Page 7 of The Orc Chief’s Baker (Orc Mates Of Faeda #4)

Chapter

Five

TRINIA

“ U lia, it’s really fine. You don’t need to apologize again.”

Trinia’s stomach was already in knots and the sun had only just started to rise above the horizon. The bakery was too hot from hours of endless baking. Many of the loaves had overbaked or underproofed. There just hadn’t been enough time.

But somehow, she’d managed to get all the rosemary bread done and finish three batches of cream buns. She was sure the orc would like them. He’d liked the vanilla cookies, and the buns were just a larger, more flavorful version of them.

She’d made the vanilla cookies too just in case.

Fades, she hoped this would work. She really didn’t have any other options.

“I still feel bad. I know your cart is stuffed to the brim this week,” Ulia said from where she was perched on the edge of the counter.

Her golden hair looked particularly shiny and soft, and her bright blue eyes were outlined with a dark charcoal line.

She wore her best yellow cotton gown which accentuated her slender figure and brought out the peachy color of her creamy skin.

Trinia was the exact opposite of her friend, but with a lifetime of being compared to her sister, she had plenty of practice stopping herself from making harsh comparisons.

She’d never minded being a larger woman, and her body had always been able to carry out every task she needed it too, from long walks in the woods gathering herbs to carrying stacks of trays full of bread loaves.

Except for, of course, pulling her massively overwhelmed hand cart. But she doubted she ever would have been able to accomplish that, even if she were slender.

“My father feels terrible he can’t help you as well.” Ulia’s face was a mask of contrition and her red lips were downcast in a pretty frown. “I swear I’ll find someone to pull your cart for you.”

“There’s no need, Ulia, really,” Trinia said with a wave of her hand. “I’ll just ask Victir to do it.”

“I suppose,” Ulia conceded quietly. Trinia crossed the room and put on her thick gloves and pulled open the front of her huge cast iron oven.

The loaves were placed directly on the baking rack which left dark lines etched into the bottoms as they burned. She could only fit half the number she usually would inside because the oven was too hot at the back without the barrier of a pan and would scorch them even worse.

She carefully pulled one of the loaves near the hottest part of the oven and let out a ragged sigh as she examined the burned bottom and still doughy top. They weren’t done, but any longer and the bottom would be completely inedible.

Trinia took out the loaves and tossed them onto the counter with the rest of the burned ones.

“ All those are bad?” Ulia hopped down from her spot and came over to look.

“Yes,” Trinia muttered. “I hope the Fades ruin Yerina for stealing all my good pans. She took the round ones last night while I was collecting herbs! Can you believe it?”

“Yes?” Ulia said with a little shrug. “Your sister is as selfish as they come, and the witch—er, I mean, Leanna has been stricter about her trades recently. Especially for her face colors and lotions.”

Trinia blinked. “Stricter with her trades? Why?”

“I can’t get her to tell me.” Ulia pushed back her hair and edged away from the oven’s heat. “Something about the ground being too wet and preparing for disaster? You know how she is.”

Trinia did. The woman’s mind was addled half the time. Leanna was one of the people she gave free bread to a few times a moon. The young woman’s family had been exiled from Oakwall during her great-grandmother’s generation and often struggled in the winter.

There were many residents who struggled to get enough food during the harsher season. And it was coming in fast this year. The trees had lost their leaves so much sooner and the air had a particularly icy bite to it.

Trinia picked up a couple of the loaves from the pile that weren’t too bad off. “You’re going to get more rouge from Leanna, right? Could you take this to her? Take this one to Rebekia too. Her arthritis has been acting up, and she wasn’t able to knit anything for today’s trade.”

“Of course.” Ulia took the loaves from Trinia and went to wrap them in one of the cotton cloths. “You know, you probably wouldn’t be so overworked if you didn’t give away so much bread for free.”

Trinia shot her friend a hard look. “I wouldn’t be overworked if I could get new pans commissioned. But someone’s father has horded all the metal to make nails and tools.”

“It’s not his fault he’s gotten so many commissions for beds lately,” Ulia countered with a shake of her golden head.

“It seems like everyone and their brother has outgrown sharing beds with their siblings all at once. Outgrown their houses too.” She tapped her fingers and asked hesitantly, “You... didn’t happen to find time to think about Petr’s house plan, did you? ”

Trinia snorted in amusement as she recalled just how she’d managed to carve out time for it. “You know what? I actually did. The diagram is on mother’s desk.”

Ulia hurried over and picked it up. “This is perfect! Father will be thrilled. Thank you for helping. We really do appreciate it.”

Trinia cast her a teasing grin as she reloaded the oven. “So appreciative that you can’t pull my cart today.”

“I’m sorry!” Ulia said, looking far too contrite.

“I’m teasing, Ulia.” Trinia finished off in the oven and quickly closed the door. Blazing biscuits. It was hot . She moved around toward the window to get some fresh air. “I like doing room designs, you know that.”

“Yes, and my father wouldn’t be able to make half the furniture he does without your measurements.”

“I’m sure he’d be able to figure it out.

” Trinia threw open the window. The crisp morning air filtered into the hot bakery and cooled her overheated skin.

It smelled incredible. Like clean frost and decomposing leaves.

There was a light layer of fog around the tops of the red and yellow trees.

The sun was starting to peak through, casting the neighboring cottages and dirt paths in a golden glow.

“I doubt he would,” Ulia said. “He poured over that living space for days trying to make everything fit before he came to you.”

“He didn’t have to do that.” Trinia turned her back to the window. “He can come to me anytime. I really do like doing that kind of work.”

Ulia gave her a smile that was laced with pity, and Trinia’s stomach twisted. “I know. He would take you on as an apprentice if you weren’t already the town baker.”

Trinia forced the thoughts of what could be out of her mind and went back to readying the loaves.

Ulia was right. This bakery was more important than anything else.

It had been in Trinia’s family for four generations.

Every tool, every piece of furniture, every floorboard held precious memories of her mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother.

She could still feel them here, surrounding her while she worked.

“Perhaps you could do both if you hired help?” Ulia ventured.

Trinia shook her head. “It’s not about help. It’s the lack of tools. It takes five times as long to make my loaves without the pans. And the blacksmiths just don’t have the metal to spare to make new ones.”

They didn’t... but that orc might. Hope swelled in her chest again.

“What do you think Yerina did with them?”

“I don’t know. I’ve asked more times than I care to admit.” Begged more like. “But she’s not talking, and you know how she gets when she wants to keep a secret.” Gloaty and smug and infuriating.

“She must have traded them to someone in town. Have you asked around?”

“I have, and not a single person I’ve asked could tell me what she did with them either.”

There was a pause as the mystery settled heavily on them both.

“It’s your own stubbornness that’s holding you back, Trinia.” Ulia broke the silence. “You could easily get the metal for your pans if you would just play conquest for an orc like a normal woman.”

Trinia’s stomach twisted up harshly at her friend’s words. “No.”

“But metal for an orc son is a perfectly reasonable agreement!” Ulia countered. “Rowena played conquest because she wanted cherries through the winter. Cherries . Metal is far more difficult to come by, especially since the goblins aren’t around anymore.”

“Exactly. It’s likely none of the orcs even have enough metal to make my baking pans.”

Unless they had access to metal outside of the Rove Woods like the orc potion courier did.

Her eyes drifted to the cookies and cream buns, which were stacked on the end of the counter. Underneath was a stack of paper and a drawing of the pans she wanted made with all the specifications he would need to get it done.

This would work. It had to .

“I have it on good authority that Sofidin has a collection of harvesting tools his grandfather invented.”

Trinia scowled at her friend. “And how would you know that?”

Ulia blinked innocently. “Oh, you know, word gets around.”

“You better not have been asking for me,” Trinia said darkly.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not going to be playing conquest and I don’t want to get their hopes up!” Trinia said sharply. “Are you really saying I should convince Sofidin to give me his family heirlooms just so I can make baking pans?”

Ulia scratched the back of her neck. “What good are heirlooms if you have no one to pass them on to?”

Anger made Trinia’s jaw tight. “I’m not doing it, Ulia.”

Ulia threw back her head in frustration. “Come on , Trinia! You’re as bad as my sister was, but even she got there in the end.”

“She didn’t get there, Ulia. Savili is mated to Iytier. She wasn’t a conquest. She didn’t carry an orc son in exchange for boons. She had a babe with her life partner because she loves him .”