Chapter 4

Serena

The large, green orc looked almost sad for a moment. He watched me, forest green eyes seeming to assess me. There was a depth and intelligence there that I hadn”t expected. I could see him thinking about everything I said. Absorbing it. A sense of being completely out of my depth was wiggling into my brain. I didn”t understand anything he was doing or saying. We were in a dance that I didn”t know the steps to. Cerys was right. I should have spoken to Heather about orcs first instead of rushing into this. Why don”t I ever think before I act?

I”d spent my whole life being told to calm down. To think. To behave more like everyone else. And yet, here I was, again. Charging in.

Orzesh leaned forward, his eyes never leaving mine. My skin tingled. The scent of earth and rain swept over me.

”When an orc gives or receives an offer of claiming, they can enter the mating fight. This is the ultimate challenge to see if they are a worthy mate. The fight must continue until one dominates the other and takes them. It is a highly valued ritual.”

”Takes them?”

”As their sexual partner.”

”Oh…”

My stomach flipped, and I felt warmth flood through me. An image rushed through my mind of this large orc, fighting me and holding me down. I pushed the thought away aggressively, but I could feel my face was red. My mouth refused to work and silence hung in the air for a moment.

”Then they are joined for life. Mates, you might call it.”

I grasped at the opportunity to say something and not look like an idiot.

”Yes. Well, sometimes. I suppose most humans call it marriage or partnership or a relationship. But occasionally we will have what we call a fated mate.”

”Yes, another half of you that you are created for.”

”I suppose you could say that, yes.”

”So, you know about this?”

He leaned forward even more. It made his huge biceps look almost ridiculously big. I dragged my eyes back up to his face. It wasn”t what you would call traditionally handsome. There were scars across it in several directions. He”d obviously fought a lot and survived. It showed a strength that I unexpectedly felt impressed by. His eyes were still intently on me, so I looked back down awkwardly, straight to hard abs. I flushed again and glanced off to the side, trying to remember what he had just asked.

”Errr, I know a bit. Not the specifics of different species. I don”t know a lot about orc… mating rituals. Do you have a lot of fated mates?”

”It isn”t very common. But it happens. Our seer tells us if we have a mate chosen for us.”

”Oh, same for us. We are told at a ceremony when we leave school.”

He sat back and seemed satisfied. His eyes roamed down my body. I should have felt offended, but it lit a fire in me. My core ached. I pushed the feelings away again. This was ridiculous. Just because he had big biceps… And those green eyes. They were beautiful.

Stop being so shallow. Do your job.

I had so many questions about the orc mating fight, but embarrassment was winning over curiosity.

”So, Serena, have I won therapy?”

A laugh escaped me; I couldn”t stop it. I instantly felt bad.

”Not yet, Orzesh. We have a bit more to do.”

Thankfully, he didn”t seem offended by my laughter. A small smile crossed his face.

”I am up to the challenge.”

”I”m sure you are.”

The words sounded flirty even though I hadn”t meant them to. His smile widened. I straightened in my seat and tried to look professional again.

”You”ve been in a lot of fights recently?”

His smile dropped, and a flicker of wariness entered his eyes.

”Yes. I have won them all.”

”Don”t you think that getting into fights all the time is a bad idea?”

As soon as I spoke I knew I had fucked up. It sounded judgmental rather than being a genuine query. I”d gone too far in the opposite direction of flirty. We hadn”t connected enough to jump straight to this. I”d wasted the opportunity he given me to get to know him. My face felt hot as I got more flustered.

”No.”

”I just meant, it would make your time easier if you weren”t getting in trouble all the time, surely?”

”If a fight needs to be fought, then I will fight it. It makes no difference to my stay here. I will do the penance I deserve either way.”

This surprised me.

”You believe you deserve it? To be here?”

”Yes.”

His face fell.

”I failed as a leader. Things happened that should not have.”

The reminder of what he had done was like a cold bucket of water over me. I felt sick for having felt anything positive towards him a few moments ago. I forced my mouth to work.

”Tell me about it.”

If I knew one thing about orcs, it was that they responded best to bluntness.

”This is your challenge to me, Uk”lah? To share my shame? This is therapy?”

That term again. But now wasn”t the time to enquire about what it meant.

”Yes.”

”You have a right to know my failings.”

I wasn”t sure why he thought I had a right to know about this, or why he was talking at all. So I stayed quiet. The silence stretched on for a while. He looked off to the side like he was remembering and deciding what parts to share.

”My battalion was fighting in the south. Centaur raiders have been attacking our smaller villages and taking their food. I decreed we would go there and take back what was ours. There were many, but we fought well. They retreated, and we brought the food back to the village. We celebrated late into the night. After the drinking was done and we were high on the feelings of victory, some of the battalion went back to the centaurs and attacked them as they slept. Killing not only the fighters, but the innocents who traveled with them. Dozens of families.”

Bile rose in my throat. I”d only glanced at his file. I hadn”t known the details. Wet nausea swirled in my stomach. Killing innocents. Whole families. The term war crimes didn”t do justice to what this monster had actually done. I didn”t think I could even stand to be in the same room as him any longer.