Rise of the Warrior of Everfen

Chapter 44: Don't.

Erinne woke late after spending a long, enjoyable night in Cold Hammer's arms. When she stirred on the bed, she frowned and opened her eyes to find it empty. She sat up slowly, looking around, but Cold Hammer was nowhere in the house. She uncurled her legs, stretching slowly and pushed the blanket back before rising, finding her clothes, and then heading towards the door.

She hadn't quite reached the door when voices outside alerted her that they weren't alone here. It took only a second longer for her to recognize the sound of Lohke's voice with her mate's. She paused, smiling, and turned to get a cup of the tea she could smell by the fireplace. Before she took a step, however, she caught Cold Hammer's words and stopped.

"It scares me, Lohke. This prophecy, these tellings of our future. I never wanted to be like this, never realized how happy it would make me, and now I know it may not last. How am I to live with this knowledge? She thinks it may mean something else, but I know better. The last time the ancestors told me these words, she ended up a slave. What could it possibly mean this time? My imagination and logic tells me it will be just as bad, if not worse."

"I think you put too much thought in it, borbol. She is right. Do not heed their words so heartily. You can't live in fear your whole life or you won't be happy. Ever. Not now. Not in the future, or after. You have a son on the way, you have a new mate. Smile. Take these words with a grain of sand."

"I'm going to destroy her...again."

"You're going to destroy her by focusing on this rather than your life together. Is that how you want to live?" Lohke's sharp demand made her smile. At least she wasn't the only one trying to open his eyes. Still, the bastard spoke to Lohke about the matter when he'd refused for days to speak to her about it? That wasn't fair.

She snorted, shaking her head and walked to the woodstove. There was a cup waiting for her next to it. She poured some of the still hot herbal drink into the cup and then headed for the door. As she opened it, their conversation faded, but she still caught the end of Cold Hammer's words.

"-have been better if I had not become her mate."

Erinne felt the tea cup slip from her fingers, cascading towards the ground. It hit the edge of her doorstep and bounced, rolling into the grass while the sting of the hot liquid splashed against her legs. Of everything that could've come out of his mouth, that was the last thing she expected to hear Cold Hammer say so soon after she'd berated him for wondering if he should leave her to protect her.

His expression was downcast, but he didn't even have the decency to look worried that she'd heard his words. Lohke, on the other hand, sighed and bowed his head. "Erinne,"

"Don't." She hissed at him and stooped to grab her tea cup.

"Erinne." His voice was more firm this time and she heard the shift of movement as he started her way so she looked up, tea cup in hand, and threw it at his face. She didn't think she'd actually hit him. The best orc warrior survived battle but couldn't dodge a tea cup flying for his head?

She watched with a mixture of horror and satisfaction as it shattered across his face and he stumbled backwards, hand pressed to his forehead. When he drew it away, she could see a small cut above his eyebrow, brimming with red liquid. He examined his fingertips, presumably studying the blood before he looked up at her.

The weight of his stare was nothing compared to the anger in her heart right now. "So you don't want to be my mate now?" She questioned, still crouched in the grass.

"I didn't say that."

She shot to her feet, "Well it sure sounded like it to me!"

"Erinne," he took a step towards her but she glared, pressing her lips together and he stopped. "I just-"