“Valpar, it has been too many moons since you have visited either kingdom. I must push you to do this. Our ogamie would want this for you.”
I furrowed my brow, clenched my teeth and pushed my jaw forward stubbornly. He knew the thought of our ogamie was a soft spot in my heart. He used it many times to manipulate me into taking action.
I sighed and rubbed my neck. “I dislike when you bring up our birth ogamie.It isn’t fair.”
Thorn frowned and stepped forward to put his hand on my shoulder.
None of the orcs enjoyed touch, but since he was my brother I allowed it. We were of the same clan, the same ogamie. We may be from different orgamos, but we were still close in each other’s eyes. Especially since our ogamie left this world.
Thorn spouted off nonsense to ease my pain, to help me realize that this was for my own good, and to find my miresa- the female that was meant to be mine, mysoul mate or fated mate,as many Bergarians have called it-but I could hardly pay attention.
I gazed at my horses, and the excitement of the rest of the tribe. I couldn’t understand it. It had been ten years since the war and not one of us had found a miresa. I often had intrusive thoughts that the Moon Fairy was never real, when lying under the stars at night. It could have all been a lie.
Perhaps we all drank bad ale and wished for the Moon Fairy to give us miresas.
I huffed in annoyance once Thorn stopped speaking. No, I could not get my hopes up.
“The shifters smell like wet animals, and the fae and fairies smell too sweet. I don’t see how I will find my miresa amongst a bunch of terrible smells,” I spat.
Sugha, the youngest of our clan, came up behind Thorn and I with a frown on his face.
How long had he been there?
“Yes, and the Bergarians look at us differently too, don’t they?” Sugha said, wringing his hands together.
Sugha was the happiest of all of us, and here I was making the poor, adult orcling sad.
Bassza, I couldn’t do anything right.
Shifters could change from animal to human. Fae, fairies, pixies and sirens all looked human. Orcs didn’t look human at all. We were green and couldn’t change our appearance.
We were so different.
We were monsters in their world, and not just by the way we looked.
Orcs couldn’t be around each other for long periods of time. We were very much alphas. We all lived in our own territories because of our aggressiveness toward each other. We only gathered in time of trade, when one might need help with building a new home or taking down trees.
We didn’t socialize with one another unless we needed to.
Thorn sniffed the air, his mind taking him to other places. He turned, his heavy feet carrying him away from us and toward the wall. He grazed it with his fingers, and his nose flared while he traveled deeper into the Wood.
Strange male.
He was most likely faking that he had something better to do than leading the tribe.
Sugha’s mood lightened. With his bag on his back and a wide grin on his face, he ran in front of Ulam, who didn’t see Sugha as a threat in the slightest. “Ready to go, buddy?” Sugha reached into his pocket and grabbed a few sugar cubes.
Ulam pranced on his feet and grunted.
“Do not feed my horse sugar. It will make him jumpy!” I yelled and stomped over.
“A treat won’t hurt!” Sugha waved me off, holding out his hand.
Ulam greedily took it, licking his palm until it vanished, and then my horse flicked his lips toward me to show me it was gone.
I let out a low grunt, the sound mingling with the creaking of the leather reins as I freed them from their position around his neck. My grip tightened around the worn, weathered leather, its texture comforting in my hand. Glancing back, I scanned the formidable caravan of orcs following closely behind us, their heavy footsteps creating thunderous movement along the path.
They were all talking amongst themselves, not as lively as they were the first time we had taken the journey, but everyone was accounted for. Bags, satchels of things to trade, and still odd murmurs of finding their miresas…
