Page 6 of Orc's Desire

“I want to help her,” I say, pointing at the mother. “Can you see to the boy's arm?”

I’m not asking either of them specifically, but in my heart I’m talking to Dilacs. Sorry Khiara, not trying to be mean. You just don’t do it for me.

Even so, Khiara is the one who nods and speaks. Dilacs, though, moves to the boy and begins tending his wounds. The mother lets me move her hand and inspect her wound. There is a nasty gash on top of her head angling down onto her forehead.

“I’ll be right back,” I say.

I run back to Khiara’s house. The place is a mess. Everything that was in a cabinet anywhere is now in messy piles scattered around the floor. The furniture that isn’t overturned is in total disarray. Food is splattered on the walls and even the ceiling.

I know where the towels were at and the other thing I’m looking for, alcohol, but finding both of them takes a lot longer because of the mess. Once I have them I run back out the door. I pour some alcohol onto the corner of the towel then set to cleaning the wound.

The poor woman yelps and then growls when I first touch the towel to it. There are small shards of pottery in the wound that I have to pause and clean out. When I pull the first one she whimpers. I do the only thing I can, I hand her the bottle of alcohol. She tilts it back and takes a long, long drink then looks me in the eye and nods.

I resume the work. People are organizing around us, setting to the tasks of putting their world back to right and tending the injured. I finish cleaning the wound at last. I don’t have any bandages so I create a makeshift one with the towel.

“The boy will be fine,” Dilacs says.

“Good,” I say, stepping back and looking around.

The mother speaks, rapidly, but I’ve moved on to assessing all I can see. End of the day I’m still here on a mission to learn as much as I possibly can about the Urr’ki. Their society and any details about their way of life. A crisis like this tells you a lot about a people. What do they prioritize? Care for wounded? Defenses? Organizing?

Khiara steps into my line of sight interrupting my study. I look up at him, instinctively crossing my arms over my chest and hugging myself. When I do it he looks down, staring at my tits and he frowns. I’m not sure if that’s a problem or not.

“She wants to thank you,” Khiara says. “She is appreciative of your help.”

I smile, tightly, and nod.

“It’s fine,” I say. “I’m glad to help.”

He grunts, shakes his head, then speaks in his own tongue to the woman. Dilacs moves to my side so that he’s close too. I don’t miss that Khiara also seems to be doing the same thing.

You know, old me would have thought it was hot to have two hunky men wanting me. Carnally if nothing else. And I have to admit, physically, it is. But Dilacs…

A loud bell peals, ringing over all the ambient noise. Loud and deep, echoing around us then it repeats. I haven’t heard this sound since we came. It’s different. I look at the two boys, arching an eyebrow.

“The Shaman is summoning,” Khiara says, speaking softly.

“Who?” I ask.

“Everyone,” Dilacs says.

My stomach drops and my heart skips a beat.

2

GWENETH

“Do we bring her?” Khiara asks over my head, speaking to his brother.

It’s annoying the way he asks, as if I’m not standing right here. He doesn’t even look in my direction. In fact I’d say he’s pointedly not looking at me. It may be stupid, but anger surges.

“Bring me where? Hello? I’m right here.”

Dilacs’s heavy eyes look at me and a smile twerks on the corners of his lips. Khiara gives me a pointed, long look, and a deep frown.

“Yes,” he says, turning his attention back to his brother. “What do you think?”

Dilacs covers his mouth with his hand hiding the grin that I can clearly see from where I’m standing. He clears his throat.

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