Page 8 of The Orc Chief’s Baker (Orc Mates Of Faeda #4)
“You make it sound like playing conquest is something dirty,” Ulia said flatly. “It’s completely normal. Far more normal than taking one as a mate. We have three conquests carrying orc sons in Oakwall right now.”
“I’m not saying it’s dirty,” Trinia said quickly. Playing conquest for an orc was one of the primary ways women in her village made their own way. “I’m just saying it’s not for me.”
“Are you just worrying about being able to work while you’re pregnant?” Ulia asked. “Because I could help you!”
“It’s not that,” Trinia assured. She already had a big belly. She doubted that being pregnant would make too much difference.
No. Instead, what flashed in her mind was the sight of the little orc boys coming to the trade moon after moon.
They’d play and laugh and barely even notice the human women, let alone bother with which one might have carried and birthed them.
And the women didn’t care much either. None of the women who played conquest regularly were married.
None of them had ever wanted children of their own.
Trinia touched her rounded stomach and worried her lip.
“Are you worried you’d get too attached to the orc baby like my sister was?” Ulia asked. “Because there are options. Jenida and the others who play conquest all the time have loads of tips. Like finding someone else to breastfeed the baby for you and finding things to keep busy.”
Trinia narrowed her eyes. “You’ve talked to the other conquests about this before?”
“I mean...” Ulia averted her eyes and then spouted, “or you could be like my sister and just get mated to the one you’re playing conquest for.”
“It wouldn’t work, Ulia,” Trinia said dryly. “I cannot be mated to an orc.”
“But why not? Savili has been so happy with Iytier. Why not allow yourself the chance to be happy too?”
Trinia cast her friend a hard look. “Even if by some strange chance one of the orcs I’ve known my entire life suddenly fell in love with me out of nowhere, he wouldn’t be allowed to live in Oakwall Village and I have to be here every day, from dawn till dusk, to run the bakery.
How can I be mated to an orc and only see him once every fifteen days to trade? ”
“You... could set up a bakery at Rove Wood?”
“My great-grandmother built this bakery, Ulia. My grandmother and mother worked together to furnish it. Even the creation of the oven was overseen by them personally. I can’t leave it behind.”
Ulia let out a long, ragged sigh. “You’re too loyal for your own good, Trinia.”
It wasn’t just loyalty; it was tradition.
But that wasn’t something that Trinia felt she could explain to Ulia or anyone.
Trinia spent almost every moment in this bakery.
She even lived here, sleeping on a cot made of old flour sacks near the back behind the oven.
Her devotion to this place wasn’t just out of a love for her family, this bakery was her entire world .
Despite this determination, Trinia found her eyes lingering on the paper in Ulia’s hand. The little floor plan she’d made. The delight she’d felt in the task even as she was swinging upside down...
She pushed it out of her mind and went back to concentrating on finishing the rosemary rolls.
The door to her bakery swung open and Trinia barely managed to withstand a groan as her sister walked through the door.
Yerina was dressed to impress. The tight red wool gown she wore accentuated every one of her sister’s best features.
Wide hips, large breasts, golden shimmering hair.
Where she had gotten such a gown was a mystery Trinia didn’t want to know the answer to, though she suspected the missing pans had something to do with it.
“Govek is coming to the trade today!” Yerina announced without preamble.
Trinia felt her eyebrows arch despite herself, and Yerina, unfortunately, latched right onto her surprise.
“It’s true, sister! The headman just spoke to me about it! And he’s going to be named chief too. Can you believe ?” Yerina came over and clutched Trinia on the shoulders so tightly it stung. “Now I need your help. I need you to make your best bread for me to give to him so I can win him back.”
Trinia’s mouth dropped open, and she sputtered. “I don’t have time for that. The trade is in an hour!”
“Of course you’ll make time for it!” Yerina demanded. “I’m going to become matriarch of Rove Wood Clan. Just think of what that means for you .”
Almost nothing from what Trinia could figure. She tried to move out of Yerina’s grasp. “Even if I did have time, you’ve stolen all of my good pans. I couldn’t make extra bread for him even if I wanted to.”
Yerina pursed her perfect red lips. Her cheeks had rouge on them and her eyes were darkly outlined with coal.
She must have visited Leanna and gotten the woman to fancy her up.
“Did you not hear me, sister? Govek is going to be chief and I’m going to be matriarch.
It would be rather stupid of you to defy me in my time of need, wouldn’t it? ”
Trinia’s breath caught as Yerina’s expression turned hard and calculating.
“Maybe if you helped instead of stealing, things would have moved in your favor.”
Yerina moved her attention to Ulia, and Trinia shifted out of her sister’s grasp.
“This has nothing to do with you, little girl,” Yerina said as Ulia rose her brows. Trinia also thought it was a stretch to call the nineteen-year-old a little girl. “Don’t you have some wood to whittle?”
That quip got Ulia to scowl. But instead of backing down, she said, “I’m shocked you would even believe the rumors that Govek would become chief. We all know that’s never going to happen.”
“Headman Gerald told me himself ,” Yerina said with far too much confidence. “You would know if you’d gone to the meeting this morning.”
Trinia’s back straightened and Ulia gave her a quick look before saying, “My parents were there. I can find out the truth from them. I’ll come back and let you know, Trinia.”
Trinia nodded, but no relief came when none of Yerina’s haughty arrogance diminished.
She was telling the truth.
“I’ll ask Victir to come pull your cart for you too,” Ulia said quickly before giving a little wave and hurrying out the door into the chilly autumn morning. A tiny breeze cooled Trinia’s overheated skin and then it shut tight, and she was trapped in the stifling heat.
With her sister.
Who was now curling up her nose at the sight of the blackened mess. “What is this ? I can’t give this to Govek! When did you become such a horrible baker? Mother would be ashamed.”
Trinia took a deep breath and ignored her bait. “Headman Gerald is really going to let you come to the trade, Yerina?”
“Of course he is!” Yerina tossed the burned bread she’d been examining back into the pile causing a handful of loaves to roll off onto the floor. “After you almost got attacked by that blighted cat yesterday, he knows how important it is to get Rove Wood’s best hunter back in our good graces!”
That was true. Govek had been the one to cull most of the blighted animals. But still, after everything Yerina had done and all the lies she’d spread, it seemed more prudent to keep her away from Govek.
Trinia wasn’t going to argue. She knew from experience that if her sister was involved, it was best to stay out of it.
“So, hurry up! I need Govek’s favorite bread. What’s his favorite bread?”
She’d been with the surly orc for the better part of three seasons and she didn’t know what he liked to eat? Gathering her courage, Trinia tried again. “Perhaps if you gave me back the pans you’ve taken, I’d be able to bake better and would have something good enough to turn Govek’s head.”
“We aren’t bargaining here, Trinia.” Yerina’s voice was so cold it sent a little shiver down Trinia’s spine. “And I didn’t steal anything. Half of everything in this bakery is mine , or did you forget?”
Of course she hadn’t forgotten. Yerina would never let her forget that their drunkard of a father, in all his great wisdom, had made sure to leave the entirety of their family home to Yerina but mentioned nothing about the bakery. As such, by village law, it was owned by both of them equally.
Yerina snapped her fingers. “So, the bread. Hurry up!”
“He doesn’t like my bread, Yerina. He makes his own,” Trinia said with a heavy sigh. “He makes his own everything .”
Yerina chuckled and rose her nose into the air. “That’s only because he’s so loyal to me that he doesn’t even want to glance in another woman’s direction. Not even to broker trades.”
Trinia could not believe how delusional her sister was, but she wasn’t about to comment. She’d learned long ago that even a sliver of snark Yerina’s way would result in an onslaught of petty, manipulative, and cruel retribution that would last for days, sometimes moons.
It was far better to swallow her tongue and pride, even though it took every scrap of will she had to do so.
“What about these?” Yerina picked up one of the cream buns, and Trinia’s breath caught.
“Not those. He wouldn’t like those,” she said too quickly.
“And why not? You think he’s not good enough for them?” Yerina took a big bite and then scowled before picking up a cotton cloth and spitting it out. “How much sugar did you put in these? It’s no wonder you’re so fat.”
Trinia’s throat tightened, but getting angry would only give Yerina more ammunition, so she hid the fury as best she could behind a mask of indifference.
It must have worked because Yerina’s eyes scanned the room instead, looking around in a way that was far too scrutinizing before her attention landed on a stack of cutting boards.
She needed to get her sister out of here now.
Trinia hurried over to one of the cheese breads that were still cooling and hurriedly wrapped it up. They were technically part of another orc’s order, and she hoped he wouldn’t mind too much she was missing one. “Here. Take this.”
“What is it?”