Page 21 of The Orc King's Pet
My life is essentially already over. The one I knew, at least. I’ve done my part. I stood on the stage. I got auctioned. The money will ensure my family is taken care of. But I can’taskfor death. I can’t accept it so easily. A part of me still wants to fight for whatever life I have left, even if it is seen as weakness.
“No, Your Majesty,” I force out. “I don’t want to die.”
“So, this is where you’ll make your stand, is it?” he asks, his thumb still moving against the soft skin of my neck, just below my ear. “On the edge of death? If I remove the restraints, will you fall to your knees and beg me to spare your life?”
“If you’re going to spare me, it won’t matter if I’m on my knees or not,” I declare. “Begging for mercy won’t change anything, will it? It’s yours to give… yours to take away.”
“What if I like humans better on their knees?” he asks, still tormenting me with his thumb, the sensation almost maddening by how gentle it is compared to the pressure on my neck.
“If that’s what you expect from me, I’ll learn to walk on them,” I say. “But I won’t get on them tobegyou to spare my life.”
His hand moves from my neck to my right wrist. I look up, confused, and see that he’s removing the restraint. Hope flickers inside me, but I’m more scared of it than I am of him. Does this mean he isn’t going to whip me? If it does, am I truly being spared, or am I about to face a fate worse than the whip?
Even after I’m freed, I’m too terrified to move. I remain where I am, facing the cross, hands braced below the restraints now dangling beside my wrist. He leaves the collar around my neck but removes the rope securing it to the cross.
“You’re not like most humans,” he growls. “I haven’t decided if that’s a good thing or a bad thing yet, but I’m not going to whip you. Right now, at least.”
I slowly turn to face him, meeting his dark gaze, my knees still wobbly, despite what he said. My breasts are exposed, and when his eyes lower to them, I cover them with my arms. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”
“Don’t be so quick to offer gratitude, little human girl,” he snarls. “You will still face a Reparations Penalty, but it won’t be the whip. I’m just going to put you over my knee.”
I know what that means. I’ve never experienced it, but Rose did when she was younger. Still, a sore bottom is better than unimaginable pain and wounds that will bleed for days. It’s mercy. I know that, whether he’s admitting it or not. It’s not something I’ll take lightly or easily forget.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” I reply, nodding. “I understand.”
“But first, you need a bath,” he growls, turning away. “Wash that ridiculous paint off your face and scrub yourself clean. You still smell like Concord City, and I don’t want to smell that stench unless I’m watching it burn.”
I look around, not seeing any water, other than what has trickled from a crack in the wall behind the whipping cross. I gather the remnants of my dress and do my best to hold it in place.
“Can you show me where I should bathe?” I ask apprehensively.
“Yes, little human girl,” he growls, snatching a length of leather from the wall. He attaches it to my collar, turning it into a leash. “Since you’re going to be staying here with me in my final days, I guess I have to give you the grandfuckingtour. But I’ll just keep my little pet on a leash, so you don’t wander off.”
I’m not sure how I feel about the leash, but it’s better than the whip. He tugs on the leash as he walks toward the stairs, then he stomps up the steps like they’re nothing. I struggle to keep up but there’s enough give in the leash that I don’t get dragged. He’s definitely not an aged orc, even if he’s in his final days.
I’m scared to draw a breath, but the stairs force plenty. I do my best to hold onto my dress. What’s left of it. That proves to be a futile effort when I stumble on the stairs, and the fabric slides down my hips. I reach for it, but a jerk on the leash prevents me from bunching the fabric before it hits the floor. King Lix’tukdoesn’t stop to retrieve it, leaving me to stumble along behind him almost naked.
Despite how rough he’s being, he holds the door open when I reach the top of the stairs. That confuses me enough for gratitude to emerge.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” I pant, walking past him, covering myself the best I can now that I don’t even have a tattered dress.
We’re in a hallway similar to the one outside his throne room. He keeps walking and tugging on the leash until he reaches the spot where I lost my shoe. He leans over, picks it up, and turns to me. His eyes roam across my exposed skin enough for me to turn red.
“In Uzrirgard, these usually work better in pairs,” he sneers, tossing it onto the floor, perfectly aligned with my foot.
“Thank you again, Your Majesty,” I sigh, slipping my bare foot into it.
“You can drop theyour-majestyshit,” he mutters, continuing on. “Everyone in this fortress knows I’m a king, even the ghosts. You’re barely more than a pet.”
A pet? Is that why he put a collar and leash on me? I’m not sure if being an orc king’s pet is better than being his gift or companion, but at least he’s not whipping me.
“What should I call you?” I ask awkwardly, trying to keep up with him so that there is no pressure on my neck.
“King Lix’tuk is fine,” he says, stopping near a set of large metal doors. “Stand in front of them, in the middle,” he orders, pointing where I should go.
He lets go of the leash, so I hold my arms over my breasts and hurry to the spot. He slides a large, green finger across the wall and a screen appears. He taps it a few times, and a red light sweeps across my body.
“What was that?” I gasp, unsure what just happened.
