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Andthat was something, something, andEbendrew in more breath, desperately gathered his courage. “Itwill n-not — work,”he croaked, into the empty, crackling silence. “Tobreak the s-scent-bond.Youwill only — h-hurt your mate.”
Drafli’sflashing eyes darted back towardBaldr’ssleeping body in the bed, andEbenclutched for the doorframe at his side, and hauled down another breath. “Y-you would not wish him b-bonded to a corpse in a crypt,” he gulped. “Andyou would not wish him to — know, with every scent, that this was — your doing.Thisshould — p-poison you, and him, and this — this deep trust you have, between you.This— gift.”
Hewas fully trembling by the end of it, his claws clattering against the stone of the doorframe.Andfor an instant, staring atDrafli’scoiled body,Ebenwas certain he would still do it.Hewould slit the woman’s throat, and then hurl the dagger straight atEben, too…
Butthen,Drafli— closed his eyes.Tiltedhis head back, as if in a brief, desperate prayer.Andthen he spun and stalked for the door, his shoulders rigid, his gleaming dagger still clasped tightly in his fist.Andthat might have been a faint, visceral shudder, quivering up his bare back, as he spun into the corridor, and vanished from sight.
Fuck.Ebendidn’t know how long he stood there, clinging to the wall, staring at the empty doorway, while his heart hammered sick and dizzying in his throat.Nevertrust aSkai.
Heonly vaguely noticedEfterarandKesstfinally returning to the sickroom, both their scents reeking of exhaustion.Andthough neither of them sparedEbena glance before falling into their own bed together, it was enough thatEbencould somehow move again, could pry his numb fingers from the doorframe, and then stagger toward the door.TowardtheKa-esh wing.Toward— thedýflissa.
Asalways, it offered distraction and relief and pain, and as many dominant, powerful orcs asEbencould ask for.Someof them seeking his pleasure, some of them only his screams —but no matter how muchEbenbegged for more, none of it was strong enough to fully clear the chaotic mess clouding his thoughts.Andfinally he dragged his sore, sweaty, bloody body back through the long corridors to his cold, empty bedroom.
Foolish, he told himself, as he lay there alone in his hard bunk, the pain pulsing through his torn back, his still-slack arse.Foolish.He’ddone his job tonight, he’d helped protect his patient, and that was all.Andin truth, he’d faced far worse throughout the course of his career as a medic, hadn’t he?He’dwitnessed horrifying grief and pain and regret, he’d wept as he’d heard dying orcs’ last words, he’d saved and lost too many lives to count.Sowhy did he even care so much about these damnedSkai?Whywas he still thinking about that laughing orc from the corridor, all these weeks later?Whywas he still caught on this, trapped in this, when he had his own life, his own work, and as many willingKa-esh lovers as he could ever ask for?
Younever focus on what is important,Ebencould still hear his father saying, with his typical frustration and disappointment leaching bitterly through his scent.Youwaste your talent and your time.Youdo a deep disservice to all yourKa-esh kin.Youshow yourself foolish and weak.
Ebensighed and shoved over in the bed, yanking the blanket off his sore back, but the ache was still there, scraping across his skin, wrenching deep in his belly.He’dtried, with his father.He’dtried so hard to please him, to study mathematics and geology, to become a masterKa-esh engineer.Justas his father had been, and his father before him.
Butit had been such dull, dreary work, dragging atEben’senergy and his motivation.Andhis spare time spent with human anatomy books and medical research had been so much more intriguing, with so many more unexplored possibilities.Therewas just so much about orc biology that was yet fully unknown — from their inherent healing abilities, to the many propertiesof seed and saliva and blood, to the mysteries and devastating dangers of orc-human reproduction.
Eben’sown mother had died during his birth, which he knew had happened in wartime, in highly unsanitary conditions deep underground.Andthanks to his studies, he’d also learned that his own relatively small size was due at least in part to the fact that his mother would have seen little sun during her pregnancy, if at all — and she’d likely been lacking in the crucial nutrients humans needed from fruit, grains, and cooked meat.
Andperhaps it wasEben’sguilt and grief over his mother’s death that had kept driving him back to those human textbooks again and again.Seekingout the answers that could help prevent such unnecessary deaths in the future, and maybe even help rebuild their species.AndeventuallyEbenhad progressed to making his own notes, too, keeping his own journals, and hiding it all from his increasingly enraged father.
Youtold them you wish to specialize in medicine, like a human?his father had demanded after a particularly trying day, during which a teenageEben’sdistraction on a tunnel dig had led to the loss of three entire days’ work.Youtold them you wish to never dig a tunnel again?!
Ebencertainly hadn’t meant to admit such things, let alone to fellow students who had become increasingly contemptuous toward him and his intelligence.Butthe grating endless tedium had been so strong, so utterly overwhelming, that he’d finally confessed it all to his father between gulping, gasping sobs.Iwant to study medicine.Icare about it, andI’mgood at it.Iwant to learn, and help people.Iwant to help save our kin.
Hisfather had listened in stony silence, his scent hardening with every breath, and whenEbenhad finally finished, his father had raised himself tall, and pointed at the door.Getout, he’d said.Anddo not return here or speak to me again, until you come to your senses.
SoEbenhad left their familiarhellir, embedded deep with the scents of his ancestors, and with many scents of his own far happier childhood.Andhe’d gone as far away as he could, to the very edge of theKa-esh wing, and found a small, dry room to sleep in.Andhe’d been here ever since, summer after summer, changing his path whenever he scented his father nearby, and averting his eyes whenever they met in a corridor.Untilone morning he’d realized he hadn’t scented his father in many days, and when he’d finally dared to return to thehellir, he’d found his father gravely ill and incoherent, scenting of whispering death.
SoEbenhad cared for his ill father with the full extent of his knowledge, easing the pain with the strongest herbs, bringing him fresh blood to drink, moving him regularly, even licking his bedsores to help him heal.Andwhile it had without question made his father’s final weeks more peaceful, it still hadn’t saved his life — andEbenstill didn’t know if his father had even recognized him, let alone understood all that he’d done.
Ebenwas somehow weeping into his fur, the water streaking off his face in hot rivulets, the ache clutching again and again at his heaving chest.Andhere was the damned vision of theSkaiagain, smiling at him, so confident, so certain, so… pleased.Soblithely, genuinely pleased byEben’sbringing his clanmate tonic, to the point where he’d offered his help.Maybeeven his… pleasure.
Ach,Isee.Goodof you to bring it.Justcome back if you get lost.Ican show you the way.
Itagain heated inEben’sbelly, so starkly, impossibly powerful, and tangling with it now were the clashing visions ofDrafli, too.Cradlinghis lost mate so tenderly in his arms, drawing out his pleasure with such focused, single-minded purpose, as if he would never stop caring for him, would never hurt him or let him go…
Andthe way he’d stood over that sleeping woman, with pure hatred in his eyes, and his dagger flashing over her throat.Readyto kill a weakened, already-wounded patient, to snuff out her entire life, because she’d committed the unforgivable sin of being rescued by his mate, and succumbing to an orc-induced biological response she surely hadn’t even known existed.
Nevertrust aSkai.Neverlet one touch you, or get you alone…
ButEben’ssobs wouldn’t stop coming, wracking through his aching body again and again and again.Untilfinally they drew him down with them, and locked him into lonely, empty sleep.
5
Ebenslept badly that night, jolting awake again and again to visions ofDrafli, of daggers, of death.Untilhe finally gave up and dragged himself out of bed, fighting to steady his thoughts and his breaths.
Perhapslast night had just been — a mistake, forDrafli.Amoment of weakness.Perhapshe had learned his lesson, and would henceforth stay out of the sickroom, well away from the woman, where he could resist any murderous impulses he felt toward her.Andperhaps ifBaldrstayed away long enough, the scent-bond would eventually weaken, and this entire situation could be forgotten.
Eben’scautious optimism rose once he reached the sickroom, and found no sign or scent ofDrafliorBaldrwhatsoever.Alma’scondition had also continued to improve overnight, to the point whereEfterarhad finally deemed her well enough to awaken — and she soon proved to be a shy, polite woman, who greeted the sickroom staff with quiet, earnest gratefulness.
“I—I’mtruly sorry to have inconvenienced you, sir,” she toldEfterar, her voice thin and raspy through her still-compromised throat. “Ifyou’d be so kind as to draw up the bill,Iwill —”
ButEfterarfirmly waved the matter away, as always, and began his usual patient briefing, whileEbenpulled overAlma’schart and began adding notes.Asusual, he and his fellowKa-esh medicSalvihad been mixing daily tonics specifically tailored towardEfterar’songoing assessments of her needs, and this would surely provide some helpful insights, and —
