Page 6 of The Orc's Rage

He nodded. “I oversee thisparog. That is roughly how it translates to your tongue.”

Cedar gave the faintest nod to indicate that she had heard him but had no further thoughts. She was closing in on herself, shutting down, and he wondered if his instincts about her had been wrong. A limp female wouldn’t do him much good. Though her cunt would serve its purpose, he would gain little pleasure from it aside from sating his urges.

“Are you cold?” he asked at length. She bit her lip, as if deciding what she ought to say. “If you are, you must tell me.”

“You stole my clothes,” she said, so quietly he almost couldn’t hear her. “You ripped them off of me, and now you ask if I’m cold?”

There was a venom in the words, a deep seething that restored his confidence. Hatred was better than nothing.

“I do,” he said agreeably.

“Yes, I am cold.” When she once more looked into his face, it was with a measured, deep ferocity.

Kargorr paused and crossed to one of the carts, calling for the warrior who pulled it to stop. He found one of his traveling furs and draped it across her, tucking it under her body with his arms. Then they resumed walking, though Cedar said nothing in response.

She had a shell around herself—but with time, a shell could be cracked to find the soft meat within.

As they neared the final climb to theparog, the procession stopped to abandon the carts and horses and carry what they could. A few warriors would remain to stand guard until Lord Kargorr could come back with others, and then everyone would pull their weight by hauling back the spoils.

“We will take the pigs first,” he told them. His new concubine was clearly attached to them, and perhaps knowing they were safe and nearby would put some life back in her. He didn’t need her affection, but he needed her to live, to carry a will to survive if she was to bear his orclings. It could be difficult and painful for human women, and she would serve him no purpose if she died in childbirth.

Besides, he needed his first concubine to show strength to theparogif he was to inspire their confidence in his new venture. He had to demonstrate that he had the instinct to make a good choice.

Cedar’s eyes followed the piglets as they were carried up the slopes, and Kargorr followed along behind them so they remained within her sights. Even under the traveling fur she shivered, and he hoped he had not made a mistake by bringing such a weak creature home with him.

Cedar

It seemed they had arrived at their destination. The orcs were leaving the goods behind, but carrying what they could, and Cedar wondered if the rest would go to waste, if everything the orcs killed for would be for nothing.

Why the big orc bothered to give her his name, she didn’t know. He was the same as the rest of them, only larger and meaner. She would have no use for his name once she figured out how to escape.

She had been watching carefully, searching for an opening. Cedar didn’t know when her moment would come, but she would be prepared should the opportunity present itself. Perhaps if Lord Kargorr saw her as weak and obedient, he would lower his guard and provide her a moment where she could take advantage of how he underestimated her. If she could make him believe that she had given up any hope, he might give her an opening himself.

But as they trekked higher up the snowy slopes, and the tops of distant tents came into view, that plan lost its shine. The orcs who had partaken in the raid on her village were only a fraction of Lord Kargorr’s force, if the massive camp was any indication. Pathways paved with clay crisscrossed between huge tents that were held up by one or two staked wooden poles. Smoke curled into the sky from many smoke holes.

As they descended into a sheltered valley, the camp spread out before her, full of bustling activity. A cheer rose from those orcs who spotted them, and it spread as more and more of the big green monsters emerged from their tents. Lord Kargorr roared something to them in Orcish, and it was shouted back to him by a hundred voices. She resisted the urge to shrink back into his arms at the magnitude of the sound.

Surely once it was known that Cedar belonged to him, these other orcs would not let her simply pass by when she tried her escape. Already there were eyes on her as Lord Kargorr carried her against his chest into the densely packed camp; there were so many eyes, and all of their faces looked hard and unyielding. It was a city of monsters.

She was surrounded.

But among them she had spotted another human, and perhaps that meant there were more. If she could pretend to be one of them, to be another anonymous body, a path could still open to her.

Cedar turned her head into Kargorr’s body to shield herself from their stares, and a low rumble shook his chest that could have been a laugh.

“They will not hurt you,” he said, voice low so only she could hear.

He stopped at the center of the camp, and orcs appeared from everywhere, shouting and cheering. Lord Kargorr announced something, and then Cedar was moving, being lifted into the air like a trophy. She tried to cover herself as he roared again, and once more they answered.

She was a spoil of victory, nothing more.

When Kargorr was finished with his greeting, he carried her off toward one of the tents that was bigger than the others, a huge pole holding up the center. Against her will, Cedar’s entire body tensed. This was surely his home, with his bed inside it, and the coppery fear she’d been keeping at bay crawled back up her throat and into her mouth. This was the moment she’d been dreading since he first caught her.

Kargorr threw back the flap and carried her inside, and she was assaulted by the smell. Everything here was his, that much was clear. The scent of him filled the air, even as another orc came in to light the fire positioned under the open tip of the roof. But Lord Kargorr ignored their visitor and focused on her as he padded to the back of the tent. She couldn’t see what was there, but when he dropped her, she let out a scream. Instead of hitting hard ground, she landed in a soft, velvety pile of furs.

“Rest,” he said. “There will be a celebration tonight, and I expect you to participate.” He enunciated this last word so there would be no misunderstanding of the purpose she was meant to serve. She was a prize to be shown off, a symbol of their success. Who knows what he had planned for her after that, but she had a good idea.

Cedar nodded, holding her words tight inside. The less he knew her, the less she gave him, the easier it would be to eventually deceive him.

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