Chapter 18

18

E ben wasted no time in hustling Tryggr up to the scullery, and setting to work.

Tryggr still seemed a bit dazed by it all, casting Eben frequent narrow, searching glances, but Eben fought to stay focused on the task at hand. On helping Tryggr , and being a friend.

“ First of all, I ken we could polish the counters and floors, to make these smoother, and easier to clean,” he said firmly, as he glanced around at the now-empty scullery. “ We could also install new, stronger drying racks, for these ones are not safe, ach? Most of all for a pregnant woman, and soon an orcling. And ” — he dropped his gaze to the old wooden washbasins — “we could forge new steel basins, mayhap. And I could seek to finish plans for this washing machine I spoke of, also.”

Tryggr was fully staring at Eben now, his swallow visibly bobbing in his throat. “ You actually… set to work, on that whole washing machine idea?” he asked. “ Don’t recall giving you much encouragement at the time, did I ?”

Eben flushed and waved it away, though he couldn’t quite meet Tryggr’s eyes. “ I wished to help you,” he said, too quickly. “ I ken this work has not always been easy for you. Most of all when you are such a fierce, fearsome warrior.”

Tryggr blinked at him, and Eben was vaguely surprised to see a flush of red, creeping up his neck. “ Uh , well, how long d’you think it’ll all take, then?” he asked, with a curt wave between Eben and the room. “ Forgot to tell you, Boss told me to spend whatever I need off his accounts, too.”

Truly ? Eben had already been uneasily recalling how much trouble his Ka -esh kin had given him over the floor-cleaning project, and he felt himself brightening, beaming at Tryggr’s face. “ That will be a great help,” he replied. “ And it is another sign of how much Drafli trusts you, is it not?”

The redness was spreading higher up Tryggr’s neck, but he twitched a brief, grateful smile toward Eben , before lurching for the door. “ Ach , then,” he said, a little hoarse. “ To the Ka -esh wing, then? But mayhap a stop by the sickroom first? See what’s going on with Boss’s woman?”

Eben nodded and warmly smiled back — he’d been about to suggest the same — and upon reaching the sickroom, they found it caught in a bustle of activity. It turned out that a morose but flinty-eyed Alma was indeed preparing to leave the mountain, and she had a variety of Ash - Kai and Grisk orcs hovering around her, all seemingly speaking at once. But lurking far more quietly near the door were two Skai orcs Eben now recognized, thanks to his previous observations — the lean scout Killik , and the huge, hulking warrior Ulfarr . Both of them obviously intending to accompany Alma on her journey, and Eben could feel Tryggr’s shoulders sagging as he looked at them, and then signed something akin to, You here for Boss ? Watch over Alma ?

Killik’s nod was curt and decisive, his hand signing back so swiftly that Eben couldn’t fully follow it. But he could see Tryggr relaxing a little more at the sight of it, and then signing back slower, perhaps even so Eben could understand. Thanks , brother. We’ll have the scullery real nice for when you and Boss bring her back.

Oh . So not only were these Skai joining Alma on her journey, but they were fully planning to return her in short order. And without at all meaning to, Eben reached and squeezed Tryggr’s hand, and flashed him another swift, beaming smile.

Tryggr’s glance toward Eben was grateful, his hand squeezing back, his claws gently prodding into Eben’s skin. A sensation that had Eben twitching all over, heat pooling in his trousers — and it was enough to get him through a tearful goodbye with Alma , who seemed miserably unaware that she would very soon be returning.

“ Thank you so much for all your help,” she said, wiping at her eyes as she gave a weepy smile between Tryggr and Eben . “ You’ve both been so wonderful.”

The sight and scent of her sadness nearly had Eben weeping, too, and he was grateful when Tryggr managed most of the speaking, and then steered him out of the room. “ Ach , naught to fret over, Ka -esh,” Tryggr said firmly, with a little shake to his shoulder. “ You were right that Boss has it all sorted out — Killik says he’ll be boggled if she’s away for more than a few days. So no need to scent thus, ach?”

Eben sniffed and nodded, aiming a grateful smile toward Tryggr’s face — but Tryggr was frowning again, his eyes fixed to the corridor up ahead, his steps quickening on the stone floor. Perhaps just focused on how they apparently had a far shorter timeline than they’d anticipated, and Eben forced his attention back to the next tasks at hand. First collecting his own notes from his room, and then heading over to the engineers’ hellir . Where , as expected, his former colleagues were initially highly reluctant to offer their support, but Eben countered their whining and demurring by offering shocking amounts of Drafli’s coin, which soon sent several engineers scurrying for the scullery.

Next was a consultation with the construction and masonry teams, and after that was the forge, where Gareth instantly came out to meet them. His familiar genial face was flushed with heat from the ovens, his muscled arms and chest gleaming with sweat, and though he listened attentively to Eben’s explanation, Eben didn’t miss his frequent narrow glances toward Tryggr . Who , to Eben’s vague surprise, was standing far closer to him than necessary, and frowning straight back toward Gareth , too.

“ That fucking smith,” Tryggr muttered afterwards, once Gareth had willingly agreed to work on the washbasins. “ Skai -kesh above, I ken he’d do anything you asked, Ka -esh. An ’ then kneel and beg you for more.”

What ? Eben huffed a distracted, incredulous laugh, and shook his head. “ Ach , no,” he said, with a dismissive wave of his hand. “ I am sure he would not. He wishes for someone who is a match for him. Someone ... stronger.”

His voice only slightly wavered as he spoke, angling a sheepish smile toward Tryggr’s face, but Tryggr was studying him with sudden, surprising seriousness in his eyes. “ You are strong, Ka -esh,” he said flatly. “ Strong , and brave, and true. One of the strongest orcs I’ve ever met.”

What ? The words struck Eben to stillness, right in the middle of the corridor, and Tryggr stopped too, flashing Eben a smile that didn’t at all reach his eyes. “ An ’ I bet you every one of my daggers, that smith misses you like hell right now,” he continued, quieter, with a hollow little laugh. “ Didn’t realize how damn good he had it, ach?”

Eben couldn’t seem to stop staring at Tryggr , breathing hard, while something knocked and swayed in his chest. Tryggr didn’t… mean anything by that. Did he? He couldn’t. He’d said he couldn’t, he’d said he’d wanted a break from Eben . He’d said he’d seen it happen with his fathers, whatever it meant, but then… Tryggr had still come back, this morning. He was still here. As if…

“ Gareth is only a friend,” Eben finally replied, his voice a croak, his eyes holding to Tryggr’s face. “ Naught more. He is not… what I long for.”

But wait, perhaps even that was too much, because something had darkened in Tryggr’s eyes, and his scent suddenly tasted sharp, almost bitter. “ Ach , I ken, Ka -esh,” he said grimly. “ I ken.”

Well . Eben couldn’t find a response to that, his stomach plummeting, his gaze dropping to the floor. Tryggr had made himself clear, yet again, and as much as it hurt, Eben had promised to help. To be a friend.

“ Mayhap we ought to start cleaning the scullery next, then,” he said, through his closed-off throat. “ Ought to move out the laundry, before the masons begin sanding.”

Tryggr didn’t argue, and soon they’d rounded up a few more helpers, too — Duff , Gaukr , Timo , Gegnir , and even Alma’s cat. And as they set to work cleaning, Eben did his best to keep smiling, being a friend, offering whatever support he could. Directing the Ka -esh masons when they arrived, liaising with Gareth and the engineers, and scrubbing laundry until his arms ached. Until finally Tryggr ordered him to bed, to which Eben blearily nodded, and then almost staggered straight into a wall.

“ Ach , Ka -esh!” Tryggr yelped, and oh, that was his strong arm around Eben’s shoulders, steering him toward the Ka -esh wing. And Eben willingly leaned into Tryggr’s sweet-scented shoulder, his face shamefully tilting closer as Tryggr marched him down to his familiar room.

“ D’you really like sleeping all the way down here in this hole?” Tryggr demanded, as he gently set Eben down on the bed, and then frowned around at the small room. “ Not even close to the rest of your kin, is it? Or the library, if you need more books?”

Eben was far too weary to dissemble, and he shook his head. “ I only came here because my father threw me out,” he said, with a hollow laugh. “ It was the furthest liveable room from our hellir , and I have been here ever since. But ” — he shrugged, gave Tryggr a tired smile — “it is dark, at least, and quiet. I could not bear sleeping in a place like the sickroom or the Grisk wing, ach? Full of noise, and lamps .”

He couldn’t hide his shudder, followed by a regretful wince, because the lamps were important, they were there for the women who needed them — but to his vague surprise, Tryggr grimaced too, and nodded. “ Couldn’t bear it either,” he said, as he nudged Eben’s shoulder down toward the bed. “ Glad Boss has kept some parts of the Skai wing dark for us.”

Eben wistfully sighed and nodded — the Skai wing had been very cozy, and far more conveniently located, too — and curled up on his bed, as Tryggr draped a fur over him. And it was so easy to sink into sleep with Tryggr there, even if just for a moment…

The next day was full of even more intensive labour in the scullery, first cleaning up all the dust from the masons, and then helping to prepare the wall for the new drying racks, while continuing to work through the last of the laundry. Eben also made several stops by the sickroom, mixing up any necessary prescriptions as quickly as he could, until Tryggr again appeared, and marched him off to bed. But this time, instead of taking Eben down to the Ka -esh wing, Tryggr steered him… up. Up , into the far nearer Skai wing, down one of those cozy curling corridors, into a room that scented of… him.

It was small but clean, with a large fur-covered bed, several thick fur rugs, and multiple glinting weapons lining the walls. And Eben willingly sank onto the soft, sweet-scented bed, even as he blinked blankly at Tryggr’s unreadable face.

“ But this is — your room?” he asked, too tentative, because what was this, why had Tryggr brought him here — and Tryggr nudged him over on the bed, before dropping his own fully clothed body down beside Eben .

“ You’ve been working your pretty little arse off on this project for me, Ka -esh,” Tryggr said flatly. “ Want you to at least get a good night’s rest, away from that godsforsaken hole of yours.”

Oh . Eben was again far too tired to argue, and he might have even leaned a little closer into Tryggr’s warm body, inhaling the deep, rich sweetness of his scent. “ Thank you, sir,” he murmured, before he could stop it. “ You have been so good to me.”

Tryggr made a faint scoffing sound, but oh, that was his arm, nudging under Eben’s head. Meaning that Eben could rest his head on Tryggr’s shoulder, breathe in the beautiful scent of him for an entire night, and it made for sweet, wonderful dreams, full of home and safety and longing.

When Eben awoke again, it was to the feel of Tryggr shifting out of bed, and striding toward the door. Toward where the huge Skai Ulfarr was waiting, and darting a brief, narrow look at Eben in the bed. “ Boss is headed back now, with both his mates,” he told Tryggr , in a deep, flat voice. “ Is this scullery ready for his woman? I ken he wishes it as part of his mating-gift to her.”

Wait . Drafli had… taken Alma as his mate ? As in, he’d sworn vows to her? And he’d meant the scullery project as part of his mating-gift ?

Eben could feel the surprise flashing across Tryggr’s scent, and then something almost like relief. Or even like pride, billowing brief and bright, because his Boss had trusted him with something as important as a mating-gift. And his nod toward Ulfarr was quick and jaunty, even as his eyes glanced back at Eben in the bed, lingering longer than Eben might have expected.

“ Ach , we’re almost done,” he told Ulfarr . “ You ken you can count on me, brother.”

Ulfarr nodded in return, and even gave a brief little bow toward Tryggr before turning away again. Making it clear that he — and surely by extension, Drafli , and the Skai — did know they could count on Tryggr . That in taking on this project, Tryggr had again proven he could be trusted. And maybe — maybe Eben had proven he could be a friend, too.

Eben couldn’t help a shy, genuine smile toward Tryggr , and then — foolish — a little bow of his own, too, his hand over his heart. And why was Tryggr still looking at him like that, slowly prowling back across the room toward the bed, his hand reaching out, his claws tickling at Eben’s neck…

The room suddenly felt very hot, Tryggr’s scent far too strong and rich in the air — and oh, hell, that was a distinct swell at the front of Tryggr’s trousers, too. Suggesting , hinting, offering, and Eben’s mouth was watering, his tongue brushing his lips, his eyes rising hungry and beseeching to Tryggr’s unreadable face…

But no, wait, no , Tryggr had said he didn’t want that from Eben . He’d been very, very clear, and a true friend would respect that, and honour that. So Eben gritted his teeth, forced his eyes downwards, fought to draw in breath. “ We do not have much time, then,” he croaked. “ I ought to go see about the basins, mayhap.”

There was an instant’s stillness, too thick in the choked air — and then Tryggr’s hand dropped from Eben’s neck, his body spinning away, his hands running against where his hair had half-fallen out of its topknot. “ Ach ,” he said flatly. “ I must go — wash. Meet you in the scullery?”

Eben jerked a nod that Tryggr didn’t see, because he’d already dodged out the door. Leaving Eben sitting there alone, breathing hard, his hands in fists, his cock helplessly straining in his trousers. He was being a friend. A friend. That was all.

But he had to drag himself out of that lovely, sweet-scented room, and on to the day’s work. First was to the sickroom, where he quickly washed up and consulted with Efterar before mixing the day’s prescriptions. And next was down to the Ka -esh forge, where Gareth had begun assembling and testing the two new washing machines. “ Ach , they shall be ready this afternoon, brother,” Gareth firmly told him. “ Naught to fear.”

The reassurance didn’t seem to have nearly the same effect as it did when Tryggr gave it, and Eben twitched a distracted nod, and rushed back up to the scullery. To where a team of Ka -esh builders were now installing the new drying racks, while Tryggr mopped the newly polished floor, Timo and Gegnir scrubbed the walls and counters, and Duff and Gaukr addressed the day’s new laundry.

But by noon, Duff and Gaukr — whose romance had continued apace — had begun darting lingering glances at each other, the scents of their hunger spiking powerfully through the air. Until finally Tryggr threw up his hands, and ordered them off into Alma’s back office, leaving Tryggr and Eben to finish the laundry together, alone. Both of them purposefully not looking at one another until what must have been late afternoon, when a sweaty Killik appeared at the scullery door, signed something at Tryggr , and left again.

“ Ach , Boss and his mates are almost back!” Tryggr exclaimed, breathless. “ Are we almost done? Where’s the washing machines?”

His voice sounded unnaturally shrill, his eyes almost panicked, and Eben couldn’t help a reflexive squeeze at his arm, and his most hopeful, reassuring smile. “ I shall fetch them,” he said. “ Whilst you take the others, and greet your Boss and his mates. Show them how well you have done, and how right they were to trust you.”

Tryggr’s breath exhaled heavy and slow, his head nodding, his eyes intent and grateful on Eben’s face. “ Thanks , Ka -esh,” he said gruffly. “ Couldn’a done it without you. You’ve been — brilliant. The best.”

Oh . Well . And again, Eben felt himself smiling, slow and genuine, as the contentment settled deep in his belly. He’d done it. He’d been a friend. He’d done — good work.

He could trust a Skai , and he could also trust… himself.

“ Thank you, sir,” he said to Tryggr , without dropping his eyes, without even a hitch in his voice. “ I was happy to help.”