She hauled her luggage into the hall and stopped to put on a scarf. She caught her reflection in the mirror and winced. She should’ve put some makeup on, but then again... With all the crying she’d been doing today, it would’ve turned her into a panda. Or a raccoon. Her fiery red hair fell down her shoulders in waves. She hadn’t had time to braid it. Her blue eyes sparkled with tears, and she was surprised she hadn’t yet lost a contact. She had her glasses in her suitcase.
“You look great,” Abby whispered, hugging her from behind.
Beth smiled at her in the mirror. “You, too.”
“Pff... Thanks for being nice and lying to me. Makes me feel so much better.”
Missy came to share the hug. “You both look great, and I look great, too!”
Beth laughed. “Truer words have never been spoken.”
Finally, they said their goodbyes, hugged and kissed some more, and Beth was out the door. As she waited for her taxi, she thought...
She ought to be grateful.
At least she had something to trade for her sister’s life. Herself.
* * *
One Month Later
Beth chose the institute for tributes that was closest to her home, even though her sister couldn’t visit, and she wasn’t allowed to go out, either. It still made her feel better than being too many miles away from the only family she had left. She talked and texted with Abby and Missy every day, telling them all about the institute, the teachers, and what she was learning about orcs and their culture.
A month passed quickly, and the first Doors Open Day came. Despite feeling nervous, and so anxious that she could throw up, Beth tried to keep her spirits up. She dressed to impress, in a satin blouse with a plunging neckline, and a flowy skirt that reached her ankles. She braided her long, red hair, and ditched her glasses once more in favor of her contact lenses. She went downstairs and joined the other girls who were hoping to be chosen by an orc. Or not. Some of them didn’t hope for anything. They were there because they had no other choice.
To some extent, Beth was there, too, because she had no other choice. She tried not to think about it.
There were four orcs who’d come to look for brides, and the fact that there were a dozen girls they could choose from didn’t make Beth feel very comfortable. Looking at their tattoos, which were indicative of their ranks, two were captains, and two were raiders. She set her eyes on the captains and tried to catch their gaze. She tried to put a smile on her face, but it felt fake. When one of the raiders approached her, even that fake smile faltered and died on her pink-stained lips.
He looked her up and down. In return, she studied him with a cold gaze. He was big, as all orcs were, with dark eyes and black hair tired up in a short ponytail. Captains wore their hair long, and had tattoos on their back and arms. Raiders wore their hair shorter, and had tattoos around their necks, wrists, ankles, and middle. Beth didn’t want a raider. She wanted a captain. Because a captain would have the authority to order his mage to help her sister. A raider... Well, a raider had his captain’s ear, at most. Would that be good enough? She didn’t know. She didn’t want to risk her plan failing.
But how could she dissuade this raider if he wanted her?
“Turn around,” he said in a low, gruff voice.
“No.” And it took all her courage to say the word. She stepped back, hoping he wouldn’t see she was shaking like a leaf. He was so tall, towering over her, that she had to crane her neck to hold his dark gaze. But she couldn’t avert her eyes. She had to show him that she meant business. She needed a captain, not a raider.
He regarded her with something akin to astonishment for a second, then his lips curved into a smile. He had sharp, curved tusks that poked out of his mouth and embraced his upper lip.
“I like you. I choose you.”
Beth’s eyes widened. “What? N-no, you don’t like me.”
He shot her an amused glance, then turned around and marched up to the manager.
“N-no...” Beth whispered.
She didn’t know what to do. She stood frozen in place and watched as the manager, a grey-haired lady in her fifties, smiled brightly at the orc raider and handed him the file that contained all the information that was relevant about Beth. Like her name, age, background, and the fact that she was fertile. When she’d applied to become a tribute, she’d omitted to tell the manager and the doctor who consulted her that her sister had cancer. It was better for that bit of information to remain secret for a while.
Before she could snap out of it and think of a solution, the orc raider was back and ordering her to follow him. Her legs moved off their own accord. Someone, – one of the guards who worked at the institute, – had brought down her luggage. He carried it outside, and from there, the orc took over, and now all Beth could do was follow her own suitcase. She had all her things in there.
The orc had come in one of the massive cars his kind had built to replace the krags that weren’t quite suited for galloping on the American highways. He threw her suitcase in the back, and then offered her his hand to help her up.
Beth stared at it for a moment.
She could still make a run for it.
She looked back at the institute. There was a guard at the gate. Would he spring into action? Once a woman offered herself as tribute, there was no turning back. If she ran, the guard wouldn’t need to bother. The orc raider would catch her without breaking a sweat. If he wanted her, he wasn’t going to let her go that easily.