Gyda Lionrock thinks her visit to Asclan Peak is for one reason and one reason alone-to procreate and finally welcome that child of her own. She could have never guessed she would also leave something behind inside the mountains, but it was her hear...
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I didn't understand what had come over me. Why the hell did I kiss Orvar on my own initiative? Damn these impulsive ideas of mine. Mother had specifically instructed me to wait for his lead, and now I'd done this.
The orc looked at me with a bewildered frown carved above his eyes.
Oh, Mother Moon! What must he think right now? Had I just violated him? Was he angry with me?
"Oh- Oh, Gods!" I cried out, shame coloring my cheeks. I held my hands in front of my mouth and with a muffled voice I asked, "Is- Isn't this how it works? I once saw an old drawing. It- it depicted a man and a woman doing...this. And even though they weren't orc and woman, I thought it would work the same. I'm sorry!"
One thing had always been part of my many Asclan Peaks fantasies, and that was a kiss. It was the only thing I was sure of, ever since my eyes had fallen on that drawing for the first time. Actually, it was a series of illustrations, all about affection, made in the past when there were still as many men as there were women.
In the first drawing, the woman smiled at her man and he at her, and they looked so happy. In the second, he sat on his knees and kissed her hand. And in the third drawing, they kissed! I remember I felt so many emotions when looking at those two. I was just a young girl, but I'd looked at those pieces of paper countless times, especially the one with the kiss. I just knew it was a different kind of kiss than the ones my mother and sisters shared with me.
For some reason, I thought I would find that affection here—in the mountains. But after seeing Orvar's reaction, I understood that kissing might not be part of it at all!
Come to think of it, Fiona hadn't told me anything about it either. Of course, she hadn't. Because I was here to receive the gift of a child! I was not here for affection!
"No," Orvar replied resolutely, snapping me back to reality again. "Do it again. But only if you like to."
Huh? He hadn't minded the kiss?
But how about me? Did I want to kiss him again?
I looked at Orvar's thin, grayish lips and at the two glossy teeth that curled around his bottom lip. He unquestionably looked different from the few men I'd ever seen in my life, who had all been pleasing to the eye. They were handsome, with a prominent jawline, a well-shaped nose, full eyebrows, a square chin, and deep eyes. Orvar had all of those things, but he still wasn't handsome like they were. It was hard to figure out what made an orc man ugly and a human man handsome, when both had the same traits.
In my mind, the kissing couple on the paper had often been replaced by me and one of those handsome men, like Zachary Whitehair. Even though his name was Whitehair, the man's hair was golden and silky smooth, and his eyes were bluer than the sea. He looked like a god.
I would never get the chance to kiss someone like Zachary Whitehair. But instead of kissing him, I could kiss Orvar. Orvar the orc. Who, honestly, had been nothing but kind to me. And respectful. And...if I was honest, I didn't really hate kissing him.
