Kaius the Fierce by Cara Wylde
Chapter Nineteen
Two weeks had passed, and Sasha was sleeping in her own room. She wasn’t far from Kaius and her mother, and she had her own curtain made of leather patches for privacy. Grace had done her best to make a bed for her out of pelts, furs, and blankets. She gave her one of her pillows and was relieved when Sasha didn’t complain about having to, basically, sleep on the ground.
“We need mattresses,” she said to Kaius for the hundredth time, “And proper beds.”
He shook his head. “We have everything we need to sleep comfortably. Mattresses are bad for the back.”
“No, they’re not.”
“I slept in one of the beds in the valley. When they left, your people abandoned their houses as they were. I know what a bed does. It occupies space. And a mattress hurts your back.”
She sighed. “Those are old! And probably eaten by God knows what bugs. Of course they’re uncomfortable. I’m taking about beds you can make here, with wood from the forest. Like you make shelves, tables, and chairs.”
In all reality, the orcs had only made two tables, one of which they used in the kitchen to store things, and two chairs they used in the kitchen as well. They did have a better relationship with shelves, especially Ulgan the Mage, who needed them to store his potions. Grace wondered what they used in their home world, and if furniture there was as scarce as it was here.
Kaius straightened his back. He’d been working on the crib Grace had asked him to make since early morning.
“All right. If you want a bed, I’ll make you one. But I doubt it will hold me.”
“Just make it big enough. And sturdy enough, I guess.” She groaned. “Okay, fine, I don’t need a bed. But please, can you make one for Sasha?”
He shot her a concerned glance. “She doesn’t like the nest?”
“No, she does. I mean, she hasn’t complained or anything. But I just want to make sure she sleeps well. This is a huge change for her. As for me, I’ll be happy with just a mattress we can put on the floor.”
Kaius nodded. “All right. I can ask the Giant to bring one from one of the houses in the valley.”
“No! A new mattress. Made of foam, preferably, medium hardness.”
He shook his head as he went back to working on the crib. “See, now you lost me.”
“Just let me take Beka and Birma to the nearest town, and I’ll buy what I need.”
“Okay, you win.”
She jumped in excitement. “Yes! I’ll go tell the twins. And I’ll take Sasha too.”
“Also, Thrak the Butcher.”
“What? Noooo...”
“Yes. I want you to be safe.”
“Beka and Birma are perfectly capable of taking care of us. Plus, come on, Kaius, out there... it’s my world, my people. If anything, Sasha and I will attract more attention if we show up with an orc horde in tow.”
“Carl. Is that his name? He’s dangerous, and you’re only safe as long as you’re here, in the mountains.”
“Oh, Carl.” Grace rolled her eyes. “He’s useless, which means he’s harmless. He got intimidated by an old gun that wasn’t even loaded.”
But Kaius wasn’t going to back down, so Grace had to agree to be escorted by his raider and the two orc twins on her quest to buy a mattress. Two mattresses, actually, one for her and one for Sasha. Three, if she really thought about it, since the baby couldn’t possibly sleep in an empty wood crib.
Kaius had argued with her about the crib, too, before he agreed to make one according to her instructions. He said that in his home world, babies slept on the floor, wrapped in pelts, and that, of course, it was great for their back. He assured her that was why they grew up strong and tall. Grace took that with a grain of salt and used every trick she knew to determine Kaius to do as she said. And that had included quite imaginative steamy moments in the intimacy of their gallery. Since Sasha had joined the horde, Grace had tried to be more private about what she did behind closed curtains. To her mate’s chagrin, she’d also decided their dalliances in the hot lake were over. She’d explained to him that humans simply weren’t as open about these things as orcs, and that Sasha was already dealing with a lot of changes. Once again, Kaius wasn’t entirely pleased, but he was willing to do anything to make his bride happy.
“I’m so excited! I’ll buy so many things for the baby! Cute, tiny clothes, nappies, an extra cute pillow, a blanky that I know will become his favorite...”
She’d become obsessed with building the perfect place for the baby. At the institute, she’d learned that an orc pregnancy only lasted for five months instead of nine, and now she was slightly stressed that she wouldn’t have enough time to get everything ready. Soon, the crib would be finished, and she’d get to fuss around with that, but for now, the only thing she could do was arrange and re-arrange their makeshift bed, trying to make it as cozy as possible. Grace was fully aware her behavior was weird, and when the female orcs had laughed at her concerns and told her it was only natural for her to want to nest since she was pregnant with an orc baby, she’d freaked out. But the freak-out didn’t last long, since her need to just make the bed right was too overwhelming to resist.
“All right, so... A big mattress for us, that we can put directly on the floor,” she counted on her fingers.
Kaius grunted in approval.
“A smaller mattress for Sasha, and when I have it, you can take the measurements and build a bed for it.”
Kaius liked to build the things his family needed with his own hands. His orcs had plenty of other work to do around the caves.
“And a tiny mattress for the baby.” She stepped closer to the work in progress that was the crib and touched the shiny wood. “Oh, he’s going to be so cute in his little nest.” She had a feeling the baby would be a boy, and when she’d started calling it “he”, Kaius hadn’t questioned her.
“You do realize he’s going to grow faster than a human child, right?”
She looked at him with wide eyes. “Don’t remind me!”
Kaius smiled indulgently. That was another reason why in his home world, orcs didn’t bother making too many clothes for their babies. They grew out of them in weeks, if not days. And in his humble opinion, their baby wouldn’t be able to use the crib for more than a month or so. When he’d tried to tell Grace, she’d shushed him unceremoniously.
“So, are we going to tell Sasha tonight? Maybe after dinner?” He changed the subject gently, in a hushed voice.
Grace had been scared of telling her daughter that she was pregnant and that she’d soon have a little brother or sister. Her daughter was the sweetest, but she’d been an only child for so long... And since she’d joined the horde, everyone had been giving her all the attention in the world. Now she spent most of her time with Ulgan the Mage, picking flowers in the forest, and going down to the valley with him to work in the gardens, where Ulgan had started to grow his own herbs. She was fascinated with his work, and yes, she had asked him countless times to enchant her stuff, from the dolls she’d brought with her, to old candy she still found in the pockets of her clothes, and wood toys Kaius had made for her. She wasn’t always successful in convincing him to make her toys move on their own, or her dolls laugh creepily. Grace had had to explain everything Ulgan did was an illusion, and that no, her toys were not really alive.
“I don’t know. Maybe.” She thought for another minute. “Yes, I think it’s time. Soon, I’ll start to show, and if she notices on her own, it might make for an awkward conversation.”
Kaius nodded. “It’s settled, then. We can go for a walk after dinner.”
“Okay. But maybe... Maybe it’s better if I tell her. Alone. Just in case her reaction is not... well... you know... what we hope for.”
“I think you worry too much. Sasha is amazing. Such a smart, loving child. She’ll be happy to have a little brother to play with.”
Grace chuckled. “You’re probably right.” She fell silent, though, now her mind going in circles, trying to come up with the best way to break the news to her daughter.
Kaius felt that she needed space, so he focused on building the crib. In a few hours, it would be ready, and that would surely put Grace in a better mood.
The sun was up on the sky, announcing it was time for lunch. Kaius worked a bit longer, and Grace sat a few feet away, in the grass, absentmindedly fussing with a bunch of flowers, trying to make a wreath. They heard the sound of hooves approaching, and they looked up. Usually, the orcs rode the krags down to the valley, but always took them back to the river and tethered them before coming to the caves. This time, Thrak showed up with two grunts in tow. Atop their krags, they looked frightening, and Grace had to stand up and shield her eyes with her arm.
“What happened?” Kaius straightened his back.
“We’ve just come from the valley,” Thrak said without bothering to jump down from his krag. It was as if he expected Kaius to order him back down the mountain the second he finished his report. “The gardens. They’re destroyed.”
Kaius dropped the hammer he was holding and crossed his arms over his chest.
“The gardens...”
“Yes.” There was anger in Thrak’s voice, but he was holding it back. “The same gardens we worked so hard on for months. The fruits, vegetables, Ulgan’s weeds, all dead. Burned with magic. Not even the ashes remain.”
Grace felt a sudden pain in her chest. She stepped forward.
“Sasha is with Ulgan! Didn’t they go down to the valley this morning?”
Thrak shook his head. “No. I went alone with the grunts. To check on the gardens and orchards.”
She turned to Kaius. “I have to find Sasha. She’s going to be the death of me! She never tells me where she’s going!”
“I heard Beka calling her,” Thrak offered. “At the edge of the woods. She probably went with the mage to gather more weeds.”
Grace didn’t stay to listen to another word. She ran to find Beka, hoping the female orc had already found Sasha.
“This thing will never end,” she murmured to herself. “When will Goroth the Devourer just give up?” She hoped Kaius would fix this once and for all.