Page 101 of Wed to the Orc Captive

“They are not!”

“We are going to have to disagree on this.”

“No, I’ll just have to show you…” and then my face went hot, and the room went quiet between us.

The side of his mouth twitched. “Is that your plan, then?” he said. “Are you going to show me?”

How could I be so bashful still, after what we’d just done? “...maybe,” I mumbled.

“Maybe?” he grinned.

I had to be scarlet, my face was so hot. “Maybe.”

He leaned in to kiss me again.

When we pulled apart I breathed out, “But you’ll teach me?”

“To make a baby?” His eyebrows were raised high.

“No. Orcish. You’ll teach me?”

“Yeah. Of course.” He leaned back in to kiss. “Let’s see if I can make you light the walls up again⁠—"

“Wait. Wait.” I covered his lips. “I’m serious about this. I’m already on the outside, if we have a child they can’t speak mostly Common. What if they look…”

“Khal is half-human, Annora. His kids are going to be three-quarters.” That did nothing to assuage this fear. “I will teach you. I promise. You’ll speak Orcish.” He nudged my hand out of the way.

“Then teach me something.”

He breathed deep, closed his eyes. Maybe it was nice, that I wasn’t afraid to annoy him. That I knew I was safe to be annoying. “Alright,” he said. “T’thriss alakh.”

“T’thriss ah⁠—

“—alakh.”

I repeated it. “What does it mean?”

“Kiss.” His lips brushed mine, and I forgot my argument. I forgot everything till I was crying out in his arms. And we did light up the walls again. This time I saw they were runes that sputtered and glowed, that they circled the ceiling and traveled up the one podium under the torch.

“Your voice does that.” He lay stretched out, that self-satisfied smirk on his face again.

I curled into him. “Is that normal?”

“I don’t think so. Let me try.” He shouted, an imitation of my yell. The walls stayed empty. “Try it again.”

He reached for me again, and I shoved his hand away, “No, wait!” I sent out a trill, sang a run, watching the symbols glow and the light travel.

“See?” he said. “Even the stones know you belong here with me.”

There was probably more to it. The runes had to mean something. That my voice lit them had to, too. Whatever that connection was, it wasn’t necessarily good. But he was smiling, pushed himself up onto one arm, and none of that felt important anymore. “Are you ready?” he said. “I have…so many words to teach you.”

He was teasing. I knew it. There was so much ahead of us that wouldn’t be this sweet. But I nodded, because suddenly it seemed like I couldn’t imagine anything better than long nights learning with him, his voice in my ear, his words on my stammering lips. “Yes,” I said. “I’m ready.”

It was a long night.

A BASTARD’S PRICE

He woke me with a kiss. “Nora?” His voice was low. “They’ll open the doors soon.”