But there were other human females here, bustling around the village, not acting like sacrificesorslaves. Were they the honored Mates the Stormseeker had claimed?
When he ducked into the cottage, following his wife, I hesitated in the open doorway. Had I been forgotten?
“Chief!”
A human male had been bending over the fire in the hearth and now straightened with a welcoming smile.
“We’d hoped ye’d make it back today.”
The female crossed to the human—she was taller than him by almost a head—and lowered her lips to his.
“My brother has managed to get himself injured. Will ye?—”
“Aye, of course!”
The man burst into action, darting around the room, gathering supplies as the female—the Stormseeker’s sister, not wife?—waved him toward a stool by the window.
“I prepared my medicines, just in case, although I’d hoped we’d not need them.”
This last was directed to the female, who shook her head with an amused smile. “Maardok tells me ourD’malkwas the only one to find himself with a serious injury.”
“‘Tis no’ that serious,” the Stormseeker mumbled, lowering himself with a sigh. Only then did he flick his fingers toward the door, towardme.
“This is Rowena. She came home with us.”
Obviously.
As his sister and her human Mate turned to me, I straightened, glaring at all three of them. I saw the Stormseeker’s lips twitch.
“She’s the one who gave me this paltry cut.”
“Paltry—” I began but was interrupted by the smirking female.
“I’m Issa,” she announced, coming toward me with her arm extended.
“And this is my Mate Matthias, our village’s healer. Ye must be hungry. Come in.”
Confused at the welcome, I found myself seated at a comfortable little table, enjoying a pottage made with real meat as I watched Matthias sew up the Stormseeker’s shoulder. While the male—how did a human become a healer in an orcish village?—focused on the poultice and medicines, the siblings discussed the planned celebration for the evening.
And I plotted my escape.
Before long, exhaustion took over, and I rested my head on the table. Only vaguely, I heard someone murmur.
“She didnae sleep much last night. Can I leave her here?”
An equally soft response before strong arms lifted me.
I hadn’t been carried thus since I was a little girl and my father tucked me into bed, and the instinct to nuzzle trustingly against a strong male chest wasn’t completely gone. However, before I could do more than inhale, I was being placed gently on a comfortable bed, and I decided the escape plans could wait.
The terror of the day and night must have been overwhelming, because I slept until the sun was low in the sky. I awoke to the sounds of revelry and found myself alone. Curious, I slipped out of the cottage.
The center of the village was clearly the small island on the loch, accessible via the long wooden walkways, and now it seemed as if everyone was gathered there around a huge bonfire.
It would be the right time to turn and sneak into the night…so why did my steps take meacrossthe walkway? I was curious about these strange beasts, aye, and I knew I was on an island in another world.
I needed information if I was to escape.
Which is how I found myself on the outskirts of the celebration. Music came from drums and flutes, huge males danced with humanandorcish females, and voices were raised in song, laughter, and praise.
