Season of the Orc

Five

Calla

"I need a bath," I grumble the next day. The rain has finally stopped and we left our little cave at first light. "I smell like sex and orc."

Brunk laughs as he comes close to me and takes a deep breath. After the first time we fucked, he's been smelling me a lot and it's getting annoying. This time I swear I see disappointment flash in his eyes but then he just grins, "I like how you smell."

I wrinkle my nose, "I smell like a brothel. It's a problem."

He tilts his head as he listens, "there's a waterfall a few miles that way." He points in the direction we are going, "we can bathe there."

Mounting my horse I say, "good. I'll be damned if I walk into an actual brothel and get turned away."

Brunk laughs, "you don't need a brothel, you have me."

Now it's my turn to laugh, "you're good but I'm not done fucking my way across the lands. I still haven't fucked a Pix or a Lamia."

He stops laughing and looks at me in confusion, "you.. want to fuck others?"

"Don't you? I know your list still has a species or two on it."

His mouth opens and closes a few times as if he wants to say something but isn't sure how. Finally he just sighs and says, "we should go before it gets too dark. We are days behind."

He takes off at a run, heading towards the waterfall and I spur my horse after him. His sudden change in attitude was confusing. Maybe fucking him had been a mistake and now our friendship was going to be weird.

I follow a few feet behind him, getting more nervous the longer he goes without looking at me. Usually he'll make a face at me or challenge me to a race, but today it's like he's going out of his way to avoid looking at me.

Had I said something wrong? His mood had only changed when I mentioned the brothel and fucking others. My heart sinks at the realization, did Brunk think that we were together now? Did I miss some weird orc cue or something? No, that couldn't be it. Brunk is my best friend and that's all.

We continue to the waterfall in silence and when we finally get there, to call it a waterfall would be an overstatement. It was barely a trickle of water over some rocks that ended in a shallow pool. "I thought you said it was a waterfall," I try and joke as I jump off my horse. Brunk just grunts and sits on one of the rocks, facing away from the water and me. "Ok then," I mumble softly. "Good talk."

Grabbing my soaps from the saddlebag, I strip and head to the water. It's freezing cold but I'm grateful to wash the stink off of me. It takes forever, there's an embarrassing amount of dried cum on my thighs that refuses to wash off and my hair is a tangled mess. At the center of one is a bramble twig and I couldn't even remember the last time I went through a bramble.

After an hour of furious scrubbing and grooming, I'm finally clean. My spare set of clothes smell like horse but it's better then stale sex. Turning to Brunk I ask, "are you going to bathe?"

"Are you finished?" He asks, instead of answering my question.

"Yes," I reply, getting annoyed.

He stands up, "then we should go."

He takes off at a run, not bothering to wait until I'm on my damn horse. It doesn't take me long to catch up with him, and then out of pure anger, I pass him. As much as he likes to brag about how fast he is, he's no match for my horse and is soon far behind me. I don't stop until he's a small speck behind me, and even then I only slow slightly for the sake of my horse.

If he's going to act like a child then I'll treat him like one.

When the sun starts to set, I make out a little village in the distance. It's not the one we are contracted to go to, but it's the one I'm going to tonight. If Brunk is smart he will find me there.

It doesn't take long for the village sounds to greet me and I can't help but feel better at the prospect of a meal I didn't have to cook, an actual bed, a proper bath and maybe a little treat in the form of an enthusiastic whore to help me with said bath.

I enter the village just as the sun sets and it doesn't take long to find the brothel. It's the only building with music and laughter coming from it in the suspiciously small village. After dropping my horse off at the stables, I make my way into the brothel and as the door slams open, all eyes turn to me. I ignore them and make my way to the bar. After years of being the new person in town, I'm used to the stares.

Slowly the music starts back up and so does the laughter. The barkeep comes over to me, dirty glass and rag in hand, "what'll it be?"

I grin at him, "your best ale, a plate of whatever's fresh, a room and a bath."

He grunts, "the first two I can do, but the rooms are full and I ain't got a bath."

I keep grinning at him, "you worry about the food and I'll worry about the others." Turning to the other patrons I loudly yell, "five gold pieces to whoever lets me have their room tonight."

There's a startling silence and then someone yells back, "show us the gold."

Fishing it out of my pouch, I hold it up, letting it glint in the light. There was a clamoring as several people race to me, each desperate to earn the gold. An old scraggly man gets to me first, food stuck in his white beard, "top floor, first door on the left," he tells me as he replaces the gold with his room key.

"Thank you my good man," I say joyfully. I pull out five more gold pieces and say, "I've got five more gold to anyone who can get me a proper bath in my room."

I laugh at the stampede of people running from the brothel, all presumably going to fetch whatever tubs they have for my bath. Turning back to the barkeep, he give me a curious look before heading off to get my food and bringing it out what has to be his wife's fine china.

I slide him two gold pieces and smile as I start to eat. Tonight had the makings of a very good night. Casting my gaze around, I stop and stare at a figure who was gracefully walking through the room, their gossamer wings floating behind them. The Pix notices me watching and makes her way over to me, my smile getting bigger with each step she takes.

Yes, this was shaping up to be a very good night indeed.