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Louisanodded again, andKillikdrew in another deep breath, let it out. “ButAlfverwas also oft a cruel, selfish orc,” he said. “Hepunished his rivals.Hehoarded all our clan’s wealth.Heserved the mountain’s fool captainKaugir, and drove us to fight to our deaths uponKaugir’scommand.Heonly appointed other pack leaders who would obey him.Andhe granted his own pack freedom to do all that they wished, no matter the harm this caused.Whetherwithin our clan, or well beyond it.”
Louisaswallowed, her thoughts flipping back toLordScall.Tothe kinds of choices it took to gain that much power, to all the darkness that followed and festered in its wake. “Andthere was no way to… weakenAlfver?” she asked, quiet. “Orundermine him?”
Killik’slaugh was curt and bitter, his head shaking back and forth. “Notlest you wished to be cast out of the pack, or sent to the front of the next battle,” he replied. “AndAlfverwould oft seek to fetter any strongSkaibefore they could become a threat.Ashe did with his own son, by granting him this pack.Adozen weak, helpless, fatherless orclings, who needed constant feeding and guarding and care.Orclingswho no one else would miss, if they were to face some… mishap.”
Thesudden horror of that heaved deep inLouisa’sbelly, and she shot a searching look atUlfarr’sbowed head. “That’swhy your father gave you that pack?” she asked, too sharp. “Sohe could control you?Byusingchildrenagainst you?”
Ulfarr’sbody betrayed another shudder, andLouisasqueezed his hand tighter, shook her head.Gods, it was such a perfect and vicious trap, because even without that looming threat of their deaths, the amount of time and energy it would have required to care for that many children would have been utterly debilitating, especially in the midst of a war.
“ButWolfyet faced his fate, and did his best,”Killikadded, fiercer now. “Hecared for his pack, and guarded us, even against his father.Heoft took our blame and our sins and our grievances upon himself, so naught fell back upon us.Andamidst all this, he yet sought to weaken his father from within, and raise up those who might someday defeat him.”
Louisaexhaled and nodded, because yes, that all sounded true.Thatsounded like theUlfarrshe knew, theUlfarrshe’d seen with her own eyes.TheUlfarrwho cared so deeply for his son, and his kin.
“ButfewSkaibeyond our little pack saw this,”Killiksaid, his mouth thinning. “Theydid not see all the waysWolffought his father to help us, and uphold our clan.Theydid not see how he stood back — how he gave up his ownbirthright— so that our brotherSimoncould gain the strength to defeatAlfver, and then take his place asEnforcer.Andach, even whenSimonthen chose to break apart the packs” —Killiksighed — “Wolfdid not once fight this, even as he grieved his pack’s loss.Heswore his vow to honourSimonas our newEnforcer, and urged us all to swear this, also.”
Louisadrew in a deep breath, and searchedKillik’shard profile in the darkness. “Andwhat… what didyouthink of all this?” she asked, careful. “Didyou supportSimon’sdecision to disband the packs?”
Killik’sjaw flexed in his cheek, but he twitched a shrug. “No,Idid not,” he replied, slower. “ButIyet saw this wisdom in this.Thepacks wielded far too much power and freedom, and brought much grief upon us.Simonneeded to show his strength before our kin, and bring them change, and hope.Andeven ifWolf’spack was not a threat,Simoncould not only leave this one pack, and disband all the others, ach?Mostof all withWolfyet beingAlfver’sson, and yet bearing much power and honour amongst his kin.”
Right.Thatmade sense, butLouisa’seyes were again caught onUlfarr’sbowed head, on all the weight he’d borne in this.Trappedby his father, burdened with a pack he hadn’t asked for — and then offering up his birthright to another, and losing the pack he’d given so much to build.
“AndhasSimonbeen a good leader, at least?” she asked, squeezingUlfarr’shand tighter. “Hashe been an improvement for your clan, overAlfver?”
“Ach, yes,” cameKillik’sreply, without hesitation this time. “Simonhas been a far better and wiserEnforcerthanAlfver.Andfrom the start, we all sought to honour him, but” — another sigh, another shrug — “many of us yet trustedWolf, and turned to him when we needed help.AndafterAlfver, none of us wished to live beneath one orc’s judgement — so if ever we doubtedSimon’sjudgement, we came toWolffor this, too.AndWolfwould then defend us, and oft draw upon the old ways of the clan to do this — for evenSimoncould not argue or refute these.”
Louisaconsidered that for a long moment, pulling it together, envisioning where it led. “Sodid the clan become… divided over this?” she asked, tentative. “WithUlfarrrivallingSimonfor the leadership, after all?”
Killikshrugged again, and pursed his lips. “Notat first,Iken,” he said slowly. “Therole ofEnforceryet carries much weight, and is also upheld by the role of ourRightHand,Drafli— a strongSkaiwho stands for us beside our mountain’s captain.SoIken mostSkaionly sawWolfas a strong brother who freely spoke his kin’s truth, and sought to defend us and our ways.Butthen” — another heavy sigh — “then cameMaria.”
Maria.Ulfarr’shand spasmed inLouisa’s, but he otherwise didn’t move, andLouisa’seyes darted between his head, andKillik’ssharp, grim profile.Hismouth tight, his jaw clenched, the blood still streaked down his cheek.
“Youken whoMariawas, ach?”Killikasked, with a brief glance toward her. “TheDuchessofWarmisham?”
Louisanodded, andKillikflipped a dagger out of his hair, and frowned down toward it. “Threesummers past,Mariacame to our mountain alone,”Killiksaid. “Butshe did not tell us she was a duchess.Instead, she play-acted as though she was only a common woman, seeking refuge with us.But” — his mouth tightened — “but once she set eyes uponSimon, she at once offered to bed him, and bear him a son.Forcoin.”
Louisablinked at him, tilting her head.TheDuchessofWarmishamhad come toOrcMountain, and pretended she wasn’t a duchess at all?Andthen she’d instantly offered to bear one of their most powerful orcs a son?Forpayment?
“So… was it some kind of attack, then?”Louisacautiously asked. “IassumeDukeWarmishamsent her?Perhapshe blackmailed her, or paid her off, so he could claim his helpless young wife had been abducted by orcs, and then use that to drive his war efforts against you?Andmaybe blackmail you with her son afterwards, too?”
Ulfarr’sbody against her betrayed a flinch, and on his other side,Killik’sglance toward her looked almost surprised. “Ach, this is all just as we thought,” he said flatly. “ButSimonlonged forMaria, and he believed she wished to betray her duke husband with us.Andthus, he pushed us all to take the risk.Andour mountain’s other leaders — and even our ownRightHand— were swayed into this, in hopes that we might twist it to our own ends.So” — he barked a bitter laugh — “a lying duchess came to live amongst theSkai.Walkingour halls, and eating at our tables, and sharing ourEnforcer’sbed.Whilstwe all played along with her fool little game.”
Damn.Louisawinced, shaking her head, biting back the first words that came to her mouth. “Thatis… unfortunate,” she said. “Andnot to judge, but… why didn’t you just tellMariayou knew the truth from the start?Orperhaps give her an isolated waiting period, until you could be sure whatWarmishamwas planning?Orat least keep her housed well away from here, so you could add some degree of plausible deniability about your involvement with her, and help protect your mountain against him?”
Besideher,Ulfarrflinched again, andKillik’ssideways glance looked almost grateful this time. “Again, this is what we wished for, also,” he replied, clipped. “ButSimonwould not hear of it.Weall thought” — another cold, bitter laugh — “he was fuck-drunk beyond saving, ach?ForMariais a lusty, needy woman, who was well able to bear his hard ploughing, and eagerly begged him for his gifts.JustasSkailike best.”
Somethingdropped inLouisa’sbelly, but she fought to shove it away, to keep following this where it went. “Sothat left only…Ulfarrto defend you,” she said slowly. “Tostand up againstSimon, on your behalf.”
Killik’sgrim eyes held to hers as he nodded, and then he glanced atUlfarr, and gave a gentle bump of their clasped hands againstUlfarr’sknee. “Ach, it was onlyWolfleft,” he said, quiet. “Foragain, the rest of us had all spoken vows to honour ourEnforcer, ach?ButthoughWolfhad also sworn this, he had long before sworn to honourus.Toprotect his pack against our enemies.Andagainst the sins and the greed of even our closest and strongest brothers.”
Right.Right, of course, it was exactly whatUlfarrwould do, after having lived through everything with his father — andLouisalet out a shaky breath, and squeezed his big hand in hers, too. “Soyou challengedSimonabout keepingMariahere, and putting you all at risk?” she carefully asked toward him. “Andas part of that” — her thoughts twisted, floundered back to whatMariahad said — “you… tried to seduce her?And…shareher?”
Ulfarrflinched again, but still didn’t reply, and beside himKillikbarked another low laugh. “Markme, woman, none of us wished forMariain our beds,” he said dryly. “Shewas fickle and flighty and fearful, and was only bearable when she was stuck screeching uponSimon’spole of a prick.Butach, the easiest charge against her was thatSimonbroke our clan’s ways of taking mates with her, so” — he shrugged againstUlfarr’sshoulder — “this was whatWolffirst called upon.”
Louisawasn’t following again, and searchedKillik’shard profile, how he was intentionally looking away, now. “Sowhat were your usualwaysaround taking mates, then?” she asked. “Notpaying one for a child,Iwould hope?”
ButKillikstill wasn’t looking at her, and he was again drawing in breath, drawing up strength from the earth. “No,” he replied. “Indays past, trueSkaimates were only gained through a hunt, or a rut.Ina hunt, aSkaiseeks out the mate he wishes, and makes her an offer.Inthe rut, aSkaishares a woman with his closest clanmates.Andwhichever orc fathers her son then gains her, and keeps her as his mate.”
Wait— what?Louisa’smouth dropped open, as shock roiled through her gut. “Youcan’t — mean that?” she demanded. “Goodgods, you would actuallydothat to a woman?!”
