Page 45 of Wed to the Orc Captive

“She volunteered.” Vrathgar had spoken, staring into the flames. “The day after I’d threatened her.”

“You threatened her?”

“She’s a wielder, Tyralk. They’re strong.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s not like I’m picking on their ewe lambs.”

“But she volunteered? You didn’t worry that meant she was a spy?”

“No. That’s the part where I’m a fool, nayah?” He rested his head back, that bitter, jaded look again. “Because I did want to live, yes, but also…who else would volunteer to marry me? Hmm? To be wanted, even for bad reasons…” he shrugged. “I was a fool.”

The tall one looked away, awkward. “You don’t have to worry, about Khal and me. We’ll figure it out. We always figure it out. Just…let someone else take care of you for once, alright?” He fidgeted. “You act like you’re this lone hunter, but you have us. And you shouldn’t be alone.”

Vrathgar shook his head. “God, you’re just a kid. Shut up. It’s our job to take care of you.”

“I’m twenty years old.”

“An infant, a rutting infant. You were biting my ankles last autumn⁠—"

“Don’t say fighting words while I can’t kick your ass, old man.”

“Old man? If I’m an old man, stop trying to lecture your elders, I’ll take a cane to your⁠—"

They were laughing, hushed voices, and I watched him as he laughed, the way the pain still tightened his eyes.

I didn’t want to infringe on this moment, to take anything away. I crept back to the bed in the darkness, and I lay with my eyes clenched shut, not letting myself think about unshed tears or roads north from the Vradi or the empty pouch around my neck. He had people who cared about him. That was good. I could worry less. But I was the only one looking out for me. I needed to look out, to take any aid they would give me to get away.

“What’s the pain like?” Tyralk asked, a voice low enough I knew someone normal wouldn’t be able to hear.

There was a moment before he answered. “Bad.”

Liquid poured. “Grezha said to give you this, if you couldn’t sleep. It won’t mask it completely, but…”

A gulp sounded. “Get to bed. You knocked me out. Stop hovering like a mother hen.”

A quiet voice: “Call for us if you need something.”

“I won’t. Go sleep.”

“We care about you.”

“Gods, go to bed.”

The footsteps receded. His breathing evened, only the occasional hitch. And for a long while, sleep claimed me as well.

PAIN

He was suffering.

It was quiet, the gasps, the grinding of his teeth in the room by the fire. It was my unnatural ears waking me from slumber; no one else would hear.

When I crept into the wide hearth-room, his eyes were closed, maybe under the influence of the drug, though his features contorted and his breathing caught. I laid a hand on his brow, and he turned towards it, but his lashes didn't flutter. He didn’t wake.

“You don’t have a fever,” I murmured. “That’s good at least.” The wound on his thigh had been deep. I didn’t know if the creature had nicked bone. “There isn’t much I can do for you.” His head rested against my hand, his breathing deepened. “Would you be angry if you found out I sang? You said there would be no monsters here.” The greater risk was him believing I'd bewitched him. If he'd asked about it once, he'd be suspicious again. And if any of the others saw me⁠—

His face tightened in pain.

When had his pain become something I couldn't ignore? How long would my traitor-heart bind me here? “I wasn’t supposed to fall in love with you, Vrathgar One-Eye’s Son,” I said softly. “But I can’t kill you, so what else is there to do?” My fist tightened at my side, my own aches and bruises a dull throb. His brow was furrowed, the tension there even while he slept. “They speak like you brought a terrible trouble when you brought me. I don’t know what any of this means. I know nothing,” I whispered, “But I guess I’m here with you until you’re finished with me.” I ran a thumb across his eyebrow, across the split left by that scar. “But I’m not going to sit here and watch you suffer.”

He didn’t answer. I listened to the house, didn't hear anyone else.