Chapter 8: The Warlord's Confession
Gromm's hand pressed flat against my belly as he spoke, his voice a low rumble that vibrated through his chest and into my back where I lay against him. "Our numbers are dying, Liana. For every male born to my people, only one female arrives every three seasons. We have become desperate. We raid for resources, for food, for land. But what we truly need is blood. New blood."
His fingers traced idle patterns on my skin, and I felt the weight of his words settle between us. I turned my head to look at him, at the way the morning light caught the planes of his green face, the shadows beneath his amber eyes.
"So you came here," I said slowly, "to take elven women."
"To create a future." His jaw tightened. "Orcs and elves together would be strong. Your mages and our warriors, your long lives and our resilience. A hybrid child would carry the best of both peoples."
I studied him, this creature who had dismantled my world. He spoke of futures and empires with such certainty. And yet, something gnawed at me, a question that rose unbidden and bitter on my tongue.
"You know your way around a woman's body," I said, and immediately felt heat climb my cheeks. "Have you been with others? Female orcs?"
The question hung in the air, and I was surprised by the sharp twist in my chest, the edge of something that felt dangerously like jealousy. I had no claim to him. I hated him. And yet.
Gromm's hand stilled on my belly. He was quiet for a long moment, and when he spoke, his voice had lost its warmth.
"One," he said. "I was gifted a wife when I became war lord. She carried my child."
I turned fully to face him, searching his expression. Something dark had settled there, a grief that looked ancient and raw.
"What happened to her?"
He met my eyes, and in them I saw a cold fury I had not witnessed before, not even when he took my throne.
"Your father's army found our encampment while I was away hunting. They slaughtered everyone. Women. Children. Elders." His voice dropped to a whisper. "She was eight moons pregnant."
The air left my lungs. I stared at him, at the orc who had killed my father, and realized with a sickening lurch that my father had killed his family first.