Page 47 of The Orc Who Hated Christmas

Once upon a time, Graal would have just accepted that as his lot. But after the way Cas and his family had treated him, it felt wrong to go back and accept the way he’d been treated before.

Graal deserved better than that. Cas had shown him that.

Graal sighed as he trudged through the snow to the bakery. He’d head out again tonight, once he’d changed and washed the day’s work from his body. He figured he had a better chance of being treated half-decently if he did.

Graal’s shoulders drooped. Perhaps he should move out of the city. Find a village where orcs weren’t treated like shit.

Graal had met Orim, Lacy’s girlfriend, the previous night. She’d told Graal about the place she originally came from. It was a mining village run by trolls, but orcs lived there too. She’d looked Graal up and down and said, “A strong orc who works hard would have no trouble getting work.”

She’d even given him some details on how to get there. It would take a few days of walking. But it wasn’t too far.

Graal should consider it. But that would mean leaving the city. And Cas.

Graal knew he and Cas had no future. No matter how spectacular their time together had been, no matter how special and surprisingly beautiful Cas had made Graal feel, Graal couldn’t forget that Cas had never wanted a proper relationship with him.

And that was fine. Graal had agreed to that. But every time he thought of Cas no longer in his life, his chest throbbed with pain.

Maybe once he’s finished with me, I’ll leave. Maybe I’ll just find somewhere crappy to stay whilst we have this brief fling. Then once Cas is done, I’ll leave the city for good.

Graal kept his head down as he walked.

A boy barrelled into Graal, bouncing off his legs. “Ow!” The child tumbled onto his back.

“You all right?” Graal stepped towards him.

The boy laughed. “Yeah.” The boy scrambled to his feet. Then he looked up at Graal. His eyes widened in terror. He fell back. “Father! Mother!” he screamed. “A monster!”

Graal took several steps back. Nothing he said in this situation would put the boy at ease. Best to just walk away. Then he paused. He looked at the couple of humans running towards the boy.

Graal’s heart sank.

Mother. And Jordan. That meant…

Graal looked at the boy. At Sam. This was Sam, Graal’s half-brother. He looked to be around the right age. It must have been twelve or thirteen years ago that Graal had left them.

Graal couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t do anything but stare in horror.

His mother leaned down and wrapped her arms around Sam. Finally, she looked at Graal. For a split second, their gazes met. Her mouth fell open as recognition hit her.

Graal’s chest tightened.

Then she turned away from Graal. She kissed Sam on the cheek and ushered him away. “My poor, sweet boy,” she whispered.

She strode down the street in the opposite direction, whispering words of comfort to her son, who’d been scared by a monster.

Something shattered inside Graal as he watched them walk away.

“Be gone, you filthy half-blood orc,” Jordan sneered.

Graal turned towards Jordan. He looked down at the man who’d verbally abused him for years for nothing but having orc blood. He seemed so much smaller than Graalremembered. But then again, Graal had grown a lot in the years since he’d last seen this man.

And as Graal stared down at this cruel man, an image of Cas, of the pretty Christmas pixie, filled his mind. Because Cas cared for Graal. Cas thought Graal worthy of affection. He even called Graal beautiful. And Graal believed Cas.

“Did you hear me, you stinking mongrel? Get away!” Jordan made a shooing motion.

For the first time in his life, Graal thought he deserved better than his mother’s neglect. He thought he deserved better than Jordan’s abuse.

Graal decided he had taken enough of this man. He pulled himself up to his full height. He bared his teeth. Jordan’s eyes went wide.