The Thread of Destiny-Ch. 36
Summary: Odessa's job had two primary responsibilities: Keep the realm of Middle Earth in balance and don't get involved. For centuries, those two tasks have come easy to her--especially in the tranquil city of Lossarnach. When a dark stranger rides through the gates, the balance of her world turns on its axis. Both of her primary directives unravel at an alarming rate, leaving Odessa questioning her very purpose.
Word Count: ~5,600
Disclaimer: I do not consent to this work being copied or posted to other sites of blogs.
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The camp Klij referred to was larger than Odessa expected. She was honestly surprised there was a camp at all. Nothing could have survived the initial blast of a volcanic eruption. Even now, Odessa was walking on a thick blanket of ash.
Klij led them through a weaving maze of tents that housed all manner of people like him. Odessa kept her glances brief and covert even though she was not offered the same courtesy. Dozens of black eyes watched her walking by, some with curiosity and some with disdain.
Who were these people? How did they manage to live through such disaster? Especially so close to the volcano, itself. It hadn’t been that long since Odessa visited the south and she could not remember ever meeting anyone who looked like the people around her. Which made little sense, given how many of them there were.
Klij took a turn and Odessa felt her stomach drop. A row of cages lined the north end of the camp. They were fashioned out of solid slabs of wood and branches cut down from the trees. As she approached, Odessa could see their contents more clearly.
Two cages at the end of the row were occupied. The six or seven human men scattered between the two cages looked like they’d seen better days. Much better days. Their clothes were in tatters and their skin was filthy. More than one was injured. The eyes that watched her approach were gleaming with hunger and despair.
Yush skipped ahead and opened an empty cage. If Klij cared that he’d gotten ahead of him, he didn’t give any indication. Yush made a gesture of invitation that was very out of place, given that he was inviting her into captivity. It brought a unwanted chuckle out of her throat.
It wasn’t a large cell. Maybe a bit wider than she was tall. Odessa had enough room to stretch out if she wanted to. She turned a circle while Yush closed the door. Klij put a large iron lock on the bar and tossed the keys to a nearby guard.
Yush stuck his head against the bars and hissed. “I’ll get you in front of the Lord Father as soon as possible.”
Odessa had no idea what that meant, but she nodded along as if she did. Yush cast her another look that seemed to meant ‘hold tight’, then scuttled away. She watched him go with an increasing amount of confusion that left her standing there looking like an idiot for far too long.
“How’d they get you?”
She glanced to the man speaking to her. He was tall with a flop of brown hair and a nose that had been broken at least once. His brown eyes were bruised with lack of sleep. They eyed her with interest that made her want to take a step back.
“Ambush,” she answered with mostly the truth.
He nodded and gestured to a man sitting at his feet. “They got me and Eaton in a raid.”
Eaton waved an absent hand at her. He lounged on the packed dirt floor with his arm tucked protectively around his middle.
“I’m Kince,” the man offered.
“Odessa.”
“Nice to meet you Odessa. If you can get a weapon, I advise you kill yourself.”
She blinked and tilted her head to the side. “Why?”
Kince lifted a shoulder. “You’re the first woman I’ve seen them take alive. I assume they want you for...unsavory reasons.”
“Oh.”
He frowned at her. “That’s all you’re gonna say?”
Odessa crossed her arms and approached Kince. He leaned on the bars between them in a way that felt deliberately casual. “Who are they?”
From the floor, Eaton said, “You ain’t never heard of orcs?”
She had heard of them. They were scary stories that teenagers told each other around the fire to scare one another. Vicious, angry beasts that roamed the countryside without law and without mercy. Odessa glanced at the guard, taking in his harsh features. She could see why people called them monsters.
“I thought they didn’t take prisoners,” Odessa said.
Kince sucked his teeth. “They needed us.”
“For what?”
“To help them dig out the mountain,” Eaton said in an angry, sardonic tone. “What else?”
“Dig out the mountain?”
Kince made the same sound that men sometimes used to calm horses. It put her teeth on edge. “They don’t do so well in the sunlight.”
Again, Eaton jumped in. “Fixed that right up, didn’t they?”
Odessa looked up through the top of the cage. The sky was not full of clouds, as she assumed hours before. It was smoke that blotted out the sun.
“You’re saying that the orcs set off the volcano?” She looked at them again, wondering how they managed it.
“Sure did,” Kince drawled.
“How?”
“Weren’t you listening, you stupid cow?” Eaton hissed. He pressed his face against the bars and enunciated every syllable. “They dug. Out. The. Mountain.”
Odessa held up her hands in defense. “I’m just asking questions. Its confusing.”
“Don’t worry about the details,” Kince said. “They don’t matter.”
She guessed he was probably right. Knowing how they set off the volcano didn’t change the fact that it was currently spewing lava and smoke into the air. It also didn’t change the fact that she’d let them take her captive and lock her in a cage. Without a fight, no less. Why had she done that?
“I meant it when I said you need to kill yourself.”
Odessa gave him a flat look.
“You look like you’re a smart girl. Don’t think you’re strong enough to take torture.”
She was. Odessa could take quite a bit of torture, and that was before she had the warden’s mantle.
“Listen,” Kince urged, “I’ll help you, if you want. I’ll snap your little neck. Quick-like.” His voice dropped low and he said, “All you have to do is help me out a little first.”
Odessa drew back from him. She knew that tone. Knew what he wanted. It was an offer she’d heard before. Do this small thing for me and I’ll end your pain.
“Its a good offer, little girl.”
Suddenly, she was glad Yush thought to put her in a separate cell. She’d have to thank him later. Odessa shook her head and went to sit as far away from Kince as possible. She leaned against the bars and stared out into the camp, trying to think about what she was going to do. Odessa might be a capable fighter, but she was chest deep in hostile territory. Everything in her was saying that her best bet for survival was to get out. Fast.
The cages were on the camp’s edge. If she could get out, Odessa could make a run across the ravaged stumps to the forest. Once she was in the safety of the trees, it would be easier to evade the orcs if they decided to hunt her down. Odessa glanced around, wondering if they would bother.
Aside from the single guard, no one was paying much attention to the prisoners. The camp was awash with activity. Every orc seemed to have a job to do—carrying firewood, sorting through wagons of belongings stolen in the last raid, sharpening weapons—anything that needed to be done had someone assigned to the task. She craned her neck to see if she could find the orc directing everything, but there didn’t seem to be one. Everyone performed their work independently.
Time passed, and Yush didn’t return. Odesssa made herself keep sitting despite the fact that she was so, so bored. She needed to rest. To think. Her toes tapped out a rhythm while she tried to decide what kind of community she was dealing with.
The orcs spoke a mix of the common tongue and another, harsher language. They moved together in packs so tight that they were constantly running into one another. No one walked alone. Altercations broke out at regular intervals, though it never seemed to be too serious. The skirmishes were over as soon as they began and had the air of siblings bickering with one another. A sharp word, a flicking swat at a shoulder, and then they were done.
When she could glean no further information from her immediate surroundings, Odessa reached for the things that couldn’t be easily seen. She put both hands on the packed earth on either side of her and sent out a quiet inquiry. The earth felt very far away despite the fact that she was directly touching it. Odessa sought out its voice and spread her attention in an ever expanding circle from her place in the cage.
The explosion had done a lot of damage. More damage than she’d ever seen in a singular event. The area beneath the camp was not much for than a ragged hole in the threads. Odessa’s heart broke to hear the sorrow and pain coming from the land. She offered as much comfort as she could and promised it that she would work to repair the damage. Odessa couldn’t tell if it believed her, or even heard her promises.
Once she escaped, Odessa would have to travel closer to the volcano to start her work. It might take years, even decades to build the threads back up. There was very little to work with as far as darning the damage. Odessa would have to create the thread from scratch and weave it piece by tiny piece. She closed her eyes, already exhausted from the weight of the task.
Letting go of the earth, she pulled her knees up to her chest and started planning her exit strategy. The cage was surprisingly well made, despite its rough structure. The orcs reinforced the corners with strong rope and the bars were close enough together that squeezing through wasn’t an option. The cages sat on nothing but flat earth. If she could find even the slightest bit of leverage, she could wriggle underneath the edge and crawl out.
Finding that leverage was a problem. There was no furniture in the cages. No bench to use as a lever. No chair to hook between the bars. Odessa was strong, but not strong enough to lift the whole thing by herself. She glanced at Kince and Eaton. They were thin and malnourished, but together they might be able to do it. Odessa pursed her lips and looked away. She didn’t like them enough to ask for help.
The guard changed shifts. Odessa paid attention to where the new guard put the keys. They were tucked into a pouch on his hip. She considered a plan to steal them away, but nixed it when the guard took up a post too far from the bars. After a moment, she reconsidered. She could call him over, try to engage in small talk and...Odessa shook her head. She didn’t have a thief’s hands. He would feel her trying to take the keys, for sure.
Night was beginning to fall. Fires lit up in the camp, though they numbered fewer than she would have liked. The gossip about orcs having excellent night vision appeared to be true. This, she thought, might work in her favor. The deep dark could hide covert actions.
She angled her body into a corner and pulled her dagger from her boot. Silently, she went to work on the ties holding her cage in place against the empty one beside it. Her initial assessment about the strength of the rope turned out to be true. It took more than half an hour to cut through the first few knots. Her arms burned from forcing the muscle to make slow, controlled cuts. Hacking at the rope would only make unnecessary noise and she surmised that the guard’s pointed ears were meant to catch the smallest sound.
Just before she finished with the first section, Odessa had to stop and hide the dagger beneath her thigh. An orc that she guessed might be female walked up with a stack of bowls and a large iron pot.
“Kednack,” greeted the guard with a deferential nod.
Kednack’s only reply was a low grunt. She was not very tall, but her body had a stout build that made carrying the heavy iron pot look easy. Clawed hands put it down and lined up the bowls. The men in the cage rose with eager expressions. When Kednack started to fill the bowls, one of them reached out to grab. She slapped his hand hard with the ladle.
“Wait,” she snapped in a clear and firm alto.
The man hissed and held his hand to his chest while the others knelt down in wait. Odessa could not move, lest she give away the fact that she had the dagger. She watched from her corner as Kednack finished filling the bowls and slid them closer to the cage. They were quickly snatched up and carried away to be slurped up.
Kednack picked up the remaining bowl and carried it over to Odessa’s cage. She stared down at Odessa with eyes that were both aloof and interested. Odessa returned the look for as long at Kednack let it hold. Eventually, the orc sniffed and knelt to put the bowl just inside the bars. Without another glance, she went back to her pot. From beneath her cloak, she produced a much larger bowl that she filled and brought to the guard.
“Many thanks,” he said as he took it.
Kednack grunted again. She went back to the pot and pick it up, walking away.
While the guard was distracted with food, Odessa put the dagger back into her boot and stood. She had only taken a single step toward the bowl when a long arm reached through the bars and snagged it.
Kince’s smile was not kind as he held it on his side of the dividing bars. “Hungry?”
Odessa suppressed a sneer. “What are you doing?”
“I’m hungry, too,” he said as he took a deliberate slurp. “When was the last time you ate?”
She looked away. Odessa might actually find torture preferable to having to deal with Kince’s taunting.
He wiggled the bowl at her. “What will you give me for it?”
Odessa was tempted to reach through the bars and break his nose. The snap might actually put it back into place. She settled for throwing him a baleful look and turning pointedly away. He let out a disappointed, mocking sound as she sat down in her corner. There, he made a show of eating what she assumed was a thin soup as loudly as possible.
Slowly, the camp came more alive. If she thought they were busy during the day, that busyness tripled at night. There were so many of them. Hundreds, she thought. Everything she heard about orcs made it seem like they were roving nomads. Small packs that moved from town to town pillaging what they could before moving on.
Part of that was definitely true. All the supplies she saw were definitely stolen or repurposed. The tents were sewn together and patched to the point that she couldn’t tell what the original material had been. Their armor, such as it was, didn’t always fit and most of it was dotted with the marks of a good, hard fight. Occasionally, she could see evidence of the strike that killed its previous owner.
With so many walking around, Odessa couldn’t risk taking the dagger out again. She spent the night dozing on and off to shore up her strength for the next day. Odessa could not make her run in the night. The orcs were too awake. Too active. When the sun came up, she would work on the ties until she could slip through the gap. Once she was free, she would draw on whatever power the land could provide to her in its current state to sprint to the trees.
The plan felt solid right up until the sun came up. Odessa was preparing to start work when a commotion simmered nearby. Orcs began to call out to one another, word passing down the line until it reached the guard.
“Its time!” an orc announced.
“No,” breathed Eaton from the other cell. “I thought he was gone for another week.”
Who? She wanted to ask. Who was gone?
Eaton pressed against the side of the cage, his eyes wide and frightened. “He’ll kill us.”
Kince, who was standing with his arms folded and a hard look in his eyes, said, “No. He needs workers. He just wants to parade us around.”
“How the fuck do you know?” Eaton bit out. “Do you see any of the men we came in with? Bordon? Fisk? Where the fuck did they go?”
Odessa looked between the men and the place where the commotion seemed to be coming from. The orcs were milling around between a set of large tents in an ever growing swarm. Many of them were talking excitedly to each other. Several were pointing at the cages. She caught the faint edge of laughter above the drone of voices.
Reaching back, Odessa tested the corner. She’d only managed to cut through the first tie and the gap she made was not big enough for her body. A vague sense of panic set in when she realized that she had run out of time. She should have never let them take her in the first place. There were only five of them. Odessa could have fought against five.
The milling crowd began to move. It undulated in the direction of the cages, parting as a smaller, more forceful group began to push through. To Odessa’s great surprise, the smaller group was led by a human. He was older, with white hair and a mean look about him. He shoved the orcs aside while he stomped along, uncaring if they fell and were stepped on by the others.
He stopped in front of the cages and gave a jerking nod to the orc beside him. They produced several sets of shackles that were thrown into the men’s cage.
“Put ‘em on!”
One of the men reached down and started locking the iron rings around his wrists. Eaton scrambled to standing and stopped him. “Let them come in and fucking make us!”
That was, apparently, not the right thing to say. The man spit at the ground and gestured to the lock on the cage door. It was quickly opened and several orcs rushed inside. After that, Odessa got a front row seat to a brutal, merciless beating. Eaton was dragged out of the cage and kicked to the ground. Punches, slaps, and more kicks followed until he stopped moving. Afterwards, the old man unsheathed a short-sword and stabbed Eaton through the torso.
The men put on their shackles.
Odessa hoped that they would forget she existed, but her luck wasn’t that good. A pair of shackles landed at her feet with a metallic clink. She stared at them in dismay, then leaned down and put them on. They let her out of the cage and, to her further dismay, brought her to the front of the line.
The old man leered at her. Feeling his attention made her stomach turn. Odessa could not give him the arch, haughty look her mother used when the ladies were too overt with their insults. There was too much noise. Too many growls. Too many mouths breathing far too close. She had to close her eyes against the memory of the last time she’d been walked through a crowd in chains.
“Move!” the man ordered.
Odessa started walking. The irons were heavy on her wrists, but her ankles were free, which meant she could still have an opportunity to run. She just had to time it right. Odessa bit down on the inside of her cheek. It felt like every eye in the camp was watching her, waiting for her to step out of line so that she could be kicked down and killed like Eaton.
I can’t do this again.
The man led her deeper into the camp. With every step, more orcs pressed in from every side. Odessa kept her eyes down and her arms tucked into her stomach. It was the only way to keep herself quiet and moving. Odessa’s fear burned at the back of her throat. It took her breath and made her want to reach down for her dagger and start cutting through bodies until they stopped boxing her in. She hated that she couldn’t see what lay ahead. She hated that she couldn’t face it with her head up and her spine straight.
Odessa walked until a hand gripped her shoulder and pulled her to a stop. Her breaths were quick and she still couldn’t lift her gaze from the ground. Pressure on her shoulder dropped Odessa to her knees. In her periphery, the other men were assembled in much the same position. The orcs kept their distance and the sound of their excited voices hushed. They pulled back from the line of prisoners. Odessa let out a soft, relieved breath and the pain in her chest lessened. She blinked at the ground while the world came back into focus and, with it, came a rush of anger.
“Do you swear loyalty to the Lord Father, rightful ruler of Mordor?” the man demanded.
Odessa looked up. “What?”
The man snarled in anger and lifted his hand in what was probably going to be a pretty hard slap. A voice stayed his hand with a single, harsh word.
I know that voice, Odessa thought as she turned her head slowly to look forward.
As with the other structures in the camp, the throne was an exercise in resourcefulness. It was built from scraps of metal and wood and—she couldn’t tell if she should be surprised—bone. The dais it sat on was encircled by the shields of the fallen. Hilts of broken swords haloed the person seated before her.
Odessa met his eyes and she was gratified to see shock written across his face. He rose and stepped off the dais.
“My lord?” the man asked.
Adar waved a dismissed hand. His attention was solely on Odessa. He opened his mouth to give an order, stopping when someone called out to him.
“Lord Father!” Yush cried. “I must speak with you!”
The old man let out a loud yell of censure and unsheathed his short-sword. He aimed it at Yush, who held up his hands in defense. Odessa felt her body flinch in Yush’s direction, which was confusing. He was a significant part of why she was on her knees in the first place.
Adar stayed the man’s hands with single word of warning. “Waldreg.”
Yush started talking very fast in the fractured sounds of what Odessa assumed was the orcs’ native tongue. His tone was entreating and he was directing most of what he was saying to Adar. Occasionally, he would gesture to Odessa. She did not know how she felt about being dragged into the conversation.
Adar listened until Yush stopped talking with his eyes focused on Odessa. He pointed to Yush. “Bring her.”
“Yes, Lord Father.”
Yush rushed over and helped Odessa to her feet. Over Yush’s shoulder, she could see the man—Waldreg—staring at her with anger. Unable to help herself, Odessa tossed him a mocking grin and let Yush guide her away. Thankfully, the crowd of orcs did not follow.
Adar’s tent was larger than the rest. The orc standing guard opened the flap covering the entrance as he approached. He bowed in reverence and held the flap open until Yush and Odessa stepped inside.
She took in the various chests littering the perimeter and the drapes of heavily patched material that made up the ceiling. A large table dominated the middle of the room. On either side were high backed chairs. Adar’s sword leaned against the chair on the left.
Adar, himself, walked up to the table and turned to face her. He leaned his hips back against the edge and crossed his arms. “What are you doing here?”
“What am I doing here?” Odessa snapped waspishly. “What are you doing here?” Before he could say anything, the answer came to her with all the force of a rolling storm. “Oh...you lied to me.”
His brows drew together. “I did not.”
“Yes, you did.” Odessa tipped her head back and laughed ruefully. “I believed you. I am such an idiot.”
To her right, Yush shifted his weight nervously. “My lord, the debt.”
Adar’s eyes cut to the orc. “Get the keys for the chains.”
“Yes, my lord.” Yush left after a quick bow.
Odessa watched Adar carefully. He returned her look with one of his own.
“I did not lie,” he asserted again.
“You told me your people were Uruk,” Odessa shot back.
“They are. We calls ourselves Uruk.”
She hissed through her teeth. “You knew I wouldn’t know what you meant.”
“Would you have helped me if you did?”
Odessa’s jaw worked. She wouldn’t have. The orcs—Uruk, or whatever he wanted to call them—sowed chaos wherever they went. Whole towns had been razed to the ground under their attacks.
Adar took a breath and pushed from the table. “Did you save his life?”
She lifted a shoulder.
His head ticked to the side and his hair fell forward over his shoulder. The look he fixed her with was so familiar that it made her chest ache. Odessa wished she’d never met him. She averted her eyes and set her jaw.
“He says you fought a terrible evil. He says it was a being of darkness.”
She kept her mouth closed.
“Odessa.”
Why did he have to say her name like that? As if it were all he wanted to say. As if he were tasting each individual letter with relish.
She sniffed and changed the subject. “You forced the volcano to erupt.”
Adar stepped forward. “It had to be done.”
“You and I have very different ideas about what has to be done.”
He was undeterred by the venom in her tone. “My children cannot walk in sunlight.”
Odessa scoffed angrily. His children. They seemed to be perfectly capable of causing horror and mayhem, even if they couldn’t go out in the sun. Dio, she was angry. Mostly at herself. He’d so totally deceived her that she had no defense against the fact that she’d willingly helped him ravage the land on which they stood.
“We needed a place to settle.”
Odessa didn’t want to hear his explanations. They were lies, along with everything else he’d ever said to her. “People already lived here. You killed them and you took their land.”
“I did,” he replied, as if his actions were justified. “It was necessary.”
She glared at him. “I sincerely doubt that.”
Adar moved closer. A patch of light slashed across his side and down his arm. It highlighted the sharp edges of a new piece of armor. The gauntlet was made of scorched metal that encased the wrist and fingers of his left hand. She wondered if one of his people made it, and who they might have learned the craft from.
“For centuries,” he began, “the Uruk have been subjected to so many atrocities that it would take me an eternity to name them. I have done what I must to ensure they can live in safety.”
Odessa’s eyes narrowed. “Why should I believe you?”
“It is the truth.”
“Or,” she bit out, “it is more lies.”
“Odessa,” he murmured, “nothing between us has been a lie.”
It irritated her how much she wanted to believe him. Odessa stared up into Adar’s eyes while she wrestled with her irritation. They were drained of color, more gray than they’d ever been. She noticed that he lost some weight in the months since she’d seen him last. His cheeks were hollow and the scars were more pronounced. She sensed a fatigue about him that hung heavy on his shoulders.
He took a final step forward, coming to rest very close to her. His attention, as always, was direct. The sweep of his gaze was a physical touch along her cheek and jaw. Odessa’s hands curled into fists as she fought the heat that threatened to spread all over.
The tent flap opened and Yush returned. He held out the keys. “I have them.”
Eyes still on Odessa, Adar stepped back. “Release her.”
Yush quickly went to work. Odessa held Adar’s gaze while the iron fell away. He gave Yush enough room to take the shackles, but no more than was strictly necessary. Looking at him, Odessa was sure he wouldn’t have moved at all if he didn’t have to.
“You saved his life,” he said. “and that incurs a debt. Until it is paid, Yush is yours.”
“What?” she blurted.
The corner of Adar’s mouth lifted. “He is now in your service and will remain there until the debt is paid.”
Odessa looked at Yush. “How long does that take?”
Yush gave a sheepish shrug. “As long as it takes.”
The tent flap opened again and a tall, thin Uruk stepped in. “Lord Father, we found the water source.”
Adar’s chin lifted and a soft look of pride passed over his face. “I knew you would.”
The Uruk stepped forward and his eyes caught on Odessa. He took her in with apprehension.
“Find her a tent near the foundation. Tell your brothers and sisters that she’s not to be touched,” Adar ordered before gesturing for the thin Uruk to come forward.
Odessa debated refusing to leave. She wanted more answers. If Yush hadn’t ushered her out with an earnest ‘please come with me, my lady’, she might have.
Outside, Yush guided her away from the tent and down a narrow pathway. He walked at her side, though she could tell he wanted to move at a faster pace.
“Tell me about the debt.”
“You saved my life, my lady,” Yush explained. “I am at your disposal until the debt is paid.”
Odessa passed a hand over her face. This was not the first time she was faced with learning about a new and strange culture. Usually, she was less angry about it.
“How do you repay the debt?”
“Through service. Whatever you need, I will do.”
“So, you’re a servant?”
“No.” His answer was quick and touched with insult. “Not a servant.”
“What do I call you, then?”
“I am Yush.”
Odessa decided that she wasn’t going to get much more clarification. She took a turn with Yush around a large cooking fire. Some kind of stew bubbled in a pot. A group of Uruk passed bowls around. They spared her barely a glance as they dug into their food.
Beyond the cooking fire, there was what remained of the city. It was covered in ash and there were buildings that were nothing more than burned husks. As Odessa walked deeper into the area, she was less inclined to call it a city and more inclined to call it a village. A small one. There might have been twenty buildings to begin with and only half still stood.
In what used to be the main thoroughfare was a long row of tents. They were covered in fabric that contained fewer patches than the other tents. The one furthest into the village was largest and tallest of the bunch. She peered at it with interest while Yush slowed in front of the fifth tent in the row.
“You can sleep here. There is a cot inside.”
Unashamed of her suspicion, Odessa opened the flap and looked inside. “Yush?”
“Yes, my lady?”
“Why did you dig into the mountain?”
Yush cocked his head at the question. “The sun burns, my lady.”
She nodded. “Why not live underground?”
“We tried that, my lady. The dwarves did not want us.”
“Oh?”
Yush shifted his weight nervously. “They hunted us in the tunnels. Put our babies to the ax.”
She didn’t like the way her stomach turned at his explanation. “And, you couldn’t live in the forests?”
He scoffed. “With the elves? Or the men? They hunted us, too.”
“Why?”
Yush shrugged. “I don’t know, my lady.”
“I’m not a lady.”
“What?”
Odessa made an ambiguous gesture at herself. “I’m not a lady. I don’t have a title.”
Yush’s eyes darted to the side. “What do I call you, then?”
“Call me Odessa.”
“Yes...Odessa.”
She was suddenly very tired. “I think I’ll get some rest. Thank you, Yush.”
Yush bowed.
Odessa stepped into the tent and let the flap fall closed. The dark covering made the inside equally as dark. She sat on the cot. The mattress was filled with feather down, a luxury she did not expect in a place like this. Odessa wondered which house it had been stolen from.
She touched the bag around her neck with one hand and the dagger with the other. If she wanted to run, Adar was certainly giving her ample room to do so. Odessa glanced at the tent’s opening. Yush’s shadow moved just outside.
Odessa loosed an audibly tired sigh and laid down on the cot. Adar’s actions yanked the balance of the land into the darkness. It was her job to bring it back towards the light. Making that happen was going to be more difficult if she ran., which meant she was going to have to stay here. Merda.
