She looked up at him once more and swallowed hard. He had a pleasant face. Kind, she might describe it. Had he been a captain... Alas, there was no point in dwelling on it.
She accepted his help and hauled herself into the orc car, pulling her long skirt after her. He jumped in the front and started the engine.
Soon, Beth would know if she’d failed or not.
Chapter Two
The horde lived in an abandoned town in the desert. The good news was that Beth could make extensive use of her many dresses. The bad news was that she was now far from her sister. But there was another piece of good news – she had cellphone signal.
Humans had abandoned many towns during the war, and when orc hordes had taken over and laid claim to the land, they had never returned.
As the orc car drove down the main street, Beth stared from the backseat. There were orcs walking around, going about their business. Many seemed to be gathered in front of a diner. Or what used to be a diner. The houses looked lived in, but the few blocks of flats and buildings that had more than two floors seemed to have been left abandoned. There were orc cars parked in driveways, and she saw krags grazing on lawns. It was a picture pulled out of fantasy novel. If anyone had ever tried to describe to her what she was seeing now with her own eyes, Beth would’ve laughed and congratulated them on their rich imagination.
What surprised her pleasantly was that even though the orcs had changed a lot of things in this town, they had kept it clean and organized. There was not a house without a vegetable garden, and there were flowers and trees everywhere. The car passed an orchard, and at some point, Beth could’ve sworn she heard chickens.
They stopped, and the orc raider helped her down. She found herself in front of a large house. On the lawn, a cow grazed, and she blinked twice. She would’ve expected a krag – the massive animal with a lion’s mane that orcs rode in battle. But no, it was a cow.
“What the...?”
“When we came to this town, we found cattle, chickens, and a few goats. The humans had abandoned them. We kept them.”
“Wow!”
“We don’t eat them. They give us milk and eggs. For meat, we hunt in the mountains.”
He made a wide gesture, and Beth looked in the distance. The town was surrounded by mountains.
Two orcs passed on the street, and Beth studied them curiously. They studied her with what she thought was suspicion. They nodded at the raider, and he nodded back.
“What’s your name?” she asked, just realizing that she was about to enter his house and she didn’t know the first thing about him.
“Uthar. Uthar the Hunter.”
“I’m Beth.”
“Elizabeth.” He waved the file at her.
“Everyone calls me Beth.” She wanted to add that her sister called her Betty but bit her lip.
He started toward the house, and she followed him once more. Lately, it seemed that was the only thing she was good at.
The interior was cozy and minimalistic. She noticed Uthar had replaced all the furniture with massive wood pieces that seemed to have been made by orcs. Animal pelts covered the floors, and she felt it was only appropriate to remove her shoes. The living room had a couch and a low table, but there was no TV in sight. Of course. Orcs didn’t watch TV. There was the kitchen, which was too clean to have been used recently. He probably didn’t cook for himself. And then she remembered she’d learned at the institute that orcs liked to eat together. She was surprised to see that Uthar hadn’t changed the kitchen much. Maybe because he didn’t spend any time there, he’d decided to leave the kitchen appliances where they were and not bother himself with them.
He dragged her luggage at the foot of the stairs.
“I’ll show you the room we’ll share.”
Beth wasn’t ready for that. Her heart started beating faster, and she realized she had to stall until she could calm down. This whole thing wasn’t just new to her. It was confusing. Here she was, in a town that used to be abandoned, in the desert, miles upon miles away from her sister and the places she knew, in a stranger’s house. A stranger with dark green skin and tusks. And he wanted to show her the room and the bed they were going to share, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
What had she gotten herself into? What was she doing here?
She took a step back, shook her head, and focused on breathing in and out. Her hand flew to her chest.“Abby. Abby, Abby, Abby,”she repeated in her head. A mantra to keep her grounded. That was why she was here. For Abby.
He furrowed his brows at her reaction. “Elizabeth, I am going to show you...”
“Please don’t call me that. Beth. It’s Beth.” Her mother had called her Elizabeth. And her father, too. She didn’t want to think about them. She and Abby had lost them when they were way too young.
“Beth.”