“Are you hungry?” he asked.
She shook her head. She hadn’t eaten since morning, but the strain of dodging more than a few panic attacks had left her a bit sick to her stomach.
“Do you need anything?”
“N-no...”
“Then I will let you unpack. This is your home now.”
She smiled awkwardly. “Sure. I’ll make myself comfortable.” She wondered how mad he would be if she made herself comfortable in one of the other bedrooms.
But no. That was not the point of all this madness she’d gotten herself into. The point was to make him like her. Make him fall in love with her. He’d turned out to be a captain, after all, and he was kind and gentle. As kind and gentle as an orc could be, at least. He seemed to be impatient at times, and she suspected he might have a quick temper. But she could deal with that. He’d just been made captain, so he was under a lot of pressure.
And that was when a new thought entered her mind. Was that why she was here? Did he need a fertile human bride to prove to his horde that he was worthy?
“I must go now.” He snapped her out of her thoughts. “Wait here. Do not leave the house. I will come for you later.”
“What? Why?”
He didn’t answer. He turned on his heel and rushed down the stairs.
Beth watched him as he crossed the living room with wide steps and left the house, slightly slamming the door behind him.
“Wait... why?” she whispered, stunned.
She sighed and bit the inside of her lip. It was all so confusing, and a little suspicious. Then she eyed the suitcase that was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs, and she remembered she had signal here and she could call her sister.
There was no point in worrying about Uthar the Hunter now. What was done was done. He’d chosen her, and she was to be his bride.
Chapter Three
Uthar returned hours later. Beth had had plenty of time to get settled, take a shower, and change her mind half a dozen times about what to wear now that she was here. What was appropriate for a captain’s bride to wear? She supposed it wasn’t a good idea to show too much skin. She replaced the contacts with her big, red-framed glasses, as they’d started to itch at some point. It must’ve been all the desert dust getting in her eyes. So, when Uthar appeared in the kitchen doorway, where Beth was trying to make the dishwasher work, he did a double take.
“What is that?” he asked.
“Oh?” She turned to him, slightly startled. “I didn’t hear you come in.” She’d either been too absorbed by what she was doing, or he was as stealthy as a cat. A massive, green cat.
“What is that thing on your face?”
Beth blinked and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Don’t tell me you haven’t seen eyeglasses before.”
He shook his head, and Beth smiled.
“I don’t see well without them.”
“You didn’t wear them before.”
“Oh, that’s because I was wearing contact lenses. But I had to take them out and clean them.”
He looked like he had no idea what contact lenses were. Beth wasn’t sure she could explain, so when he didn’t push for more information, she felt relieved.
“If you don’t see well, I can ask Kinna the Mage to fix your eyes.”
All Beth registered from that sentence was Kinna the Mage. So, a female.
“I’d love to meet her! And maybe... talk about it. I don’t know. Wearing glasses doesn’t bother me. Does it bother you?”
He approached her and placed a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. That gave her a bit of pain in the neck. He studied her for a moment, head cocked to the side. He frowned.