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“How’sshe doing now, then?” asked a cheerfully smilingTryggr, when he strode back into the sickroom. “Scentsbetter, don’t she?”
Thankfully,Kesstwas still asleep in a nearby bed, soEfterarwas able to briefTryggrwithout interruption.AndwhenTryggrleft this time, he again winked atEben, and —Ebenstartled — tossed him a shiny red apple before striding toward the door.
Ebenscarcely managed to catch the apple, his face furiously burning, a foolish little smile pulling at his mouth.Whilebeside him,Salvi— whoEbenhad nearly forgotten about — had abandoned his writing in favour of whirling around to stare atEben, his scent surging with eager, gleeful curiosity.
“Who’stheSkai?” he demanded. “Andwhy’s he bringing youfood?”
Eben’smouth uselessly opened and closed, betraying far too much, damn it.Andthe gleefulness inSalvi’sscent lurched even higher as his too-knowing gaze darted betweenEben’shot face, the apple in his shaky hand, and the cursed obvious twitching in his trousers.
“Ach, it is naught,”Ebenbegan, too quickly. “Heis only…”
Buthe couldn’t finish, his face burning even hotter, because whatwasTryggr, exactly?Anacquaintance?Aco-conspirator?Thegorgeous, oblivious object ofEben’sfoolish, hopeless lust?
“Onlyyour next bedmate,Iken,”Salvisaid, with a meaningful waggle of his eyebrows. “Iken you’ll be reeking ofSkaiby the time we’re back, ach?”
Salvihad been planning a fortnight-long trip north withTristan,Ebenknew, visiting a libraryTristanhad long wanted to see — and for the first time since he’d heard of it,Ebendidn’t feel even the slightest twinge of envy. “Ach, no,” he said thickly, shaking his head. “Iam sure —Tryggrwould not.AndI…”
Hisvoice hitched, broke, and beside himSalvilaughed, and companionably bumped him with his shoulder. “Ach,Ican scent you, brother,” he said lightly. “You’llsee.”
Ebenwaved it away, but it still fluttered and shimmered in his chest, warm and eager and almost… hopeful.Andit made it even easier to keep working, keep watching overAlma, feeling genuine relief at her steady, continued improvement.Hehad a plan.Hecould try to trust aSkai…
Butthen, around noon,Almareceived an unexpected visitor.ItwasLadyJule, who was mated to the mountain’s captain — and thoughJulewas smiling and bouncing her orcling son in her arms, she had a distinct scent of grim purpose about her, as if she had unpleasant news to share.
Eben’srising suspicions soon proved correct, because after a few moments’ pleasant chatting withKesstand a bleary-lookingAlma,Juleregretfully gaveAlmaher news.Apparently,Alma’sdreadful former employer now regretted running her off, and had begun publicly claiming she’d been kidnapped by orcs — in strong violation of the tenuous peace-treaty between orcs and men.
Alma’salready-pale face went white as she listened, her scent jolting with alarm and dread — but then she pulled herself straight in her bed, and gave a resigned little nod. “Well,I’vebeen meaning to head back anyway,” she said, her voice impressively steady, despite the sheer terror now ringing through her scent. “AndI’mfeeling much better, soIcan certainly leave at once.”
Eben’salarm had begun simmering too, not only because ofAlma’shighly distressed state, but because her leaving the mountain was exactly whatTryggr— and perhapsDrafli— would want to prevent.Wasn’tit?
Butwait,Kesstwas already barking a loud, disapproving scoff, and jabbing his sharp claw towardAlma’scringing body in the bed. “Youaren’t goinganywhere, sweetheart,” he snapped. “Notuntil you’re well again, and especially not back to that scum, who’s likely to take out all his thwarted pettiness on you.Itisnotsafe for you there.Eft, please come tell her she can’t leave?!”
Efterar— who had just returned from a room call — promptly strode over and reinforcedKesst’sposition, even asEbencould see his focus onAlma’sthroat.Onwhere she clearly wasn’t yet fully healed, despite how she was sitting up straight, and arguing her point with surprising intensity. “But—Istill need to go,” she protested, blinking betweenKesstandJulewith pleading eyes. “ItoldBaldrandDrafliIwould leave, at once.Itwould be best, for everyone, ifIgo.Ipromisedthem, andDraflisaid —”
She’dstopped there, perhaps due to the sudden fearsome glowering fromKesstandJule, both of whom then launched intoanother bout of passionate arguments.Includingthe surprising revelation thatAlmahad apparently committed to helping out with the mountain’s housekeeping, particularly in the scullery.
“Haveyou seen that hole,Jules?”Kesstdemanded, his voice half-teasing, half-irate. “Itis vile.Vile!”
Again,Ebenfound himself in reluctant agreement withKesst— the mountain’s formerKeeperhad recently retired, and in his absence, the mountain’s lone scullery had been sorely neglected, and was now in an appalling state of disarray.Tothe point where mostKa-esh had quietly taken on the tedious but necessary task of doing their own laundry, deep in the underground cisterns.
ButAlma’sscent had slightly brightened at the mention of the scullery, soKesstandJulekept on, even more enthusiastic than before. “Andmaybe we can bring over some orcs to keep you entertained,”Kesst’scheerful voice said, in the tone of one making a convincing closing argument. “Andyou can see if any ofthemtickle your fancy?”
Almadidn’t appear at all enthused by this proposal, and besideKesst,Julehuffed a laugh, and rolled her eyes. “Kesst,” she said. “Alma’snot here to pick out an orc, like a newpet.”
Butat that,Kesst’sgaze darted over his shoulder, across the room, toward — towardEben. “Areyou sure?” he said lightly. “Idon’t thinkEbenwould mind beingAlma’snew pet, right,Eben?Especiallyif there was a collar and lead involved?”
Wait.What?No.Thesudden, startling mortification jolted throughEben’sentire body —Kessttruly hadn’t just said that, out loud, to a humanpatient?! — andEben’sshaking hand somehow lost its grip on the empty flask he’d been holding, which fell to the workbench with a hard, ringingthunk.Ensuringthat every awake eye in the room was now trained curiously upon him, witnessing his red face and trembling hands.
Andthough he instantly dropped his eyes, and fought to drag in deep breaths, he could still feel all those eyes judginghim, chastising him, mocking him.FullybelievingKesst’spreposterous claim that he wanted to be a human woman’spet, on a collar and lead.Evenwhen the human woman was already thoroughly involved with two orcs, one of them a terrifyingSkaiwhoEbenhad prevented fromkillingher.
Ebenbarely heard the rest of their conversation over the ringing in his ears, and the waves of hot and cold shuddering up and down his spine.Andthough he forced himself to keep working — he’d promisedTryggrhe would keep an eye onAlma, he’dpromised— it was slow and stumbling, with far too many thoughtless errors.Andall the hopeful shimmering warmth from earlier had vanished too, sinking back into the dark, bitter misery.
Foolish.Weak.Younever focus on what is important…
Andin truth, what hadEbenbeen thinking, to begin imagining that he andTryggrwere co-conspirators, somehow?Afterthey’d met only one day before, and shared a single conversation in the corridor?Andof course a capable, confidentSkailikeTryggrwouldn’t be interested in a weak, foolish orc likeEben, who his colleagues mocked and belittled as little better than a pet.
Tomake matters worse,Tryggrdidn’t return for the rest of the day, andAlmaalso seemed to become increasingly morose, reeking of grief and anguish as she slipped in and out of sleep beneath her blanket.UntilEbencould scarcely breathe through the scent of it, let alone focus on his work — a state that again wasn’t helped byKesst, who had now begun irritably pacing back and forth across the sickroom, and casting pointed glances towardEbenandSalviat the workbench.
“Youknow,”Kesstannounced, to no one in particular, “I’msureAlmawould be so much happier if she had some help cleaning up that vile scullery.Ifsome helpfulKa-esh would arrange to fix its clogged drain, maybe.”
