The mage surprised her by being honest, and also calm about it. She sipped her own tea, and to Beth’s relief, didn’t comment on it or made any kind of face. Not that the tea was bad. But it was hard to believe Kinna would accept something from her without criticism.
“I would’ve liked him... with me when he was a raider. Uthar the Hunter. Uthar the Raider. He’s a captain, now, and we can’t be together.”
“Was he interested when...”
“No. All Uthar has ever been interested in is his bow and arrows. And the prey waiting for him in the mountains. But I could’ve made it work... There are ways, especially when one’s a mage.” She gave Beth a mischievous grin. “I didn’t get a chance, though. For a long time, I was too busy tending to Goran, our old captain, to have time to think about myself, let alone Uthar.”
“I don’t understand. If you have healing powers, why did your old captain have to die?”
“Because he was old?” And now Kinna did make a face. “I can’t heal old age, silly. All I could do was make him comfortable. Even if I could preserve some of his youth, or the health of the organs that were failing, it wouldn’t have been right. Death comes for us all. It’s not something we should interfere with.”
That didn’t sound good to Beth.
“But you interfere in war... You heal wounds that would cause death otherwise.”
“That’s a different matter. I heal the warriors because they have a purpose to fulfill. Because in war, it’s not their time to die, it’s their time to win. If it really is someone’s time to die, believe me, all my magic can’t do a thing. It was different with Goran the Vengeful. We were not at war. And he didn’t want to be kept alive for more than the time that had been given to him, anyway. There are unwritten rules when it comes to magic, healing, life, death...”
“If they are unwritten, how do you know what they are and how to respect them?”
“What a silly question...” It was the second time Kinna was using that word in relation to her, and Beth found she didn’t really like it. “Instinct. A mage knows.”
“Hmm... That’s a convenient explanation,” she mumbled.
“Anyway, Goran went, and he made Uthar captain. From that point on, he was lost to me. It was just hard to accept for a while.”
“Lost to you... why?”
“He’s the captain, I’m the mage. We hold the most power in the horde, and it’s better for a captain and a mage to never be involved physically or emotionally. That way, nothing bad can happen. No drama, no upsets... The horde can’t be torn apart.”
“Oh. I haven’t thought about that.”
“Well, you don’t know a lot about our ways.”
“Much less about your unwritten rules.”
Kinna finished her tea. “Do you need to go already?”
Beth jumped to her feet. “Yes, in fact.” Kinna had started talking about Uthar, and she’d been holding it for a while. “Be right back.”
She went in the bathroom downstairs. It was small, and it only had a toilet and a sink. The light bulb needed changing. As she sat on the toilet, she realized that she was nervous. Kinna had distracted her, and she hadn’t thought about this little test they were doing beyond drinking the weird concoction and hoping it wasn’t poison. She saw things more clearly now. They made sense, too. Kinna had no reason to hate her. She was just bitter that she didn’t have a chance with Uthar anymore. Had Uthar not been made captain, maybe he would’ve been with the mage now, and they would’ve never met. Beth would’ve been chosen by some other orc whom she would’ve had to convince to help Abby.
She peed, and then stood up and looked at the water. The color wasn’t exactly right, but she wasn’t sure it was exactly green, either. She turned on the torch on her phone and looked more closely. In fact, it kind of looked like a light shade of green.
A knock on the bathroom door made her heart jump.
“Are you done?” Kinna asked.
“Jesus Christ! You scared me!”
“I don’t know who that is. Are you done?”
“Yeah... I’m not sure, though...”
“Let me see.”
The mage didn’t wait for an invitation. She barged in, forcing Beth away from the door, lest she got hit in the face. With a flick of her hand, she flooded the small space with light. It was so bright that it was hard for Beth to believe it wasn’t natural. But there were no windows in there. It was all Kinna and her magic.
“It is green. You are with child.” Then she flushed.