CHAPTER12
ROSA
Daylight filtered in from the slitted window, bathing me in a warm glow. Still half-asleep, I curled into the furs further, burying my face into the pillow and sighing. I hadn't slept that well in ages, and since when was my bed so soft? The sun so warm?
That's when it hit me.
This wasn't my bed.
My eyes shot open, and I sat up straight, looking around the room.
I was in Agonak's palace. In his bed. And that meant...
My thighs clenched in response, slick wetness still lingering there. Something deep in my stomach throbbed in recognition. It hadn't been a dream, then.
That wild, feral passion that consumed us both. The feeling of his hard, heavy cock pounding me into the mattress. The feel of his hot seed coating my inner walls. And the way I'd screamed when I came, quivering, all over his cock...
It was all real. And now I'd have to pay the price.
A knock at the door startled me. I clenched the furs and brought them up to cover my chest. Where were my clothes? I frantically searched the room but saw no sign of them anywhere.
"Hello?" A voice came through the door. An unfamiliar, female voice. "May I come in?"
I froze, eyeing the window. No, we were too far up. And even if I managed to slip out, I still didn't have any clothes. The thought of me, a lone human girl, wandering through an orc camp naked didn't sound like the brightest idea.
"Is anyone in there?" The knock came again. "My name's Melis. The King sent me to fetch you."
"I...uh..." There was no getting out of this one. "Come in."
The door cracked open, revealing a young woman with shiny black hair, pulled back into a tight braid. She was the youngest orc I'd seen yet, at least by appearance. Her skin didn't bear the pockmarks and scars of the others, but an intricate tattoo curled from her left ear down her neck and jaw to disappear under her tunic. Melis bowed her head and ducked through the doorway, carrying a wicker basket at her hip. It was only once she fully stepped into the room that she noticed me clinging to the blankets and gawking at her like a deer caught in a hunter's trap.
"Well, don't just sit there. Put down those blankets and get up. We've got work to do."
I stared for a minute longer, my face flushing with a mixture of embarrassment and confusion. "I...um, can't find my clothes. You don't happen to have something..."
"Of course I do, that's why I'm here." She plopped the basket down on the bed and pulled out a folded bundle of cloth. When I didn't move, she looked up at me again and put her hands on her hips. "Come on, it's nothing I haven't seen before. I'm to bathe and dress you. King's orders."
I gulped. A hot bath sounded heavenly after my ordeal, but I had no desire to be seen naked by this stranger. I shook my head. "No. I'll go myself."
Melis sighed. "I don't think you understand, miss. The King gives orders, and I follow. Unless you'd prefer to meet the clan like...this?" She gestured at my filthy, naked form and I cringed.
Okay. She had a point. I grimaced and gathered the last of my courage. "All right. Fine."
"There. Was that so hard?" Before I had a chance to change my mind she grabbed the covers and yanked them away, leaving me exposed.
"Hey!" I shrieked. "You can't...!"
She paid me no mind, though. Simply set about gathering the furs and blankets into the basket for washing while I scrambled to cover myself. Melis worked with quick, professional efficiency, and after a moment flicked her gaze up to mine. "Well, don't just stand there. I'll meet you in the bathing room."
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Further embarrassment flamed through me. "I, um, don't know where it is."
"Oh," Melis said without looking up from her work. "Behind the mirror over there."
The mirror? The full-length mirror on the other side of the room was old and cracked in one corner, mottled with age against the glamor of the palace. I hadn't paid it much attention before, but now that I looked closer...an indentation on the side of the frame stood out to me. A hidden door!
With a click, it opened into a smaller chamber with a stone floor and a large tub for bathing. The air hung sweet with the scent of flowers and herbs. The tub was already filled with steaming water, and I'd never seen a more welcome sight.
"Well, don't just stand there, go in." Melis placed a hand on the small of my back and pushed, shoving me into the room and latching the door behind us. "Now let's get you cleaned up, shall we?"