But then he cleared his throat again, and spun and stalked away, toward the washbasin. Grasping for one of the nearby washcloths as he leaned over it, and frowned mightily at his reflection in the tiny looking-glass.
“You do not mind if I wash, ach?” he said. “Or shave?”
Geva’s stilted thoughts had still been trapped on the coin, on thegood performance— but she waved away his question, and blankly watched as he dunked the washcloth, and began washing himself. An activity that she hadn’t seen him do before, and it felt strangely, unexpectedly intimate to be standing here witnessing it, watching him clean his face and neck and ears, giving particular care to his ears’ elegant pointed tips. And then moving down to his hairy underarms, and then — Geva was blatantly staring now, but he didn’t seem to notice — again shoving down his trousers, so he could scrub his groin. Lifting and manipulating himself with careless, purposeful ease, scrubbing up and down and even deep behind, until he seemed satisfied.
“Will you find my shaving-blade?” he asked absently, now running both wet soapy hands against his face, which did seem to have more stubble than the night before. “And my comb?”
Geva nodded and went to dig in the pack, where she found a human-made razor, and his comb. And though Rathgarr accepted the razor with a grunt, he gave the comb a sidelong glance, and then casually nudged it back toward her again.
Oh. He meant… he wanted her to tend to his hair. He’d…likedthat. And perhaps that wasn’t actually a surprise after yesterday, but something still flipped in Geva’s belly as she eased around behind him, drew back all his thick black hair, and carefully began drawing the comb through it.
Rathgarr hadn’t even slightly acknowledged this, his eyes now fixed to the looking-glass, his hand scraping the blade down his jaw in smooth, swift strokes. But there was again something almost like…trustin it, and Geva didn’t miss Rathgarr’s head tilting a little backwards as she worked, his breath exhaling in a slow sigh.
“One thing I shall be glad of, when we reach Orc Mountain,” he said, now scraping the blade up his bared neck, “is their tools. I shall welcome a proper shaving-blade, and shears, also. Mayhap” — his eyes met Geva’s in the looking-glass — “you shall even trim my hair for me there?Ifyou swear not to saw it all off in a fit of pique?”
Geva’s mouth twitched up before she could help it — he would really trust her to do that? — and she gave his hair a light little tug with her comb. “You would deserve it,” she said primly. “Having the world’s most horrifying haircut would do wonders for your unbridled vanity.”
Rathgarr’s flash of a grin in the glass was surprisingly stunning, and far too devious, too. “You ken what shall be even better for my vanity,” he said slyly. “My scent. Up your —”
Geva yanked the comb again, eliciting a deeply satisfying yelp from his throat — and she felt herself laugh, without at all meaning to. “Maybe I’ll consider it,” she said, “ifyou behave yourself today. Though knowing you, my expectations areverylow.”
Rathgarr snorted, though his mouth was still curving up. “Ach, I can behave for you, my prickly schoolmarm,” he drawled. “You shall see.”
And to Geva’s genuine surprise, it turned out that Rathgarr was indeed on his best behaviour for the rest of the day. Not only continuing to play along with her loved-up charade for the passersby, but also carrying on an unprecedented amount of steady conversation between them.
It was the first time they’d managed to maintain a full discussion like this, and it occurred to Geva that it was greatly helped by a concerted avoidance of personal topics. No more questions about his brother, or his past, or even — despite Geva’s temptation to ask — Orc Mountain. And instead, they talked about lords and politics, about the latest news from the capital, about the realm’s ongoing grain shortage. And then, to Geva’s surprise, even about the state of orcs’ acceptance throughout the realm, and what the recent peace treaty had — or hadn’t — changed.
“Even three summers past, I could not walk in the open thus without risking attack,” Rathgarr told her, with a wave at the road ahead. “Now, as you have seen, the humans mostly only snipe and mutter, thanks to the threat of redress from their own lords. But this does not yet mean orcs are welcome or safe, ach? We must be always on our guard.”
Geva nodded as she considered that, her eyes on a cluster of passing, whispering young men. “But at least itisslowly improving, then?” she asked. “And honestly, it seems remarkable that the treaty has remained in place for this long, and is still endorsed by the realm’s lords and Council. Who, from all I’ve seen, are a pack of greedy backstabbing snakes. Atbest.”
“Ach, the lords would be Captain Grimarr’s doing,” Rathgarr replied, with a grimace. “Trapping all those fools in his thrall is theonecredit I shall grant him, ach? And mayhap” — he grimaced again — “the pamphlets, also.”
The pamphlets? Geva opened her mouth to ask, but Rathgarr was already reaching around to pull something from his pack. It was a tightly folded piece of paper, and when she opened it, she felt her brows rising, her mouth pulling up.
ORCS ARE FRIENDLIER THAN YOU THINK,it read in large block letters, with a slightly alarming illustration of a broadly grinning orc.If you’re ever in need of a strong helping hand, just ask!
“The orcs are…distributingthese?” Geva asked, her voice high-pitched. “And surely this isn’t… is this aninnuendo?”
Rathgarr harrumphed as he plucked the paper out of her hand, and stuffed it back into his pack. “It hinges upon the mind of who reads it,” he said dryly. “I have indeed spent fewer nights alone from this, but not a week passes without a sweaty human waving a shovel or a pickaxe at me.”
Geva couldn’t help a bright burst of laughter, despite the alarming twist in her belly at the thought of Rathgarr being propositioned for ahelping hand— and worse still,acceptingit. “And do you actually help them?” she asked. “I mean, digging holes in people’s gardens, and the like?”
“Ach, no,” Rathgarr replied, his lip curling. “This should soil all my garb for the day, you ken? But” — he sighed — “if I can, I send them to one who will. Some orcs have now built whole trades, thanks to this.”
Geva laughed again, though she felt her head tilting, her eyes searching his profile. “And you said that Captain Grimarr is behind this?” she asked. “The orc you said was cruel and ruthless and single-minded? The one who sent Killik and Ulfarr to spy on you?”
It didn’t seem to add up, but Rathgarr nodded, scowling at the road ahead. “Ach, him,” he said flatly. “I said, I give him his due for the pamphlets. But he is yet a cold, selfish orc, who sets himself above the rest of his kin, and pretends he is king of our kind. And gives not athoughtfor the many,manyorcs who yet live and work outside that mountain!”
Huh. “So how doyouknow all this, then?” Geva asked carefully. “If you haven’t actually stepped foot in Orc Mountain in sixteen years?”
Rathgarr gave a jerky shrug, and shot her a dark, baleful look. “I have my ways, woman,” he said. “You ken I am too witless to learn news of my own kind? Or” — his frown deepened — “you do not believe what I tell you as truth?!”
Gods, just when they’d been getting on so well, and Geva rolled her eyes at him, even as she gave his arm a tight little shake. “I believe you, Rathgarr,” she said firmly. “I’m fully on your side, all right? I just want to learn as much as I can, so I can do the best possible job for you. Earn all my coins, remember?”
The steadily rising tension in Rathgarr’s body abruptly seemed to soften again, and his glance toward her was almost resigned this time. “There are… places,” he said, with a sigh. “Places where orcs can meet and share news, oft in secret, where names are not needed. In truth, the inn I wish to visit tonight” — he nodded at the road up ahead — “is one of these.”
Oh. Geva glanced up at the gradually darkening sky — how had an entire day passed so quickly? — and felt herself smiling up at him, and squeezing his arm. “Of course,” she said. “I’m looking forward to it.”
