.
You arranged them in a very large bowl in the kitchen before you returned and offered them to the other warchief and his sons, explaining how you organized them from firm to soft and one side was one kind and the other was the other before the warchief and each son picked one of each before offering them to your own warchief and his sons before they took their favorites too before your father suggested you leave the bowl on the table which you did before you tried to excuse yourself but you got only one step away before your warchief stopped you and you froze in your tracks and turned on your toes to face him, plastering on a pleasant smile and did your best to remain calm even though you could feel your heart pounding in your chest and you were pretty sure these orcs could see that from where they were sitting.
"Yes My Lord?" You asked respectfully, always calling him that in front of other orcs, when you weren't cooking for him you were helping his growing family with their children and simply got by with casually calling him 'Chief' in the same tone you would call your father 'Papa or Dad' but for negotiations, it was always important to show the utmost respect to everyone, thus the 'My Lord' title.
"What spices did you use for the goats this morning?" He asked you proudly and you knew what Khagra was doing, he was showing you off, which was an orc tradition you had grown to get used to. Khagra would show off the wide variety of spice you would use on the meats and even the vegetables to make them taste better than most other orc dishes and the other clan would marvel at something, that to you, was so simple and they'd always insist on stealing you away to be their clan's cook if not the other warchief's personal cook for himself and his family and Khagra would very firmly refuse because there was no way he'd give up his own personal chef, no matter how good the trade deal was because you were his golden goose, something he could brag about and use to get what he wanted. Plus, Borgans could marry whoever they wanted, except for the warchief's own family, which usually consisted of nothing but full blooded orcs, however Borgans were not expected to marry whoever the warchief or anyone else would decide- they had the freedom and the right to choose for themselves. But you could sense a shift in Khagra. He was willing to do more and more for power and for more negotiations for more alliances, his knees and his lower back were starting to fail him and he was growing weaker and weaker with each passing year and you feared he was getting less and less battle sound so in order to get and keep alliances, he was willing to give up more and more. You included, you got the sense anyway, this alliance with the Thunder Herd Clan was huge and anything was fair game. Or so you feared.
"For which goat My Lord? They all had their own spice mix." You asked for clarification.
"This one." He answered as he pointed to the other warchief's personal goat since each warchief had his own goat while the sons shared the rest and had clearly decimated them and you feared you should have slaughtered and prepared at least two more and you came closer to decipher which goat the other warchief had gotten, standing behind Khagra's left shoulder and between Khagra and your father who was seated to Khagra's left. You saw the tell tail signs it was one of the three you had personally done in the kitchen spit.
"That goat had..." you began as you listed off the spices you had slathered it with as you tried not to grow afraid or worried as the other orcs from the Thunder Herd Clan began to whisper and murmur to each other while looking you over, some curiously, a few were critical while others still were outright leering at you, staring at the swell of your breasts and hips and the pinch of your waist and you tried not to vomit and keep your composure as you could feel all of it.
"Told you, she is a cook worth her salt." Khagra bragged as you inched backwards to retreat again, out of their reach, feeling anxious having so many of them with their gazes weighing so heavily on you- you feared you would fall through the floor to the root cellar underneath- their gazes having that much immense weight. Although you supposed it was a good thing they weren't actually reaching out to touch you or molest you right at that moment, so there was that small comfort.
"How well do you cook horse? And you can look up at us. We aren't the kind of clan that take offense to a gaze." The other warchief gently urged you, halting your escape, his voice gruff with age and probably from so many battle cries but his tone curious and kind while your gaze finally lifted to meet his- his gaze was soft and gentle with an equally soft gentle smile that told you he was very pleased already and that made you feel like you were going to be ok and filled you with some relief. He was blue, like a blueberry blue and his eldest son, the eldest sons always sat to the right of their fathers- right next to him was like a younger version of him and in your opinion both were quite handsome, the warchief himself graying in both beard and hair, streaks of silver running through onyx and his hair was immaculately braided and pleated and his clothes and armor looked very clean and in good condition, a little worn with age and use but not bad at all, but all his sons were clean shaven which was interesting to you.
"I have never had the pleasure of cooking a horse before." You answered honestly because the thought of cooking, let alone eating such a majestic creature hurt your heart but you needed to be gracious with your words, to again, not cause offense.
"You will learn, come, bring your spices and my wife will show you." The other warchief commanded but somehow you got the impression this wasn't a 'come learn this thing' kind of thing, this was a 'I'm taking you as a fuck toy and you're going to learn to cook my favorite food' kind of thing and you wanted to cry and you looked from the warchief of the Thunder Herd Clan to your own warchief questioningly because he should be saying no for you right the fuck now but he just nodded yes to you and you felt that nod seal your fate and the world shift beneath your feet as the air even grew so heavy you could hardly breathe as Khagra's sons stared at their father in shocked, horrified disbelief, if not outrage.
"Of course My Lord." You answered with a nod before Khagra introduced the other warchief, Crowthu of the Thunder Herd Clan and his sons by name before as you finally got a chance to really look at them as you greeted them back respectfully and politely but all they seemed to do was either nod or make a gesture to differentiate themselves from their brothers, none of them seemed to speak to you and you feared that they thought you were not worthy to be spoken to. Some were very handsome by orc standards and others were quite ugly and because of the range of skin tones and hair color, you knew that they perhaps had different mothers but you did your best not to let your true emotions show on your face as you fought to keep your face pleasantly neutral before Khagra was done and dismissed you and you left and went back into the kitchen where you immediately started crying as you frantically went around the kitchen to grab all the spices and seeds you could, especially the peppers and fruits you loved so much and started to put them into a very large satchel as you told your mother and your sisters what had just happened and what you thought just happened as they started to get very worried. You were the reason they were Borgan too, did that just get revoked? Your mother worried the most, especially since you were the only one of your sisters like you who not only liked to cook but was really good at it, you had tried teaching your sisters and even your mother who even though she was a prolific gardener she tended to be a disaster in the kitchen, only making a handful of things decently well but outside of that, couldn't seem to grasp it, while each of your sisters seemed to lean towards one thing, usually baking or vegetables, meat was your specialty and none of them could handle or let alone orchestrate everything like you could, without you, there was no way any meal from then on would be nearly as good if you ever left, something both your parents had told Khagra and who agreed with them and that sentiment and why your family got the title of Borgan so that what was happening right now, would never fucking happen. But things change. Your mother was hoping that the warchief's youngest son would marry you as second or third wife, since he was the baby and wouldn't ever become warchief so his offspring didn't need to be pure blooded- when he came of age to keep you there, at least he'd be nice to you because he adored you and had adored you since infancy but that was only because you spoiled him rotten with cakes and fruits, especially peaches which were his favorites.
Other orcs could be known to be very cruel to their wives by human standards and could often "accidentally" kill their human counterparts and only shrugged off their deaths before they got another one to replace them without a second thought or care at all for the one they lost and repeat the process and it was this fate that your parents had always tried to protect you and your sisters from, but now it seems, reality won out.
Then there was a knock on the door and judging by the knock, it was the warchief's youngest son, Shuzug, who slipped in to see you and your sisters and your mother crying as you all tried to stop crying now that he was in your presence but all of you were failing miserably. Shuzug came over to you, even though he was ten, he was only an inch shorter than you but twice as broad and he was clearly very distraught himself.
"Did I just become a kitchen slave to the Thunder Heard Clan's warchief?" You asked pointedly as you tried to wipe your tears away and calm yourself down.
"Thank the gods, no. I won't let that happen, what it is- is his sons want you to be their wife even though you're human because you cook so well, that's why you learning how to cook horse is so important because that's what they eat, your bride price is now part of the negotiations, each son is offering a slave to your father to help him recoup his loss of you along with your literal weight in pink salt from the mountains. Which they already brought with them. It's like they came just for you. It makes me worried that they know." Shuzug informed you gravely, not wanting you to go either, but he was still two years too young to be considered of marrying age and therefore not quite ready to battle for you and he was getting upset because of how upset you were because the two of you were good friends, if not the best of friends before you just hugged each other.
"Fuck, I really hope they don't know. I don't want to get beat, I don't want to get abused or raped or molested but I don't want my family slaughtered if I refuse either. I was hoping to marry someone I actually like since I'm a Borgan and I love horses, I don't want to kill them to eat them, what if they grow irritated with me and kill me for not having the stomach or the nerve to kill dinner? I won't make it passed the village limit before they'll be all over me and molesting me, I saw the way they looked at me, they just want to rape me and have me cook for them, that's it, that's all they'll ever want from me. And if they know, then they'll just try to exploit me. There's no way they'll marry me, they're just saying that so as not to offend your dad or my dad, but it's lies, false pretty words, I feel it in my bones. How can they want to be me to be thier wife when they wouldn't even speak to me?! They wouldn't even greet me back, they don't speak to me because they think I'm unworthy of being spoken to, no one marries someone they can't even respect to speak to for fuck's sake! Your father was supposed to protect me from this." You sobbed into the crux of his neck and shoulder as he squeezed you tight and pet your hair. Because you were Borgan you possessed the right to your own virginity and could give it to whoever you wanted and so far you had been blessed to hang onto it until now. What you and Shuzug were referring to was a secret that you had managed to keep to yourself and the warchief's family. Not even your parents knew the full extent of it. And if word had gotten out, you feared the worst.
"I'll make sure my father knows these worries. I'll see if I can put that in the negotiations. I know you're scared. I know you don't want to leave home and I would give anything to keep you here but my father isn't letting me get a word in edgewise so far, he's not even letting my brothers speak yet, I'll see what I can do." Shuzug offered before he kissed your cheek sweetly, like any little brother would to a beloved sister and left and spoke in the Black Wolf White Rock clan's native dialect, Kitch with his mother's native dialect Yowl mixed in, very strongly and very loudly, practically booming and you could feel his voice practically shake the walls as he talked with his father about your worries and how you were sobbing in the kitchen because of how terrified you were that you were going to be beaten, molested and raped and abused to death and how he was taking it as a great disrespect and dishonor that his father was going back on his word, on his promise to you and your family about never letting you leave the safety of the Black Wolf White Rock Clan village because you were Borgan and therefore not under this kind of obligation and that you or anyone in your family had not done anything wrong to revoke that status and that he would immediately break off the alliance and start a war if you so much as got a scratch or a bruise or a mean word said to you or if they so much as touched you at all without your happy and freely given consent in the other clan's care because of how precious and valuable you were, even for a human and how he would break tradition and marry you himself and keep you as a first and only wife and impregnate you that instant to keep you from harm and to your surprise, his brothers joined in supported him and repeated everything their little brother had said, offering that you could choose between any or all of them and you'd be their first and primary wife forever if it meant you'd stay and how dare their father go back on his word of Borgan. Your own father however stayed silent but felt vindicated that at least Khagra's sons were speaking his own words and thoughts and feelings.
However all native orc dialects seemed to share similar words as the other warchief and his sons tried to decipher what Shuzug and his brothers were saying as they really sensed just how precious you were to the Black Wolf White Rock Clan as a whole before the other warchief spoke up before Khagra could answer his sons and explain his own decision- and the warchief of the Thunder Herd Clan swore an oath that no harm whatsoever would ever befall you as long as he and his sons drew breath and that you and your family would receive their version of Borgan, which was for them- Marfu and would get the great honor of choosing whichever one of his sons that you wanted and that you would not be touched at all until you chose a son to marry when the clan would get back together in a month's time to properly celebrate the joining of the two clans and that your testimony upon returning and an inspection by whoever you wished to be inspected by to be checked over to make sure you indeed did not sustain a scratch or bruise in their care and then all that would be proof of their own honor and ability to never break their own oaths and promises because they too recognized what a great and wonderful woman you were and you'd be respected and revered as an equal to themselves in their clan which was an unheard of offer and you knew there would be no way you could refuse it and your father and your warchief agreed to it as Khagra's sons begrudgingly agreed to it as well. You spent the remainder of the time you had left with your brothers and sisters and mother, hugging and holding each other as you tried to impart every bit of knowledge of food to them and at least you would see each other in a months time.
After breakfast you packed what meager possessions you possessed, mostly spices, seeds and saplings of fruit trees and berry bushes that grew in your garden and some more fruits and did your best not to appear as terrified or sullen as you felt and Khagra and his family said their goodbyes imparting even more gifts to you which Crowthu's sons took to put onto their horses and their carts that had been holding the slaves and all the salt. Part of you suspected you would never see those gifts again because you and your possessions now belonged to the Thunder Herd Clan and your things were not yours personally, which is why you kept one satchel with all your clothes, which you didn't have many and other meager but important and sentimental possessions you had on you and the other satchel full of seeds and fruits and things on you as well so that they would stay yours.
Khagra and his wife Bula called you 'daughter' as they said their goodbyes, Bula especially imparting as much advice and wisdom in her mother tongue, which she had taught you from a young age- as she could in what little time you had left together along with her daughters and daughters in law who were also shocked, outraged and saddened to see you go, calling you 'sister', hoping that would impress upon the Thunder Herd Clan, your status with them that would hopefully carry over as you took turns holding and kissing all the babies and little kids again, giving them instructions to be good while you were gone before you squeaked a surprised yelp when Crowthu, the warchief of the Thunder Herd Clan just grabbed you by your waist from behind you and lifted you onto his horse which otherwise you would have needed a ladder to get onto as a few of his sons snickered a laugh at your yelp as you gave Shuzug a look that said 'I told you so' which got him and his brothers and especially their mother to glare at Crowthu because he was already breaking his promise by not touching you without your consent as their wives and sisters just shook their heads and fought not to cry themselves because of how much they feared for you too before they also glared hatefully at Crowthu and his sons. But at least you weren't being drug behind the horses, that would have been worse you supposed.
Crowthu mumbled an apology to you and had you sit in the front of the saddle before he mounted his horse and you felt your back hit his front, considering he was, technically speaking, your new father in law, you were kind of grateful you were riding with him rather than his sons at this point because his sons were already sneaking fruits to eat for themselves from the produce your family packed you and you worried that they would 'sample' you too, which you kind of assumed would happen at some point, no matter what was said in that alliance meeting but the more you could put it off, the better. You kept your hands on the pommel of the saddle, gripping it until your knuckles were white and half expected him to start groping you now too. But he surprised you by keeping his hands to himself and off of you which you felt relieved at, each hand was on a rein of his horse instead before Shuzug quickly left and got one of his golden eagles and gave it to you along with a fresh rabbit carcass for it to eat, you and him had trained this eagle and it's siblings together, stealing it as an egg and the other eggs from it's nest to hatch it yourselves and to train it the way other falconers trained their birds, having learned that from other clans who had falcons. You nearly cried when he told it to hop onto his shoulder before he handed you the thick and heavy leather glove which you put on and grabbed the rabbit with the same gloved hand before you beckoned the eagle, Razor to you, using a pretty purr, before he leaped from Shuzug's shoulder to your forearm before you let your wrist rest on the pommel to support the heavy bird while the other hand still held on tightly to the pommel and Razor began to eat the rabbit in between giving Crowthu the most hateful looking glare in between nuzzling your face with it's beak affectionately since it was the nicest and the most affectionate of it's siblings and your particular favorite.
When you and Crowthu finally started to walk away you looked back around Crowthu at your family and your home one last time, trying to commit it to memory before you saw Bula actually hit Khagra repeatedly and hit him so hard he recoiled and winced once you were a good distance away and start cussing him out about how he just made the biggest mistake of his life and how he wasn't going to get any sex at all until she saw you again and inspected you herself in a month's time as her daughters and daughters in law agreed to the same oath themselves, their husbands, especially Crowthu's sons blanching at the notion and tried to argue that they were just as against this as their wives were and how if they were warchief there would be no way in hell you'd be leaving which appeased their wives to a degree but you didn't know if it was enough for their wives to agree to break the promise or not before you turned back and looked straight ahead as your body got used to riding a draft horse because they were so wide, you anxiously took a small patch of the horse's mane with your free hand and absentmindedly combed through it with your fingers, noting that the horses mane was also immaculately combed as well as you noticed as you walked out of the village, the villagers came and stared, slack jawed at the sight of you on Crowthu's horse and clearly leaving before glaring at Crowthu and his sons as news spread faster than the horses could walk- most of the village gathering along the road to see for themselves before you saw some of the other orcs go ahead and grab their weapons but you had to hold up your free hand in a stopping motion and shake your head no while giving them pleading looks to not actually attack so you could make it out of the village alive, but that didn't stop almost all of them from glaring and calling out threats and curses before a rumor sprung up and there was every guard the clan had at the mouth of the village came and created a wall to halt you and the Thunder Herd Clansmen from actually leaving the village.
"Why are you stopping us?!" Crowthu demanded, getting irritated, usually all those glares alone would incite himself into war but he knew he couldn't do that but them creating a wall was telling his instincts that he was going to fight his way out but before they could answer him, you piped up.
"Rejoice, an alliance was struck with the Thunder Herd Clan this day, this is Warchief Crowthu of the Thunder Herd Clan and those behind us are his sons, in a month's time I will return with them for the celebratory feast." You informed them, trying to remain calm and at ease because if you actually looked as terrified as you felt, you would be dragged off this horse and there would be a massacre here at the gate otherwise.
"Why are you leaving though? Do you not have a knife to your back Borgan Bella? Is that why you can't cry out to us to rescue you?" They accused and you could feel the tension mount in the air, thick enough to cut with an ax and you wanted to burst into tears as you felt like there was a proverbial knife in your back and another at your throat as the archers drew and aimed their arrows at Crowthu's head and his son's heads as Wolf Guard's wolves barked and growled as their owners held onto their collars but with only a single finger as the wolves pulled forward and barred their teeth that got the horses to start spooking but instead you couldn't help but burst out laughing, you didn't understand why but you did as you felt your own hold onto sanity slip just a tiny bit as you tried to grasp it firmly again but your laughter did cut through the tension.
"What kind of nonsense is that?! No! There is no knife to my back." You reassured them as your laughter subsided to a chuckle. "Do not offend my new warchief by implying he would stoop to such a method. I am leaving with The Great Thunder Herd Clan and you will part to let us and all that is with us pass unharmed. I will be back in a month when the feast is held to celebrate the alliance, you all will see me and celebrate this alliance with me then, they have promised an oath to not harm me at all in all that time. Do not deny them honor by not letting them prove that oath." You warned in a voice way more convincing than you felt, surprising yourself most of all, you didn't know you had it in you. But you supposed it was just your own survival instincts kicking in.
"We will send crows daily, we all know your handwriting, if even so much as one fails to come back or if there is a bad report or you are writing them under anyone's supervision or interference in any way we will come for you, if a hand is laid on you in anyway the crows themselves will tell us everything even if you can not." The lead guardsman swore and you nodded in agreement and they begrudgingly parted for you before you leaned forward as far as you could and gestured to your back.
"See? No knife." You repeated to make sure they all saw that there was no knife with their own eyes even though you were sure that even a fool could discern the metaphorical one that was not just at your back but at your throat too. "I'll see you in a month." You bid them all. You couldn't see Crowthu's expression but you got the feeling he was just as surprised as you were, if not impressed and possibly even proud. Once past the edge of the village and out of earshot, Crowthu leaned forward to the side of you that didn't have an eagle glaring at him.
"Thank you, for getting us out of there, as well and peacefully as you did. I am amazed and so proud of you." Crowthu thanked you graciously.
"Thank you and you're welcome, please catch me when I make another leap of faith like that and don't prove me wrong." You murmured back, your voice returning to the smallness you really felt, betraying just how scared and nervous you were which if you could have seen Crowthu's pained expression he realized how you were really feeling and he understood it but there was nothing he could say to convince you that all his words would ring true, only prove it by his actions.