Well, not the only time I prefer being beneath the orc’s mountain. I enjoy being there with him.
“Sojek, Tansey and I will wait in the common area of the market,” Verig says as he lowers me from his gorja. After hours atop the beast, it feels heavenly to stand and stretch my muscles. “Gather the tumek and join us when you are ready. We will proceed to the moxxel quarter together.”
“I haven’t been to Pen’Kesh since my first month on Kovos. The men of our colony took me and the other new arrivals to the market, I think, to scare us. They pointed out all the hideous creatures. Their words, not mine.”
“You mean my people,” Verig says.
“Not just the orcs. The bantarans and moxxels, too. Though they emphasized the danger of the orcs in particular. They repeatedly told us to stay in the human quarter unless accompanied by guards, or the orc monsters would take us.”
That happened anyway, except we were stolen from the supposed safety of our colony. It’s odd how New Earth’s leaders never warned us about the vints, the people the orcs constantly mention, often in the same breath as humans. I wish I had a handle on the politics between these groups.
“Using fear to cause the enemy to hesitate, even hold off from attacking, is a valid tactic, one we often use, but it is a poor way of controlling one’s own people. Though there is truth in what the humans told you. You should be scared in Pen’Kesh. There are no rules, no assurance of safety. Only opportunity for the strong and risk for the vulnerable. Which is why you will stay close to me.”
Verig takes his gorja and the one Sojek untied from the cart and leads them to a pen nearby where there’s a large enough area to graze. As I watch him tending to the beasts while never taking his eyes from me and our surroundings, the question of trust dissolves. I can count on him. He made a mistake taking Ethan, but no one is perfect. At least Verig is man enough to admit he erred. I need to be woman enough to forgive him. Fully.
“Sojek,” Verig calls as he returns and his hand settles on my lower back.
The young male hustles from lowering the cart’s ramp to stand before Verig, as if he is the grak here. Verig certainly holds himself like the commander he is, even if he lost the title of neld.
“Yes, Warrior?” Sojek says.
“You did not forget your knife this time?”
Sojek lifts the top of his tunic to show the knife at his side.
“Secure it over your tunic, where others will see it,” Verig directs him.
“Aren’t you here to protect Sojek?” I ask.
“Sojek is not a warrior, but he’s orc. As long as he shows no fear, no one will go near him.”
And if he’s outnumbered? A gang of humans will take on anyone if they’re motivated. “Can you fight, Sojek?” I ask.
“I’ve received basic training.”
“He will be fine if he wears his knife where I told him,” Verig says with a growl in his voice. Sojek immediately reties the sheath above his tunic.
Verig’s eyes roam over me. “You are the one I worry about. Females are vulnerable in Pen’Kesh, which is why they rarely come here.”
“That’s why I have you, right?” I give him a huge smile, but I don’t think he appreciates it as his eyes fixate on the market’s common area, which is presently empty of people. It’s the central part of Pen’Kesh and branches out in five directions to each of the sectors.
“You could teach me how to fight, then I wouldn’t be so vulnerable,” I add, lifting my own tunic to show him the knife hanging around my waist. “I guess I can start by wearing this above my tunic like Sojek.”
Verig draws the knife from my sheath. His lower lip peels back. “Our grak’s knife.”
“I left the one you gave me in your clothes trunk. I didn’t feel right keeping it after…well, after all that happened between us.”
“But you kept the brush and comb.”
“Yes.” I can’t explain it, but those hold a lot of meaning to me, more than a knife. I guess because Verig made them for me. “I use them every day.”
He re-sheathes the knife. “Any knife is better than none.”
“Though you prefer I carry yours?”
“It tells other males you belong to me.”
“And you think by wearing your grak’s knife I’m sending a different message?”
