Lonely Orcish Girl

Reed sighed deeply, for he was tired of all the thinking. When he was about to fall asleep, he made a decision - he wouldn't get the answers to any of these questions if he didn't give it a try.

***

The shouts of the stable hands woke Reed up, and he quickly got up and slipped out of the stable. Fortunately, no one saw him, as he didn't want to get into trouble. It was better not to let the hiding place be discovered, for he realized that he might need it again.

Although he had slept well, he felt downcast. It was the first night he had spent without the warmth of another person's body. Without Katuri. He found it hard to believe that he had gotten used to sleeping with a woman so quickly and that sleeping alone was so unpleasant now.

Hunger began to bother him, so he pushed the depressing thoughts away and decided to do one thing at a time until he would be ready to return to Katuri and then to his village, hopefully with her by his side. He went straight to the market.

While he was slowly strolling between the stands, occasionally biting into a sausage and looking at what the farmers had to offer, he suddenly heard someone calling for him. Abruptly he turned around and saw Matzie, a girl from his village! Seeing a familiar face was so unexpected that Reed froze for a moment. Matzie also looked completely surprised.

"Reed! What... what are you doing here? Where have you been? Everyone's been so worried! Especially Joseph! We thought something bad happened to you!" Matzie mumbled out barely articulating words. The girl had large front teeth that gave her the appearance of a groundhog and caused her speech impediment.

"Ah! I got lost in the woods during the storm, but luckily someone helped me. I've been very sick for the past two weeks, but this person... healed me," Reed explained, scratching his head because he felt uncomfortable. Matzie listened to him, but she seemed absent-minded.

He added, "I should be back in the village with this person soon."

"I'm glad you're okay," Matzie said, blinking rapidly and looking confused.

He tried to smile at her, as he had always liked her. She was a nice person, even if he thought she was very shy and maybe a bit childish. Matzie unexpectedly had become Marga's apprentice about a year ago, but she was struggling, as she had no experience. Reed suspected that the old healer didn't have much hope that the girl would ever become her successor.

"And what are you doing here, Matzie? Did you come to Larrant alone?" he asked, frowning. He looked around to see if there was anyone familiar nearby, but Matzie seemed to be alone. Reed suddenly feared something was wrong.

"Yes... I mean, no, I came here with my brothers. They went to the blacksmith, I think," Matzie replied.

Matzie's brothers, twins named Ron and Jon, weren't known for their minds, however, they were big, strong-looking boys, so Reed calmed down. Matzie didn't seem to be in any danger.

"What about you?" Reed asked, trying to help her focus. The girl seemed upset about something.

"Oh! Marga isn't well! She's been bitten by a poisonous snake!" Matzie suddenly started talking very fast and incoherently. "I didn't know how to help her! Marga was unconscious, then she woke up, but very weak! She was able to contain the venom, but it's still deadly. Marga told me about a plant, an antidote, but I don't know anything about it, Reed! She didn't have it and I couldn't find it anywhere else! I came to Larrant, I mean, the elders sent me here, maybe someone here knows something, but so far I've had no luck!"

"Hey, Matzie, slow down," Reed said, trying to reassure her. He put his hand on her shoulder, and the girl stopped talking, and just stood in front of him, breathing nervously. Her big watery eyes looked at him hopelessly.

He tried to process what he had just heard and find a solution. It wasn't good news, of course, but the fact that Marga could slow down the effects of the poison was something he could hold on to. Reed felt sad because Marga was very important to the whole village. When he was a child, he and the other children were afraid of her because they thought she was a witch, but when he grew up, he realized that without Marga, no one in the village would survive any disease.

"Matzie, don't worry, okay?" said Reed, trying to cheer her up. When he saw the girl's face brighten a little, he continued. "Listen, try to ask everyone possible here in Larrant. If you don't find anything, then go back to the village and take care of Marga. I might know someone who can help, but I've got a few things to sort out before I get back."

Matzie just nodded, but visibly calmed down. Reed sensed she needed to hear something like that.

"You're a smart girl, you got this!" he told her, giving her a quick hug.

"Oh! Thank you, Reed!" Matzie blinked rapidly, and her cheeks flushed, but she smiled timidly. She turned and walked away.

Reed continued to walk among the booths, but he couldn't focus.Damn it! One crisis at the time, he thought, trying to digest the new information. When he heard about Marga's condition, he realized that his mind was still strongly connected to the village. But his heart belonged to Katuri. He realized that he just had another reason to find a way to bring Katuri to his village.

***

"Easy, girl!" Reed said to the horse and stroked her neck. He tied the reins to a wooden fence.

By an almost impossible stroke of luck, Reed bought a strong and healthy draft horse mare at half price. She was the last one on offer, and the horse breeder was growing impatient: he had come to Larrant to sell his horses, and although he had success with most of them on the first day, he couldn't find a buyer for the last bay mare. Reed was almost a godsend for him because he could sell him the horse and return to his town.

Originally Reed had no intention of buying a horse, but since the price was so low, he followed his gut and decided to do it. A horse would always be useful on the farm, but Reed saw another purpose for it, so he slowly made another plan.

He also bought several seeds and still had about half his money. Now, guided by his intuition, he stopped in front of the forge. It belonged to a half-orc named Gurak. Reed went behind the fence and found the man pounding steel on the anvil.

Reed decided to wait politely until he was finished, but Gurak noticed him. He put down his hammer, spat on the ground, and said gruffly, "Whatcha looking for, boy? Say what you want, I don't have all damned day!"

Gurak was known for his surliness, so Reed wasted no time for pleasantries. "Do you know the orcish language? I mean, the writing?"

The man spluttered, irritated. "What do you think? I'm an orc, ain't I?"

Reed would disagree with him, but he was smart enough to keep his tongue between his teeth. Gurak didn't look like a typical orc, though he used to act like he was a full-blood and wasn't very eager to mention his hobgoblin's heritage. A completely different approach than Katuri.

The blacksmith was quite tall, but also skinny and veiny. And his face looked as if he had inherited the worst of both races. But that didn't matter to Reed, the most important thing was that the man claimed to know orcish runes.

"Perhaps you know what this means..." Reed took a steel rod in his hand and tried to draw the inscription of Katuri's bracelet on the soft ground. The pattern wasn't very complicated, and he was almost sure he had succeeded in copying it.

Gurak got interested and bent over the writing. Then he snorted with a sound that resembled amusement and looked at Reed, frowning. "It means lonely. Where did you learn that?"

"Ah, it's a long story," Reed replied vaguely, thinking about the information he had just gathered.

It hit him hard that Katuri wore a bracelet with the word 'lonely' engraved on it. That was very telling...

As if living in such solitude wasn't enough. It was very sad that she chose to wear a constant reminder of her own loneliness. She regarded it as an unavoidable fate, she didn't believe she would ever have a chance of finding someone to share life with. Reed couldn't stand that such a young, caring, smart, and resourceful girl thought she would be alone for the rest of her days. In his eyes, she deserved much better. And that's what Reed was going to give her.

He got an idea and asked Gurak, "Could you do something for me? A copper bracelet and an inscription in orcish but with one word... 'loved'?" Reed winced, expecting a mocking response from the blacksmith.

Gurak cackled hoarsely and patted his thigh. Then he shook his head, grinning maliciously, and said, "Are you trying to get laid with an orcish gal?"

"Yeah, kind of." Reed decided to play along with Gurak's track of thought, only to end the conversation as quickly as possible.

"You've got some balls, kid, I'll give you that," the half-orc replied, smirking under his breath. He turned to Reed and said, "I can make that for you, but don't expect me to push you in front of my other clients. Come back in... let's say... two days. I'll charge you two silver coins, and it's a good price, kid! And bring me back some good ale, and I mean really good ale, not some fucking watered-down piss!"

"No problem!" Reed answered with a wide smile, happy for two reasons. First, because he no longer had to see Gurak's grumpy face, and second, because he would soon have everything he needed to see Katuri's beautiful face. And he couldn't wait to see her.

He went outside and looked around the forge. He would have a lot of time to spend alone and perhaps think a little more about his plans for the future. He strolled down the street, looking at people and houses, hoping that the time of waiting would pass quickly.

***

Riding bareback on the draft horse wasn't the most pleasant way to travel, but it was undoubtedly much faster than on foot. This was important because he felt he had wasted too much time in Larrant, but there was nothing he could do about it. He was absent for the full four days. But he used the time to gather everything that might be useful on the farm before winter. He also asked some people if they knew anything about a possible antidote for Marga but to no avail. He could only hope that Matzie managed to do so.

Gurak kept his end of the bargain, but he took his time about it. Nevertheless, Reed was impressed with how well Gurak had done it. Almost as if it were the work of a jeweler rather than a simple blacksmith. The bracelet was a polished and shiny band with a small cutout so it could be adjusted to fit Katuri's wrist.

The horse was a little timid because it had to plow through dense bushes, and horses as horde animals, felt better in larger groups, but Reed steered his mare quite skillfully, and after some time he reached the clearing with Katuri's house.

His heart began to beat faster, but he tried to calm down. He was hopeful and believed that things would finally come to be as they should. The way he wanted with all his heart, was for him and Katuri to be together. So he kept a positive attitude. He even smirked at the thought that he'd return to her on horseback: the only thing he still lacked was shining armor and maybe a rose between his teeth.

He jumped off the horse's back and let her eat the grass. There was silence in Katuri's house, and for a moment Reed worried that she might also be gone for good. That would be a real tragedy. He called out to her, but she wasn't there. But he saw her things inside, and that reassured him. He sat down on the porch and decided to wait until she came back.

There was no problem killing time because he rehearsed in his head everything he wanted to say, while the mare was grazing the grass. This time he wanted to be perceptive and prepared for any outcome of their conversation.

Reed had no idea how much time had passed when the sudden neigh of his horse startled him out of his musings. He looked up and caught sight of Katuri.

The orcess stood a few feet away, but even from that distance, Reed could see her wide open eyes and shocked expression. He stood up as well, and for a moment, they stared at each other. Katuri looked as if she had seen a ghost.

Finally, she slowly approached him, with a dazed look on her face, as if she couldn't believe he was really there. Reed tried to smile at her, but her face was strained. He, too, felt stressed, his hands were trembling a bit.

"Reed? What are you doing?" she asked, almost breathlessly. She looked at him, then at the horse, then back at him. Her chest moved up and down as she breathed heavily.

"I told you I'd be back, Katuri," he tried with all his might to sound calm, though his voice was shaky. Nervously, he plucked at his pocket.

"But why..." Katuri muttered, then shook her head in disappointment, as if noticing something. She looked at him and asked, "What, you didn't manage to get your girl back?"

At first, he wanted to react indignantly or even laugh at the absurdity of her question, but then he realized that maybe Katuri saw it that way. From her point of view, it might look like he had returned to the village, then failed to win Jolene back, and finally returned to her after a few days... which fit the second, worse variant.

"No, Katuri, I haven't even tried to get my girl back yet..." he said vaguely, then smirked as he thought of the perfect answer. "But I'm in the process of doing it right now."

"What are you talking about, Reed?" she asked, looking at him suspiciously. Her eyebrows furrowed, for she didn't know what he was up to. Her whole posture showed tension.

"I have something for you. Can you give me your hand? Please," he asked earnestly, holding out his hand to her.

She looked at Reed as if he were crazy, as if he were speaking in another language. Her nostrils flared as she breathed because of emotions.

But Reed waited patiently, and Katuri finally gave up and reached out her hand as well. He gently touched her palm first, then his hand moved to her wrist.

He looked into her confused eyes and said, "I don't think this is needed anymore."

And he unclasped the old bracelet and took it from her, then reached into his pocket and pulled out the new one.

Katuri's eyes widened as she realized what he was doing. But she was obviously so numb and shocked that she let him put the bracelet on her. Then she read the inscription and let out a quiet whine.

"Why are you doing it, Reed...?" she mumbled in a breaking voice. Her lower lip trembled, and tears shimmered in her eyes. Slowly, she traced the engraving with her finger. Her hand was shaking.

Reed held her hand and squeezed it gently. He stepped closer to her and said passionately, "This is just a symbol of what you really deserve, Katuri!"

"Thank you..." she said almost voicelessly. Still gazing at her new bracelet, she let Reed hold her hand. Then she shook her head slightly and looked him in the eye. "What's going on, Reed? Why... are you here? What about your farm?"

"My farm isn't going to disappear in a few days. I wanted... I had much more important things to take care of first," he answered.

"This bracelet? It's beautiful... but you shouldn't have... You know we can't... That there is no chance..." she stammered, looking completely confused and lost. Despite her size and muscles, Katuri looked fragile and vulnerable to Reed at that moment.

"No, the bracelet is only a symbolic gift of my gratitude and feelings, as I said. I still need to return to the village, but... I came back... to ask you to go with me?"

"Go with you?" Katuri repeated, looking even more confused.

"Not just to go with me, but... to live with me."

Katuri's eyes became round and she opened her mouth. She stared at Reed for so long that he began to feel uneasy. Finally, she lowered her eyes to the ground and asked quietly, "You want me to be with... you? Are you sure this is what you really want, Reed?"

Reed knew intuitively that she was trying to feel out if he was serious. If he really meant what he asked, or if it was just pity.

"Yes, I am, Katuri," he answered almost solemnly, and explained further, "Listen, I don't have much, but I think it's enough to live a decent and honest life. I have a piece of land with good soil, and you can plant what you want. Around the village, there are forests full of game where you can hunt. And the people..."

Then Katuri interrupted, "Maybe, but your people will never accept me, Reed. An orcish girl in a human village? That's impossible..."

This time Reed intervened, "It still seems impossible for a human man to be accepted by an orcish tribe, doesn't it? Yet we know such a case! And I'll fight for you with everyone in my village, just as your mother did for your father!"

Katuri only snorted, as if she didn't believe him. But he was prepared for such a reaction.

"I know you think it may not be enough, or that you have other objections or concerns. I understand and respect them. And I promise you that if you try, but after a while, someone is unkind to you, or you still don't feel comfortable in the village... then we could sell everything that can be sold on my farm and move back here. Or we can move wherever we want, it wouldn't matter to me as long as we're together."

Katuri listened with a moved expression, and when he finished, she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him into a tight hug. Reed wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her as well. He felt her ragged breath on his neck.

After a moment, Katuri sighed and said quietly, "Oh, gods! You really mean it..."

"Yes. I should have said this before I left, but I just... didn't know how to process all of this. I'm sorry for that. I hope you didn't suffer because of that..."

"It's okay, Reed. It doesn't matter now. I hope I didn't hurt you either. I'm sorry for what I said... I was just trying... to distance myself so I wouldn't get hurt again."

"I know," Reed answered, feeling the stress slowly ease. "So... does that mean you agree?"

Katuri released him from the embrace and looked deep into his eyes. Reed expected that the decision wouldn't be easy for her, but her face showed determination.

She took a deep breath and said seriously, "Yes, Reed. I don't know how it'll go, but at least I want to try. And just like you... it doesn't matter where we'll be as long as we're together."

Reed felt such great relief that he chortled uncontrollably. Katuri looked surprised at first, but then joined him and laughed softly as well.

"You can't imagine how happy I am, Katuri!" he said enthusiastically, but then became matter-of-fact again. "Okay, but we'll have to figure out how to transport your things to the village."

"Well, that shouldn't be too hard, since you came back on that fine charger." Katuri pointed her chin at the horse and they laughed. "I have a small cart that I used to haul supplies here. Maybe it hasn't completely rotted away yet."

She went to the woodshed, and after quickly tossing a few items, pulled the wooden cart. It was indeed small, but Reed realized the horse could pull it easily. The first problem just solved itself.

Katuri told him that she had to leave a message for her parents in case they came to her hut and didn't find her. She took out a sheet of dried animal skin and wrote some words in orcish with a piece of charcoal.

They decided to spend the last night at Katuri's house and then pack and move the next morning. That was the plan.

Later, as they lay half-naked in bed hugging and cuddling, Reed felt as if everything in his life was finally going in the right direction. He was happy to be back in Katuri's arms and to feel her body in his. But even though he had a steel-hard erection, he didn't feel the need to get a release. He sensed that Katuri wasn't in the mood, as she was probably nervous before moving out. He would feel the same way if he were her.