“How — how did you do this?” Raye asked him, too sharp. “And when? And… why?”
She was suddenly, acutely aware of all the eyes watching them, Kalfr and Svein included — and surely Gaelfr was well aware of them too, his eyes set, his jaw tight. “I only wishedto grant you — a gift,sæta,” he replied. “A mating-gift, as any good Bautul ought to do. And when we were at the mountain, and I saw how pleased you were by the loom and yarn there, I thought…”
His voice faded, his shoulder shrugging, his body shifting on his feet. “And I did not weaken or betray us, in this,” he added, flatter. “Those Ka-esh dug in from below, up through Svein’s tunnel, to keep this hidden from those foul men yet watching. I am glad they caught no trace of this.”
Raye managed a nod, even as she kept searching Gaelfr’s face, pulling the threads together. So he’d really arranged this back when they’d been at the mountain, then? And when he’d made her that offer about Kalfr, that bribe… had he planned for that in advance, too? Had he wanted some kind of leverage over her, ready and waiting for whenever he needed it? And now — now he was claiming it was a mating-gift, when they both knew he’d meant it as a bribe? Was he… was he lying about the mating-gift for Kalfr’s sake? Why?
The old familiar doubt had begun nagging through Raye’s thoughts again, seething with all its familiar miserable truths. She still couldn’t trust him. She couldn’t trust them. And she was still walking straight toward having another son with them, and they would all keep lying to each other forever, with no way out. Unless Sybil showed up and killed them all first, six days…
“That’s nice, Mama, isn’t it?” broke in a voice — Svein, watching them far too closely from the table. “Aren’t you going to say thank you to Papa Gaelfr?”
Right. Raye winced and nodded, because yes, objectively, this was still an extremely generous gift. Gaelfr had remembered how she hadn’t wanted to leave her loom and her weaving goods behind, and whatever his motive, he’d still gone and arranged for this. A project that must have taken an enormous amount of time and expense, between the tunnel-digging, the transporting,disassembling her loom, and keeping it all hidden from the men who were apparently still watching her cottage. And here Raye was, standing here silent and frowning, as if Gaelfr had just granted her an unforgivable insult.
“Yes, of course,” Raye belatedly replied, drawing what she hoped was a sincere smile to her mouth. “I’m just — in shock, I think. Thank you, Gael.”
Gaelfr didn’t look convinced, his mouth gone tight and thin, and… hurt. Disappointed. As if he’d hoped for something more from this, as if he’d really wanted to please her. Paying for this, arranging for all this, keeping it a surprise all this time.
It stuttered in Raye’s chest, and she lurched toward him, and hurled her arms around his stiff waist. “Thank you, Gael,” she said again, a little choked this time. “This was — so thoughtful of you. So generous. You’re going to impoverish yourself, spoiling me like this.”
Gaelfr’s body instantly softened beneath her embrace, and his arms curved around her too, one hand petting lightly against her hair. “Ach, it was naught,” he murmured. “Only a trifle.”
But that was a lie too, because Raye could feel the way his breath shuddered out, his voice catching in his chest. This truly meant something to him. He’d truly wanted to please her, even if he’d still been meaning to bribe her, too. And gods, why was it such a mess, the hope tangled so tight with the darkness, with the doubt, the grief.
After supper, Gaelfr and Kalfr both helped Raye reassemble the loom, together with an enthusiastic Svein and his friends. And seeing her old loom take shape here in the loft before them was another joy, another glimmer of light, of hope. Because not only did it give her more choices and freedom with her weaving, but it was yet another promise of the future, wasn’t it? A promise of staying here, making a life together here, beyond the next six days.
“Did you… know Gaelfr was planning this?” Raye asked Kalfr once the loom was finished, and Gaelfr and Olarr had taken the children downstairs to start getting ready for bed. “Did you know he arranged to dig that tunnel at my cottage, and bring all this here?”
Kalfr nodded, and flashed her a wry smile. “Ach, I did,” he said. “Gael and I have known each other for too long, ach? He cannot keep secrets from me.”
He spoke a little too lightly, enough that Raye shot him a searching look. Did he suspect that Gaelfr had been lying about the mating-gift, then? How many of Gaelfr’s lies did he know about?
But Kalfr’s smile still looked genuine, his eyes flickering appreciatively back toward the finished loom. “Though I must confess,” he continued, “I never once dreamt Gael would take such joy in tending you, and fussing over you, and granting you costly gifts, as he does.”
Raye’s face prickled with heat, because Gaelfr still didn’t really feel that way, did he? He was just doing all this for Kalfr, too, wasn’t he? Maybe because he knew Kalfr would like it, and approve?
“Um, me neither,” she replied, a beat too late. “He’s just been — so kind. So generous.”
Her voice sounded hoarse, and Kalfr smiled again, this time with just a trace of coolness in his eyes. “I am glad to hear this,” he said. “Mayhap tonight, then, you shall offer him your thanks with me?”
Raye’s breath caught, her eyes searching his face, because this was without question one of Kalfr’s challenges. His tests. And was it just about the pleasure, about his power in it? Or was he doubting Raye’s attachment to Gaelfr? Had she somehow betrayed what Gaelfr’s original purpose with the loom had been?
But whatever it was, there was no reason to refuse, since this was sure to be the best kind of test, one they would all thoroughly enjoy — and Raye’s answering smile toward Kalfr felt warm, even eager. A feeling that only increased once they’d put Svein to bed together, and returned upstairs to find the fire crackling low in the grate, and Othan playing a smooth, rolling drumbeat. Many of the band’s orcs were already scattered around the room, enjoying each other — Eyolf and Iyolf were tangled together by the fire, Soren had William on his knees in a corner, and Olarr and Aulis — who Raye had quickly learned were very open about their pleasure together — were currently slotting themselves together, Aulis’ muscled body arching as he slowly sank onto Olarr’s lap.
But Raye scarcely spared any of them a glance, because Kalfr was leading her and Gaelfr toward their familiar place on the sofa, before the crackling fire. Though this time, instead of drawing Raye down to sit with them, Kalfr motioned for her to stay standing, while he and Gaelfr sank down together.
“Tonight, Gael,” Kalfr murmured, as he leaned back on the sofa, and lazily stretched his arm around Gaelfr’s shoulder, “I wish our mate to thank you, for your great gifts to her today. You shall welcome this, shall you not?”
Gaelfr’s eyes sparked with interest as he nodded, sinking back into Kalfr’s embrace. To which Kalfr gave a satisfied smile, and waved Raye closer. “So first, you will bare yourself for myástvinur,” he told her. “Show him what is ours.”
Show him. And instead of feeling nervous, or embarrassed, as she surely once would have, Raye’s eagerness stuttered higher, and her tingly hands unbelted her dress, and slipped it off her shoulders. Beneath it, she was wearing a lacy green chemise, which both Kalfr and Gaelfr eyed with palpable appreciation — so she ran her hands over the smooth silk,feeling her curves beneath it, before she pulled it off too, leaving herself completely bared before them.
Kalfr’s lashes lowered with approval, Gaelfr’s tongue brushing his lips as he stared, and Raye fought to keep her focus on them, and not on the eyes of the orcs who were surely now watching this, too. She was proving this, drawing up her own power, and she stroked both hands over her bare rounded breasts, her softened belly, the fullness of her thighs.
“Good, Raye,” Kalfr murmured, as his hand slid over to Gaelfr’s tented trousers, squeezing with familiar approval at the straining ridge beneath. “Now come, and kneel upon myástvinur, and tend him as he deserves.”
It thrilled more hunger to Raye’s belly, even as her eyes snapped to Gaelfr’s face, searching for any hint of reluctance or hesitation. Because in almost everything they’d done so far, he’d been in charge, throwing out orders and demands, expecting her to obey. And would he really welcome Kalfr’s offer of beingtended? By her?
But Gaelfr certainly wasn’t refusing, his eyes glittering with both curiosity and appreciation as his trousers swelled fuller beneath Kalfr’s deft stroking hand. And when Kalfr coolly raised a brow toward Raye, it was another reminder of the test, the challenge — and with a nod, she jerked forward, and clambered her naked body onto Gaelfr’s lap on the sofa. Straddling her legs wide over his powerful thighs, while her bare breasts jiggled far too close before his watching eyes.
