Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

LILY

T wo hours later, Ryko's still at the edge of the market. Why is he just standing there?

My hands are getting sweaty, making it hard to handle my needles, especially when working with leather. Should I take an early break, to see if he follows?

What if he doesn't?

"What's wrong with you, Lily?" Jessie asks.

I look down at the fabric on my lap. I've sewn the harness to my skirt. "Crap."

"Wow, someone's going to have to wash that mouth out," she teases. "Relax, our guards have that orc under surveillance. He won't come within ten feet of us."

"Kind of hard to sell products if the customers can't approach," I say as I start ripping out the stitches.

Everyone thinks I'm an easy-going, rule-abiding person because I always keep my head down and avoid making waves back at our colony. I can't count on anyone to watch out for me. Especially my uncle in New Earth .

When my parents died during the invasion, my uncle took me in but only because he needed someone to help with his two young daughters. When he got the chance to leave Earth for Kovos, I went with him. Life as a lone woman on Earth had become too dangerous. For my first two years on Kovos, I raised my two young cousins. Never to my uncle's satisfaction either.

While my uncle technically has say over me and what I do, even though I'm a grown woman, Council has the final word. When one of the councilmen learned I'm a seamstress by trade, he ordered me to move into the women's dorm and take over sewing whatever the colony needs. I don't get to see my cousins much anymore, as they live on the other side of the colony and work the fields. They're now eleven and thirteen and should be in school. Like the male children. I wonder how the orcs treat their children, if they give the girls an equal shot, unlike my people.

"I heard Tamara flirted with an orc last week," Jessie says, pulling me from my thoughts.

"I hadn't heard that." I'd had a cold and traded shifts last week so I wouldn't have to make the long trek in and out of Pen'Kesh.

"It's rather hush-hush because her father's on Council."

"Are you sure? None of that sounds right."

"Megan said their dad locked her up and plans to marry her off."

"They can't force her to marry someone."

"They most certainly can."

We've become second-class citizens in our settlement, but we've always had the freedom to date and marry whom we want. "You must have misunderstood."

"You never believe anything I say."

"That's not true." I'm slow to accept hard truths, like when we lost to the aliens, and no longer controlled our world.

"Here's the really disgusting part. Are you ready?" she adds a dramatic pause, as if being forced to marry isn't sickening enough. " They're holding an auction. Any single guy from twenty to sixty can bid on Tamara."

"Now you're just outright screwing with me. They can't do that! And for what? Because she was flirting with an orc?"

Her dour expression turns my stomach. When did we lose the right to choose who we're with?

"They're searching for the orc. They plan to teach him a lesson for going near her. I don't agree with what they're doing to Tamara, but at least they're going to take care of the orc. Filthy beasts."

My hands shake and I can't sew a single stitch. I lift my head and stare at Ryko. What if someone mistakes my orc for the one who flirted with Tamara? Too many humans think all orcs look alike. They don't bother to see people with thoughts, feelings, morals. Only… monsters.

Jessie waves a hand in front of my face, breaking my stare.

I have to say something, but I can't bring myself to bad-mouth the orcs. "Maybe the orcs aren't all bad."

"You smoking weed on your breaks?"

"Except for that demonstration of theirs at the entrance this morning, they haven't caused any trouble in Pen'Kesh in months. And that was a fight the vints caused. One of them lost his hand."

"Even a snake can go months without biting. Then it strikes, when you least expect it."

"Rather morbid, Jessie. Who's feeding you this doomsday attitude?"

"Owen says the orcs are planning something. That's why Councilman Roberts has been talking with them, to keep them from attacking."

"Since when do you listen to Owen?"

"I know he's an ass, but that doesn't mean he's wrong. He spends most of his time walking the market, listening and observing. I mean, look at those dirty orcs." Jessie points to Ryko and his grak who has returned. "The younger one has been standing there all day. They have to be planning something."

"Maybe they're discussing what they need for their colony."

Jessie shudders. "Those tusks are disgusting."

I nearly groan, thinking of how Ryko's tusks makes all of me thrum. I bite my lip, reminding myself to be careful around Jessie.

"Maybe they think we're the monsters. Or ugly compared to what they're used to."

"At least you agree they're hideous."

That's not what I was saying, but I keep my mouth shut. Each time I speak, I risk blurting out that she doesn't know what she's talking about. I have to be smart here. If Council finds out about me and Ryko, they'll auction me off like they plan to do with Tamara. One of these days, I'm going to slip up. I just know it.

"I bet if they smiled, they wouldn't look so threatening."

"Animals don't smile."

"Insulting them won't help anyone," I scold.

Jessie rolls her eyes. "Fine. Monsters don't smile."

"Orcs. Not monsters."

When we're in private, the corners of Ryko's mouth lift slowly, revealing the tops and middles of his tusks while his eyes soften. Orcs definitely smile.

"Maybe the older orc is more like fifty and they're father and son," I ramble on, trying to deduce what's going on over there. Ryko's avoiding looking at me, I'm sure of it.

"Do you hear yourself?" Jen shakes her head as she searches for a larger needle in the sewing box. "You're talking like they have families."

"Of course, they do. Or do you need me to go over the birds and the bees with you?" I say, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Don't make me gag. I'd slit my own throat before letting an orc touch me. Scratch that. I'd slit his throat." She shudders. "They belong in the pens over in the moxxel sector."

I want to yell at her that the orcs are like everyone else, that they care about each other. But that will get me auctioned off along with Tamara. Maybe faster.

After a deep, calming breath, I say, "It wouldn't hurt for us to get to know more about the other people on Kovos."

"You're right, to a certain extent. We need what the bantarans, vints, and moxxels sell here. But we don't need a single thing from those dirty green monsters." She rolls her eyes. "Excuse me. Orcs . I wish they'd all crawl back into their holes and stay there."

"Cover for me if Owen shows up," I push out in a flat voice, straining not to snap at her as I stand. I need a break from Jessie and her hatred. And I really need to see Ryko, to feel his arms around me, and to absorb his goodness.

"It's too early for a break," Jessie says.

"Tell that to my legs. I'm stiff from sitting too long." I stretch, hoping to get Ryko's attention. After smoothing out my skirt, I push back from the crate I use as a chair and head off toward the river.

After retying the laces of my boots, I look up and see Ryko and the other orc are gone. I hope he saw me get up and he's heading to our spot.

My anxiety rockets as other thoughts toy with me. What if he's leaving Pen'Kesh? What if another three weeks without knowing what is happening goes by? Or longer?

In a funk, I leave the market and head to the trail leading out of Pen'Kesh. I'll have my answer soon enough.

When I reach the river's edge, I plop down on the ground and remove my boots as I listen to the rushing water. Ryko's not here, but I can't bring myself to leave in the hope that he'll show up before it's time to return to the market. I love this spot. It's beautiful, peaceful, like all of Kovos. The uninhabited areas, that is.

The water sparkles with a cleanliness I never saw back in Los Angeles. Sure, it's not every day a person sees a two-headed bird standing on a rock on the river bank, but as long as I ignore the oddities in the flora and fauna here, I can imagine I'm still on Earth.

"There's my lush female," a male says behind me.

"Ryko!" I jump up, shrieking as I run to him.

He opens his arms as I launch myself against his broad chest. Massive arms close around me, cocooning me in safety and love.

I like to think of it as love, though he's never said he loves me.

"I thought you'd left, that you were still mad at me."

With a thick finger, he tips my chin up. Even though I'm five-eight, he towers over me.

"You lost faith in me," he says, his voice sterner than usual as his eyes take me in, caressing every part of me without using his hands. He makes me feel as if I'm the most beautiful woman in the universe.

"I didn't see where you'd gone when I left my table. I thought?—"

He lifts his chin. "You need to believe in me, female."

I love when he calls me that, especially when he adds a slight growl to his voice. All possessive, like he's telling me I'm his.

His eyes move over me. "Where is your knife?"

"You mean your grak's knife? Owen took it. Technically, it was accepted in trade so it wasn't mine to keep, but the colony's. Next time I come out here, I'll bring my shears."

"You need a proper knife. I will get you one to fit your smaller hands."

"Owen will notice. And he'll take that one too."

He growls.

"Are you mad at me? I don't want to fight. I'm so sorry I?—"

His lips take mine, swallowing my words as he draws me into a fantasy I never want to leave.