Page 16 of The Orc Who Hated Christmas
“I’ll try my best.” Graal had to admit that the markets overwhelmed him. Everywhere he looked seemed to shine and erupt with over-the-top exuberance and festive nonsense. Music floated through the air. People laughed and yelled and carried on. Children darted around.
This was not his thing.
Graal belonged in his dark and dank room alone. Not amongst this merriment and frivolity. But Cas really wanted him to enjoy tonight. So Graal would try.
Cas tugged on his arm. “Oh! Chestnuts! Come on, let’s try some. I haven’t had any this year.”
Graal noticed several people glancing at Cas in appreciation as they moved through the crowd. Then they frowned at Graal as if confused as to why the two would be together.
Graal could understand the confusion. He wanted to tell them they weren’t actually together. Cas was just being kind.
“Mommy! A troll!” The whispered words came from a siren child who cowered behind her mother. “Is he going to eat me?”
Graal hunched his shoulders and looked away as the mother scooped the child up and whispered to her.
Graal wasn’t a troll. But some couldn’t tell the difference. Some didn’t care to learn. For many, they were all the same—big, ugly, hideous monsters.
Trolls didn’t eat children, of course. But he’d heard the sorts of fairy tales parents told their children. Behave or the troll, ogre, or orc would sneak into their room and eat them whilst they slept.
Graal’s lip curled. Thankfully, Cas hadn’t heard the child’s comment, and he led Graal to the stand where a man sold chestnuts from a large hot metal drum.
“We’ll take a bag, please.” Cas dropped Graal’s arm to count out his coins.
“I can get them.” Graal reached for his coin-purse.
“Shhh. It’s on me.” Cas waved his hand. “I invited you, and it was kind of you to come out.”
Cas took the paper bag of chestnuts from the vendor. They moved to the side so they weren’t blocking the crowds. Cas held out the paper bag to Graal.
Graal reached out and took one of the nuts. He peeled thewarm hard shell from the pale flesh and popped it into his mouth. He chewed the buttery sweet, soft nut. “They’re good.”
Cas tucked the bag into the crook of his arm and reached for a nut.
“Here, I can hold the bag for you.” Graal reached out and took it.
Cas smiled and began to peel a chestnut. “Chestnuts always remind me of sitting with my family in the winter. We’d often put a pan into the open fire with a couple of handfuls of chestnuts. We’d roast them before passing them around.”
Cas popped the nut into his mouth and let out a groan, a groan that caused heat to curl in Graal’s gut and the orc to think things he shouldn’t. Like did Cas sound similar when he experienced pleasure at the touch of a lover’s hand?
Graal cleared his throat. “Your family are witches, human witches.”
Cas laughed. “And I’m a pixie.” Cas reached into the paper bag. It crinkled as he pulled out another chestnut and peeled it. “I’m adopted. I’m not sure what happened to my birth parents. Not sure if they died or gave me up or what, but I spent the first few years of my life in a foundling home. It wasn’t nice.”
Cas grimaced, and Graal couldn’t help but feel how wrong the expression looked on Cas’s lovely face. Graal wanted Cas to smile, and he wanted to see Cas’s sky-blue eyes sparkle with mirth. Sadness didn’t suit Cas.
“Then I flew away. I lived on the streets for a while. It was horrible there too. Winter came, and it was worse. The snow never stopped. The cold reached down to my bones, and I just wanted to get warm.” Cas kept his gaze on the chestnut. “Pixies are less susceptible to the cold compared to humans. Still, it’s unpleasant.”
Graal nodded. It was similar for orcs.
“So I was walking down this alley, and then I saw these candles and baubles through a window. They were so beautiful.” Cas smiled. “It was like the inside glowed with light, and I could almost feel the warmth.” Cas met Graal’s gaze. Cas held up the peeled chestnut. “Open up.”
“What?” Graal frowned.
Cas held the chestnut to Graal’s lips. “Open up.”
Graal opened his mouth, surprised when Cas placed the chestnut on his tongue, fingers brushing Graal’s lips before retreating. Cas’s gaze lingered on him.
“Then I heard her sing.” And Cas began to sing,
