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AndcurseLouisa, she had not been looking for some kind of welcome from him, or even some kind of reassurance, had she?No.No.Absolutelynot.Andwith effort, she raised her chin to frown back at him, and crossed her arms over her shabby dress, too.
“Youdidn’t say you were coming this morning,” she said, betraying only a faint waver in her voice. “Yougave my staff a nasty shock, showing up unannounced like this.”
Killik’slip curled, and his long claws drummed impatiently against his bare arm. “Idid speak to you of this, woman,” he snapped back. “Itis not my doing if you did not pay heed.Ifyou were too…fullof other matters.”
Too… full.Hewas talking aboutthat, the utter prick, andLouisagaped at him with sudden jolting fury, her hands snapped to fists at her sides. “Thatwasyour doing,” she retorted. “Everylast bit of it!”
Killik’slaugh was sharp and mocking, his lip curling higher. “Youken it was not my doing,” he hissed back. “Forif it had been,every last bitwould have gone whereIwished it to be!”
Wait.Washe — was he judging her?Washe saying — he was…disappointedwith the night before?Hewas disappointed with her failure to… totake every last bitof that giant stone, as he’d asked?
Asudden, stark bitterness shot throughLouisa’schest, flaring hot and shameful in her cheeks, and she gritted her teeth, and fought to drag in breath.Shedidn’t care.Shedid not.Shewanted her well dug out, wanted to save her property, to escapeLordScall, and that was all.
“Lookhere, orc,” cut in a shaky voice,Gladys’ voice. “Whoeveryou are.I’llthank you not to walk onto my missus’ property without her leave like this, and start speaking such hogwash to her in such a disrespectful manner!Asif she hasn’t already borne enough from brutish bounders like you!”
Louisawinced, and shot an alarmed glance towardGladys— who was looking truly terrified, now, her lined face gone almost white, even as she kept glaring up atKillik’snow-unreadable eyes.Anddamn it,Louisajust wanted to get her well dug, andGladysdidn’t at all deserveKillik’srubbish — and if this was ever going to work,Louisa’sstaff needed to be fully in support, not running about anxious and terrified of orcs.
“Thankyou,Gladys,”Louisamade herself say, with an attempt at a reassuring smile. “Butthere’s nothing to be alarmed about,Ipromise.KillikandIare just teasing one another, aren’t we,Killik?”
Sheaimed her smile up toward him, holding it with brittle, painful effort, and she didn’t miss the faint bob of his throat, the slight incline of his head. “Ach,” he said thinly. “Onlyjesting.”
Louisaexhaled, and twitched a nod back that felt almost grateful — butKillikonly glanced away again, toward the well.Andthen he swiped for the rope dangling down into the darkness, and gave it a sharp, purposeful yank, as he called down something into the well.Speakingin what must have been the orcs’ tongue, the unfamiliar words harsh and strange, and ringing with cool, unmistakable command.
Andin response, the rope tautened.Quivered.Asif — someone was climbing it.Surelythe two other orcs who had been with him, the ones who were now digging the well.
Louisacouldn’t seem to look away from that taut, trembling rope, her heart suddenly thudding in her chest.Ishall bring my wolf tomorrow,Killikhad said, and was this what he’d meant?Hadhe brought his depressed kin-brother here, today, to dig out her well?
Andmaybe he had, maybe — because that was unmistakable stiffness inKillik’sshoulders, his jaw, as he glared down at the well’s opening.Atwhere an orc was already climbing up the rope, and swinging out to stand beside them.Hewas a tall, lean, bare-chested fellow, built much likeKillikhimself — butKillikhadn’t spared this orc a glance.Instead, he was still frowning down into the well, toward…
Anotherorc.Amuch, much bigger orc, his body a huge dark mass in the shadows, slowly brightening as he heaved himself up, higher, closer.Climbingthe rope with visible effort, hand over hand, while his broad back shoved against one side of the well’s stone wall, his booted feet pushing against the other.
Itwas an astonishing show of strength, andLouisacouldn’t stop watching, waiting, caught on the sight.Onhow the orc’s huge hands kept steadily grasping up the rope, pulling him higher and higher, untilKillikreached out one arm toward him, bracing his other arm around the nearest support beam.Andwith a deep grunt, the climbing orc’s big hand claspedKillik’s, and he pushed off and leapt out of the well entirely, landing beforeLouisain a low, surprisingly graceful crouch.
Louisa’sheart was galloping now, hollering in her ears, as her eyes ran up and down the orc’s huge, slowly rising form.Goodgods, he was big.Hewas quite possibly the largest living creature she’d ever seen in her life — except, perhaps, for thatSimonorc in the library.Hisshoulders were wide and packed with muscle, his hair-dusted bare chest broad and firm, his belly sturdy and thick.Andhis dripping-wet skin might have been a rich shade of grey, if not for the vicious-looking scars cut liberally into it, in varying shades of light and dark.Scarsthat worsened as they reached his face, and suddenlyLouisawas looking at his face, caught in his dark blinking eyes.
Hewas — handsome, a distant chattering voice whispered.Handsomein a hard, rugged kind of way, with his thick black brows, his heavy square jaw, his strong nose that had clearly been broken multiple times.Andeven with his ears, not nearly as tall or elegant asKillik’s, but which instead bore the puffy distortion of frequent close combat.Butthey suited him, somehow, along with that messy braid unravelling over his shoulder, and even — even those pale streaks of silver, threading through his otherwise black hair.
Louisaswallowed as she blinked at it, as her shaky hand smoothed her own silver-streaked hair back from her sweaty forehead.Amovement that seemed to catch the orc’s dark eyes, and for an instant,Louisafelt frozen beneath his gaze, beneath his own silent, steady perusal of her in return.Lookingat her straggly hair — gods, why hadn’t she thought to fix it before coming out here? — and then down at her tattered, threadbare dress, and her muddy, overlarge boots.Anddamn it, she truly looked a frightful mess, she hadn’t made even the slightest effort, and what must he think, was he judging her, was he repulsed or revolted or —
“Er,I’mLouisa,” she blurted out, as she thrust her clammy, tingling hand out toward him. “Andbelieve it or not,Ido bathe.”
She’dattempted a wry, twisting smile, but oh gods, her face was already burning, her eyes dropping to where her hand was still outstretched, wavering,foolish.Godscurse her, why had she said such a damned stupid thing?Norational person announced to absolute strangers that they bathed, it was the most obvious giveaway that in fact the opposite was true, right?AndLouisawinced, shaking her head, about to drop her hand, when —
Whensomething caught it.Somethingwarm and wet and solid, clasping carefully against her palm, and giving it a gentle, careful shake.
Itwas — his hand.Theorc’s hand.AndLouisastared at it, at the sheer size of it, almost entirely covering her own — and then her gaze snapped up.Upto the orc’s scarred face, and his watching, unreadable eyes.
“Ach,Iam sure you do,LadyLouisa,” he said, in a deep, rumbling voice. “AndmayhapIought to say the same.”
He’dnodded down toward his own bulky body, and it tookLouisafar too long to realize that he was talking about — the bathing.Becauseyes, he was wet all over, and his trousers were smeared to the thighs in dense dripping muck.Andgods, how hadn’tLouisanoticed, how much worse did this make her fool bathing comment, and why was she now staring at his trousers?Athis wet, clinging trousers, and at…
Theridge, inside them.Thethick, ever-growing ridge, visibly swelling against the fabric, tenting it out around it.Aridge that looked remarkably like a certain shameful replica, a replica that was still hidden beneath her blanket, and that had been buried deep inside her,twice.Andwhy couldn’tLouisastop staring, why was she just watching it swell fuller and fuller, oh gods above, it was — he was —
“You’re—Killik’skin-brother, right?”Louisa’scursed mouth demanded, and the shocked shame of it was enough to snap her eyes back to his face.Towhere he was looking decidedly flushed, his nostrils flaring, his chest filling with his breath.Andhis huge hand over hers had spread a little, covering more, his finger brushing soft and tentative against the rapid pulse in her wrist…
“Ach,LadyLouisa,” he said, his voice a low, devastating caress. “IamUlfarr, ofClanSkai.AndIam ever at your service.”
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