The Weight of Blood (The Half-Orcs, #1)(40)

“Qurrah was sold to a necromancer. I told you that, right?”

Aurelia nodded. “I believe you did.”

“Well, he caught my brother practicing a spell once. Qurrah was forbidden from ever casting magic, yet he tried anyway. He’s like that, always been, always will. Anyway, his master took a hot poker and shoved it down his throat. Said that way he’d never cast again.”

Harruq chuckled.

“He was wrong, obviously. Qurrah was stuck talking like that. Like a snake hiss or a raspy whisper.”

“Or a dying man,” Aurelia whispered, so soft that Harruq could not make out her words.



The streets were all the same to him, so down them all he wandered. The image of Aurelia and Harruq danced in his mind, and conflicting feelings rippled through his chest.

“She seems a kind enough elf,” Qurrah said, talking to himself since he had no company. “Beautiful as well. Of course Harruq would be attracted to her. We have elven blood in our veins, do we not?”

The words felt hollow against the constant ache in his heart. Hard as he tried, he could not place it. Was it anger? No. Surprise? A little, perhaps. Jealousy? Certainly not. Worry? Fear? Doubt?

The only emotion he was certain of was confusion. So he walked and would walk for the rest of the morning, wishing there was something he could do to banish the sick, hollow feeling in his stomach. There was nothing he knew to do though, and that made it so much worse.



Their sparring ended, Harruq and Aurelia sat side-by-side against a tree, both glistening with sweat.

“Getting better,” the half-orc said. “You’re going to be beating my ass in a few weeks if you keep learning as fast as you are.”

“Don’t worry,” she said, patting his hand. “Your ass is safe with me.”

Harruq laughed at the absurdity. Aurelia, meanwhile, absently drew lines in the dirt. He watched for a moment, suddenly nervous and quiet. The words of his brother echoed in his head.

“Aurry?” he asked. “You said most elves remember when men were created…do you know how orcs were made?”

The elf looked at him. She was trying to read him, Harruq could tell, but he endured it without protest.

“When Ashhur and Karak warred, there were elves that sought to end it,” she said. “Against Celestia’s orders, they joined Karak, hoping their aid would finally end the conflict. When our goddess imprisoned the two gods, she cursed those elves. She stripped them of their beauty, their intelligence, and their long life. They weren’t evil, Harruq, but Karak offered them strength and they accepted it. The dark god drove them to war against elves and men. Finally the orcs were banished to the Vile Wedge between the rivers.”

“Do any still worship Karak?”

“Most don’t,” Aurelia said. “They’ve turned to worshipping animals now. I’ve even heard of some worshipping Celestia once more, hoping she will forgive them and remove their curse. They are a sad race, Harruq, but believe me in saying there is no shame in your blood.”

The half-orc shifted uncomfortably, unable to meet Aurelia’s eyes. He watched her trace lines in the grass. Seeking a way to lighten the mood, he asked her how to spell his name.

“Harruq?” she asked. “Hrm. My best guess would be H-a-r-r-u-k.”

A soft blow of air from her lips turned the grass to dirt so that a large space lay available for her to write on. She wrote ‘Harruk’ in the dirt with her finger, spacing out each letter. Harruq stared at the words representing his name, feeling a tiny thrill.

“How about my last name, Tun?”

She wrote out T-u-n. The half-orc stared, absorbing every detail of his name.

“Can I see your name?” he asked. Aurelia nodded, tracing her hand across the dirt.

“A-u-r-e-l-i-a.”

The half-orc smiled at the name.

“It even looks all pretty,” he said, eliciting a laugh. “Do Qurrah now.”

Aurelia did not begin writing immediately, instead thinking over the pronunciation.

“Qurrah,” she said at last. “It is a little tricky, but I bet it is spelled like this.”

Letter by letter she wrote ‘Qurrah’ in the dirt. Harruq stared at it, whispering his brother’s name as his eyes traced the letters. As he did, a thought hit him. His eyes went back and forth from his own name and Qurrah’s.

“You spelled my name wrong,” Harruq said.

“What? How?”

The half-orc reached over, erased the k in his name and drew a clumsy, capitalized Q at the end. He leaned back and smiled. The name in the dirt now read ‘HarruQ’.

“Why did you change it?” she asked. “It’s a rather odd spelling.”

“Look at my brother’s name,” he said. Aurelia did, and then she saw what Harruq had also seen.

“Your name is your brother’s, only backwards.”

“Yup,” Harruq laughed. “Mum was always smart for an orc. Even knew how to read, if you believe that. Bet she did that on purpose.”

“Yes, but why?”

Harruq shrugged. “Thought she was being clever? Who knows! but I can spell my name now!”

“Good for you,” Aurelia laughed. “Now go on home, you bother me.”

“Well fine then,” the half-orc said, feigning insult. “I see someone’s jealous I saw it before she did.”