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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Time had flown by too fast and before we knew it, our day together was over again. I guided Gyda to the place I'd picked her up earlier today, kissed her goodbye, and watched her leave—which sucked because now I had to wait a whole fucking week to see her again.
As she stepped into the woods, she turned around and waved at me. And I waved back, swaying my hand in the air. I don't think I'd ever waved at someone before. Orcs didn't wave. We gave a nod with our heads or perhaps growled loudly or something like that, but we didn't wave.
After Gyda disappeared from my sight, I turned around to go home as well, with many feelings rushing through my body. It was an odd sensation for me. I felt happy and satisfied, but also agitated and angry. Angry with myself, that is. Not angry at Gyda for turning me down.
"Way to go, dumbass," I mumbled to myself, kicking a rock out of the way.
I shouldn't have asked her to come live with me in the mountains. Shouldn't have asked her for such a big thing.
I, of all people, knew how the rules worked. I was a leader, for fuck's sake. I knew that orcs lived with orcs in the mountains and couldn't cross borders, while humans lived with humans in the towns. The women came over to breed once a year, to give us sons or raise our daughters without us, and that was it. That's how things were supposed to go. Ston and a few others were lucky enough that their women didn't care to live in the towns with their families, but I couldn't blame Gyda for wanting to be with hers.
I hated that I suggested that she could leave her family and come live with me—an orc she barely even knew. It wasn't fair of me and I probably only made her feel bad.
It was easy for me, I wasn't welcome in their towns, anyway. I had no choice. But if I was honest—if I was given a choice—I wouldn't leave my people either. I would've said the same as she did. I would have turned myself down too.
Gyda was a good, honest, and honorable woman. She wouldn't just leave the people she cared for. And that's because she was a better human than most. That was why I'd fallen for her in the first place.
I didn't even know what I was thinking or what was going on in my head half of the time lately. If I wasn't thinking about her, I was worried about the future. It drove me nuts. One part of me couldn't wait to see her again, but the other part knew that the deeper we sank into this, the more fucked up and painful things would get. And yet, I couldn't stop myself from wanting to see her.
Why did I have to fall for her? Things had been so uncomplicated before this year's breeding moon.
Fuck.
As I reached Asclan mountain, a bunch of sweaty ten-year-olds came running over to me. I hadn't heard the horn blown, and their mouths were curled upwards, so I knew there was nothing worrisome going on, and that it could only mean one thing: a shrimp has seen the light.
