Page 27

“Do you know your eyes seem to have turned green? I thought they were dark.”

“Sometimes that happens when an orc is gripped in a strong emotion.” I bent to kiss her again. “I cannae begin to explain how pleased I am ye’ve agreed⁠—”

I was interrupted with a dark, tousled head popped out of the mound of blankets on the other side of Cataline.

“Where are we going?” Ewan yawned.

I froze.

“And what happened to Mama’s clothes?”

The noise Cataline made was somewhere between a groan and a snort of laughter, so I had no choice but to pretend to scowl at the lad.

“I thought I made ye yer own bed?”

Ewan sat up, dragging the blankets away from Cataline, who shivered.

“I got cold, so I brought them with me. Our old house didn’t have this many holes in it. Why are you squishing Mama?”

“Because she’s cold,” I lied, and made a show of stretching out beside Cataline, who had groaned and buried her face in my shoulder. “When ye get to my home, laddie, ye’ll no’ be cold again.”

But he would sleep in the loft, and I’d begin construction on a second room for his mother and myself so Cataline could scream my name when I made her climax.

“Your house?” He breathed, eyes lighting. “Really? We’re going to leave here?”

He was nearly bouncing on the mattress now.

“When? When are we leaving?”

With each bounce, his mother moaned, and I couldn’t imagine how uncomfortable she must be. So I sat up, glad I still wore most of my clothing, and scooped the lad up. He squealed in excitement as I carried him to the table and plopped him atop it with my hands on his hips so I could impress him with the seriousness of the situation with my glare.

“‘Twill no’ be an easy journey, lad, but I want to get yer mother there before her bairn comes.”

Last night she’d said she suspected ‘twould be within the fortnight, but we’d be in Battleborn Village well before then. Besides, I had left scarcely nine months ago. Surely she had another fortnight or more at the very least.

Ewan was nodding solemnly. “Having babies is difficult.”

“Aye, ‘tis. But traveling with a wee laddie and a pregnant lady is just as difficult. If I were to leave now, I could be at the crossing to my home by tomorrow night.” I would be three days early. “With both of ye on the horse, ‘twill take twice as long. Are ye willing to face hardship without complaining?”

His dark eyes narrowed. “Can I complain a little?”

Negotiation, eh?

“Ye can complain less than yer mother complains, agreed?”

Ewan had his mother’s stubborn streak, bless him, because he stuck out his tiny arm to finalize the agreement.

“Agreed. I get to ride the horse, aye? You said I’m the best horse rider ever.”

I couldn’t recall using those exact words, considering I’d had to lunge to keep the lad on the animal’s back more than once, but I contented myself with a firm nod.

“We’ll spend today preparing for the journey then leave at first light on the morrow. For now, I will leave ye tasks to take care of yer mother, and I’ll go hunting for meat to sustain us.”

When I returned hours later, I was frankly impressed with what they’d managed, considering one of them wasn’t yet missing his milk teeth and the other had ankles swollen to the size of hams.

“Sit down,” I told her sternly, and lifted her legs into my lap to begin to rub her calves. “Ye work yerself too hard.”

“Your hands are frozen!” She smacked my shoulder. “And I had to work. There was much to be done.”