I think about the enclave's solidarity, Mara's cooking plans, Darius' envious blessing.
Tonight I'm going home to the woman I love.
I let myself into Lacy's building, climb the stairs two at a time. Her door's unlocked like she promised.
She's waiting on the couch, surrounded by testimony notes and empty tea mugs. Looks up when I enter, and her whole face changes.
"Hey," she says.
"Hey."
"How was the enclave?"
"Good. Really good, actually." I cross to her, settle onto the couch that groans under my weight. "We made plans. Demonstrations, visibility campaigns, showing the city what positive integration looks like."
"That's smart."
"It's survival." I pull her against my side, breathing in her scent. Books and jasmine soap and underneath, just Lacy. "But it's also true. We're not disruption. We're just here, living, same as everyone."
She's quiet against me for a moment. Then: "I'm scared about tomorrow."
"Me too."
"But I meant what I said. I'm not backing down. Not apologizing. Not pretending we're something shameful."
I kiss the top of her head. "I know. That's why I love you."
"Even if it costs us?"
"Especially then."
We sit in her small apartment, holding each other while the city breathes around us. Tomorrow we'll stand in front of council chambers and fight for the right to exist exactly like this. Tangled together, too big and too small, too different and too perfectly matched.
Tonight we're just here. Just us.
And that's enough.
The elder councilsummons me at dawn.
I receive the message while Lacy's still sleeping, her hand curled against my heat. The formal invitation arrives via Greth, who knocks precisely three times and waits in the hallway like he's delivering a subpoena.
"They want to see you before the hearing," he says when I open the door. "All seven of them."
My stomach drops. The elder council doesn't convene lightly. Seven orcs who've been here longest, fought hardest, survived when survival meant swallowing pride and rage and fear.
"What's this about?"
Greth's expression gives nothing. "They have concerns."
Right. Concerns. That word that means a hundred different things, none of them good.
I dress quietly, leaving a note for Lacy on the pillow.Called to enclave. Back soon. Love you.
The walk to the industrial quarter feels longer than usual. Morning light slants cold across empty streets. My breath fogs in front of me, disappearing like everything else I've tried to build here might disappear by nightfall.
The elder council meets in the oldest warehouse, where original ceiling beams still show scorch marks from the fire that nearly destroyed it twenty years back. They saved it. Rebuilt it with orc hands and human permits and sheer bloody-minded determination.
All seven sit in a semicircle. Greth takes his place among them. I stand in the center, feeling sixteen again and caught stealing sweets from the communal stores.
