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W hen Daisy next blinked awake, she was still sprawled naked against Filak’s warm body beneath the fur, with his strong arms still wrapped tightly around her.

It was the loveliest feeling, despite the sensation of sticky dried wetness now spread across her groin and thighs, and Daisy let herself sink back into the contentment of it, slipping in and out of a relaxed, easy sleep. Filak had come to her. Filak had stayed with her. Filak had perhaps — perhaps? — apologized.

She only fully awoke again at a distinct sound from the door, and when she twisted to look, blinking in the light of the already-lit candle, it was Julian . Standing framed in the open doorway, and flashing a sheepish smile toward her in the bed.

“Good morning, sister,” he said. “ I only wished to see if you slept well? Or if there is aught either of you might need?”

His eyes flicked beyond Daisy , and when she followed his gaze, she found that Filak was awake, too. His shadowed eyes lazily searching Daisy’s face, his mouth slightly quirking — and then Daisy was caught staring at his mouth, oh gods. At where it was indeed smeared with black, far messier than her own lips had been, because last night he had… he had…

His stained mouth quirked a little higher, and then he spoke something to Julian in Aelakesh . And in return, Julian easily nodded and strode forward into the room, sinking himself down onto the wooden chair beside the bed.

“If you are not opposed, sister,” he told Daisy , “ Filak has asked me to come in and translate for you both, so you can speak together for a spell.”

So they could speak? Truly ? Daisy shoved up onto her elbow beneath the fur, and eagerly nodded as she glanced between Filak and Julian . “ Yes , please ,” she replied. “ That’s a brilliant idea, thank you.”

Julian smiled and waved it away, and then signed something toward Filak , the movements swift and graceful. And in return, Filak drew out his hand and signed back, as his other hand stroked reassuringly against Daisy’s bare hip.

“Filak says… he will seek to answer any questions you have,” Julian said, his brows rising with obvious surprise. “ Aught that you wish, sister.”

Really? Anything ? Daisy blinked at Filak , searching his shadowed eyes, but his stained mouth looked thin, now, and he twitched a nod. Saying … yes. She could ask anything.

And gods, there were still so many questions, all suddenly churning and jostling at once. Questions about Filak , about this, about his past, his home, his people. And after an instant’s consideration, Daisy plucked up the closest question, the one that had perhaps burrowed the deepest of all…

“Did you… did you really kill people?” she asked him, her voice cracking. “ Before you came here? Your own family?”

She only distantly heard Julian repeating the question in Aelakesh , but she didn’t miss how Filak’s mouth went even tighter, his chest rising and falling against her. Hesitating , already, and Daisy grimaced and dropped her eyes, as something plummeted in her gut. Of course he hadn’t really meant it, he didn’t want to tell her the truth, and…

And then he began speaking in Aelakesh , his voice rushed and hollow, his body gone oddly rigid. But when Daisy glanced up again, his eyes were glittering and intent on hers, speaking of misery, of pain — and when she darted a glance sideways, Julian looked strangely pale too, his gaze locked on Filak’s face.

“He says,” Julian began, hoarse, once Filak had finished, “just before he left, there was a rebellion in the north. A coup. Against his father.”

A rebellion. A coup. Against Filak’s … father? But — why? How ? By who?

But Filak was gesturing toward Julian again — maybe saying, keep going — and Julian cleared his throat, and met Daisy’s eyes. “ Filak’s forefathers have long been leaders and builders amongst the Ka -esh,” he explained. “ Many ages past, after they helped to build this mountain, they next dug out a deep Ka -esh stronghold to the north of it. This was called the Skyli , and it was meant to bring orcs closer to the women they might mate, and offer women a home nearer to their kin. Many Ka -esh welcomed this, and the Skyli soon became a large settlement of its own. Until … the war.”

The war. The war between orcs and men, he surely meant. And Daisy nodded, waiting, until Julian inhaled, and kept speaking. “ When the war arose in earnest, several centuries past, the Skyli was oft attacked, and faced many deaths. Until finally” — Julian shot a brief glance toward Filak — “ Filak’s forefathers chose to abandon the Skyli , and led their loyal Ka -esh kin far to the north. There , they dug a new home even deeper underground, and sought to live in peace and safety. And they have done this, for many, many summers now, until…”

His voice trailed off, his eyes again searching Filak’s face. But Filak was still staring at Daisy , his throat bobbing, and when he began speaking again, it was quieter and emptier, as though every word was pain. And there were so many words, so much pain, and Daisy could only blink uneasily back toward him, spreading her hand against his thin, clammy-feeling chest, waiting until he finally stopped.

“Filak says,” continued Julian’s voice, “that during his own father’s rule in the north, the Nor -ka-esh faced many attacks from humans — most oft poisons and gases in their tunnels. These attacks killed and wounded many Ka -esh, and drove many more to the surface, where they were weakened and killed by the sunlight, or by waiting men.”

Oh, gods. The poison attacks. Killing the Ka -esh, forcing them to the surface, out into the sun, destroying them. And no wonder Filak had reacted the way he had to Lew’s horrible plans, no wonder he’d been so furious, so desperate.

“The Nor -ka-esh did not have the strength to stop these attacks,” Julian’s low voice added. “ And despite their pleas to their fellow Ka -esh here at Orc Mountain for help, they heard no answer. So to keep his kin safe, Filak’s father dug them further and deeper underground, until no human could reach them without aid.”

Daisy’s heart was skipping erratically in her chest, her eyes fixed on Filak’s bleak face, on the strange glassiness in his eyes as Julian spoke again. “ But this affected the Nor -ka-esh women most of all. They missed the sun, and struggled to breathe and sleep and birth healthy sons. Before this, the Nor -ka-esh orcs had most oft used the sálugjald to find women, in a trade that ought to have brought gain to both sides — but when the women stopped returning to the surface, new women also became too afraid to accept the orcs’ offers. They already feared the orcs, but now they feared their own deaths, too.”

Gods, Daisy could so easily picture it, bright and clear behind her eyes. A leader desperately fighting to save his isolated kin from death, digging them ever deeper into a dungeon they couldn’t escape. And of course women wouldn’t want to bear that, Daisy knew all too well, but then…

“And Filak’s father,” Daisy ventured, still searching Filak’s bleak eyes, “he didn’t relent? He wouldn’t… let the women out?”

But curse it, she knew Filak , she knew how stubborn he was, how determined. And even without ever meeting this father of his, she could already imagine how it had gone, how it would have only grown worse and worse. The leader clinging to what he believed to be the greater good, while the settlement dwindled and weakened and splintered apart beneath him.

“No, he — did not,” came Julian’s halting voice. “ Filak says his father only became more set in his ways, and would listen to no one. Not even his mate, or his own son. Not even when his mate — Filak’s mother, who had sworn to stay for life, due to her own sálugjald — also fell to sickness, and perished.”

Oh. Oh , gods. Filak’s own mother had died to this, almost as sure as if Filak’s father had trapped her underground, and killed her. And Filak’s eyes were still so shadowed and bleak, now gazing blankly beyond Daisy’s head, off into the darkness.

“Filak was not yet fully grown then,” Julian’s voice continued, “but he deeply grieved his mother, and sought to sway his father. But his father would not hear him, either, and oft ordered Filak away to dig, alone. For like many of his forefathers, Filak carries the great gift of stone-seeing — and thus, he was the one best suited to build the clan’s ever-rising sálugjold , to keep drawing women toward them.”

Daisy blinked at Filak again, her head tilting, her stomach twisting in her gut. So not only had he been cursed with a controlling tyrant for a father, but after his mother had died, he’d been sent away digging, alone? Ordered to save the clan through his great gift of… stone-seeing ?

It dragged up yet another memory, another question, and Daisy groped for Filak’s hand, turned it over, and held it up to the candlelight. Revealing the sight of his pale lined palm, with that distinctive black eye still inked into it. As if his hand could truly… see .

Daisy carefully brushed her finger against the eye, watched his hand slightly convulse in return, twitching his long black claws toward her. Almost like the kind of claws Daisy might have drawn on a clever little mole, digging tunnels through the dirt.

It again twisted in her belly, and she exhaled as she lowered Filak’s hand, and dragged her gaze back to Julian . “ So what happened next?” she asked, though she had to force the question out. “ The others finally… rose up against Filak’s father?”

Julian sighed and nodded, and rubbed his hand against his face. “ Filak says he scented the blood through the tunnels, almost a league away,” he replied. “ And by the time he reached home again, his father and many others were dead, and the Nor -ka-esh lost to chaos and fear and grief. Some wished to escape, some wished to punish the killers, some wished to run here to the mountain. And some wished” — Julian grimaced — “to charge above ground in the night and steal women away to keep, whilst there was no one strong enough to prevent this.”

Daisy swallowed, her eyes again caught on Filak’s face. On that bleakness, the misery, the grief, all glimmering in his shadowed eyes. “ So what did Filak do?” she whispered. “ He tried to fix it, right?”

She waited, unblinking, as Julian relayed the question to Filak , and Filak gave a flat, rasping reply. But that grief still flickered in his eyes, and his hand was now gripping Daisy’s hip, his claws pricking almost painfully into her skin.

“Ach, Filak sought to address this,” came Julian’s quiet reply. “ He confined the orcs who wished to steal the women, and sought to come to terms with the rest. But there were no easy terms, most of all for the son of the orc who had caused such grief and pain. And by the end of this, the Nor -ka-esh chose to cast him out, also.”

Oh. Filak’s own people had thrown him out. Thrown him away from his home, and his dead father. And gods, that look on Filak’s face, that loss, so strong Daisy could taste it, bitter and thick on her mouth.

“But Filak yet grieved this, and feared for his people’s fate,” Julian continued, even quieter. “ Many of them had never before walked above ground, nor courted a woman — and humans find the Nor -ka-esh even more frightful than they find most orcs, ach? The Nor -ka-esh also had no means of gaining gems for their sálugjold without him. So Filak agreed to leave, even as he vowed…”

Julian took a shaky breath, his eyes glinting on Filak’s face. “ He says he vowed to pay for his father’s failings,” he continued. “ He vowed to yet provide their gems. He vowed to again find the Skyli , which had long ago been lost, so that they might again return home to it. And ” — another deep breath — “he vowed to find a new way with women, also. He swore to show them that he could gain a good mate’s fealty without any sálugjald . He swore to grant them this… hope. This light in the darkness.”

Light in the darkness. It rang and echoed through the small room, even as Julian switched back into Aelakesh , and began speaking rapidly to Filak . Sounding almost angry, somehow, while Filak gazed straight back toward him without speaking, his jaw tight and set. Defending his decision to offer such things, surely. To keep working and fighting for the people who had cast him away.

“ ég brást fólkinu mínu ,” Filak finally said, hard but steady, once Julian had stopped speaking. “ ég vere ae hjálpa teim .”

Julian threw up his hands, glaring at Filak’s face, and snapped something else. And though Filak answered, it felt as though he was biting out every word, and his claws were digging even harder into Daisy’s skin, perhaps strong enough to pierce it. But it didn’t matter, nothing mattered but that look in his eyes, and somehow Daisy had begun caressing him, smoothing her hand up and down over his taut, rigid chest.

“Filak says,” Julian finally translated, his voice stiff, “that he failed his kin, and thus he is bound to help them in this, and guard their names and their sins and their honour, until he can keep his word to them, and return home again. It seems” — he shot Filak another narrow look — “he has indeed been sending gems and coin north to them through a few of our Skai scouts, and has paid them to silence. And though he has not yet found the Skyli , he has begun sending word urging his kin to come here to the mountain, where they can be safe.”

Safe . But that was another strike, a sudden kick in Daisy’s gut, because perhaps even Orc Mountain wasn’t safe, after all. Orc Mountain was now facing the exact same kind of attack that had driven Filak’s people so far underground. And Filak — Filak really had thought Daisy had been part of that attack. He’d thought she’d tricked him, and used him to wreak the same kind of suffering that had splintered apart his people, and killed his own mother.

And truly, no wonder he’d reacted the way he had. No wonder he’d panicked, and kidnapped her, and locked her in that dungeon. Even though he’d already made her those beautiful jewels. Even though he’d surely thought he’d gained himself that mate, after all, that light in the darkness for his kin. Sólin mín .

Daisy felt almost stricken, still caught staring at Filak’s pale face, at the sharp bones of his skull beneath it. Because … was this why he was fasting, too? Why he was praying? Why he’d marked himself all over, and called Daisy his sun, his light, his hope…

“And is that why,” Daisy whispered toward him, “you kept… propositioning all those other women, too?”

She barely heard Julian’s translation of the question, but Filak grimaced, and jerked a nod. And then said something else, something else that made Julian groan, rubbing at his face.

“Filak says he first sought out a mate in earnest, and in secret,” he told her, with a sigh. “ With letters, and promises, and gifts. But no woman would see beyond his form or his face, so he then began freely asking, and offering other trades. Pleasure , or sustenance, or freedom. But no woman wanted any of this from him, either, and he began to believe that mayhap his kin had spoken truth, and it was only his jewels that could ever gain him a mate. Until …”

His voice faded, but his hand waving toward Daisy spoke all too clearly. And something spasmed in Daisy’s throat, stung behind her eyes, and she blinked at Filak , watched her own trembling hand slide up to caress at his hard face. Again speaking to him, saying far too much, without speaking at all. Telling him, perhaps, I like your face. I like your form. I found you, and you found me.

Except.

“So why did you trap me the way you did, that first night?” Daisy whispered, toward Filak’s glimmering eyes. “ You did do it on purpose, right?”

She was very certain of that now, and she didn’t look away as Julian translated her question. But then Filak’s eyes slid closed, his mouth contorting, as if he couldn’t bear to answer.

But Daisy kept watching, kept caressing his hard face, kept waiting. Seeking the truth for herself. Until finally Filak bit out an answer, curt and bitter, and she waited with her heart pounding until he finished, and Julian drew in a low, hissing breath.

“Filak says,” came Julian’s blank reply, “that he found you in — part of the Skyli .”

Wait. Truly ? That cave Daisy had been drawing that day, the one that had felt so intriguing, so intentional — that had been the place Filak had been seeking, all this time? The place he’d been digging to? His kin’s ancient lost home?!

Daisy had found his Skyli ?

Julian looked just as shocked as Daisy felt, and he again spoke to Filak in rapid, urgent Aelakesh . To which Filak nodded, brief and decisive, and then spoke back, surely saying…

Yes. Yes , he was sure it was the Skyli . And Daisy had been the one to find it.

“He says it was your scent that led him to it,” Julian continued, hushed. “ That it had somehow been — hidden, from orcs. And he mayhap never would have found it, without you.”

Oh. Daisy’s stomach flipped, her eyes again searching Filak’s face, his set mouth, his glinting eyes. And his hand still on her hip had seized a little, as if clamping her closer to him, refusing to let her go.

Sólin mín .

But. There was still — the question. The question he hadn’t yet answered. Had he?

“So why did you trap me in there, then?” Daisy insisted, holding Filak’s eyes. “ Surely you could have found it again on your own, after that?”

Julian didn’t translate the question, but maybe he didn’t need to, because Filak grimaced again, and said something else. Something he knew Daisy wouldn’t like, and based on Julian’s groan, it was something he didn’t like, either. But Daisy just kept waiting, because she needed to know, needed to learn, needed to see…

“Filak says he knew,” Julian whispered. “ When he saw you there, in his forefathers’ long-lost home, he knew you were his mate. And he would do whatever it took to bind you to him, and keep you as his own. Forever .”