“Hm? What it is?”
He frowned. “I can’t tell you. It’s a surprise.”
They walked inside, and he left the basket on the couch, then turned to her, pulling something out of his pocket. It was a black scarf. Beth regarded it with interest.
“Turn around. I must put this over your eyes.”
Beth laughed. “Oh, so that’s how it’s going to be. Okay.”
She did as instructed, removing her glasses, and Uthar tied the scarf around her head. He did so gently, careful not to pull at her hair. He threaded his fingers through her long, red tresses, pulling them back from her shoulders, letting the curls tumble down as he gazed at them.
Beth knew she had beautiful hair. She was pale, like all natural redheads, with light blue eyes, and freckles peppering her nose and cheeks. She’d inherited all these lovely traits from her great-grandmother. Abby was blonde, with blue eyes, and just as many freckles. Her sister had always envied Beth. Now more than ever, since she’d lost her hair due to chemo. At home, Beth used to wear her hair in a braid, or gathered up in a tight bun, hoping that helped Abby cope better. They were human, after all. It wasn’t that her sister was vain, but that didn’t mean Beth had to rub her beautiful mane in her face.
Since she’d joined Uthar’s horde, Beth had been wearing her hair down most of the time. She loved to see the orc captain stare at it, sometimes blatantly, other times in secret. In the orcs’ culture, long hair was a symbol of status.
He gingerly pushed her toward the front door. Once they were out, he guided her down the street, then to the right, then they took a few turns, which caused Beth to feel completely lost. She’d gotten to know the town pretty well, but she hadn’t explored all of it yet, and blindfolded, she had no chance of guessing where he was taking her.
She heard bird chirping in trees, and the sound of murmuring water. The grass was rich and soft under the flat soles of her sandals. Beth smiled. She knew this place. It was a park that the orcs had kept intact. They took care of it, and even though it was probably wilder than when humans had lived here, it was a lovely green oasis in the desert.
Uthar removed the blindfold. She gasped and pressed her hands to her chest when she saw the pelts thrown over the grass, and the ridiculous amount of food awaiting. There were also two bottles of ale. He’d picked flowers from the park and sprinkled their petals on the pelts. The sun was low in the sky, so they were going to have a romantic picnic and watch the sunset. When she’d put “romantic picnic” on the list, she hadn’t imagined Uthar would go all out and do something like this.
“It’s perfect.”
He smiled, looking mighty proud of himself. “Do you like it?”
“Yes!”
“Let’s eat.”
They sat down, and Beth couldn’t wipe the smile off her face. He proceeded to pile food onto her plate, and she let him. She started eating, but soon stopped when she saw he wasn’t doing the same. He watched her for a few minutes, then reached into the picnic basket and pulled out a long, rectangular box. It was made of polished wood, with a simple model of moon and stars on it. He handed it to her.
“What is this?”
She opened it and gasped when she saw the beautiful necklace. It was made of gold, decorated with tiny diamonds, and the medallion was a butterfly that sparkled with diamonds and rubies. At least, she guessed they were diamonds and rubies. She didn’t know much about precious stones, since she’d only owned averagely priced jewelry.
“Oh, Uthar...”
“Do you like it?”
“I love it!”
He helped her put it on, and his fingers lingered on her collarbone. That sent a delicious ripple through her body.
“I wanted to make it special,” he said. “But Kinna’s spells seem to be failing lately, so... it’s not that special. I’m sorry. It should’ve glowed at night. In the moonlight, it should’ve looked like a string of stars around your neck.”
Beth knew all about Kinna’s spells failing. She noticed Uthar sounded disappointed, and maybe a bit mad at that. Like he was possibly thinking what the point of having a mage was, if she couldn’t make magic. But she had no intention of talking about Kinna right now. She wanted to enjoy this moment.
“It’s beautiful. I will cherish it forever.”
He was finally ready to eat too, satisfied that she liked his gift. They made light conversation. Beth asked him about his day, and he told her how he’d been preparing for the fair next week.
“Can I come?”
“If you want, we can go together. I used to go every time when I was a raider, but since my rank changed, I stay back with the horde and send Lonar.”
“So, how does it work? What do you sell?”
“Furniture we make in our workshops, weapons and trinkets. The weapons aren’t enchanted. All the blades are blunt, too. They’re decorative pieces, and humans like to buy them to display on their walls. That’s what I heard, at least.”