Rise of the Warrior of Everfen

Chapter 20: The Truth of It

Erinne smiled and bit her lip as she walked beside Wren. She had to admit, there was a certain beauty in finally being back with her people. But were they the people she belonged with? She still didn't feel like she fit in, like her heart was strangely pulling her somewhere else. She glanced towards the orc camp, not sure why she felt so much reluctance, but as she looked, she could see only humans. She couldn't see the orc camp or Cold Hammer waiting to escort her back.

"I sense a lot of turmoil within you, milady." King Wren finally spoke. "I want to help you but I can only do that if you let me."

"You already are helping." She tilted her head so she could see him in her peripheral vision as they walked. "At dinner you were kind, if I messed up and used the cutlery wrong, you were easy in correcting me."

He shrugged, "That comes natural. My father believed kings weren't just iron fisted rulers, but that true leaders were willing to teach, the most important aspect being teaching the next king."

She pulled him to a stop and stared towards a tent, watching a blacksmith shodding a horse. It was just like a blacksmith she might see in orc territory, he had all the same tools, except you didn't find many horses with the orcs, just their dire wolves. Still, the blacksmith was needed for creating weapons, refining them, giving them an edge, armor, the whole works.

Humans and orcs really were alike, they just didn't realize how much.

She turned back to Wren. "Can you tell me more about kings and lines of succession?"

"Well, we're not like orcs. We don't fight for it, the next king is the son of the current king." She snorted at his words and he did a double take to look at her questioningly.

"That's hardly true."

"Pardon?"

"How many kings fight over the throne once war breaks out amongst each other?"

"Sometimes war happens but we do not have bloody fight rings everytime the chief of our nation is wrong."

"Neither do orcs."

He scowled darkly, "Pardon?" His tone suggested it was taking all his inner strength not to get angrier, but he held his tongue, waiting for her.

"There are processes. Challenging another chief is not a simple matter, it rarely happens unless the chief's decisions are bad for the whole of the clan. Likewise, fighting a Great Chieftain takes planning. You must have three elder chiefs back you up in your claim for Great Chieftain, if you do not, then you cannot challenge him." She saw the unsettled look on his face and realized she may have over stepped, "I'm sorry, I'm just saying-"

"I know what you're saying." He cut her off, voice tight, a strangeness gleaming in his eyes, "I'm just rattled by the truth of it. Your words suggest the orcs aren't as violent as we've always believed."

She swallowed and tried slowly, "It is hard to change one's views when you have held them your entire life."

He looked around the camp and then led her to a less busy place, "Answer me this, you were taken by the orcs when you were so young, what were you taught about humans? Have you spent your life feeling like an orc warring against us? Do you agree with the orcs?"

She scowled, but it was an earnest question. He could've easily accused her of being loyal to them but instead he was asking. "You are my king."

"That is not what I asked."

She pressed her lips together for a long moment, staring deep into his eyes before she said, "Until I met Lohke I never dreamed of anything past one day being free or dead."