Chapter Eleven

Chap ter Eleven

I sleep soundly, at least until the very warm and very firm pillow I’m using decides it’s time to get up. I grumble, reaching my arm out in an attempt to hold it in place. Five more minutes. I was dreaming about flying through a thunderstorm, narrowly dodge the lightning as it struck around me. It was a lot more relaxing than it sounds. A small huff of laughter at my act is what finally pulls me back to the land of t he living.

“As much as I would like to continue sleeping, I believe we have an appointment to see your friends today, pup.” His words are teasing, but the hand rubbing my back feels so good...

My eyes open and slowly adjust to the morning light. It’s earlier than we’ve woken up the last few days. We’re in the center of the bed with me on top of him, for once intentionally. After our run-and-fun yesterday, we had a pretty quiet evening. After I took another shower, Sir wanted to go over training positions again before dinner. Then after we had steak (fucking steak !), it was tim e for bed.

After what we’d just done on the bed (and the fact that we always seem to end up there anyway), keeping up my protests about the sleeping arrangements seemed dumb, so I just met him in the middle and didn’t really think much about it. Or tried not to, at least. I roll onto my back and stretch my arms and legs. He’s right; I get to see my friends today. Before they’re sentenced to spend the next few months in a prison while I sleep in a warm bed and eat steak.

With a ruffle of my hair (I really need a haircut), Khazak stretches his own limbs and slides out of bed to walk to the bathroom. After I hear him finish peeing, I get up so I can do the same. While relieving myself, I look over to see him putting lather on his face in a few places while holding a small (for him) straight razor. He brings it up to his face, swiping it just above his cheek, removing the few days of accumulated stubble. He’s cleaning up his beard.

“Everything alright?” He looks over to me. Didn’t realize I wa s staring.

“Do you have another one of those, or can I use that when you’re done?” I reach up to run my hand over my chin. I haven’t shaved in ov er a week.

“Are you sure?” He reaches the razor-free hand over and runs his thumb along my chin. “I rather like you with a beard.”

“I mean I... I guess I could keep it.” Is it hot in here? It feels hot in here. “If you think it lo oks good.”

“I will assist you when I finish.” He smiles and finishes evening out his beard line while I watch. When he’s done with that, he grabs a small pair of scissors and trims the rest of his beard. After washing his face and running a towel over it, he checks himself in the mirror before washing off the razor and turning to me. “Alright, your t urn, pup.”

I walk over to him, expecting to face the mirror. Instead, he turns me to face himself then lifts me to sit on the counter. I guess by “assist,” he meant “do it for me.” That’s fine. I’ve never used a straight razor before and it is a little intimidating. He brushes the shaving cream onto my face and neck.

“It should go without saying, but you need to remain still while I do this,” says the big scary orc holding the very sharp blade. I nod once stiffly before he brings it in close.

“As I told you yesterday, there will be situations in which I will need you to follow certain protocol.” He starts with my cheeks as he speaks. “Today is one of those situations. You will not need to worry about kneeling, but we will be in a room with many of my peers and superiors. I would very much appreciate it if you were on your best behavior. It may even help your friends.”

I give a questioning look with my eye as he moves to work o n my neck.

“Do you remember what Brull said about word of you and I around town?” He’s not looking for an actual response. “The council member presiding over the case today—Councilman Bloodfield—has an avakesh of his own and is known to have something of a soft-spot for them when they are involved in a case. Seeing you well-behaved next to me may tug at those heartstrings and do your friends some good.” He finishes with my neck and steps back to look over his work. “Alright, wash your face and hav e a look.”

I hop off the counter and wash up, drying my face with the towel handed to me. Not bad. I mean, it’s only been a week, but after another I could actually have a half decent beard. Hopefully the judge-guy likes it too. Not sure I believe a guy with a name like “Bloodfield” has a soft-spot for anything.

“Thank you. It looks great.” I admire myself in the mirror for a moment more before running my hand through the mop of hair on my head. “I need a haircut.”

“We can certainly see about taking care of that soon.” A green hand reaches out to smooth ou t my hair.

We finish taking care of our bathroom needs before we’re back in the bedroom getting dressed. Ironstorm picks out a simple outfit for me while pulling out the leathers I remember seeing him wearing when I first met him. His uniform. Certain parts are emblazoned with an emblem that looks like an Orcish symbol surrounded by trees. It takes him a lot longer to get dressed than I do, but uh, I don’t really mind watching. He certainly fills it out; everything about him in uniform scre ams “Sir.”

You’re learning new things about yourself every d ay, David.

When he’s finished, he looks himself over in the mirror one final time before grabbing my leash. I mentally sigh but keep it to myself as we move to the living room. He grabs some jerky from the kitchen, handing me a piece and saying, “We will have an actual meal when we get home.” I bite into it as we go outside, not minding the taste, but I have been pretty spoiled when it comes to food lately. I wonder what’s for lunch.

We pass through the park for the third time this week, and walking past the statues as we enter the building feels a lot more intimidating than it did the first time. We pause before we walk up the steps, Ironstorm turn ing to me.

“Okay, pup. Behave.” His look is only slightly pleading.

“I will, Sir.” The idea that I could fuck something up worse for my friends is an effective deterrent from acting out right now.

We walk through the open doors of the tribal hall, the interior just as busy as it was last time. Our path isn’t nearly as long this time. We take a right when we enter, and after a short distance down the hall, we walk through another set of double doors on our left into what I guess is the orc equivalent of a courtroom. There are a number of benches directly in front of us, and on the far side of the room, a set of large tables. Behind the largest one is a fairly old-looking orc in dark robes, currently engaged in conversation with the person ne xt to him.

In the back left corner of the room, I see a cage containing my four friends. I also see that tall, red-headed orc from the jail, Redwish. The one that called himself our “advocate.” The one that made it seem like the whole “Steel & Thunder” thing was a hell of a lot different than what I actually went through. My hands clench into fists, but I fight the urge to walk over. Causing a scene will not help anyone right now. Instead, I turn to Ironstorm, hoping to get his attention while he silently scans the room.

“Hmm?” I look behind me at the cage, then back at him. “Ah, come with me.”

He leads us over to the cage where I can see Redwish talking to Adam inside the cell. He sees us on our approach—it’s hard to miss the Captain. My friends in the cell notice us too but don’t say anything. I don’t sense any animosity from the lawyer-orc, and I’m damn sure hiding my own. He smirks at me for a split-second before turning to Ironstorm.

“Captain Ironstorm.” He holds his hand out and the two exchange what I am just gonna call the “orc handshake” from now on. “It is good to see you and your new human. I trust you have helped him settle in well?”

“Advocate Redwish.” I can tell they know each other, but they don’t seem overly friendly. Just work associates, I guess. “It has been an interesting week, to say the least. I was wondering if he might have a chance to speak with his friends?”

“I see no problem with letting them speak.” I relax a little when he okays my visit. “I need to go confirm a few things with Councilman Bloodfield before we begin. I do not expect this to take v ery long.”

When he steps away, I move for the cage, not bothering to ask Ironstorm for permission. The less these guys see about our “relationship,” the better. Thankfully my leash is allowed to hang loosely without comment. I can already see Adam’s got a million questions, an d so do I.

“David,” Adam says at my approach. The rest of the group sans-Nate crowds to one side of the cage, the dark-haired magician waving to me silently from a distance. He’s the worst.

“David! Are you okay?! I’ve been so worried!” Corrine cries and tries to hug me through the bars, the anti-magic bracers around her wrists cuttin g her off.

“I’ve been worried about you guys too.” I turn to Adam. “What about you? Are you and Liss still hurt?” I don’t see any signs of injur y on them.

“No, we’re both okay,” Liss answers from Adam’s left. “You should see the other guy s though.”

“The other guys are also fine.” Adam gives Elisabeth an exasperated look. “They took us all to a healer when we first got here. When they finally brought us back to the jail, you were alre ady gone.”

“Yeah, what the hell, man?” Liss says maybe a little too loudly. “I mean, sure we’re in jail and that’s not great , but we heard you tried to fight one of those orcs one on one, and he made you his bitch.” Really hoping she meant that fig uratively.

“That orc is standing right behind him, so maybe chill.” Adam cocks his head at Liss, and I turn to look at Ironstorm, who is politely pretending to not be listening to any of this. “ Are you okay, David? What happened exactly? They told us you tried to fight the guy that arrested us and now he...owns you.” He looks somewhat nervously behind me and drops his voice to a whisper. “Is he hurting you or anything?”

“I’m okay, Adam. Really.” Now I’m whispering. “It hasn’t been that bad. He’s.. .alright.”

“What is he making you do?” Adam’s still w hispering.

“Just things like taking care of chores and stuff around his house. It’s pretty boring.” Now I’m whispering and lying through my teeth.

“Is that a leash?” Liss cuts in with an oh-so important question.

“Is that your natural hair color?” I nod to her extremely visi ble roots.

“I missed you too, David.” S he smiles.

“What’s going to happen to you all now? Any chance of still fighting this thing?” I ask even though I know t he answer.

“We don’t really have a choice. We have to admit we did it and do our time.” Adam shrugs his shoulders.

“Really? There’s nothing else? Can’t we just give them Nate or something?” I ignore the indignant “hey!” shot in my direction. “It was just an accident.”

“An accident where people got hurt.” I know he’s right but booooo . “Even if they ignored that, the healer, repairing the damage to the temple, those things cost money. Money we don’t have. There’s nothing we can do.” He doesn’t sound dejected, but he’s definitely come to terms wi th things.

No one says anything for a moment before Adam starts again. “Look, however long it takes us to get out of here, just hold on. We’ll figure it out. We’re still a tea m, right?”

“Right.” It’s hard not to smile when Adam’s trying to cheer me up. I’m glad I’m in this with my best friend, but I wish I could be in there with them. Or that they could be in my place—n ever mind.

“Captain, we are about to begin, so you will need to take your seats.” Redwish comes up looking apologetic, or at least feigns it con vincingly.

“Thank you again, advocate.” Ironstorm gives a short, polite bow, before turning to my friends in their cage. “Best of luck. Rum k’r Avon .”

“Bye guys.” I give a sad wave goodbye as we turn to walk away. “I’ll talk to you soon, somehow.”

“You know they are going to find out about the nature of our relationship sooner or later,” Ironstorm whispers softly as we walk away, so that only I can hear.

Yeah well, that’s something I’ll deal with later. We look at the long benches for an empty spot. For a moment, I hope we might be able to slip somewhere in the back, but of course the “Captain of the Rangers of V’rok’sh Tah’lj” ( are you impressed I remembered all that? ) sits us in the second row. The room isn’t too full, but I don’t know if that’s unusual or not. A few more people find their seats and then an orc in a uniform similar to the one next to me reaches the center of the room and announces something in Orcish.

“He is saying that we are about to begin, as well as Councilman Bloodfield’s full title.” Ironstorm leans over to translate for me. “Then he will read out your friends’ names as well as the crimes they are ac cused of.”

I listen and watch as the guard orc does just that. It’s funny hearing him try to pronounce “Elisabeth” and “Nathaniel,” not to mention everyone’s last names. I keep that to myself though. No smiles here. Just serious face. The orc turns to exchange a few words with the judge before taking his own seat. I know, he’s a “councilman” over here, not a judge, but you know wh at I mean.

Next up is Mr. Redwish. “Councilman Bloodfield, would you permit to conduct today’s proceedings in the Common language so that the people I represent may understand?” That will be handy.

“I see no problem with that, Advocate Redwish.” The judge nods in unde rstanding.

“Thank you.” He takes a deep breath before continuing. “Three days ago, a group of five humans with no knowledge of our city or customs made the mistake of intruding onto our land. They entered the ruins of the Temple of Zeus intent on exploring, and when the rangers patrolling the area responded to the magical wards on the entrance being breached, they erred further in attacking them. Though I can say with confidence that what transpired that day was the result of a misunderstanding, they nonetheless understand the severity of their actions and do not fight the acc usations.”

“Hmm.” Bloodfield sorts through some papers in front of him. “What were they doing in the temple? ‘Ex ploring’?”

“From what I understand, there are humans in Holbrooke still sharing news of the temple’s uncovering as if it were a more recent development.” Remind me to send those dicks a postcard. “They were acting on outdated inf ormation.”

“Even if it were recent, they would still be coming onto our lands uninvited, still attacking our citizens.” Uh oh. “How many rangers were injured?”

“Four, sir. Two with minor burns and two others with more serious injuries.” It’s said with a sigh. He lays it on good—I’ll give him that. “Three of the accused were also injured, two serious enough to require the services of a healer while the third was knocked unconscious. After an examination, he was placed in holding with the unharmed members of their group.” I don’t remember an y of that.

“Glad we still give as good as we get.” He flips through a few more papers. “I want to speak with one of them. Advocate Redwish, please retrieve Mr. Ad am Bauer.”

I watch Redwish and the guard walk a path on the other side of the benches to the cage. I see the guard place his wrist above the handle on the door, opening it a second later. I remember that wrist thing from the jail. Adam is already waiting on the other side, hands in shackles, and walks back side by side with Redwish to stand in front of the judge.

“Mr. Bauer, I understand you hail from Lutheria.” Bloodfield leans forward. “I have not been there myself, but is this how I would be expected to act if I were to visit?”

“No, your honor.” See? Adam thinks he’s a judge too. “I am very sorry. We are very sorry. We didn’t know the temple belonged to you, and I swear we did not come here with the intention of hurtin g anyone.”

“And yet you did.” Okay, we’re fucked. “How exactly did that happen, M r. Bauer?”

“We became...defensive at the sudden appearance of the rangers.” Adam has always been pretty good at choosing his words carefully. “In a panic, one of our group acted before he should have. However, as the leader, I accept full responsibility for my team.”

“A noble and honorable intention.” His voice softens a little. “But nobility and honor do not heal injuries. Someone could have been killed—on either side of th e battle.”

“We understand that, sir.” Adam’s voice remains steady and contrite. “We will accept whatever consequences you feel we deserve.”

“I understand there was a fifth in your group who undertook the Nagul Uzu’gor and lost.” I go still i n my seat.

“...Yes, sir.” Adam sounds like he doesn’t know half of what was just said. I hope I can keep it that way.

“Captain Ironstorm, are you in attendance today?” Of cou rse he is.

“Attention.” The order is whispered to me a split second before he stands.

For two long seconds, my mind goes blank, but then I remember his words to me earlier. If I want to help my friends, I need this guy to like me. So I stand up straight, hoping I’m slipping my feet and arms into position casually enough for Adam to not notice. Because he is of course staring ri ght at me.

“Councilman Bloodfield.” Captain Ironstorm gives a small salute that I think about copying, but since that’s not something he’s told me to do, I keep my head up and wait for wh at’s next.

“How has your new charge been adjusting?” Bloodfield is looking at me too.

“It has been a challenge at times, sir, but nothing I cannot handle.” I can hear the smirk. Glad my fists are already clenched. “Given the circumstances, he has been doing qu ite well.”

“Knowing him for a few days now, how do you feel about these other humans, his companions?” He gestures to the three caged in the back. “It was your men they injured.”

“I think they are travelers who made a very unfortunate mistake, Councilman.” It sounds like he’s trying to talk us up at least. “I hold no grudges against them nor do my men. I believe they are willing to learn from and accept responsibility for their actions. David cert ainly is.”

I think that was a compliment. The room is silent other than the judge rifling through more papers. So much rifling. Everyone not green is holding their breath. After what feels like an eternity, Bloodfield faces Adam once more.

“Though your crimes are great, I understand the confusion and anxiety that comes with being in an unknown place so far from your home.” Maybe he does like us a little. “While you are here, I suggest you reflect on the idea that we are not the monsters your people make us out to be. The four of you are to spend two months in the Yash’ak Cr’hol Labor Camp, to begin tomorrow.”

I can see Adam’s mouth hanging open, but he’s at a loss for words. So am I. Labor camp? Redwish walks over and starts talking to him while the guard returns him to the cell with the others. Bloodfield remains seated, but most of the other orcs in the room stand up and make their exit. The two of us are still standing, and I turn to Ironstorm, a question already o n my lips.

“What happens now?” I try not to sound panicked.

“They will be taken back to the station for the night and then in the morning brought to the camp to be processed,” he replies casually. “Redwish is likely explaining everything to them now.”

“Can I talk to them again?” I ask hopefully.

“I am afraid not.” He shakes his head, looking apologetic. “We can talk more on the way home.”

I nod numbly, the leash suddenly feeling heavy hanging from my neck. By the time we’re outside, it feels like the collar is c hoking me.

“I know it sounds bad, but all things considered, two months is...” Ironstorm starts talking, but I’m not really paying attention. My mind is stuck on my friends and their sentences.

Two months in a labor camp? Two months in a prison I would understand but a labor camp ? Labor camps, also known as work camps, are where prisoners of war are sent to be worked to death . It doesn’t matter how long your sentence is because there’s never any intention of actually letting you go. They just work you until there’s nothing left. They were discussed in detail in our history lessons at the academy, but more than that, my dad and granddad would talk about them all the time because my granddad spent four months in one. His brother, my great-uncle, died before they could be rescued. And now my friends are going to die in one too. I can’t just...leave them in there. I have to—

“—avid. David?” Ironstorm nudges my shoulder to get my attention. “Are you alright?”

“Sorry.” I look around and see we are almost home already. “Just pre occupied.”

“I understand.” He gives me a sympathetic smile. “You are concerned for them. Two months is still a l ong time.”

“Yeah.” That feels like an understatement. “I’m still not even sure I understand what exactly happened.”

“It is a lot of new information to process.” Just as we reach the front door, a voice behind us gives us pause.

“ Kritar Uzi’gar !” I catch something being said from across the street and a few doors down. It’s the woman whose kid I saved, Mrs. Skycaller I think is her name, and she is holding a cloth-cover ed basket.

The two orcs speak animatedly before the woman turns to me, saying something as she shoves the basket into my arms. Then she quickly pulls me in for a hug and kisses my forehead.

“Um, thank you?” I hope she knows I can’t under stand her.

“She wanted to thank you for saving her daughter. She baked you something.” Ironstorm translates for me, then presumably does the same for her. After a few more words, a smile, and another hug, she leaves us.

“Come. We will make some lunch, you can ask me some questions, and then we can keep your mind focused on othe r things.”

I nod and follow him inside. I leave the basket in the kitchen while we disrobe in the bedroom, both in our underwear, though his solid black briefs certainly cover more than my red jockstrap. Then we are in the kitchen. Starting to think this guy might specifically have a thing for cooking in his underwear.

“First, let us see what we have here.” The cloth covering the top of the basket is lifted off, revealing the contents. “Ah, dar-buk .” He sm iles down.

In the basket are at least a few dozen of these small, round, cake-bun things. They lo ok fluffy.

“These are delicious. They are made with two kinds of flour: wheat and corn.” He takes one out of the basket, tearing it in half. “Sweetened with tree sap and then stuffed with a jam made from berries that grow in th e forest.”

He shows me the gooey red contents of one half, before moving it toward my mouth. I’m getting a little too used to being fed, but I still take a bite. Mmm. They are fluffy. And sweet, especially the jam. Damn .

“Those are good.” He lets me finish the half I’ve bitten into. “What did you call th em again?”

“Dar-buk.” He recovers the baked goodies and sets the basket to the side. “We can have more aft er lunch.”

I pout as he moves about the kitchen. She made those for me! Then I remember that while I’m sitting here basically eating cookies, my friends are waiting to begin what will likely be the roughest two months of their lives. Fuck, what am I doing here? I can’t just stand by and let this happen. I have to think of something. Anything.

...Right af ter lunch.