“They were not kidnapped. They were taken according to our laws. The humans broke the contract.”
I wave a dismissive hand. “We can debate nuances later. Where are they?”
“Most were taken to the warriors’ quarters in the mountain.”
“And they’ve been there the entire week?”
“Yes,” he says with a definite growl that I’m not sure how to interpret. He’s Atox’s second, but that doesn’t mean we’ve developed an easy rapport yet.
“Did you take a woman, Verig?”
His tusks grind against his upper lip. “Another warrior took her.”
Ah, so there’s a specific woman he’s interested in. Atox told me of Verig’s history, and his refusal to take another mate. That’s a concern for another day.
“None of these women should be in a warrior’s quarters against their will.”
“Are you ordering me to remove her from Baloq’s quarters, Graka?” Verig emphasizes my title, which he never does. More than that; he sounds eager to implement that particular order.
“Not just her. Get all the women out here now. Every one of them. And find me a cave that is big enough for all of them.Alone. Without any warriors.”
“You can’t take my female from me,” Kodex objects. “Our grak said we could choose the female we want. I took her from the human colony. She’s mine to keep.”
Atox promised these women to them without giving the women any say? I’m stunned at how everything has gotten so out of hand already that I miss Phoebe biting Kodex’s hand and slipping from his hold. She takes a swing at me, but Verig throws himself between us, taking the blow to his chest before capturing her around her middle and lifting her off the ground. He looks mad enough to throw her down and injure her, except I’ve never known him to be rash or take out his anger on a female.
“Put her down, please, Verig.”
He drops her unceremoniously and walks away. “Control yourfemale, Kodex. If she harms the graka, you will answer to our grak.”
“Where are you going?” I call to him as he storms into the tunnels.
“To clear the trainees’ quarters on level 3. It is large enough to house all the human females.”
That was easier than I thought it would be.
“Phoebe,” I say, trying to calm the fire in her eyes. We need to talk. You, me, and all the other women. There’s a lot you don’t know about what’s going on here. And it appears I’ve missed some vital information as well.”
“You let them take us.”
“I was in a cell in New Earth when the orcs came. I didn’t know anything about what they planned.”
“You’re one of them,” she says, slinging the accusation with hate in her eyes.
“Yes, and proud of it, but I started out much like you. Taken here against my will. In fact, that colony that you’re so eager to get back to sold me to the orcs and planned to sell me to the vints when they kidnapped me back. Did anyone tell you Council had a treaty with the orcs? That they agreed to sell five more women after me?”
She stops fighting Kodex’s hold on her. “Sold? I was told you betrayed us and fled to the orcs.”
“Lies, to cover Council’s collective ass. And it’s the reason we need to talk. All of us. Those self-appointed, self-righteous men who are supposed to protect everyone in New Earth don’t care about you or any other woman in the colony any more than they cared about me.”
“You have proof?”
“Only my word. But I can tell you two things. If you run off, you won’t get far.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“I’m recounting the facts. I nearly died out there,” I say pointing into the woods where the yengas chased me and Evve, “but not at the orcs’ hands. They saved me.” I rub my face as the world sways.
Ossa’s hand touches my arm. “You need rest, Graka.”
