By My Side ... (A Valentine's Day Story) by Christine Blackthorn Page A

looked
her eyes met the intent, yellow stare of an orc.
    She had swallowed hard, trying
to dislodge the lump forming in her throat. Somehow, over the last
nine days of travel, she had become accustomed to her little band,
their strangeness having lost its fearful aspects. They had simply
become companions in their combined struggle against nature,
admirable in their endurance and strength, comforting in their
presence. This, now, was an entirely different proposition.
    Under the scrutiny of hundreds
of eyes, in the face of so many strange orcs, Elena suddenly became
aware of what these beings were, in a way she had forgotten over
their journey. They were beings of violence, their fingers tipped
with retractable claws, their hands able to rend a body limb from
limb and their diet rumoured to contain human flesh as a
preference.
    It was pure instinct, and a
stupid one at that, had she thought of it, which made her take a
step close to Reschkar. But his presence had now become interwoven
intimately with her perception of safety. Before her mind could
remember that he was just as much orc as anyone else here, he
pulled her in, cradled the back of her head and fitted her against
his side with gentle pressure.
    "Safe, girl -- whatever else
will happen, you are safe here."
    And just for that moment she
let his words calm her nerves, no matter how false they might turn
out to be.
    The remainder of the morning
was nothing more than a blur to her. She remembered, in a vague
way, that he had handed her over to two female orcs who had led her
inside. In the room she had found herself in, she had barely had
the time to take in the large bed, its frame hewn from rough wood,
the bark still clinging to the slats, before a large tin bath
appeared. Litres upon litres of blessedly hot water filled the
large tub, steam rising with the scent of pine oil, the mere
presence of the possibility of a bath making her feel better. She
felt grubby. Well, she felt more than grubby -- she had left
grubbiness behind on the second day, having long since reached the
state of outright filth. In that split second a bath had become the
most essential need, a need the future promised to sate.
    The hot water had seeped the
last strength from her bones, her exhaustion fogging her thoughts.
Unable to even eat, so tired was she, Elena had crawled into the
heavy pelts covering the bed with the firm intention to sleep until
the end of the world, or someone woke her, whatever might come
first. Fear and trepidation had not had enough power to keep her
from the grips of exhaustion.
    Still, she had not been able to
fall asleep, her restless mind whirling, searching for something.
She did not want to admit, even to herself, that it was Reschkar's
absence which kept her awake. It frightened her. It made no sense.
In all probability, he would end up killing her, out of intent or
accident, but her irrational mind insisted that in his presence,
she would be safe. In the end, it had been the faint scent of pine
and clear air remaining on the pelts which had let her settle into
dreams.
    Just to wake now to his gaze
upon her. Elena looked at him, sitting there, and she saw a
different orc, a different being from the one she had known. She
saw not the companion of nine days hard travel, the bulwark against
any threat, but the man who held her life in his hands, whose every
decision could mean pain or degradation, even death. Fear was a
heavy weight in her stomach.
    It was time. They had reached
their destination. He had recovered from their travels, as had she,
at least as much as she ever would. There was no reason to wait
anymore, no reason for him not to make use of the prize he had
brought with him. With every silent second that passed her muscles
tensed a little further, the anxiety in her stomach rising,
strangling her. Long since had she lost the languid heaviness of
sleep, leaving only trepidation.
    It was a familiar feeling --
too familiar. This veiled vigilance a