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D rawing in Orc Mountain was delightful.

Daisy began just outside the sickroom, sketching the lovely arch of its door, the beautiful detail of the wrought-iron lamp embedded in the wall beside it. And then she drifted down the corridor, drawing the long line of the ceiling, and vaguely smiling at a bulky, bemused-looking orc who passed by.

But he didn’t interrupt her, and neither did the next orc, or the next. And Daisy’s courage grew as she went, and she began cautiously glancing into the various rooms as she passed. One was a large, well-outfitted kitchen, with multiple orcs and women cheerfully working inside it, and another was a beautiful empty room with several huge baths cut into the floor.

Daisy eagerly slipped inside, and flipped to a new page — and indeed, the baths turned out to be wonderful to draw, with their sharp angles and rising tendrils of steam. So much that she barely noticed when a pair of orcs strode past her, stripped off all their clothes, and dove into the water.

But Daisy didn’t draw naked people without their permission, so she again wandered down the corridor, until she found a bright, bustling forge, with several big, sweaty orc smiths working over a rounded, stunningly designed furnace. And when the smiths shot wary, uncertain looks toward her, she again drew up her courage, and shyly asked if she could draw the beautiful furnace.

The request earned her several more odd looks, but once the smiths had agreed, they seemed increasingly fascinated by Daisy’s drawing, casting frequent curious looks at her sketchbook. And when the bulkiest smith asked if she could draw people, too, she tossed off a quick sketch of him with the huge axe he was forging, his sharp-toothed grin beaming bright across his broad face.

“Ach, look at this!” the smith said, once she’d torn out the page, and handed it over toward him. “ It is me, brothers! Look !”

The other orcs looked both amused and intrigued, several of them angling increasingly intent glances toward Daisy — at least, until someone new materialized beside her. It was Julian , looking rather pale as he glanced at the huge smiths, but Daisy couldn’t help a bright smile toward him as she waved him into the room.

“Julian!” she exclaimed. “ I found the most wonderful furnace. And these smiths have been so lovely, too.”

Julian’s smile back looked distinctly alarmed, but he gave the smiths a careful nod. “ Thank you, brothers,” he said. “ And sister, should you wish, mayhap I could show you some other rooms, also?”

Daisy eagerly agreed, and waved goodbye to the friendly smiths, who all waved back. While Julian rapidly ushered her out into the corridor, and then ran both hands over his sweaty-looking face. “ Good gods, sister,” he said thickly. “ The Bautul forge — ach. You are lucky Filak —”

But his voice faded, his mouth grimacing, and Daisy’s smile faltered as she studied him. “ What about Filak ?” she carefully asked. “ He’s not… here, is he?”

She shot a searching glance around at the corridor, but it seemed otherwise unoccupied, and Julian huffed a wry laugh, and shook his head. “ No , I ken he is digging again,” he replied. “ He would not have thought — ach. But , I am glad to see you are up and about, and” — he slightly straightened, and gave her a more genuine smile — “there is much more I can show you, if you come?”

Daisy nodded and grinned back toward him, and then accompanied him down the corridor. And it soon turned out that exploring Orc Mountain with Julian was even more delightful than before, because he indeed showed Daisy an astonishing variety of intriguing rooms, and gave her detailed explanations as they went.

And while Daisy had already learned some of Julian’s information from Rosa’s helpful publications, seeing it firsthand was another experience entirely. The mountain was impossibly large, and it was apparently divided into five distinct wings for the five clans of orcs, all with fascinating differences between them. The Bautul clan’s wing felt bulky and solid — not unlike the Bautul orcs themselves — with many lovely rounded shapes like the furnace. While the Skai clan’s orcs were generally taller and leaner, and their wing was dimmer and narrower, too, featuring multiple twisty winding tunnels that hid several truly wonderful rooms. Including a massive fighting arena, a rounded shrine with some stunning carvings, and a bath with a huge waterfall pouring out from the wall.

Daisy had already gone through almost a dozen pages in her sketchbook, and she’d become so absorbed with the waterfall that she didn’t even notice the arrival of several new people in the room. But when she glanced up, there was Rosa , together with a tall, handsome, stern-faced orc, and several small, adorable orc children.

“Daisy!” Rosa exclaimed, with a surprised-looking grin, even as she shot an accusing glance toward Julian . “ What are you doing here? When did you leave the sickroom? And wait, is Julian giving you the tour ?!”

She sounded deeply, inexplicably scandalized by this, and beside Daisy , Julian betrayed a faint wince. “ Daisy wished to see the mountain,” he said quickly, “and I did not wish to leave her to do this alone. But we should be glad to have you join us, should you wish?”

Rosa’s face brightened again, and she immediately agreed, and made a quick round of introductions. It turned out that the stern handsome orc was her mate John - Ka , who apparently served as the leader of the Ka -esh clan, and had held the official title of Priest for the past four years. While the two orc children were Rosa and John - Ka’s young sons, who apparently both adored the Skai baths, and often wanted to come here to play and swim with other orclings.

“That waterfall is marvellous, isn’t it?” Rosa said to Daisy , once they’d headed back out into the corridor with Julian , away from the sounds of happy squeals and splashes. “ It’s a stunning example of ancient Ka -esh engineering. Much of the skill has unfortunately been lost now, but the Ka -esh designed and built most of this mountain, and you can still see how they tried to reflect each clan in their respective wings. I’m sure Julian has explained the clans to you, or perhaps you might have read about them in the publication I left you? The Orc Mountain Manual for Modern Mates ?”

The title instantly sounded familiar, and Daisy nodded, and smiled back. “ Oh , yes, I did read all of that one this morning,” she replied. “ It was so informative, thank you. And the Aelakesh book was such a helpful reference, too.”

Rosa’s eyes flared with eagerness, and with something much like relief. “ Oh , I’m so glad!” she exclaimed. “ I’ve led language classes here for years , but I’ve been taking a break to focus on my sons, so I hoped my book would offer a helpful resource in the meantime! Do you think it’ll be enough to get you started on learning Aelakesh , at least? Or maybe” — her mouth pursed — “maybe I should try to launch more classes after all?”

Daisy waved it away, as her thoughts flashed back to practicing with Filak , to how it had felt almost… fun . “ No , I’m sure the book will be plenty for now, thank you,” she said, with her most reassuring smile. “ Although wait” — she blinked toward Rosa — “did you say it’s your book? Did you write it?”

She was rewarded with a delighted, contagious grin from Rosa , who bobbed excitedly on her feet. “ Yes , I wrote and published it all myself,” she said breathlessly, “and all the others, too! I don’t suppose you’d like to see where, for your next stop on your tour?”

That did sound highly intriguing, and soon Rosa was ushering Daisy and Julian into the official Orc Mountain Communications Office . It turned out to be a large room that carried the familiar scent of ink and paper, and was well stocked with printing supplies — sheaves of paper, huge jars of ink, several good quality hand-presses, and even a clever binding machine.

“This is incredible, Rosa ,” Daisy said, once Rosa had shown her around the room. “ How many publications have you printed here? How many pages can your binder handle? And have you done illustrations, too?”

Rosa answered all Daisy’s questions with relish, and beamed as she demonstrated how to use her hand-presses, and the binding machine, too. And once Daisy had effusively praised all of it, she flipped to the next page in her sketchbook, and began making a quick drawing of the hand-presses’ mechanism for printing plates. It was a style she hadn’t seen before, and it was very cleverly done — and when Rosa asked why she was interested in plates, Daisy distractedly answered as she drew, explaining how she’d sometimes done the plates for Lew’s books, too.

It wasn’t until she’d finished drawing that she realized Rosa was staring at her, with a decidedly feral glint in her blue eyes. “ Daisy ,” she said, hushed. “ I don’t suppose — have you ever — would you consider — doing some work for our publications, while you’re here? Paid , of course? I’ve just been managing all our illustrations myself, but I’m sure you can see that I’m not even slightly trained! And the plates take me forever, and it would just be so helpful !”

She clasped both hands to her heart, her wide blue eyes fixed beatifically on Daisy’s face. A look that reminded Daisy far too strongly of tiny puppies, or hungry children, and she quickly smiled back. “ Yes , of course, I’d be happy to,” she replied, and she meant it. “ What kinds of drawings would you like done?”

Rosa’s squeal of delight rang through the room, and soon they were poring over Rosa’s current publications together, taking notes and making lists. And then Daisy even did a few rough preliminary sketches, while Rosa gleefully bounced up and down beside her.

It was a thoroughly absorbing experience, enough that Daisy had almost entirely forgotten about their tour, and about Julian , too. At least, until he made a strange sound from the nearby counter, and dropped a sheaf of paper on the floor. Scattering loose sheets out all over the smooth stone, and when Daisy knelt to help clean up, she noticed that the papers all seemed to be innocuous-looking letters and notes. But Julian just kept standing there, gazing blankly at Daisy and Rosa as a strange splotchy redness rose in his cheeks.

“Are you all right, Julian ?” Daisy asked, frowning as she held the papers back out toward him. “ You’re not feeling ill, are you?”

Julian twitched and shook his head, but he didn’t take the papers from Daisy’s hand, and instead shot a searching look at Rosa . “ These are,” he said stiffly, “from Rurik .”

From Rurik . As if that was someone important. And wait, Rurik was the name of Julian’s former lover, right? The one who was now living a good life with many lovers in the north , Julian had said.

But Rosa hadn’t seemed to notice anything unusual about this, and she absently nodded, from where she was reorganizing her own stack of papers. “ Yes , we’ve been in regular contact with Rurik lately,” she replied, as she reached for Daisy’s stack of papers, too. “ We’ve been trying to learn more about the Nor -ka-esh, and though Rurik is Skai , he’s the only orc in the area who seems willing to tell us anything about them.”

Wait. Daisy’s head tilted, and the question bubbled up before she could stop it. “ You mean — this Rurik has been telling you about Filak’s people?” she asked. “ Or even about Filak himself?”

Rosa gave another distracted nod, and kept shuffling her papers. “ That’s our hope,” she replied, “but even Rurik hasn’t been able to tell us why Filak left the Nor -ka-esh to come here — or what the hell he wants from us. Or why he’s apparently so desperate for a mate that he’s been propositioning every woman in sight for the entire past year !”

Daisy froze, and a sharp, sudden chill wrenched up her back. Wait . What ? Filak had been — propositioning women? Almost every woman in sight? For the entire past year ?!

But Rosa didn’t correct it, and instead she bit her lip and shot Daisy a furtive, mortified look. Suggesting that yes, yes, this was true. Filak had wanted — other women. Any woman.

Daisy’s heartbeat had begun pounding, and she shot a searching, desperate glance toward Julian — had he known about this, too? But he was still standing there staring down at Rosa’s stack of papers, his eyes strangely bright. And after another instant’s awkward silence, Rosa groaned aloud, shoved the papers back toward Julian , and wildly flapped both her hands toward Daisy .

“Look, it’s not as bad as it sounds!” she said, high-pitched. “ I mean, yes, Filak has made multiple offers to multiple women over this past year. But the thing is” — she took a deep breath — “it’s been quite obvious that he doesn’t actually want any of them!”

Daisy blinked, not following, while Rosa took another deep breath. “ Apart from you , Daisy ,” she continued, “he’s barely looked at any of the women he’s spoken to, let alone trying to learn their language, or their names, or anything else about them! It’s almost like it’s — like it’s all some kind of bizarre secret test. Some kind of challenge, or even an attack !”

A test. A challenge. An attack. The ice was still scraping up Daisy’s spine, and her scrambled thoughts were shouting now, screeching wild warnings through her skull. Because gods, it had so often felt that way with her too, hadn’t it? Like Filak was testing her, challenging her… attacking her? Just like he apparently had with every other woman in his sights?

“But as usual,” Rosa’s rushed voice continued, “ Filak won’t tell us why! He won’t tell us anything about his motives, or his goals here, or his home in the north! We would love to know, we would love to help, it’s John - Ka’s job to help — and it’s been like talking to a boulder! A boulder who’s just waiting for the most opportune moment to smash down and crush you!”

There was genuine hurt in her voice, enough to drag Daisy out of her own hurt, her own whirling confusion. Rosa had made genuine efforts with Filak , that was clear, and why had Filak so consistently refused? What was he doing here? What did he want? What was he hiding?

Daisy shot another searching look at Julian , but he still seemed thoroughly occupied with the papers, bringing them to his nose, and inhaling long and deep against them. As if he hadn’t heard a single word of this — but surely he’d known about it, hadn’t he? And he hadn’t told her, either?

“Er, I’m sorry again, sister,” Rosa’s subdued voice said, into the silence. “ I’m sure once we learn what Filak’s motives are, it will all make sense. Right ?”

But she didn’t sound even slightly convinced, and her smile toward Daisy looked more like a grimace. And though Daisy attempted a smile back, it also felt forced, and the questions were still shrieking through her skull, pounding with her heartbeat. What did Filak want? Had Daisy really been different for him, somehow, or was Rosa just trying to reassure her? And she needed to learn, needed to know…

“Is there… anything else, then?” Daisy finally asked, flatter than she meant. “ Anything else about Filak I should know?”

Rosa winced, and glanced away — meaning that yes, damn it, there was. And Daisy waited, watching, as Rosa drew in a deep breath, and let it out.

“Well…” she began, tentative, “do you know about Filak’s … abilities? His … magic?”

Daisy nodded, even as the truth of that sank deeper — Filak really could wield magic — but Rosa’s expression didn’t change, the agitation glimmering in her eyes. “ Well , he uses his magic to find rare gems, like those ones he offered you,” she continued, in a rush. “ He specifically seeks out gems he knows will be in high demand here in the mountain, and sells them at extortionate prices. Enough that he’s surely amassed a small fortune in coin by now — but he hasn’t spent a single copper of it. We have no idea why he wants it, or what he’s doing with it!”

Her voice was rising again, her hands wringing together, and Daisy kept waiting, feeling her heartbeat thunder even louder. Filak had a fortune in coin? In addition to all those gems? Why ? Where ? What did he want with it? Because he would want something… right?

“And he seems obsessed with digging,” Rosa said, even faster. “ Not in a helpful way, not on our own projects or repairs — but alone. Digging these long winding tunnels to random places, even if there aren’t any gem deposits there, or any other obvious reasons to do it!”

Oh. Daisy’s thoughts flashed back to the cave, to Filak leading her through the close narrow darkness — maybe through a tunnel he’d dug? While before her, Rosa looked even more agitated than before, rocking from side to side. As if there was even more, something even worse…

“And,” Rosa continued, scrunching up her face, “when Filak first came here… he reeked of blood. Not his own, but — from other people. Multiple other people.”

Blood . Not his own. Other people’s. Multiple other people’s.

Daisy couldn’t stop staring at Rosa , as her heart blared even louder in her ears. Did Rosa mean — Filak had — killed people? Multiple people?

“Could you tell — who the people were?” Daisy croaked, her voice cracking. “ Were they all — orcs?”

Rosa winced, and shook her head. “ John - Ka said he could smell women, too,” she whispered. “ And one of the orcs’ blood smelled like — Filak . Close enough to be a family member of some kind.”

Oh, gods. That couldn’t be possible. It couldn’t. Right ? Filak couldn’t be a killer, especially not of his own family. He couldn’t, he couldn’t …

But how could Daisy possibly know such a thing? She still barely even knew Filak , of course she still couldn’t trust him, why would she have ever thought otherwise…

Her blinking eyes darted down to that yellow ring, still glittering so bright and beautiful on her finger. The sight of it churning something dark and miserable in her gut, because how had she been so stupid, yet again…

“We’ve been trying to learn what happened up north, before Filak left,” continued Rosa’s strained voice. “ But ever since he came here, even our best scouts haven’t been able to find any sign of the Nor -ka-esh. Either they’ve gone deeper underground, or else…”

She didn’t finish, but the words bloomed on their own through Daisy’s thoughts, stark and sickening.

Or else… they’re dead.

Daisy’s shaky fingers were clutching at that ring, maybe about to pull it off, to throw it away — when something lurched close beside her, and gripped at her elbow. Julian , his eyes wide and reproachful as he glanced between Daisy and Rosa .

“Filak has not killed his kin,” he said, his voice hoarse but firm. “ He has not . If he had, why should he come here just after this, scenting thus? No . There is more to this.”

Daisy swallowed and blinked at him, searching his face — but his gaze was intent on Rosa , who was frowning straight back toward him. “ Then why hasn’t he told you anything either, Julian ?” she demanded. “ He still hasn’t, has he?”

Julian shook his head, his mouth tight and thin. “ No , he has not,” he said. “ He will not speak of it. But when I have asked, he looks and scents only of… pain. Grief .”

Oh. Daisy’s screeching thoughts whirled backwards, to all the times she’d caught that grief on Filak , too. When she’d left him behind in the tunnel, when he’d offered her that mate-price, when he hadn’t wanted to eat…

And the prayers. The marking. The feel of his ribs under his skin, the weight of his jewel on her finger, his sun on her heart…

Daisy’s heart pounded even louder, a dizzying endless din thundering against her ribs, shouting behind her eyes. She was supposed to be learning, forgetting, running, anything, please…

“Um,” she said, choked. “ I don’t suppose there might be a latrine around here I could use? Just for a moment?”

Rosa’s expression flashed into regret, or maybe even guilt — but she rapidly nodded, and waved Daisy toward the door, pointing toward a room just down the corridor. And soon Daisy was staggering alone toward it, while the questions screamed louder and faster through her skull.

Who was Filak ? What had he done? Had he killed people? Multiple people? Why ? And why was he digging? Why was he hoarding coin? Why had he been propositioning other women, all that time? What had he wanted from them? What did he want from Daisy ?

Daisy shook her head as she shoved through the curtained door, into the latrine. Barely noticing its smooth lamplit floors and walls, or the washbasin, the looking-glass, the covered privy…

Because there, standing in the middle of the room…

Filak was waiting.