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Hebroke off there, glowering beyondEbenup the corridor, his hands flexing at his sides. “Reportedhim toBossandSimon, by the way, after a chat with myPa,” he said flatly. “Theclan’s gonna deal with him, ach?”
Somethingswerved inEben’sbelly, because oh,Tryggrhadn’t truly done that, forhim?Butwait, curse it,Ebendidn’t want to cause any trouble, either.Didn’twant to be responsible for any kind of retaliation whatsoever, and what if thisSkaapdecided to take it out onEben, or gain revenge, or — or —
Butwait,Tryggrhad lurched closer, and clasped his hand toEben’sshoulder. “Naughtto fear,Ka-esh,” he said, low and firm. “It’sgot naught now to do with you, and we just don’t want it to happen again, ach?Wecan’t have it being dangerous for someone to come bring us an urgent message, affecting our own kin.Bossnever woulda forgiven himself if that woman had come to harm running alone out there, ach?Mostof all if he’d known you were trying to get word to him, but couldn’t, because you got attacked by a so-called brother instead.”
Hiseyes onEben’shad darkened again, his hand tightening on his shoulder. “Itwas good of you,Ka-esh,” he said, low. “Goodof you, and brave as hell, too.Youever even walk in that arena before?Orwitness a proper brawl?”
Ebenshook his head, betraying a faint wince, because again, it was so weak, so foolish, he was supposed to be a medic, wasn’t he? “N-not — thus,” he confessed. “Imean —Ihave attended skirmishes and battlefields, afterwards, to offer care when it is needed.ButIhave never been sent into — the full midst of this.”
Andtruly, it was a gift that the war with men had been over for most ofEben’stime as a medic, because what would he have done, if he’d needed to go straight into a pitched battle?Whatwould he have done ifEfterarhad even decided to send him into that arena, rather than going himself?
“Well, we’re grateful,Ka-esh,”Tryggrsaid, his eyes flinty onEben’sface. “Youdidn’t need to do it, and you did it anyway, even when it couldn’a been easy for you.Whenit couldaharmedyou.”
Anodd ripple snaked upEben’sspine, and he swallowed, attempted a smile. “Iwas glad to help,” he said thickly. “AndIam — quite all right, of course.”
ButTryggr’seyes had again flicked downEben’sfront, toward the sweat and scratches and blood.Almostas clear as if he’d spoken his doubt aloud, andEbendrew in breath, cleared his throat. “Thiswas just — for pleasure,” he said, with a vague, shaky wave toward thedýflissaup the corridor. “Ka-esh oft do this, for it is an easy way to clear one’s thoughts, and forget —”
Butwait, curse him, why was he saying this, betraying this, before this orc, of all orcs — but it was too late, and that was far too much awareness, shifting acrossTryggr’swatching eyes. “Seemslike a lot to forget, though, if it takes what, eight orcs to do it?” he asked, his voice light. “An’ what’s this from, a lash?”
Hisclaw had very lightly reached to touchEben’schest, brushing against —Eben’swide eyes darted downwards — oh.Wherethe whip had very clearly curled around his torso, and drawn a vivid line against his skin, still seeping dark red blood.Andwait, wasTryggrjudging him, and had it really been eight orcs, andTryggrcould smell that, and —
Thehumiliation burned up intoEben’sface, roiling hard and sick in his belly, and he needed to leave, needed to escape, run as deep as he could — butTryggr’sother hand was still clasping his shoulder, holding him here, where he could judge him, and mock him.Andall that was left was forEbento force his face up, to hold his blinking, miserable eyes toTryggr’sface.
“Asif you have any right to judge me?” his thin voice demanded, harsh in his throat. “Howmany weakened orcs do you take in that arena, or mayhap in the corridors, once you have gained their defeat?”
Heknew it was unfair even as he spoke it, but the sickness and exhaustion were still curdling in his belly, his vision flooded with images ofTryggrlaughing with thatSkaiorc, pinning himdown, driving his scarred swollen prick into him with such smooth, confident ease.AndEbenwasn’t jealous, he wasnot, and —
Andwait,Tryggrwas reeling backwards, away, his expression stunned, almost hurt. “Thishas naught to do with their defeat,” he hissed back. “It’sonly whatSkaioft do, whenwewish for release.AndIken it’s better than running a blood-soakedrutupon a weak smallKa-esh, and wielding alashagainst him, when he’s yetreekingof fear and despair!”
Oh.Oh, no.No, no, no.Aweak smallKa-esh.Reekingof fear and despair.Andthe pain cracking throughEben’schest was far worse than his stinging back, or his aching, burning arse.Hecouldn’t bear to letTryggrsee him weep, not again, please, please —
ButTryggrwas seeing it, he was staring atEbenwith more judgement in his eyes, and with something almost like — like contempt.ContempttowardEben, for his size, his weakness, his fear, his despair…
Nevertrust aSkai, his father’s grating voice shouted,run as deep as you can— and this time,Ebenwas listening.Listening, weeping, as he whirled away, covered his face, and ran.
11
Ebenspent an endless, miserable night.
Ittook far too long to fall asleep, what with his leaking eyes, and the ever-increasing aches running through his weakened, exhausted body.Achesthat eventually began to feel more like chills, and it belatedly occurred to his weary, overwhelmed brain that perhapsGareth— andTryggr— had been right.Perhapshe’d pushed it too far in thedýflissa.He’dhad far too little sleep these past days, and beyond that appleTryggrhad thrown him, he couldn’t recall if he’d eaten the day before, either — and curse him, he hadn’t thought to drink even a bit of fresh seed in thedýflissa, either.Orchealing never worked as well when the orc was fatigued or under-nourished, or —Ebengroaned into his fur — or under strain.
Sohe attempted to lie still, to rest, and eventually pulled over that sack of fruitTryggrhad given him, which he’d somehow carried all the way here.Buthe suddenly felt too weary to even eat it, and instead ended up sucking out a plum’s juices as well as he could before collapsing again.Hisbody still shivering with wave after wave of cold, though the fur beneath him was soakedwith sweat, and his back felt like it was fully aflame, licking and crackling with agonizing heat.
Eventuallyhe fell into a fitful, restless sleep, and when he awoke again, he was parched, the wet fur now frigid against his shivering skin.Buthe was too weak to get out of bed, and there was no water to be found, so he finally groped for another plum, and again sucked as much liquid from it as he could.Andthen sank his trembling body back onto the bed, fighting to ignore the distant shouting awareness that he was feverish, and that the whip-strikes had clearly become infected.Theseare not healing as they should…
Ebendidn’t know when he next awoke, but when he did, it was to the sound of a low, cursing voice.Afamiliar voice.AndEbenhad to be dreaming, dreaming thatTryggrwas in his room, and yes, no, the scent was gone again — until it wasn’t.Andwith it was another familiar scent,Gareth’sscent, but hanging thick with metal and smoke, suggesting he’d just come from his work in the forge.
“Howlong’s he been like this?” demandedTryggr’svoice. “An’ why the fuck did none of you come check on him?Didn’tyou scent him, the other night, when you were tearing into him with a fuckinglash, after he near got attacked andforcedin the fuckingSkaiarena?!”
Thesharp scent ofGareth’sshock filtered through the air, andEbencould hear his low, hoarse exhale. “Ach, he spoke naught of this,” he replied, his voice sounding odd toEben’sears. “Andhe oft comes scenting thus, and begging for pain.AndifI— or another friend — do not grant him this, he shall hurl himself toward any other who shall offer it.Oftthose who shall not pay close heed to him, or his scents.”
Oh.No.Garethtruly didn’t think such things aboutEben, he truly hadn’t taken pleasure withEbenout ofpity, or a sense ofresponsibility, all this time?!Andit was surely a sign ofEben’smiserable state that his sudden guilt and grief didn’t even filter into his scent, at least not enough to reachTryggrandGarethbeside him.
“AndIonly did not come to see him,” continuedGareth’svoice, still thick and unusually high-pitched, “becauseIthought — your scents —Ithought he had gone withyou.”
Therewas an instant’s silence, taut and heavy in the room, and a sound fromGareththat might have been a sniff.Andthen the sound of movement, of perhapsTryggrpacing, his scent swaying unevenly intoEben’sbreath. “Thenwhere are those pricks from the sickroom, those ones he works with!”Tryggrdemanded. “ThoseAsh-Kaialways got their noses poked in everyone else’s business, and that mouthy oneKesstkept launching right into me for evenaskingaboutBoss’swoman!Whyain’t he down here gettin’ his magic healer mate to deal with this!”
Therewas another moment’s silence, broken byGareth’sheavy-sounding sigh. “Outsidethedýflissa, he is not one to draw eyes to himself,” his quiet voice said. “Heis so meek and soft-spoken,Iken he is mayhap easy to… forget.Mostof all in such a busy sickroom, ach?”
