Page 32 of The Orc Warrioress and the Elf Lord

“So, there has been no attempt, thus far, to shield the weak. Instead, the weak have been used against the strong to break us down,” said Iahir. “I don’t see why you wouldn’t realize that this is the same thing.”

“But they are monks!” she exclaimed. Of course, the orcs in the army had not grown up in Lothenhil, not as she had. This was her country, and the orcs and the elves worshiped the same pantheon, after all. It was not exactly the same religion, however, for they favored different gods.

The orcs worshiped Bracc, the god of warfare, and they believed Haem, goddess of the underworld, had a special affinity for them. In the south, the elves revered Ornhil, goddess of the dawn. In the north, the elves believed they were the favored ones of the goddess of the trees.

Certainly, in the stories, there was enmity between Bracc and Ornhil, who had jealousies that caused them to strike at each other and at the favored people of each of the gods. But even so, there should be a shared feeling of respect for the spaces of the religion, she thought.

In all truth, the orcs were likely more devout than the southern elves, many of whom thought the gods nothing more than a pretty set of stories for children, some embodiment of the natural world. Perhaps this was why they had killed these monks, burned this chapel? Was it to deride the elves’s lack of belief in the gods?

“You’re very distraught over this, warrioress,” said Iahir.

She turned to look at him. “Yes, and you’re not.”

“No, I am,” he said, peering down at one of the dead monks with a vague frown. “It’s quite unpleasant in here. Let us get out of this tower.” He moved quickly out of the room and hurried down the stairs, not waiting for her to follow.

She took one last look around the room before she did go after him.

Outside the tower, the elf woman had disappeared. She had a broken leg, so she couldn’t have gone on her own, but there was no sign of her, and Gathren was rather relieved not to be hearing the woman’s voice.

She half-heartedly suggested looking for her.

“Look for her where?” said Iahir, gesturing around.

The chapel was not right in the midst of Matlinrir, but rather on the city’s outskirts. There was nothing nearby, only trees and a rolling field and a cemetery tucked away beside the burning chapel. “Where could she have gone?”

Iahir gestured. “Well, my horse is gone.”

Gathren’s lips parted. “Oh.” She shook herself. “But the woman’s leg was broken. How did she get herself over and drag herself up onto your horse?”

“She was not really left that far from the horses,” said Iahir.

Gathren rubbed her forehead. “This is my fault. I’m the one who insisted we come here, and now we’ve lost time, and you could have conceivably been home by this evening, and instead, I have wasted us all this time and lost you your horse. I am ever so sorry, my lord.”

“No point in casting blame,” said Iahir. “I know of an inn north of Matlinrir where I can likely pay coin for use of another horse. If you do not mind letting me ride with you there?”

“Oh,” said Gathren, “both of us on the same horse. Again.” She remembered that before, how it had been rather uncomfortable, how they did not seem to fit, how he’d been holding the reins around her body.

“I’ll climb on behind you but let you have the reins this time,” he said. “That horse seems to respond to you.”

Gathren smiled at the horse, because she had grown rather fond of it already. “Yes, it’s a good horse.”

“It is but five miles,” he said. “We can be there in but an hour, I should think.”

“Oh, of course,” she said. “I could not abandon you here without a horse, could I?”

He regarded her. “It seems to be a day when your kind is slaughtering mine, so I’m not sure the niceties between our peoples are being followed right about now.”

“Yes, but I would never—”

“I know,” he said.

She bit down on her bottom lip. “I am sorry, you know. For my part in all of this?”

“I have played a part, too,” he said. “I am not sure how I feel about it.” He turned and began walking toward the horse. “When you say I am not distraught, it is likely because I am feeling guilty.”

She caught up to him. “Killing Findas didn’t cause this.”

“I think it did. If I had not done it, he could have issued a proclamation to send the armies out to meet the invaders.”