Loving an Orc (A new beginning series)

Chapter three

           Zorg insisted he would keep watch on the house while his bride recovered. He would not wake her up and since the human ceremony that would bind them together was not ready until later that day, she could sleep longer.

         "Humans and their pesky traditions." Zorg muttered shaking his head. His soon to be sister-in-mate had put her foot down, insisting that they should have a 'wedding', whatever that was. Orcs did not need that, he simply had to swear an oath to his bride, to protect and provide for her and their kits for the rest of their lives. His people did not take such vows lightly, finding their mate with whom they were fated to spend the rest of their lives was the dream of every orc. A dream he had given up on until he wandered far from camp and came upon a small stream when he saw her.
    
          Zorg was a formidable orc and among the most powerful in his clan but he realized that the small brown haired female would be the death of him and she only needed to command it.

         He was smitten. Him,of all orcs.

         He watched her for a very long time hidden in the trees and it took all of his will power not to approach her. He was afraid he would frighten her, so he waited until she left and made her way back to what was presumably her home, he followed. She did not see him or even hear him and so she hummed sweetly under her breath on her way home occasionally stopping to stare at a plant or bird or the little forest critters and whisper little snippets of information about them like she wanted to take them to heart.

          So cute.

         "Ugh" Zorg groaned and if it was possible, he fell harder. The pull he felt was impossibly intense, so strong that every moment he spent watching from a distance felt like his breath was leaving him. The only explanation was a fate bond, and even that was so rare that his generation thought it a fairytale. Rare but not impossible, a small voice at the back of his head reminded him. The older orcs existed to prove it and in recent times, news of even younger ones finding mates had reached them and now it would seem the gods found him worthy of such a great blessing and he was not going to let it go to waste. He was going to prove that he was worthy of her, they had only just met but he had the rest of their lives to ensure she knew that.

          But I haven't really met her.

          The thought suddenly occurred to Zorg. "Curses," He muttered under his breath. Surely skulking around and creeping after her could not qualify as an appropriate first meeting, but he had to know who she was and how to find her again.

          "Elis," A man's voice sounded from just beyond the trees. He was almost out of the forest and he had not even noticed it. Fool that he was, his head was so filled with her and he was already making mistakes.

          "Elis, come here girl" The voice came again, more impatient this time and he saw the lovely young female make her way to the source of the sound. Was that her name? Elis. It was as lovely as her. Whoever was saying her name was not though and from where he was he could make out a gaunt older man standing at the edge of a house, he had a hand on his hips and was waving the other at the girl in a way Zorg did not like very much. 

         Was he a Father, Husband? Bitter bile rose to his mouth. She could not be married to him, the man was much too old but he had recently come to the knowledge that sometimes human females would marry much older males. His clan leader had explained that it was practice for human sires to give daughters to males who gave the highest dowry. The thought of that tore at him.

         Was she married to him?

         That would mean he could not pursue her and now Zorg could not fathom not spending the rest of his life with her and wondered for a moment how he thought his life had much meaning before he saw her a few hours ago. He focused on trying to listen to their conversation but the man began to raise his voice.
    
          "...if only you'd be useful and just get married"

          Wait, she wasn't married? Zorg's heart nearly leaped out of his chest with joy,and then crashed at the man's next words.

          "At least the money will be of more use than you ever were, lousy girl"

          How could he say that to her. How dare he?.

          He could see that the girl was saying something but her voice was low, he could barely catch it and then the man raised his hand and smacked her across the face. Zorg saw red, he pulled his axe from its place on his hip ready for blood to flow before a hand grasped his. He twirled around to find Uram, his childhood friend.

          "Don't do anything, you'll only make this worse" Uram whispered, but he was looking past him and Zorg turned to find that the man was nowhere to be seen and Elis crumpled on the floor sobbing quietly. His chest ached so much, it was like a knife had been put through it. That man could have been her father and if he was, he was not a very good one

          "We have to go," Uram was now pulling him away. Zorg snatched his hand back, shaking his head.

          "No, I cannot leave her"

          "We must return back if you are to come back as quickly as possible with a dowry"

          "What?" Uram had his attention now but he kept his eyes on Elis. She was wiping her eyes and dusting off her dress,  it was old and was patched. Quiet alot.

          "You wish to be mates with the female" Uram answered, his head cocked curiously to one side. Zorg turned to him, not entirely sure how to respond. No one among their clan had yet had a human mate and it had nagged at the back of his mind that he was not sure how they would respond. Not that it mattered anyway, if they did not like her, he would simply leave with her.

          "How did you know?" Zorg asked and Uram chuckled with mirth.

          "We shared a crib brother, I know you better than you know yourself" He began to move away "Now come, it's about time all that gold of yours had some use"

          Zorg stewed, he did not wish to let her out of his sight but he knew standing around would do nothing for him. He needed to act fast, that man must have been her father. He knew men like that, greedy, horrible men who did not care for those they should be responsible for.

          Uram was right, his gold would finally have some use.

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