Waking the Gods

Chapter 11

The next day, Garluk surprised her with breakfast. He thrust the bowl in her hand and leaned against the wall of the hut while she ate, never looking at her, or allowing her to draw him into conversation. The most she could get was a grunt or eye roll, and eventually she gave up.

“Where’s Faroo?” She finally asked, hoping that he would come soon so she’d have someone to actually talk to. Maybe he was spoiling her with attention, but she wanted to soak it up while she had the chance, and today would be those last chances.

“Why do you care?” He replied gruffly.

Vera took a moment to think before answering. She didn’t want to sound needy, especially around Garluk, but how could she explain that she just wanted to be around someone friendly?

“He’s nice to me…so I like him being around,” She finally answered.

“He’s not nice, he’s annoying.” Came the gruff reply.

“He’s still nice. And considerate. And he cares about his people.” Vera continued, now just wanting to defend him.

“He’s a warrior. He doesn’t need to be nice, or considerate. Leave that to the weaklings.”

“That doesn’t make him less of a warrior. He’s your second, isn’t he? He must be strong…He’s almost as muscular as you.” She looked at his bulging muscles with an appraising eye, making Garluk shuffle his feet.

“He was surprising in the bouts. I did not expect him to be my second.” He looked at his feet with a scowl.

When Vera questioned him about the bouts he snapped that she didn’t need to know, it wasn’t her place. Soon after, once she’d finished her bowl, he left without another word, leaving Vera to wonder if she was supposed to stay inside. He hadn’t expressly told her not to wander, but the fact he brought her food instead of taking her to it, hinted that he didn’t want her to leave the hut.

Instead, Vera started going through the pack that Garluk had given her. She found two full sets of clothes that were all going to be very big on her, but he had also included a belt she was sure she could use to tie everything up better with. The boots were also a bit big, and had a piece of metal in the toe, making her think they must be miners' boots.

There were various other items, such as a cloak, some rags, a basic first aid pouch, and some hygiene products, and Vera was quickly done inventorying and repacking everything. Just as she had finished, a gentle knock came on her door, before Faroo invited himself in.

“I’m sorry I missed breakfast! Garluk sent me on a patrol…probably thought I wouldn’t be back till much later.” Faroo muttered the last part before taking a look at her pack. “And he gave you the pack I got for you?! What is with him…?” He frowned at the pack another moment before Vera finally spoke up.

“Oh, then I have you to thank for gathering all this? Thank you very much, it’ll be a comfort to have a change of clothes on the journey.” Vera offered a gentle smile, which finally made Faroo look at her and return in.

“Of course, I noticed you only had this dress. But Garluk said that he’d be stopping at the first village to get you something that actually fits.” He eyed her patched and worn clothes with some measure of distaste in his gaze.

“Is that really all you had to wear?”

“I had another dress and blouse, but he took me so fast…and they weren’t in much better condition.” Vera muttered with a small blush. She knew how raggedy she always looked, wearing Marge’s hand-me-downs that she would stitch to fit her much smaller frame.

“Well, these aren’t the best, and since there’s only men in this camp, everything will probably be way too big…especially since you’re so tiny.” His large hand squeezed her side lightly, before he gasped and brought both hands to cup her sides, looking down at her with wide eyes.

Vera gasped too, her brain going completely blank at the intimate contact.

“You’re even smaller than I thought! How have you survived so long, you’ve got less meat than a rabbit in winter?” He frowned and continued to squeeze her sides, not realizing how she had begun to tremble under his ministrations. He never squeezed hard enough to hurt, but the warmth of his hands and how they were almost completely wrapped around her made something in her belly flutter in a way she’d never felt before.

When his fingers wandered down to her hips, lightly pinching in a way to see if there was any excess meat there, Vera finally came back to herself.

“Faroo! Please, stop,” her voice came out squeakier than normal and she couldn’t stop the tremble from entering her voice. Faroo finally looked back up at her face, his still showing his displeasure. Neither had noticed that he had pulled her almost flush against his body during his inspection, Vera’s face level with his bare chest.

From this angle, just far enough to barely be not touching, she had to look straight up to see into his face. His eyes were wide as he gazed down at her, finally realizing what he was doing. His green skin became red around his cheeks and he released her immediately and stepped back.

“Sorry, it’s just shocking,” He took one hand to scrub the back of his neck while he looked at everything except for her. Vera could only nod and gaze at the floor as she tried to even out her breathing.

“What’s shocking?” Another voice interrupted, making Vera and Faroo jump even further apart. To an outsider, they had still been close, so this movement did not escape the dark, angry scowl of Garluk, who had suddenly appeared in the doorway. Vera hadn’t even heard the door slam open this time, but she couldn’t get her mind to catch up with anything Faroo or Garluk was doing.

The heat that had been on her sides and waist had found its way to her cheeks and she could feel them burning, adding to her flustered thoughts about why his touch was affecting her so much. She really couldn’t think about how her reactions could be read a certain way, and only focused on getting her body back under control.

“She’s so…tiny! She should eat more before travelling hard.” Faroo came back to himself first, and looked Garluk in the eye as he made his assessment.

“Why so worried? She’s just a human. Or did you just want to keep her with you longer?” Garluk appeared very calm, but his voice was even deeper than usual, making Vera shudder.

“It’s not like that,” Faroo muttered, but he swept his gaze across Vera before returning to Garluk. “I’m just concerned.”

“She’s not yours to worry about. You should focus on the camp, or are you already ignoring my orders?” Garluk took a menacing step further into the hut, but to his credit, Faroo did not back down from the challenge.

“I went on patrol and found nothing, as expected. You knew that already, or you wouldn’t have tracked me to this hut.” He growled, taking his own step toward Garluk. Vera glanced back and forth between the two giant orcs with worry evident in her eyes.

“Why do you continue to doubt me? I proved myself in the bouts. I’ve been your loyal second for years. I’ve done everything asked of me, and I care about our people just as much as you do. Is it too much to ask that you believe in my loyalty? I would never challenge you.” Faroo started angry, but fizzled out at the end with a sigh and hung his shoulders.

There was a heavy silence in the hut after Faroo’s outburst, no one knowing how to react. Vera felt Faroo’s frustration as though it were her own, and if she hadn’t been afraid to make the situation worse by bringing attention to herself, she would have pulled the sad giant in for a hug.

“Get. Out.” Garluk still didn’t raise his voice, or change his expression. If anything, he was calmer than ever as he gave his order. Faroo only hesitated a moment, casting a wary glance back at Vera before he moved around his commander and out the door. Vera hated the way his head hung like a child that had been reprimanded unfairly. Her heart hurt that he was hurting and she wanted to offer him something to cheer him up, but the next moment, he was gone.

Garluk waited another moment before finally lifting his gaze to her, but he didn’t say anything for the longest time.

“We leave before sunrise tomorrow. Once gone, you will never return here, either because the journey is a success, or because you are dead. He will remain in this camp, or return to Dracora, but you will never see him again. That is how it is, so stop distracting him or giving him ideas.”

“I wasn’t-,” She stopped when he raised a giant hand to interrupt her. The movement was so abrupt that even though he was on the other side of the hut she still jumped.

“I don’t want to hear your lies. You will remain in this hut until I retrieve you in the morning. You will not leave for any reason. Dinner will be brought to you.” With that he turned, yanked the door open, and slammed it behind him, leaving Vera alone again.

Vera flopped on the bed, not understanding why her heart seemed to drop when reminded that she would never see Faroo again. It wasn’t like she didn’t already suspect that, after Garluk’s speech to the camp…it just hurt to think about it, and how her first friend might also be her last.