“Ow.”
When I snatched the flask from her with my left hand, she didn’t resist, and I took a big gulp to dull the pain.
“Dinnae do that again,” I rasped.
“It worked.”
She poked the wound, then reached for a packet at her belt.
“Do not be a babe.”
“I’m no’ being a bairn,” I grumbled, taking another healthy swig. “Ye surprised me.”
“Aye, well, I am a surprising sort of female.”
Staring straight ahead, not seeing my training warriors, I found myself smiling, despite the ache in my shoulder.
“Aye, that ye are.”
She was fussing.
“Since I was the one who laid you low, I have been tasked with saving your sorry arse. You are to eat a full meal and sleep in the bed tonight.”
“I gave it up for ye.”
“Do not be stupid, Vrogul. ‘Tis big enough.”
When she said my name, myKteercrowed, and wasn’tthatan interesting response?
“Why are you pushing yourself?” she suddenly asked. “Why are you not resting, celebrating your victory? Youwon.”
I thought of her home, of how her friends and family must be mourning their losses right now, and shifted on the log in discomfort.
“We cannae allow our guard to drop,” I finally admitted. “We have nae won, but just delayed disaster for a while.”
She began to spread the poultice on my shoulder, and her touch—or mayhap the herbs—cooled me.
“I do not understand.”
To distract myself from my body’s response to her nearness, even with the underlying pain, I shifted my gaze to my sparring warriors.
“We are a sept of the Battleborn clan on the mainland. They are large and powerful and…at times, corrupt. We owe our allegiance to the current laird, Callor, who is wily and ambitious.”
“Ambitious, how?”
How to explain?
“Orcs dinnae think about gold or wealth the way humans do. We share what we have?—”
“That is why you stole our cheese?”
My lips twitched.
“I stole those logs because Matthias introduced my sister to goat cheese and she hasnae shut up about it. Keeping her happy makes my life easier.”
When Rowena snorted softly in agreement, I remembered that she’d been spending much of her days with Issa.
“Callor doesnae yearn for wealth, Rowena, but power. He wants to control the clans around him the way he controls us.”
