▪️I Z A R A▪️

"Izzy, over here!" Mahala shouted across the dining hall.

With a bowl of stew in my hand, I smiled while making my way over to the mostly empty wooden table. I was eager to go eat my lunch with Mahala and another woman named Golnar, who was sitting next to her.

As I got closer to them, I allowed myself to get lost in my thoughts for a moment.

I had met the two women on my first morning of living in the castle. The both of them came over to join me while I sat by myself to have breakfast. Well, it was more Mahala dragging Golnar across the hall towards my table.

Mahala was what we would call voluptuous, having large breasts and wide hips. She was two years older than myself and like my mother, had come from the southern part of the isle. She had smooth dark brown skin and very curly black hair which she kept braided most times.

Even though she was short in stature, Mahala was what we often called tiny but mighty as her strong personality and loud voice would not allow her to be bullied.

Of course, given her connection to the southern region, we became instant friends as she had been able to tell me more about what it was like to live down there. Mahala had only moved to the castle about five years ago to be with an Orc named Conall, but he had unfortunately died during a hunting accident soon after her arrival.

During our talks, I found out that she knew my mother's relatives, something that I had always wanted to know more about. Apparently, my mother, Izabella, had been the odd one out in her family as well. She liked being outdoors and had met my father when he came to personally see about a shipment.

According to what Mahala had remembered from all the gossip, it had been love at first sight when Izabella ran after a pickpocket who had stolen my father's pouch. It was said that she tackled the thief to the ground, returning my father's belongings to him and he had been immediately smitten.

Unfortunately, it would seem that my mother's family did not approve of the relationship claiming that my father, Jaerano, was not good enough for her. Even though he was rich, he did not seem masculine enough for their liking and they doubted his ability to keep her in check so to speak, as if my mother was some wild animal that needed taming.

In the end, my mother snuck out of her house in the dead of the night, leaving the southern region to be with my father. Up to this day, people still talked about Izabella and Jaerano.

I knew that my father had loved my mother deeply, but I had never heard about this part of their relationship. In a way, it gave me a bit of closure, realising that my father pushed me away out of grief, not hate. While I did not agree with how he chose to handle things, I could understand it somewhat.

As my eyes drifted over to Golnar, I took a moment to admire the female half Orc.

She was younger than Mahala and myself, having recently turned twenty. Golnar was often very shy and soft-spoken and from my observation, did not seemed to be very welcomed among the Orcs, particularly the females.

Where her magic was concerned, apparently, she had the ability to manipulate the earth. Usually, half human-half orcs did not possess any magical abilities, but there were occasional exceptions. Unlike Orcs with the same elemental ability, Golnar had the rare ability to not only manipulate the rocks in the ground, but plant life as well, often causing roots and vines to erupt along the ground in her magic's path.

Given the strangeness of her magic, she never really mastered her abilities for the power of it was too unpredictable.

There was a time when she accidentally sprouted an entire tree, the raised roots toppling over a nearby wall. Since then, she chose not to use her powers, although lately, I had been encouraging her to embrace her magic.

My eyes flickered over Golnar's dark red hair before observing her pale greyish skin and pointed ears which were similar to that of the Orcs. But unlike them, she did not have any tusks and her face and body more resembled a human's.

Actually, even by human standards she was very slender, and though she was tall, her lean figure was seen as a weakness among the other female Orcs since she was not particularly strong, at least by their ideals.

Not to mention the icy blue eyes of hers that were often described as being an omen among Orcs, I understood why Golnar did not have many friends and tended to stick more to the humans within the castle.

Which was probably why Mahala had taken her under her wing and looked out for her.

Golnar was actually Conall's half-sister and from what I had gathered, his passing had solidified their friendship in a way I found myself being jealous of.

Although with the way things were going, I had quickly become a part of their group.

Mahala and Golnar were my friends, and for the first time in my life, I had people who genuinely liked me as a person. Not because of who my father was or what I could do for them and it was absolutely refreshing.

Even though King Baldur may abhor the very sight of me, there were people here who liked having me around and I found that I was really enjoying my life at the castle.

I barely had time to sit down before Mahala's voice reached my ears.

"Anu's beard, Izzy! I knew you were brave but damn, I didn't think you were throwing hot tea in the face of the King brave!"

Next to her, Golnar nodded in agreement, the colour of her eyes instantly reminded me of Baldur and I felt myself recalling the fuming look on his face during our encounter earlier.

Huffing slightly, I replied shifting on the bench opposite them, "It wasn't on purpose!"

I was not surprised that word had travelled around the castle.

Gossip was something that ran rampant within these stone walls and with a shake of my head I quickly told them about what happened during breakfast this morning between King Baldur and myself.

I made sure to go over every single detail knowing that they would want to know exactly what could have possible lead to the outcome. Especially since they knew I was never one to really act out whenever someone was antagonising me, I knew that my actions had come as a shock to them.

"Honestly, it was more of a reflex thing and why does everyone keep saying the tea was hot? I'm not that suicidal! I knew it was warm when I threw it."

Mahala's dark brown eyes narrowed while she smirked, "Uh huh, on reflex my ass! If you had time to realise the tea was warm, you definitely had time to stop yourself from throwing it."

She was right, but I was not about to say that out loud.

"Are you alright though? King Baldur didn't punish you, did he?" Golnar asked, her voice soft.

Before I could say anything, Mahala quipped teasingly, "Oh please! As if the mighty Khagra would allow anyone to hurt his precious Izara."

Inwardly groaning, I shovelled some food into my mouth.

At her words, I tried hard not to think about the conversation I had had earlier with Dura about Khagra having feelings for me.

Golnar gently pushed her shoulder against Mahala as she whispered, "You shouldn't say such things so loudly. I know that Khagra looks out for Izara, but I think that you might be misinterpreting his intent."

"Thank you!" I mumbled; my mouth full.

Mahala rolled her eyes in an exaggerated way before leaning forward, her large breasts now resting on top of the table, "Oh please! Khagra has not had sex in weeks! Weeks! Basically, around the same time Izara came to live here. Coincidence? I think not! I'm usually good at picking up on these types of things, and that Orc warrior wants you."

"He does not!" I tried arguing before taking another bite of my stew.

Shaking her head, Mahala countered, "Mark my words, you threatening to stab him that first night probably turned him on. I don't think anyone had ever spoken to him like that, especially a female. And now you've gone and thrown tea in the King's face, I bet Khagra got all hot and bothered with you standing up for yourself."

I hated how right she usually was.

"Are you sure you don't have magical powers or something? I swear it's like you can read into people's minds!" I grumbled.

"Ha! I knew it! He loves your feistiness, I told you!"

Golnar's eyes scanned my face, before she asked, her voice hitching slightly, "Wait, do you like him too?"

"What? No! Khagra is just a friend!" I hissed in quick reply.

Mahala tilted her head slightly, "For now, but anyway, enough about Khagra, let's discuss King Baldur. What do you plan to do when you see him tonight?"

"I was actually just planning to sneak into his chambers and leave his dinner without running into him in the event he wishes to throw it at me like he did his breakfast."

Golnar seemed to like my idea as she nodded, "Makes sense, let him cool off a bit."

"Please, knowing the King, he will come find you."

Frowning slightly, I asked, "Why do you seem happy about that, Mahala?"

"Think about it, if he were really angry, he would have never let you leave his chambers this morning. If my intuition is right, as it usually is, I think that Baldur may like you in his own way, for the things that you get away with, I don't think I've ever seen another person have such a privilege."

"Anu's beard! Not you too!" I snapped, having not meant to say such.

"Oh? Has someone else said something similar?" Mahala asked seeming genuinely intrigued.

I mentally slapped myself for allowing my thoughts to slip out.

Knowing that I could trust Mahala and Golnar with anything, I told them about what Dura and I had spoken about. I made sure to explicitly explain to them, Mahala in particular, that I did not think the Orc King felt anything for me other than disgust and irritation.

With a soft laugh, Mahala said, "Keep telling yourself that. With the way things are going, it looks like the two best friends might end up fighting for your attention–"

"That would never happen!" I interjected.

"You're right..." Mahala admitted. "They would more likely share you. Now that would most certainly be something."

My eyes widened at the thought of being shared between the two of them and I hated to acknowledge that disgust was not my first response. But before the image could manifest, Golnar's soft voice thankfully pulled my focus back to the table.

"All the females would envy you, Izara, having Orcs like Khagra and Baldur taking an interest in you would be a great honour."

"I'm not interested, can we talk about something else now?" I pleaded.

My friends dropped the subject and we went on to discuss something else while we finished the rest of our lunch.

Even as I listened to Mahala and Golnar tell me about their day so far, I could not help the nagging feeling in the pit of my stomach where having to eventually face the Orc King was concerned.

————— ▲ —————

Later that night, I left Baldur's dinner for him on the table in his room.

I contemplated changing my mind and waiting for him like I was supposed to. But after what happened this morning, I figured that he would not want to see me and I really was not in the mood to have food thrown at me again, so I left.

It was then that I had decided to make my way down to the nearby hot springs wanting to relax for a bit.

The human servants were not usually allowed in this part of the springs where there were grottoes. But Khagra had given me permission to come here during my free time and I did not hesitate to take him up on his hospitality.

If I really thought about the way Khagra treated me, I would be a fool to not realise the special privileges he had been granting me.

But I figured he was just trying to make me feel more welcomed at the castle. Though after the eye-opening conversations I had with Dura and then with Mahala and Golnar, I realised that I had to stop making excuses.

Being the salacious individual he was, I knew that Khagra would not hesitate to bring me to his bed. However, I could not help but acknowledge that maybe I would be more than just a romp between the sheets for him.

"Ugh! Best not to think about it too much," I said to myself as I entered into the hot springs.

Since I knew that most of the Orcs would still be in the dining hall drinking and eating, I wanted to take advantage of the quiet space. There was only one other Orc located on the far side of the cave, but he was deaf and he had a cloth over his face so it was like I was alone.

Relaxing in the water, I lay back with my eyes closed, getting lost in my thoughts.

This time, my mind was not focused on Khagra but on his best friend. I hated the way the grumpy Orc King would often occupy my mind and the sound of my deep exhale seemed to echo against the stone walls.

Even though King Baldur was often mean to me, I would be lying if I did not acknowledge that I still enjoyed living in the castle.

Getting to work with plants was like a dream come true for me and I particularly enjoyed going into the forest to collect herbs for Dura and her brother. I was learning a lot and I felt so much freer not having to abide by the constraining rules that came with human society.

Life among the Orcs was certainly much better than the one that I had experienced while living in the village and I found myself looking forward to what the future may hold for me. Not to mention now that I actually had friends, I anticipated each new day and what adventures it might bring.

I felt that I really could make a decent life for myself here in the castle. Well, provided the Orc King did not strangle me first.

As much as he irritated me, I could not deny how fascinated I was by him. Against my better judgement, I found myself wanting to know more about him. 

I chalked my curiousity up to the fact that his magic was an old and rare one.

However, if I was truly being honest with myself, after everything that happened within the last few hours, I could no longer deny that I was slightly attracted to him.

Which I knew seemed ridiculous, given that he was always uncouth with me. The day that I realised my attraction, I had almost bashed my thumb off, since I had been in the process of grinding some bones into a powder.

It was something that I had not told to anyone, and I was not about to admit such a thing to my friends. I could already see the self-satisfied smirk on Mahala's face if I had said such and I was only too grateful that they bought my lie earlier during lunch when I had said that I was not interested in returning the affections of any Orc.

I had wracked my brain, trying to figure out why such a thing had even happened. Why of all people in the castle, did I have to be attracted to King Baldur?

Nonetheless, I figured that it had to do with the way I had observed him while he was with his people. There was no denying that he was a good King, even if he was mildly ill-tempered, and his commitment to his duties was something that I found very alluring.

For some reason, whenever he raised his voice at me, I could not help but feel a rush of excitement every time I stepped out of line and yelled back at him.

Which, now that I thought about it, made me realise that Dura and Mahala were right.

King Baldur did let me get away with a lot of things that other humans could not and I found myself wondering why that was.

Whether that had anything to do with Khagra, I supposed time would tell.

Letting out an aggravated sigh, I frowned. Perhaps in time, my bizarre attraction to the Orc King would fizzle out, I silently tried to reassure myself while letting the warm water relax my body.

"So, this is where you've been hiding..." Baldur's deep voice had my eyes popping open.

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A/N: Dundundun!!! 👀

Also, for those who have been asking about the update schedule; I'll be posting a new chapter at least once a week 😊