Page 13 of The Orc's Captive Bride
Right. Not home. A different world where I’ve been kidnapped by an orc.
The thought should have sent her into panic. Part of her wanted to panic—that small, lizard-brain part that screamed danger and run andthis isn’t real, this can’t be real—but panic was a luxury she couldn’t afford.
She pulled the furs tighter around her shoulders and tried to think logically—the way she’d been trained to approach problems that seemed insurmountable.
Step one: Assess the situation.
She was in a world that wasn’t her own. She’d been taken through what appeared to be some kind of interdimensional portal—because apparently those existed now, and wasn’t that going to revolutionize theoretical physics if she ever got home to tell anyone.
When, she corrected herself firmly.When I get home.
She’d been taken by an orc named Khorrek who seemed to be working for someone called… Lasseran? The name had been mentioned several times by both Khorrek and the humans, the same humans who looked at her like she was meat on a hook.
She shivered, and this time it wasn’t from the cold.
Step two: Identify resources.
She had her glasses. Thank god for that—without them, this world would be nothing but blurred shapes and constant headaches. She had Khorrek’s tunic, which at least provided some modesty even if it didn’t provide much warmth. She had furs, or at least borrowed furs. She had…
What else did she have?
Your mind, the professor’s voice echoed in her memory. Dr. Yuki Tanaka, her advisor at Cambridge, who’d told her repeatedly that her greatest asset wasn’t her knowledge—it was her ability to acquire more knowledge.You’re a linguistic prodigy, Thea. You don’t just learn languages, you deconstruct them. That’s a skill that will serve you anywhere.
Hopefully even in another world. Khorrek had only taught her some simple nouns—rethka and thorak, fire and food—but they were building blocks. And then there were the words shethought she’d picked out of the conversation between the men, that strange feeling that she recognized the language.
She’d been studying language acquisition since her undergraduate years. She knew the patterns, the common roots, and the way human brains processed phonemes and syntax. This language had a structure and given a few days, she’d start picking up basic conversational phrases. A week, and she’d be able to construct simple sentences. A month…
I don’t have a month.
The thought sliced through her analysis with horrifying certainty. Whatever Khorrek was taking her to—whoever Lasseran was—it wasn’t going to end well. The humans’ leering expressions. Khorrek’s carefully neutral face. The way he’d positioned himself between her and the men as if he were guarding something valuable.
Or imprisoning it.
Step three: Form a plan.
Somehow she had to get home. That was her goal, and everything else was just tactics.
Which meant she needed to understand where she was, how she’d gotten here, and what those runes on the stone circle meant. She gave a frustrated sigh. She needed language and time to think without being thrown over someone’s shoulder every five minutes.
She needed…
A sound interrupted her spiraling thoughts, and she caught a hint of movement from the tent entrance.
She froze, staring desperately into the night as she picked out shapes in the darkness—the bulk of Khorrek’s pack and the massive silhouette blocking the tent opening. He was still there, guarding her.
The realization sent an odd flutter through her chest.
He shifted. Even in sleep—if he was sleeping—he radiated controlled violence, the kind of leashed power that spoke of a lifetime of combat training. But he’d given her his tunic and his furs. He’d taught her words when he could have ignored her and he’d put himself between her and the soldiers.
Why?
She didn’t have an answer, and not having answers made her deeply uncomfortable.
Another shiver ran through her. The furs were thick and well-made, but they couldn’t completely block the cold seeping up from the ground. Her feet felt like ice, and her hands weren’t much better.
She curled tighter into a ball, but it didn’t help. The cold was relentless, creeping into her bones, making her teeth chatter.
This is ridiculous. You’re going to freeze to death because you’re too stubborn to?—
