Since we had nothing else to do for the rest of the day, as we walked behind the wagon to wherever the Orcs were taking us, Rhux explained everything. 

It seemed her father, Chief Vakgar, was the leader of the Orcs.  However, Chief V, as I was affectionately going to be referring to him, was now basically on his deathbed.  Rhux hadn’t known this before we were captured, but her brother, Urog, made sure to tell her this. 

The reason this was important was because Chief Vakgar actually kind of liked his only daughter, even if she was half-human.  Which was pretty much against the Orc code or something.  I got the impression from Rhux that during times of war, Orcs raped captured humans, and that was okay with the Orcs. Whatever offspring were produced by these spoils of ware were either not their concern or, if brought to their attention, were promptly eaten.  Gross. 

But Chief V hadn’t raped anyone. Instead, it turned out, Chief V had done something even worse.

He’d fallen in love with a human. 

Rhux told me that a long time ago, Chief V and some Orcs were out on a raid – back then, the Orcs liked to raid some of the human villages from time to time – or a hunting party, Rhux wasn’t sure which, and it didn’t really matter - when human soldiers ambushed them.   

Rhux then proceeded to tell me a little history about the kingdom and how the Orcs and the humans hate each other, but King Josep, Queen Jillian’s father, had brokered some kind of tenuous peace with them, swearing humans wouldn’t come into their lands if they wouldn’t raid farms anymore.  It seemed the peace lasted a long time until recently, the new queen, Queen Zayne, had pissed the Orcs off somehow.  Rhux wasn’t too sure how. 

My ears perked up at that.  But Rhux didn’t know any more about it because she didn’t care about any of it, so she went on with her story. 

So, during the ambush, a lot of humans got killed, and a lot of Chief V’s orcs got killed, and Chief V was severely wounded but managed to get away. 

He hid out, just trying to get back to his village so he could gather his men and come back and kill the humans, but his wounds got the better of him, and he passed out.  Rhux said he had been close to death. 

That’s when a beautiful, raven-haired young woman found him.  Rhux said the woman wasn’t afraid of him for some reason.  Him being pretty close to death probably helped, I thought.  And somehow, I think, using a rope and a horse, she got his eight-foot-tall orc ass back to her small farm.  The woman was a widow whose husband had died just a few months before.  

As we walked and Rhux talked, I could tell this was a story she didn’t often tell, if ever. But she trusted me with this, and I was glad. 

She got misty-eyed when she talked about her mother.  She described her as beautiful, with long dark hair, blue eyes, and a singing voice like an angel. 

I looked at Rhux and knew she looked exactly like her mother.  Just with her father’s green skin and pointy ears. 

So, back to the story. Somehow and for some reason, the woman nursed the Chief back to health.  Rhux was light on details here.  But apparently, he spent a month or two at the woman’s small farm recovering from his wounds. 

And in that time… They did what people and Orcs do…

After recovering, the Chief knew he had to return to his village.  They would think he was dead and would avenge him if he didn’t return.  He didn’t really want to return, but he knew the orcs would raid the farms, and he didn’t want them to find him alive and living with a human woman.  So with a broken heart, he left, never expecting to see the beautiful woman again. 

So imagine his surprise when a few years later, this woman, this raven-haired beautiful human woman, walked into his village, leading a little girl by the hand.  A lovely little green-skinned girl.  

Rhux didn’t know how old she was when this happened. She just knew that she had been young.  And that her mother was sick. 

Her mother would cough up blood every night and could hardly stand during the day.  But somehow, she’d summoned all of her strength and courage and walked for days to present her daughter to her father. 

A tear slipped down Rhux’s face when she talked about this.  If I could have put my arms around her, I would have, even if she’d have punched me in the face for it. 

Now, the thing Chief V forgot to mention to the dark-haired woman before they fell in love and accidentally made a baby that was both human and Orc and therefore destined to be an outcast from both societies was that he already had an Orc wife.  Umog.  And Umog was a jealous bitch. 

So, when this strange human woman asked for an audience with the Chief and presented his daughter to him, Umog was standing next to him, holding their orc son.  Rhux’s brother, Urog.

Needless to say, the Chief was embarrassed.  And his wife was pissed.  Orc women are not known for their sweet, forgiving nature. 

The Chief managed to get Rhux’s mother out of the village before Umog tore her human head off and ate it.  There, at the edge of the village, Rhux’s mother explained why she had to come.  She was dying.  She wouldn’t even make it home.  She had no family, no one else.  Please… she begged.  Take care of my daughter.  Our daughter. 

The Chief swore he would protect their daughter for as long as he lived. 

Then he picked up his tiny, half-human daughter, who was crying and begging her mother not to go, not to leave her, and with broken hearts, they both watched the woman walk away. 

The Chief returned to the village to find the Orcs mutinying against him.  Umog demanded he kill his mistake.  He had disgraced them.  That was the only way to make it right. 

The Chief refused.  He looked at his half-human daughter and, in her face, saw his true love.  No, he would not kill her.

Umog flew into a rage.  Umog’s brother, Dumog, was the strongest fighter in the village.  Even stronger than the Chief some said.  He would kill the Chief for disgracing Umog and her son and become chief himself until Urog was of age to take over. 

The Chief and Dumog battled.  It was epic.  It raged back and forth.  Somewhere during the fight, Chief V lost an eye, some fingers, and part of a foot. 

But he killed his wife’s brother, Dumog.  Then he told Umog that if she harmed one hair on his daughter’s head, he would kill her and their son. 

That was the end of it.  For Chief V anyway.

Rhux was moved in with an old orc woman who cared for her, while her father checked in on her from time to time, bringing her toys and presents, but living with his wife and son and otherwise acting more or less like she didn’t exist. 

Rhux left the village when she was old enough to care for herself and never returned. 

Now the Chief was dying, and he’d asked his son to bring his daughter home so he could see her one last time.  Urog agreed, but, as he’d told Rhux after capturing us, as soon as their father died, all protections for Rhux were over.  He was going to kill Rhux and end his mother’s embarrassment once and for all. 

#

“Holy shit,” I said when she was done.  We had walked for hours.  “So as soon as your dad is dead, your brother will kill you?”

“Yep.”  Rhux pulled on her ropes for about the millionth time, checking them to see if they’d magically come loose.  They had not.

“Wow.”  I was still in awe of her story.  “So your mom had you, raised you, but was dying, so she took you to the orcs.”  It all seemed so weird. 

“She didn’t know what else to do,” Rhux said.  “She didn’t have any family and knew no humans would care for me.  She thought I’d be safe with the Orcs.  I don’t think my father spent much time telling her about how delightful Orc's personalities are.” 

“Yeah, I guess not.  They were obviously busy doing other things.” 

Rhux elbowed me hard.  “Shut up.” 

I rubbed the sore spot where she’d hit me.  “And how’d you get the name Rhux?  Isn’t that an Orc name?  How’d your mom know an orc name if your dad was gone and he didn’t even know she was pregnant?” 

Rhux looked away.  “She didn’t know any Orc names.” 

I had to think about that.  “So, who named you Rhux?”

“My father, dumbass.” 

“Oh…” I thought some more.  “So, did you not have a name until you met him?” 

“Of course, I had a name!” She was losing patience with me.  “Now shut up, Jack.  Okay?” 

I had touched a nerve.  Maybe her mother had given her a human name, and she just didn’t want to tell me.

“Okay.  Sorry.  Just curious.”  We walked in silence for a bit.  Rhux’s story had taken my mind off of things, but my legs, knees, and feet were killing me now.  And I was starving. “How much further?” I asked. 

The Orc Thrul turned and sneered at me. 

“Don’t whine,” Rhux said. “Orcs only respect strength.  They’ll kill you if you whine.” 

I think it would be faster to make a list of things they weren’t going to kill me for.  But I kept my whining to myself. 

“So what’s gonna happen when we get wherever we’re going?” I asked, trying to sound curious and not at all like I was whining.

“Listen to me, Jack,” Rhux said.  “Whatever happens, it won’t be fun. They’ll separate us. But stay tough and be ready for when I come for you.” 

“I’ll be patiently waiting for you to save me,” I said with a smile.  “And please do it before something eats me.” 

Rhux grinned and brushed her shoulder against mine.