Page 15 of Orc Chained
“Without my wife, there is no reason for honor.” He sticks his nose in my face. “Without hiswife,an Orc is only beast.”
“This is coercion.”
“Sue me.”
“You’re a bad person, Rath.”
“The worst,” he purrs. “Come home, baby, let me show you how bad I can be.”
My abdomen clenches, heat flooding my body and his nostrils flare. I fight it down, fight down the physical need, dragging my nails along my forearm to draw blood so the pain will bring me back to my hellsdamned senses.
“Or,” he says and as I watch,unimpressed, he goes down on one knee, “I’ll offer you a contract. You will be master, and I servant.”
Maezii snorts. “They don't let Immortals indenture themselves to mortals.”
“Are you mortal?” Ya?onar asks me.
“A. . .little. Full Uthilsen can live a thousand years or more with intervention. My expected lifespan is approximately seven centuries.”
“If you don’t offer me a contract,” Rath says softly, “I will fight for you. I will die. It will be a good death.”
I look up at the darkening sky, considering my options. Rath is holding me hostage.
“I believe,” the Icarian says, “that you have been out negotiated. You are unwilling to accept his death, and he is willing to die. You must now retreat and attempt to salvage what little controlof the situation you have remaining. I suggest you bind him with the contract.”
I’m being tutored by an Icarian. I wonder how old he is, and the answer is probably very.
When no one speaks, he continues, “It can be argued that since she is half Uthilsen, a contract is permissible. Contracts between Immortals are allowed. It is interesting. I almost wish I might see how this plays out.” The Icarian lifts a hand and signals. Moments later a Sorting orderly approaches.
Ya?onar briefs her while I stand there silently, then speaks to Rathhur, and finally turns to me. “We can modify a standard contract,” she says. “It will be legally binding. You will be responsible for him for a year and a day, same as if it was the other way around.”
Rathhur hasn’t risen, his gaze now on the ground. His head isn't tilted down quite enough to conceal the smile curving his lips.
My eyes narrow. “Why does this feel like this is exactly the outcome you wanted?”
Rathhur lifts his head. “I am honored to serve so worthy a mistress.”
Maezii makes a rude noise in her throat. “He’s scamming, tricky tricky scammer.”
Ya?onar hums. “No, wingless one. He successfully negotiated from a position of greater strength. That is not a scam. It is a lesson. He understood his adversary.”
My shoulders slump. There’s no choice. I know Rath—he doesn’t make idle threats, and the look in his eyes is. . .
Implacable.
“Fine,” I say. “We’ll make the contract. A year and a day for you to prove, somehow, that I’m wrong and you’ve changed. That you deserve me.”
“I will never deserve you, Ky’a,” he says, and rises. “But what male ever deserves his wife? None of us would be married if it was a matter ofdeserve.”
I glance at Maezii.
“There and back again,” she mutters.
SIX
Ya?onar holds up a hand.“There is the matter of the Human.”
“I go where she goes,” Maezii says.
