Well, that wasn’t true. Brumis was totally kicking her ass. But she couldn’t back down now, not with everyone watching, and not when she’d started this whole thing.
Audrey knew it was nearly impossible for a human to take down an orc in battle, even if the orc was female. But she tried anyway, because she’d come this far and stopping now would be worse than losing.
The fight continued. The crowd grew larger.
Audrey managed to cut Brumis when she saw an opening and took it. Her dagger sliced across the female orc’s thigh. But Brumis cut her back almost immediately, her blade slashing across Audrey’s ribs. Audrey hissed in pain, her body jerking away.
She was bleeding from various places. A cut on her cheek stung, and another on her leg made her limp slightly. But she kept going, because stopping meant admitting defeat. She wouldn’t stop, wouldn’t give up, even though her breathing had become heavier and her reactions were getting slower. Her muscles burned with exhaustion and sweat dripped into her eyes.
Varka the Keen stepped between them with her hands held up.
“Stop! This is enough.” She turned to Hokran the Distant: “Take the captain’s mate to his hut.”
“It’s not over!” Audrey shouted, trying to shove past Varka. “We can keep going!”
But Hokran was already there, scooping her off the ground before she could get around Varka. He carried her with no effort at all and started walking toward the woods, his long strides covering the ground fast.
Audrey punched his chest, but he didn’t react.
“Let me go. I didn’t give you permission.”
She might as well have been hitting a wall. The adrenaline was fading, and the pain was catching up with her. Her vision blurred at the edges, her arms grew heavy, and she finally stopped fighting and went limp against the raider’s shoulder.
The hut was clean when they arrived, no evidence of the potion incident anywhere. Morgath turned from his worktable and froze when he saw her.
“What happened?”
Hokran laid Audrey down on a table.
“She sparred with Brumis,” he said. “Brumis is hurt too, but not as badly.”
“Damn right! I got her good,” Audrey said, though the words came out slurred and the ceiling was spinning above her.
Morgath sent Hokran away with a sharp wave of his hand.
“Tell Brumis I will have a word with her later.”
The coldness in his voice made Audrey glad she wasn’t Brumis.
He gathered cloths, water, and bottles of potions, then started cleaning her wounds. He worked carefully, wiping away the blood to see how deep the cuts went before applying salves and bandaging them.
“Why did you do this?” he asked through his teeth.
“Because she’s a bitch,” Audrey said. “And I’m not useless. I wanted to show her that.”
“You are not useless. You are my mate, and you don’t need to prove yourself to anyone. I’m going to punish her for this.”
“No. Don’t.”
“I am the captain. I discipline my horde as I see fit.”
“Not this time.” Audrey held his gaze. “If you punish her for fighting me, you prove her point. She’ll think I ran to you for protection. Please.”
He clenched his jaw and looked away. It cost him something, but he said, “Fine. I will only talk to her. Nothing more.”
He held a cup of water to her lips, and Audrey drank slowly, the coolness clearing her head a little. Color crept back into her face and her vision steadied, though her whole body throbbed.
When she looked less like she was about to pass out, Morgath’s expression shifted. The tension around his mouth loosened, and something warm replaced it. He grinned at her.
