I slowly let go of Vark’s woolen cloak and clear my throat, embarrassed by my reaction. I fully expect him to move away, but he doesn’t. He keeps one arm around my shoulders, and I don’t mind at all. I should take this as a sign that I’m in trouble. I’ve trusted him with my daughter’s safety, and now I’m trusting him to hold me close.
We ride like that for a while, and I’m content to enjoy the silence, but Vark’s still not relaxed next to me. I peer up at him, but he resolutely keeps watching the road, so I let him be.
Finally, he asks, “Will you tell me about Wren’s father?”
I stiffen, debating how much to tell him. I think of Wren’s mother every day—whenever I see Wren’s sweet smile or the twinkle in her blue eyes. But her father…
“I didn’t know him,” I answer truthfully.
Vark’s arm falls away from my shoulders, and he takes my chin in his hand, tilting it up so I have to look at him.
“Did he hurt you?” he demands.
I shake my head, struck silent by his possessive gesture. He releases me, then faces forward with a grumble. In that moment, I hate the mate bond. I hate that it’s making this male care about me though he clearly didn’t want to before. I can’t afford to let anyone get attached to me this way. Wren and I might have to run again if we’re discovered, and I don’t want to cause Vark any more grief than I already have.
Still, there’s no harm in telling him the truth. Wren is riding in the front wagon with Ozork, far enough away that she couldn’t possibly hear me speak about some of the details that I’d never shared with her.
“Wren’s mother was my best friend,” I say quietly. “She and I were brought to the same care home after our families died in a fire in Ultrup.”
Vark sits up straight and stares at me, surprise clear on his face. “Wren is not your daughter?”
“She is my daughter,” I snap, showing him my teeth. “She’s mine in all the ways that count, and I’m her mother. I’ve been taking care of her since birth, and if you ever say something like that in her presence, I will kill you, no matter how big you are.”
Vark dips his head. “Forgive me. I did not mean to offend.”
I hate the pressure in my chest. “Every time someone sees us together, they ask the same questions. It’s…hard.”
Vark cocks his head to the side. “You mean because you’re darker than her? But humans come in so many different colors.”
I can’t help but laugh quietly at his words. “They do. Wren and I are different enough that people notice.”
He hums. “Humans take issue with the strangest things.”
I tuck my cold hands in my armpits to keep warm. Vark seems to notice, because he tentatively puts his arm around me again and pulls me closer, into his side.
“Tell me about your friend,” he says without looking at me.
I think of Aline and all the times we’d spent together. “She was kind. Even after we joined—”
I bite my tongue just in time. I don’t want to tell Vark about my sordid past. The way Ozork was insulted when I suggested they might not follow the laws of his king… I doubt they’d take kindly to the fact that I’m a thief. A former member of one of the largest street gangs in Ultrup.
“We grew up together,” I say instead. “And shared a room after we left the care home.”
Vark glances down at me. “So what happened?”
I lift one shoulder in a shrug. “She got pregnant. Never told me who the father was, which wasn’t like her. She had a thing going with one of the men we knew, Damen, but they must have broken it off, because she claimed it wasn’t him. I’d sensed it wasn’t a happy story, but she said she’d wanted the baby, so she kept it. She gave birth to Wren, then…never really recovered.” I think of the terrible hours I’d spent at her bedside, rocking her wailing baby, scared out of my mind. “She gave up.”
Memories threaten to bury me in grief again, so I curl my shoulders in and try to ward them off. Vark’s warmth helps, the knowledge that he’s here, willing to listen.
“You think he hurt her?” Vark asks quietly. “The father?”
“I don’t think so,” I say. “There was a time before I learned she was pregnant when she seemed excited. She wouldn’t tell me what was going on, and I didn’t pry.” I’d had my own issues at the time, with an overzealous suitor I’d had to shake by moving to another house the gang owned after he’d shown up on my doorstep in the middle of the night. “I wish I had, though. I might have helped her.”
It was clear that whoever Wren’s father was didn’t want anything to do with his baby. The more Aline’s belly grew, the sadder she became, and after Wren was born and she’d had some complications from the delivery that the healer we found couldn’t fix, she’d passed away within days.
“So you’ve been taking care of Wren ever since?” Vark asks. “On your own?”
I want to claim that it was all me, but I couldn’t have taken care of an infant and kept us fed and clothed at the same time.
“There were some people who…helped out,” I say slowly, not sure how much I should reveal.
Vark’s gaze sharpens. “Are they the same people you’re running away from now?”
I think of lying. But by staying with this caravan, I’ve involved the orcs in our lives.
“Yes,” I whisper. “I owe them a lot of money. I was doing well with paying back what I borrowed when Wren was little, because I couldn’t, uh, work for a time. But then Wren got sick this spring, and we’d had to call a healer.” I look up at Vark, hoping he’ll understand what position I’d been in. “That wasn’t cheap. I had to take care of her for several weeks, so I wasn’t bringing in my daily earnings.”
Vark stares at me. “Then what happened?”
“Timo said it was time for Wren to start earning her keep if I couldn’t pay him back.” I barely force the words past the lump in my throat. “He was going to start teaching her the business.”
A shudder goes through Vark, but he remains silent, without judging me. That he hasn’t said anything makes it easier somehow to continue.
“He knew I wouldn’t allow it,” I say. “So he waited until I had to go out on an errand.”
I’d left Wren with Lindie, who’d said she’d watch over her, but she’d been too afraid of Timo to say no to him when he’d shown up, demanding to see my girl.
“He set to teaching her the first lesson,” I go on, anger rising in me. “I came home after he’d punished her for failing an impossible task.”
Vark knows the rest. In the course of two days, I’ve told him more about myself and Wren than I’ve told anyone in years. He’s surprisingly easy to confide in.
He stares at me for a long time. Then he squeezes me around the shoulders and says, “If you want, we can turn around. We can find this Timo and kill him. I will hold him while you stab him in the heart.”
My throat clogs up, and I blink up at him. “No one has ever made me an offer like this.”
Vark shrugs. “That’s what mates are for.”
“Really?” I let out a hoarse laugh. “I thought mates were for mating.”
I regret the words immediately. Vark stiffens beside me, and heat shoots into my face. The orc groans quietly, then releases me, putting some space between us.
“I’m sorry,” I hurry to say. “I didn’t mean—”
“I know you didn’t,” he retorts. “But the fact remains that my body has been ready to do just that for days now.”
I try not to glance at his lap, heat rushing to my cheeks. Vark is wrapped up in his cloak, of course, so I don’t see anything, but I can’t help wondering if what he said is true. Has he really been hard…for days? Because of me? No matter how flattering that might be in some strange way, I know it must also be torturous for Vark.
My body reacts despite my attempt to tamp down my feelings. My belly tightens, and I greet my teeth against the sensation of heat pooling between my legs. Feeling exceedingly foolish, I scrub my face with my hands. “What can I do to make this easier for you?”
Vark ponders the question. “You could have a bath.”
“A bath?”
“And a change of clothes,” he adds.
I sniff my tunic and recoil. It’s been a while since I washed properly, what with our grand escape plan and now two days on the road, camping in the wilderness. Poor Vark must be gagging since his nose is so much more sensitive than mine.
“It will wash away Korr’s scent,” he explains.
Oh.
How…possessive. I suppress a shiver at the thought of Vark getting angry because he smells another male’s scent on me. Then another thought occurs to me. “But how will I train with him without getting his scent on me? We’ll tussle for sure…”
Vark pins me with a heated glare. “You will train with me from now on.”
I gape at him. “But you said—”
“I know what I said,” he growls. “I was a fool.”
I have no answer to that. I won’t claim I understand his reasoning, but it seems that this is enough of an issue to have him change his mind.
“What of our bet?” I ask, remembering the twenty gold marks he’d promised me.
The orcs may have agreed to provide Wren and me with food and shelter for the winter in exchange for work, but having that kind of money would go a long way toward making me feel safe. And for some reason, I don’t want to lose against Vark. I shouldn’t care what he thinks of me, but I want to prove myself to him.
He snorts. “It’s still on.”
