Roderick and Gorlana Pt. 04

Roderick felt a mix of feelings and tried to loosen the sails in his mind to let them fly past, but she identified the most prominent immediately.

"Oh snuff out that guilt for her. Gorlana knows of my tactic and agreed. You would feel this while she mates with Traulch all this time?"

Roderick tightened his lips and clenched his fingers.

"Ugh!" Carthala coughed, "Instantly. A putrid cloud of jealousy. Have we worked on nothing these past two weeks?"

"I will do what I can to make myself cold and uncaring to all else, but I will NOT make myself numb to that."

She scoffed, "Oh am I supposed to be impressed? I certainly will not be if he ever gets it through that thick head of his what you two are to each other, and slits your throat. Your announcing it by emanating it from your skin will speed that up surely, and in no way help her."

He hung his head in resignation and nodded.

Carthala sighed and gave a softer reply, "I know it's hard. I can only imagine, given what you two seem to share, but you HAVE to try to do better. You have made progress these two weeks, I will give you that. I just hope it's enough. I thought we had a few more days, but it's come to it now, and we're out of time."

"What do you mean?" Roderick asked.

"You're being brought into Orthanhall tomorrow."

"But, the moot shouldn't even be starting yet. Faringoll hasn't arrived."

"You're right, but there has been a call for a chieftain's meeting. Something to do with the Rechlingers, no one either can or will say exactly why. In any case, the chiefs also voted for you to be brought to the hall, partly to be shown off I think, but partly so you are in a... safer location. Gorlana has viciously defended that you are hers still and no one else's, but..." Carthala sniffed and scoffed, "Yes, take what pride you can from that. But, even if you belong to her and not to Orthalia in general, it has been decreed you will be kept in the Orthanhall dungeons now."

Roderick stiffened, unsure what to think.

"You will remain un-tortured. The floor will be less comfortable than this soft ground but it will be warmer at least."

"Will Gorlana be there?"

"By the Gods, the eagerness!" she coughed. "It's like I can taste it. Control that!" Carthala shook his shoulder with her sharp claws, "She will take up residence in Orthanhall as will the rest of the high chieftains as the moot approaches, but... if she knows what's good for her. And you. And everyone... She will keep any visits to the dungeons to a minimum, if at all."

Roderick nodded, and gulped.

"Will she b-"

"Quiet. Torvrul comes." Carthala said, more softly.

"You toy with your plaything too much third-hand," Torvrul spoke gruffly, but with a more familiar than truly chastising tone. "Did you tell him the news?"

"Yes chieftain."

"Hmm, I can sense your nervousness, Lightbrew. You should be. Not even we can say what they'll do. Gorlana argued hard to keep you here, but they are right that honour and precedent, and simple practicality make it better to have a piece as important as you kept close to the high-chieftains at a time like this."

"Get some sleep, if you can," Carthala said with a final pat of her thick hand on his shoulder. "I might not be able to see you as often, after we set off in the morning."

Roderick raised his head and, with an honesty that surprised even himself, "Thank you, Carthala."

She made no reply and walked away. Torvrul made a grunt and a low comment implying something about their 'secret' affections for each other, then after giving Roderick a small sip of warm stale water, left as well. Roderick slid his wrists down the pole and sat on the cold earth, hung his head, and waited.

...

"I call the hall to silence!"

The deep Orcish voice boomed off of the cavernous walls and ceiling of the main chamber of Orthanhall. A flat rectangular floor took up most space in the center, with stone benches rising in step-wise fashion out from it towards the walls on three sides. The empty throne stood above all, on the other. The Goathorn chair, carved of thick white stone, with two gnarled horns rising above each side of its back. It was older than the hall itself. Gorlana's eyes caught it each time she looked to the front of the hall, looming over everyone, and over her. It still felt wrong to imagine sitting in it; to imagine anyone other than Malgora ruling from it. She must fight for it though. She trusted no one else. What new barrier lay in her way now, she wondered.

Once the din of voices quieted down, Varrhag spoke again, in a commanding flat voice, "This meeting of chiefs has been called by High-Chieftain Zurgana, contender for the Goathorn chair."

Zurgana and her female Rechlinger leader, Wulva, stood opposite to Gorlana, on the other side of the floor. All the chieftains who were able to attend were there, lining the benches around them, more or less divided by allegiances. Zurgana's and Iringoll's allies behind each of them. Faringoll's allies who were already present occupied their own section though she herself would not arrive today. The seven Orthanhall High-Chieftains were supposed to remain un-allied, and so stood on the ground level wherever they chose. They had the most say in the moot, but not the only say. They would each cast three stones in their vote after the moot in whatever way they chose. The other high-chieftains would cast two, and the lower chieftains one. Each presumably for their long-chosen ally, though last minute changes of heart were expected and common, and in fact were the point of the moot in the first place. After it all, whoever carried the most weight, would be their queen.

This was not the moot though. Not quite, not without Faringoll there, though it almost had the feel. A meeting of chiefs was common enough during the time leading up to the moot, but this close, and for reasons kept mostly secret, it was enough to put Gorlana on edge.

"Are all chieftains who intend to stand, save those who still travel, here and accounted for? Or do we wait?"

Gorlana, Iringoll and Zurgana all gave words of confirmation.

The chieftain at the front of Faringoll's contingent, however, added, " We are all present. In fact we even have the High Chieftain of Southern Orthalia adding his presence besides."

Gorlana sighed. Not only did her chieftains stand behind her, but Roderick, still tied and blinded, stood in the back corner behind them. She was more than irritated at the chieftains' insistence that he be brought here. Carthala and Torvrul had reassured her it would bolster her standing, to eliminate any lingering doubts from anyone, acting as a symbol of her strength of position. She supposed it was true, but she still hated it.

"He is no High-Chieftain! He does not deserve to touch these stones with his feet!" Zurgana yelled in offence.

A Rechlinger from behind her added, "His head should be on a spike at the gates!"

"Faringoll would treat him justly, and recognize the southerners' right to choose their leader!" One of Faringoll's chiefs shouted back. "If he shows honour, then who are you to say?"

Yells and grunts of differing opinions erupted from all around.

"His weak human filth has no place here!"

"How should he be any less honoured than these Rechlinger dogs?"

"He is neither! He is but an Andralian captive and a valuable tool!"

"We do not hold chieftains as lowly captives! What crime has he done?"

"He slaughtered thousands!"

"In war! In battles WE waged!"

"This is Orthalia!"

"ENOUGH!" Varrhag roared. "I call the hall to silence!"

The voices lowered but not entirely.

"Silence I said!" He shouted again, and finally they quieted completely. "He is not the reason we gather today. Zurgana, you will now tell us exactly why we are here," he commanded. "Say your piece and be done with it."

Zurgana stepped forward with her chin high. "As I have said, it is not I, but my honoured ally Wulva who requires an audience to hear her words."

Zurgana looked to her side, and Wulva stepped forward, shorter and browner of skin like the other Rechlingers, she had a thick high-riding knotted crown of hair with bones of some sort tied in here and there. Her hard, vicious, but well-defined face looked around the room intently, with excited eyes under thick eyebrows. A smirk spread between thinner but longer tusks. Zurgana glanced at Varrhag who nodded almost reluctantly, then she nodded to Wulva.

The Rechlinger woman took another step forward and spoke. "I come here today to reclaim what has been stolen from me. And to kill the thief."

Gorlana frowned, and flexed her muscles in a sudden new concern. A mutter of words started to grow among the crowd, but Wulva spoke loudly over top.

"Gorlana!" her voice crackled with hatred as she suddenly turned to her. "You have stolen my mate."

Gorlana's ears pinned back and she took a step forward in a defensive fury, then spun her head to Traulch, who was inexplicably stoic, holding his head up in a scowl and crossing his arms.

"What are you talking about?!" Gorlana shouted, grim realization of the situation and all its implications starting to coalesce in her mind.

"Traulch. He is my mate. Unrutted as of yet, but that will change soon enough I expect, once I display my strength by killing you. Your brief seduction and coercion of his forces may have been a fun little distraction for him for a while, but his true lover will take him back now. And you will die for your foolish dishonour."

"I knew NOTHING of this!" she turned in rage to Traulch, "You said NOTHING of her."

Traulch continued to cross his arms and not meet her eyes, finally muttering, "You knew I had a lover in another clan."

"But not the..." she hissed, clenching her fists, then turning back to Wulva, "HE dishonours you. Take out your offence on him."

Wulva shrugged, "He chose to send me on a chase, making me work to win him, as I might have expected. Our honour will be all the greater, once I do, by killing this unworthy tainted mutt he has amused himself with."

"He has chosen ME as his mate!" Gorlana insisted.

"Oh? Even if your muddled stink has managed to drain his cock every night since he left our lands, I have certainly still spilled more of his seed than you. A few months compared to years of repeated, steadily more frequent matings, each more fierce than the last, that were to culminate in the final joining of the east and west Rechlingers. A glorious destiny that will now finally happen, once I kill you and take his seed in front of all, as the true mate he knows he deserves."

Traulch exhaled and gritted his fangs, and not in disapproval. He said nothing, but was already reeking of mating scent. Gorlana scoffed in disgust. She knew the east and west might have joined to pose a threat to the rest of Orthalia, but she had not known why. Her heart sank as she realized what Wulva was about to do.

The Rechlinger woman stepped forward, her nose twitching confidently as she stared down Traulch, then looked to Gorlana, "I challenge you, Gorlana, to Talbidagar!"

Growls and concerned mutterings erupted in a din throughout the hall. Iringoll swore. Zurgana stood with her arms crossed, unmoving, similar to Traulch.

Varrhag stepped forward with a stern, troubled look on his face. "We have no grounds on which to prevent you from making such a challenge, if this is true," he said, as much to her as everyone else, "What would be the prize?"

"Simply the Rechlinger man, and nothing else surely. That is all this is about," Iringoll blurted out urgently.

Gorlana spat, "Take him then. Take the liar back, I will not stop you."

"And give up his clans to me then?" Zurgana said with a smile.

Gorlana hesitated, knowing the shift in power this would cause.

Wulva didn't let her consider it long, "No. That is not good enough. I will not let you run cravenly from your actions in such a way. You will die, as an inferior mate-thief and I challenge you in a TRUE Talbidagar. You tried to take everything from me - my lover, my honour, a united Rechlinger clandom - so I will take everything from you. Your united clans, as well as Traulch, and your life!"

"This is ridiculous!" Iringoll shouted, along with several others of the chiefs.

Zurgana's pompous smirk had faded and she stood more uncomfortably now.

"As the one dishonoured in such a dispute, I have a RIGHT to set the terms!" Wulva insisted.

Gorlana knew she was right. By the honour codes, Wulva was right. She and Traulch both must have known. Had they planned it from the start? Had she really been the one used all this time? By these ignorant fools? Or, had they simply stumbled into the opportunity.

Gorlana turned to Traulch, putting on her most authoritative tone, "Traulch, put a stop to this. Tell her to stand down!"

Traulch continued to stand with his arms crossed, and still unwilling to meet her eyes. The rest started to look at him and he glanced around, seeming to realize he needed to respond.

He finally spoke, "I will honour the duel."

Gorlana scoffed in frustration. Iringoll spat. The rest of the crowd continued to talk in either rising excitement or concern.

Iringoll shouted, "I require a private counsel with my cousins! Halt these proceedings at once."

"I am not leaving this room with this bitch still alive and breathing!" Wulva bellowed, stepping forward threateningly.

Varrhag broke his stoic stance to step forward in sudden concern. "Honour! Abide by the sanctity of this hall!" he said sternly, Wulva nodded in respect and relaxed somewhat, but crossed her arms. He turned to Iringoll, "You may speak what you need to among yourselves, here and now. We will wait."

Iringoll looked irritated, but accepted it. "Zurgana. Come here," she demanded, very much like an older cousin chastising a younger. Zurgana resisted the implication by standing tall but she did as Iringoll said regardless.

The three of them stood off to the side, talking low, but still likely audible to those nearest to them.

"Zurgana, you knew of this?" Gorlana accused her before Iringoll could.

"I would ask you how you didn't?" Zurgana replied derisively. "This is your fault as much as mine."

"You fucking fools," Iringoll said. "Zurgana she would win not just the Rechlingers but Gorlana's entire force. Don't you see it? Why would she continue to answer to you then?"

Zurgana gulped and tried to stifle her nervousness but persisted, "I will treat honourably with her, just as I have until now. Our alliance will rule. We will lead Orthalia with the blunt Rechlinger strength this country needs right now."

Gorlana wanted to strangle her, and found herself too furious for words for a moment.

Iringoll seethed and spoke grimly, "Your life will be in danger as well. YOU will be what stands between Wulva and the throne. If they are treacherous enough to do this why would you think they would continue to honour whatever oaths she spoke to you, and keep your authority?"

Zurgana seemed to understand, with a more concerned look on her face, but resisted stubbornly, "There's nothing to be done about it now. It's the risk I will take."

Iringoll sighed roughly and opened her mouth, trying to suggest a response.

Gorlana finally spoke instead. "I will fight her."

"No! Gorlana don't you put us all at risk like this. Do not gamble our country on your life."

"She has no other choice that would not ruin her honour," Zurgana said in satisfaction.

"I'll just kill her now. It's the simplest solution. I don't think I'm going to avoid it for long even if I do find a way out of this hall without a fight today, and I don't think that's likely. I might as well get it over with," Gorlana said, feeling more determined.

"No. We could..." Iringoll hesitated in mad frustration, then sighed, muttering a curse again.

Zurgana nodded with a smirk and stepped back. Gorlana did as well. She knew if they tried to stop this, for right or wrong, then many more than two orc's blood would be spilled in the hall today. Orc's who were not to blame for this quagmire. She would not make others pay for her mistake. She turned to stare back at Wulva.

"I accept your challenge. I accept your request to die by combat in Talbidagar!" Gorlana announced, standing tall and facing her.

Wulva only smirked and nodded. The orcs in the hall erupted in growls and stomping in a storm of excitement.

"We must debate the terms!" Iringoll shouted desperately.

"I have stated the terms!" Wulva snarled back. "Everything! Her lands, her clans, her undeserved lover. I will take ALL! True to any full Talbidagar challenge. As true Orthalians have honoured for generations."

Grumblings and mutterings, mostly of begrudging agreement sounded around them.

"This is treachery!" Iringoll said.

"You consider our honour codes treachery?!" Zurgana argued.

Varrhag spoke over the rising tide of voices, "You know what the answer is Iringoll. Whether you, or I, or anyone here feel threatened by the outcome does not make it dishonourable. She is right."

Suddenly Roderick's voice was heard overtop of the echoing voices, "You FOOLS! Stubborn damned to the Gods FOOLS! You would put the whole moot and your whole country at risk to these cretins just because you won't bend from your honour codes? You would follow them blindly to your doom? I know they haven't always been the same so use your heads and CHANGE them!-"

A hand struck his face hard and he groaned, then a cloth was wadded into his bleeding mouth.

"Does he suffer no more punishment than that for his insolence? Beat him!"

"He speaks truth! At a full moot, questions of honour codes may be brought forth."

"He himself has only gained what he has through Talbidagar, who is he to argue against it now?!"

"He won them with more than that!"

"He won nothing! He is a foreign occupier!"

"He is right! We should put this off until Faringoll arrives and a full moot is called. Too much is at stake!"

"I will not leave without her blood on my sword!" Wulva roared.

"You will abide by the consensus of this hall!" Iringoll shouted back.

Wulva lurched forward. To her credit, Zurgana held her back. Gorlana couldn't help stepping towards Wulva in confrontation and Iringoll and Varrhag both stepped between. The Rechlingers behind Wulva started to push forwards and the entire hall looked dangerously close to a bloody brawl.

"I said I accept your challenge!" Gorlana bellowed again, feeling more sure in her furious mind.

"I accept your challenge, of true Talbidagar, winning all that the other has," Gorlana said confidently. "As long as you also understand and proclaim that if I win I will hold dominion over your chiefs, your troops and your lands."

Wulva snarled, "Yes! I will not shirk from this. It will not matter when your impure blood has soaked the stones and your life drained with it!"

"Let us put an end to this then!" Gorlana commanded.

"Gorlana..." Iringoll said with air of a desperate dire warning.

She spoke more softly next to her, "It's the only real way out of this. I'm sorry, Iringoll." Then she backed up to the edge of the hall and began to prepare.

Wulva continued on her insistence that they not leave the hall until she had her 'justice'. A duel of Talbidagar had happened in Orthanhall enough times for it not to be anathema, and many insisted it was as it should be. Weapons were brought out, the floor cleared and a drum brought in to herald the match.

As Gorlana tightened her armour she heard Roderick struggling and groaning muffled shouts against his now-gagged mouth. He could only hear and smell what was happening. Her heart twisted, hearing him struggling in rage. Fear, concern... for her, she knew. She took a breath and tried to make the sounds and smell of him simply mix in with the rest of the restless crowd. How much easier might this be if he weren't here.