Kaius the Fierce by Cara Wylde
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“It’s time to go home.”
On the way back to the house, Kaius gave orders left and right. He asked for someone to find Ulgan the Mage. Dharg was in charge of burying Goroth, and he took a grunt with him up the mountain. Kaius kept Thrak near, since he was his most trusted raider. Not that he didn’t trust the Giant just as much, but the Giant was even more quiet and grumpy than the Butcher.
“You need to rest,” Grace tried.
For the moment, they stopped in the living room, where Kaius inspected the place and deemed the couch and the coffee table a good and imposing enough space to talk to the orcs he’d demanded to see.
“I’ll rest when everything is back in order, and we figure out how to rebuild what we’ve lost.”
Beka the Wanderer was the first to answer the captain’s call. She walked into the living room, clothes still dirty and hair tangled, forming a weird nest on her head.
“Captain.”
“How is your sister?”
“She’s doing better, thank you. She’s still asleep, and Sasha and I are trying to get her fever down. Unfortunately, she’s not as strong as you are. Which is understandable. She seemed better when we came down the mountain, but then her wound started oozing again.”
“How is my daughter doing? Is she helping?”
“Yes.” Beka’s face lit up. She shot a glance at Grace, and grinned when she saw how proud the captain’s bride was of her daughter. Their daughter. “Birma wouldn’t have survived without her. While Ulgan was healing your wound, Sasha kept the infection at bay.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it.”
He made a dismissive gesture with his hand, and Beka bowed slightly and walked out. Grace couldn’t help but notice that the orcs in the horde were showing more respect towards their captain than before. The fact that he’d been at the brink and returned to them in a matter of hours, and was now back on his feet and giving orders was important to them. That, or the fact that he’d led them into a battle form which they’d emerged victorious. There was no one to challenge them over the ownership of the valley anymore, and his bride and daughter were safe and sound. And another thing worth mentioning – his bride was already pregnant with his baby. They were probably all hoping it would be a male baby.
Ulgan the Mage appeared in the doorway. Kaius waved him in, and Ulgan sat in an armchair opposite the sofa. There were dark circles under his eyes, he had a permanent frown on his face, and one of his eyebrows was burned. Grace looked more closely at him and noticed that, in fact, the hair on that side of his head was also slightly burned. She didn’t remember him missing an eyebrow a few hours ago.
“What happened?” Kaius asked, eyes wide and worried, as if he was afraid of what the mage was going to say.
Ulgan started gesturing wildly. “Fire is not good for the earth if the air doesn’t cooperate. The winds need to change, or all will be gone. I sent Sasha to bring water from the river.”
Grace blinked in confusion. “You... what?” She knew he was referring to the river that crossed the valley and that the orcs used to irrigate the land. Or so she hoped. “Did she go alone?”
“The river is not far from here,” Ulgan said firmly, for once making sense. He’d made sense before, under extreme stress.
Grace raised her arms, then let them fall in defeat. “Sure, set chores for Sasha, why don’t you?”
“Sasha is my apprentice. If she wants to learn how to do magic and become a healer, then she needs to do what I say.”
Grace’s jaw dropped. Ulgan had just put so many words together, in the right sequence, and she didn’t know if she should be happy for him or angry that he was ordering her daughter around. Her six-year-old daughter!
Kaius looked from Grace to Ulgan, and then Grace again.
“What is he saying? Is Sasha his apprentice, or is this just more of his nonsensical babbling?”
Grace shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess... Sasha did say she wants to learn how to heal wounds, and in general do what he does. I doubt she can learn orc magic, but she’s excited.”
“Does it bother you? Do you want me to put a stop to it?”
“No! Oh my God, no! She loves it, and I’m glad she found a hobby. I mean... it’s not a hobby. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t use that word.” She gave a very unhappy Ulgan an awkward smile. “It seems to be... her calling? And she was truly helpful when Ulgan wasn’t available. I was frozen, paralyzed with fear, and she was so brave. She had the presence of spirit to focus on those who needed help.”
Kaius nodded. “All right. It’s settled, then. Sasha is Ulgan’s apprentice. She will learn what he can teach her, and she will one day become a healer. Maybe even a mage. I don’t know if humans can learn and perform orc magic. Ulgan?”
The mage shrugged. “Humans are fascinating birds with colorful feathers.”
Grace sighed. “Well, it was nice while it lasted...”
Kaius grinned. “He’s not wrong, though.”
Grace cocked an eyebrow. “And where exactly are my colorful feathers? Maybe I’m hiding them under these old clothes that don’t even belong to me?”
Jokingly, Kaius poked her right in her cutely raised eyebrow. Which reminded him...
“Ulgan, what happened to your eyebrows and your hair?”
“I told you! The air has to cooperate if I am to use fire on the earth!”
“I have no idea what that means.”
The mage sighed and tried harder. “The land can be healed. But it’s a great feat that requires powerful magic.”
“I don’t understand,” Grace said. “Are you trying to use fire to make the land fertile again?”
“It’s not the kind of fire you think.”
“Then I’m truly lost.”
Ulgan touched his singed eyebrow. “It was an accident.”
“It looks like it,” Grace said. “I’m glad you’re okay but promise me you’ll keep Sasha out of your experiments.”
“She’s by the river! She’s bringing water!”
“So, you sent her after water before you tried to use... err... magic fire to heal the land?”
“If the air won’t cooperate, then maybe the water will!”
“That makes no sense.”
The captain’s eyes moved once more from his bride to his mage. Once, twice.
“You’re starting to sound the same to me.”
Grace huffed and hit him in the shoulder. “Don’t you dare start calling me Grace the Delirious. I’m just trying to keep up with him, that’s all!”
Kaius laughed out loud, but Ulgan didn’t seem very amused.
“I’m busy,” he declared and stood up.
“Wait.” Kaius stopped him. “Do you really think you can heal the land somehow? So we can start planting again?”
Ulgan pursed his lips and thought for a second. “I’m trying. No one can say what the wheel of fortune will decide.”
“So... that’s a maybe?”
“Maybe.”
Kaius nodded, declaring himself satisfied. He dismissed Ulgan and called Thrak in.
“Prepare the krags. The ones who can travel will return to the caves with me. The ones who can’t, will stay here a few more days to recover.”
“All right, captain.”
Sasha ran in, her little feet dragging mud all over the old carpet. Not that it mattered, since it was already impossibly dirty. She was just adding new, wet prints to the ancient ones.
“Mom, I want to stay! Ulgan needs my help. He’s come with this idea that if he uses magic fire that he creates with his bare hands and isn’t actually real fire, he can purify the first layer of soil, and then plants can grow again. Luckily, Goroth destroyed only a few gardens and fields. Ulgan says it can be done.”
Grace motioned for her to come into her arms. When Sasha did, Grace hugged her tightly.
“If he isn’t using real fire, then how did he burn his eyebrow and his hair?”
“That was an accident,” Sasha protested.
“And where were you when it happened?”
“A few feet away... I was safe, I promise! See?” She pointed at her eyebrows and flipped her hair. “Hair still perfect.”
Grace tsked. “You’ll be the death of me...” But there was no anger in her voice.
Sasha giggled and kissed her mother on the cheek.
“So, can I stay? I heard Beka and Birma are staying, too. Birma can’t travel, and Beka and I will take care of her.”
Grace sighed and hesitated for a long minute. She exchanged a glance with Kaius, but Kaius didn’t say anything. This would have to be her choice.
“All right, you can stay. But promise me you’ll be careful” She tucked a strand of her daughter’s hair behind her ear. “You’re growing up too fast, baby.”
“I told you,” Sasha rolled her eyes. “Childhood is overrated. Plus, I have to be ready for when my baby brother comes. You’ll need my help.”
Grace smiled. “You’re right. What would I do without you?”
They hugged once more, then Sasha moved to Kaius and hugged him too. Then she quickly shuffled out of the room, leaving more muddy prints behind. She waved at them, and they waved back. It struck Grace that Sasha didn’t yet know that Kaius had referred to her as his daughter twice. She figured there would be plenty of time for that in the days to come. For now, too much had happened already, and even though Sasha didn’t show it, she must’ve felt at least a little overwhelmed.
“Ready?” Kaius asked her.
“Yes.”
He helped her up. He touched her stomach briefly and kissed her on the forehead.
“My love. You’re making me so happy.”
“Well, you’re making me happy, too. Thank you for calling Sasha your daughter.”
“She is my daughter. And you’re my mate and the mother of my children.”
“Green-skinned or not...”
“All the next ones better be green-skinned,” he said jokingly.
“Oh, they will be. I’m too lazy to come down the mountain to look for adventure. Maybe for a supermarket...”
“Again with the supermarket.”
“And the furniture store! Don’t think I forgot! And you, mister, you had such a nice sleep in a proper bed with a proper mattress.”
Kaius frowned. “A bit lumpy.”
“Because it’s old! And probably rotten in places.”
He took her hand and kissed it before he pulled her out of the living room, and then the mansion. Thrak was waiting for them on the main alley with two krags.
“If you want a mattress, you shall have a mattress. And if you want a bed, you shall have a bed, too. I can get used to sleeping in a bed.”
“Ha! Because you already slept in one and loved it!”
“Lumpy...”
“I will choose a mattress that is not lumpy especially for you.”
They mounted and rode through the gates, where a dozen more orcs joined them. They started the journey back home.