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Butby noon,DuffandGaukr— whose romance had continued apace — had begun darting lingering glances at each other, the scents of their hunger spiking powerfully through the air.UntilfinallyTryggrthrew up his hands, and ordered them off intoAlma’sback office, leavingTryggrandEbento finish the laundry together, alone.Bothof them purposefully not looking at one another until what must have been late afternoon, when a sweatyKillikappeared at the scullery door, signed something atTryggr, and left again.
“Ach,Bossand his mates are almost back!”Tryggrexclaimed, breathless. “Arewe almost done?Where’sthe washing machines?”
Hisvoice sounded unnaturally shrill, his eyes almost panicked, andEbencouldn’t help a reflexive squeeze at his arm, and his most hopeful, reassuring smile. “Ishall fetch them,” he said. “Whilstyou take the others, and greet yourBossand hismates.Showthem how well you have done, and how right they were to trust you.”
Tryggr’sbreath exhaled heavy and slow, his head nodding, his eyes intent and grateful onEben’sface. “Thanks,Ka-esh,” he said gruffly. “Couldn’adone it without you.You’vebeen — brilliant.Thebest.”
Oh.Well.Andagain,Ebenfelt himself smiling, slow and genuine, as the contentment settled deep in his belly.He’ddone it.He’dbeen a friend.He’ddone — good work.
Hecould trust aSkai, and he could also trust… himself.
“Thankyou, sir,” he said toTryggr, without dropping his eyes, without even a hitch in his voice. “Iwas happy to help.”
19
Washingmachines,Ebensoon discovered, were far heavier than they had any right to be.
Hefound help carrying the first one up to the scullery, thanks to a kindBautul— a former patient — who had taken pity on his plight.Butthe second one felt almost twice as heavy as the first, and by the timeEbenreached the scullery, he was sweaty and staggering on his feet, and cursing himself for not thinking to have procured a cart.
“Ach,Ka-esh!”Tryggrexclaimed, upon catching sight ofEbenat the scullery door — and he instantly rushed over, snatching the washer fromEben’stwitching arms, and setting it onto one of the steel basins. “Watchyourself,Ka-esh.Orcall for help when you need it, ach?”
Therewas true alarm in his scent, studding deep intoEben’sbelly, but this time it felt almost easy to smile back, despite the heat surging into his cheeks. “Sorry, sir,” he replied, wincing even as it came out of his mouth — friends,friends— and he forced his gaze back up, away, toward the other scents in the room.Andyes, here wasDuff, andGegnir, andAlmaherself.Alma’spretty face was flushed and eager, her scent bright withdelighted happiness — suggesting, surely, that she was pleased with their work on the scullery.Shealso reeked of bothDrafliandBaldr’sfresh scents, even stronger and deeper than before.Provingthat they had indeed settled matters between them, and brought her home again, for good.
Ifshe can keep it up, showBossshe’s worth his time,Iken he’ll come around.
“Andwelcome back,Keeper,”Ebenshyly told her, as that familiar envious longing caught low in his belly. “Weare glad you are home again.”
Almabeamed back at him, while beside her,Tryggrloudly cleared his throat, and kicked at the new washbasin. “Well, don’t keep her in suspense,Ka-esh,” he said flatly. “Showher how it works, will you?”
Right.Eben’sface flushed even hotter, but he quickly nodded and bent over the basin. “Thisis a washing machine,” he explained, as his trembling hand found the handle, and gave it a careful turn. “Wehad heard of them being used in the north, and it is a simple concept, so we made our own, ach?Youturn the handle, and the paddle beneath shall wash your clothes for you.”
Heturned it again, demonstrating how the large paddle swung through the basin below.Asight that sparked genuine awe inAlma’seyes and scent, soEbenwaved her forward, and smiled as she gave it a tentative turn, too.
“It’sbrilliant,” she fervently said, with a bright, grateful smile over her shoulder toward him. “Andso well crafted, too.Thiswill save us so much time.Thankyou.”
Ebenwaved it away, but the envious longing had slightly faded again, sinking into a deep, genuine contentment.He’dbeen a friend.He’ddone good work.Hehad.
“Ach,Iwas happy to help,” he said, and he meant it. “Weall wish you to feel welcome, and stay.”
Therewas an instant’s tense, awkward silence, during whichAlmablushed, and something dark and almost angry flashed throughTryggr’sscent.Somethingthat felt depressingly familiar at this point, becauseEbenhad scented it on him so many times before — and as he blinked atTryggr’sfrowning face, it distantly occurred to him that it had so often happened around…Alma.Exceptfor that awful moment outside theSkaiarena, perhaps, whenTryggrhad scented just like this, and said,Iknow what you really want.Ijust… can’t.I’veseenPaandPabbigo through it, my whole fucking life, andI’mnot gonna…
Astrange, sudden suspicion had begun flaring inEben’schest, whileTryggr’sstiff body shifted, his eyes narrow onEben’s, his jaw flexing tight in his cheek.Hisbreath drawing in, his shoulders pulling up, as if he was about to say…
“Maybeyou haven’t noticed,Ka-esh,”Tryggrsaid, his voice hard. “Butthis woman’s spoken for.Permanently.”
Oh.Wait.Wait.TryggrthoughtEbenwas… what?ThatEbenwas trying to… withAlma?!
Ebenblinked, stared atTryggr’sgrim, flinty eyes, tasted the bitter darkness in his scent — and suddenly it was as though time had frozen, halted, flashing wild shocked disbelief upEben’sspine, while memories marched behind his eyes.Memoriesof every time he’d spoken aboutAlmatoTryggr, spoken toAlmaaroundTryggr— and howEben’sown damned envy and longing had also been there, thick and choking in his scent.TellingTryggr…Iwant this.Ilong for this.Ilong for… her.
Tryggrhad scentedEben’senvy, and he’d thought it meantEbenwantedAlma.Awoman.
AndnowTryggr’swords — his distress — from outside the arena seemed to snap into a new light, too.Ijust can’t,he’d said,I’veseenPaandPabbigo through it— just asEbenhad witnessed it with so many orcs, too.Becomingattached to an orcwho truly wanted a woman was a path straight to misery, and no wonderTryggrhadn’t wanted that,Ebencertainly didn’t want it either, but had — hadTryggrreally thought that, all this time?
Butyes, yes, that scent was still there onTryggr, deepening by the breath — and now thatEbenwas breathing it, looking at it, it did scent so much like… envy.Likejealousy.Likethe same hopeless, helpless longing he knew far, far too well.
Andcurse it,AlmaandDuffandGegnirwere still all standing here watching, listening, andEbenhad to try.Hadto say something, something that wouldn’t insultAlma, something that wasn’tOfcourseIdon’t want her,Ibarely noticed her,Iwant you, you, you…
Butno, wait, maybeEbenwas still wrong on this, too.Maybehe was still seeing what he wanted to see, from someone who he’d sworn to treat as a friend.Andhe needed to giveTryggra way out, too, needed to offer a way for him to say no, to pretend none of this had ever happened — and curse it, what even hadTryggrsaid?Maybeyou haven’t noticed,Ka-esh, but this woman’s spoken for.Permanently.
