Next time we were near the road, I needed to make a run for it.
As the sun went down,we weren't making camp. I caught up to Gnarlak where he was tucking lichen into a wide pouch, and caught my breath. "Are we not stopping?"
"We are almost to the stones." His arms swung a little freer. "We will rest on orc land."
My stomach tightened. "But I thought we were still days from your people."
"We are. But there is a resting place.” He smiled at me. “You will see it soon.”
The moon had risen when we reached a circle of standing stones. The orcs’ spirits had been high, but as we approached the clearing, some thirty feet across, all of them hushed, like they were waiting for something. Khal found my side.
“Rowena,” he said. “I’ll need you to stay close to me, so we can go through.”
“Go through?” My pulse was speeding, and it was disorienting not to know why.
His eyes were slightly avoiding mine, like something was wrong, kept looking at my hands instead. “The stones don’t know you. We will change that at the Kael. For now…”
“Khal? Why are you nervous?”
He looked up. “There is some danger. But…I need to ask your leave.”
“To what?”
He hesitated. “If I could…carry you over…”
I put my hand on his.
He nodded, and scooped me up into his arms.
This was far from the most intimate thing we had done. And it was silly to feel self-conscious about it. Especially when I didn’t know what the rest of this night would bring. But as my arms automatically clung around his neck, I felt as much as saw the heat flush down his throat. The way our bodies came in contact with each other felt agonizingly new.
The orcs were walking around the stones. Was there a pattern? Each reached out and touched the rock, with a reverence I didn’t recognize. Khal seemed to be keeping me from touching the stone. He leaned as we passed each waystone, and touched it with his forehead. I heard him whispering, muttering. Was it Orcish? Would I know?
The air was warmer here, which didn’t make sense; the breeze had been so chill. We kept moving. Khal’s eyes were closed, as if he knew the way well. Fear gripped me, suddenly, and I clung tighter to his neck as some energy buzzed across my skin, the colors of the world sharpening, the heat coming off of bodies. A sudden shock of glowing runes burst across the obelisks, gilding everything in light. I squeezed my eyes closed, clawing myself closer to him. I couldn’t breathe. The air wasalive, it was wet, trying to pour into my throat, and I was going to-
“Rowena. Rowena!” Khal’s voice boomed over me. There was stone against my shoulder, cool under my cheek.
“That’s a reaction I haven’t seen before.” Somewhere, Gnarlak rumbled.
“Her blood is magic. I should have thought that maybe magic would affect it.” Khal sounded frantic.
He was breathing. I should be able to breathe. I made myself force an inhale, and the air wasn’t snakes in my throat anymore, only moist air. Why?
“She’ll live.” Vrathgar’s voice was contemptuous. “They always live.”
I opened my eyes.
We weren’t in the clearing. We were in some kind of cave, the rock carved smooth. And I knew it was smooth, because every facet of the rock glimmered slick with magic in colors that shouldn’t exist, my head pounding as I picked up every wave and ripple of heat in the air as the orcs’ bodies moved and shifted, bodyheat holding in the armor pieces they pulled off, on straps of bags, leaving hazy wakes in the air. Nausea overwhelmed me, and I pressed myself into the ground again.
Khal spoke again, commanding. “Someone light a lamp.”
A flint struck and flared, and I opened my eyes again.
A regular cave, lit dim and golden by a burning rag wick. I could see hazy doorways beyond, some with doors carved in a dark wood I didn’t recognize, some with pieces of doors, hide hung in curtains over the gaps. Some with only curtains. This place was the size of a long dining hall. Patterns curved up the walls, like leaves and vines. “Where are we?” I croaked.
“We’re in a resting place.” Khal helped me up to sit.
“It’s magic,” I croaked.
