The Weight of Blood (The Half-Orcs, #1)(21)

“Sorry,” Harruq stood up, his face burning red. “This is stupid. I’m leaving.”

“Stay, please,” Aurelia said. The half-orc halted, turned, and sat back down. His face was still beet red but the elf paid it no mind.

“Alright,” Harruq grumbled. “No interrupting, and no saying a thing. I just want to get this over with. Don’t even know why I’m telling you this.”

“Because you must,” she said, a bit of her stubbornness returning. “Because I need to know.”

The half-orc nodded. He began his story.

“The only money I ever made was working for the king,” Harruq said. “This was after the orcs attacked Veldaren about a year ago and busted up the walls. They were hiring everybody to help rebuild and I was just as strong then as I am now. They weren’t paying much, but you got to remember we were stealing food to live. Those few coins they gave me were a treasure.

“Most didn’t mind me working with ‘em. I worked hard, harder than most, and I kept my mouth shut if you can believe it. Only one guy there hated me, and I mean hated. Perry was his name. Always calling me names, trying to make me lose my balance while lifting and carrying things. Then he did something stupid, Aurelia. He did that in front of Qurrah.”

Harruq thrust out his chin and squinted.

“This was how that Perry guy looked. Seen dogs look more human. He was strong, and I think he was the strongest before I showed up. I told him about this contest me and Qurrah made up, some arm wrestling thing. Guy was drunk out of his mind, so when I told him we could win four gold coins he should have figured something was off.

“We met after work, just past sundown, and I led him straight to Qurrah, who cast a spell on Perry then, kind of like you did with the guards. He shouted until his head turned purple but made no sound for the effort. Then Qurrah cast another spell that made him go all tough and rigid. Felt like I was holding a stick. We took him inside and put him on the floor.

“He wasn’t supposed to die,” Harruq said, staring right into Aurelia’s eyes so she would know he spoke the truth. “We didn’t mean to have what happened happen, but well... Qurrah put a bunch of meat on Perry’s face. It was old and rancid. Poor guy still had to keep smelling it though, and then Qurrah cast his spell.

“The meat started bubbling and turning watery. It ran down his face, getting into his eyes. It burned him. His skin turned black, like it was rotting. He called me dogface all the time, Perry did. We were making him just like what he called me. A dogface. But it went wrong. I yelled at Qurrah to stop, and I think he wanted to, but he kept shrieking more of that curse. Then he…”

Harruq rubbed his eyes and refused to meet Aurelia’s gaze.

“And then Qurrah removed the spells that kept him from talking and moving. He screamed and screamed and he just, he just…he tore off his own face. He reached up and yanked that mess off him. He died. Qurrah fell over, too weak to stand. Never seen him so scared in my life. He kept staring at that guy’s face and blubbering, saying he didn’t mean to. That’s all he said, over and over. He didn’t mean to. He tried to stop. We burned the body and haven’t ever talked about it since.”

Silence filled their clearing as Harruq’s story ended.

“I asked for the first time you killed,” Aurelia said after an agonizingly long pause.

“I know,” Harruq said. “And I did. I brought Perry to Qurrah. I failed to stop him when I saw something was wrong. If there is blame, it falls on me.”

The elf stared off into the forest, her brown eyes seeing nothing. Harruq and Qurrah’s relationship could not be clearer to her mind. Qurrah directed, Qurrah ordered, and then Harruq bore the guilt and the blame. Did Harruq ever consider disobedience? She didn’t know.

“We done here?” the half-orc asked.

He left without giving her a chance to answer.



The final days of sparring with Aurelia passed quietly and swiftly. Aurelia asked for no stories and Harruq told her none. They simply enjoyed each other’s company, fought to the extent of their skill, and then parted. On the fourteenth and final day, however, Harruq was in an unusually quiet mood. His mind refused to stay on the mock combat, and many times a quick jab of Aurelia’s staff cracked his arm or wrist when he should have easily deflected it away.

Finally, the elf called it a day. She set aside her staff.

“I thank you for sparring with me,” she told him.

“It’s nothing,” he said. “Better to spar with someone than practice alone.”

Aurelia smiled. “You’re different than what I expected, Harruq. Smarter, too.”

Harruq blushed. “No need for lies,” he said.

The elf laughed a little but said nothing. Instead, she walked over and gave Harruq a quick peck on the cheek.

“Keep your big butt safe, okay?” she said.

The half-orc tried to answer but his mouth refused to cooperate. Somehow, it seemed to have become unhinged. Besides, it wasn’t as if he could think of anything to say. All his mind could concentrate on was the feel of the elf’s soft lips on his cheek, the flowery scent of her perfume mixed with sweat, and the quick brush of her breasts against his arm.

By the time his jaw and mind began working again, Aurelia was laughing.

“What’s so funny?” he demanded. The elf smiled.