Page 98 of The Orc Chief's Baker
Had she gotten the wrong house? Or were they just not in? It dawned on her that most of the orcs ate their meals at the hall and it was about time for the first meal.
Blast it all, what should she do now? Should she try to go find them?
She could find herself a new orc to play conquest to while she was at it. Any one of them had the skills to build her a home.
But the thought of that made her whole body shiver with dismay. What was wrong with her? Her reaction wasn’tpractical.She needed a home. She couldn’t get one from Brovdir. She had to find someone else.
Her vision blurred from her tears.
“Trinia?”
She dashed the tears away with her palms and quickly got up from the stoop as Savili approached, blonde hair caught up in a tight bun, clean cotton dress swaying as she hurried up the path.
“What are you doing here? What’s going on?” Savili quickly took her hand. “You’re freezing! Let’s get you inside.”
“Thank you,” Trinia said past the lump in her throat. She looked toward Iytier, Savili’s mate, who followed close behind with their toddler in his arms. “I’m sorry about intruding.”
“You’re family to me, Trinia,” Savili chided. “You are never intruding. Yerina on the other hand...”
Trinia snorted and good humor lightened her chest as Savili ushered her into the tree home.
The downstairs was cozy and open, with a large kitchen table and two couches flanking a fireplace that crackled merrily. Their kitchen was only a little bigger than Brovdir’s had been, but had quite a few storage cupboards lining the wall all the way to the staircase.
Iytier headed for it, pausing long enough to let Savili pluck a kiss to her son’s forehead. “I’ll put Haysik down for his nap. Make yourself at home, Trinia.”
“Thank you,” Trinia said as he made his way up the steps. She looked at Savili when she said. “I really am sorry for intruding like this.”
“Stop saying that and come sit at the table. Would you like some tea?” Savili went into the kitchen and filled the kettle from the sink.
Trinia shook her head. She wasn’t sure she could stomach anything right now. She couldn’t hold her words in either. “I know about the prophecy.”
Savili dropped the kettle with a loud clang. Water splashed across the counter and dripped onto the floor.
Trinia rung her hands. “So, it’s really true that thousands of orcs are going to be settling in these woods, all around us, in just a few seasons.Thousands, not fifty.”
“Trinia... I...” Savili got a cloth from a hook on the wall and busied herself drying the counter. She wouldn’t look her in the eye.
“Why haven’t you convinced them to tell Headman Gerald?” Trinia stepped closer to her friend. “I know the orcs have loyalty to their clan, but you have loyalty to Oakwall. They deserve to know and prepare.”
“It’s... it’s not that simple.” Savili still wouldn’t look at her and instead turned away to scrub at another spot in the kitchen.
“Savili. I need you to stop for a moment and talk to me.”
“There isn’t anything to talk about.”
“What do you mean? Ofcoursethere is. We need to think of a way to tell Oakwall about what’s coming. We especially need to tell them about the sinkholes. Yes, I know about them too now. I almostdiedfalling into one last night.”
“You fell in? Are you all right? Are you hurt?” Savili took a few steps forward, looking her over.
“I’m fine. Sythcol and Brovdir arrived in time to save me. But someone else might not be so lucky. We need to go to the clan together and tell the headman abouteverything.”
Savili stepped back then, looked away.
“Savili, you can’t possibly think it’s a good idea to keep all of this from Oakwall!”
Savili sighed. “Trinia, we need to leave this to our leaders.”
“Leave it toyourleaders, you mean. Headman Gerald knows nothing about it!”
