Chapter 2: Part 2

The orcish sisters were smiling at me, which was probably a good sign. I was still glad we weren’t alone in the apporting hall, however. Just to be on the safe side.

“Well, as you heard my father say, I am Y’suk,” the one who’d spoken before said. “I’m the eldest.”

It still felt odd to see an orcish woman dressed in a uniform I was quite familiar with from back home. The robes were still loose on her, which had clearly taken an impressive amount of fabric. I also noticed she had the second darkest hair of the siblings, though it was only a medium shade of brown.

“I’m Nekra, and this is my twin sister Bikra,” another said. “Uh, non-identical, obviously. I’m second oldest, Bikra is third.”

Bikra gave a quiet nod.

Apart for the blonde hair and green skin the pair shared, they had very little in common. Even then, Nekra had a matronly energy about her, with long hair tied back, held in place by a series of braids. Bikra’s, on the other hand, was short and loose. 

“I’m Eka, next oldest and father’s apprentice as a swordswoman,” the last of the adult sisters said. 

Also the most muscular of the sisters. Her blonde hair was short in most regards, but she had two long braids of it coming down from in front of either of her ears. It looked better than I thought it would have.

“And I’m Zago, the baby of the family!” the last one said, wearing a large grin that proved orcs did indeed have impressive fangs, even if they didn’t stick out as much as their tusks. 

Apart from being the smallest, she also stood out for having black hair, unlike the rest of her sisters. More like her father, going by what little hair of his hadn’t turned grey.

“Uh… hi? I… did your da—father tell you about me?” I asked, before remembering the aspect of my cover story I’d mentioned. Quickly, I added that, “And, is your brother going to be along soon?”

“Father told us your name, though not much else,” Y’suk replied. “We… we don’t have a brother, though… we’d been told that you were a boy.”

Bikra muttered something under her breath that sounded like ‘he told us her name?’.

“Oh my,” I said, trying to play up surprise. “That’s quite the misunderstanding… mu—mother and your father will no doubt be quite embarrassed by it…”

“Mhm… I had been somewhat looking forward to meeting a cute half-elf boy,” Nekra mumbled. “It’s hard to date guys around here since they’re pretty well all orcs or humans or both.”

“Y-you don’t want to date other orcs?” I asked.

The girls looked at me with surprise in their eyes.

“Your mother didn’t… and you can’t tell from looking at us?” Bikra asked.

I could only glance about at the various orcish girls in confusion, not sure what I was supposed to be seeing.

“You’re the first orcs I’ve met in person,” I admitted.

“Ah, well, we’re only orcish on our father’s side,” Y’suk explained. “Our mother is a forest nymph. Though, despite what Bikra says, we mostly take after father in appearance.”

“It does mean we’re likely to live roughly about as long as a half elf or a dwarf, and we’ve grown up much slower than anyone else around here,” Nekra added.

“Oh,” I mumbled.

I had met a nymph or two before. They liked to visit elvish lands. And, well… yes, I could see some nymphishness in Bikra and Zago’s faces. Those girls also seemed the least muscular. Though, that wasn’t saying much. Bikra’s biceps still looked thicker than my thighs.

“I suppose I understand that issue, from the other direction. Elvish g—boys only ever want to have a bit of fun, never anything serious,” I replied, barely saving my cover.

Or, hopefully saving my cover.

Before I could find out how much I might have messed up, Grolog marched back to us, his face… well, not red, but as close to red as his green complexion allowed.

I was about to make a break for it, when I realised his eyes kept looking to the side. Back towards where the crystal balls had probably been. 

Did that mean he was angry at my mother and not about to snap my bones for deceiving him?

“I had thought Mezara was a better woman than that,” he grumbled under his breath. “She’s been living with elves too long, I swear…”

He took a moment to gather his breath, as I continued to quake in my boots. Was this all a mistake? It had seemed so smart five minutes ago.

Instead of anything I’d feared, Grolog turned to me with a smile. “I am sorry your mother has turned out how she has. But I won’t send you back to have to live with a woman like that. We already have some things ready for you, so you can move in with us.”

I blinked.

That was not the outcome I expected.

---

By the time I fully processed just what Grolog had offered, we were stepping out of the carriage and onto the front yard of the orcish family’s home.

My… my new home?

I had to figure out an escape plan. This wasn’t the goal in the slightest.

I didn’t want to be stuck living in some boring backwater with barely any of the comforts of civilization. There probably wasn’t even a decent market here. Let alone theatres or a racing track. Plus the risk of trolls or direwolves or… whatever else lived out in the woods that surrounded the tiny outpost of civilization.

“Do you have any fighting experience?” the muscular one… Eka, right. Eka asked me.

“Her arms are thinner than mine, sis!” the youngest one (Zago) said, before laughing. “Don’t be silly.”

“Elves like fancy graceful fighting, instead of strength,” Eka protested.

“I mostly just know urban climbing,” I replied.

Sure, I also knew more than a bit about pickpocketing, makeup for disguises, and manipulation, but none of those seemed likely to give a good first impression.

“Huh. Going around in dresses like that?” Eka asked, an eyebrow raised.

I blush, only now remembering what I was wearing. And that I was going to have to fake being a girl if I kept living with Grolog’s family. Which would fall apart at some point and be a whole mess…

And, uh… would be annoying to try to keep up? Probably?

Especially since they were all girls, apart from Grolog himself, and so would probably see through my efforts if I let myself slack even slightly in the role.

“I’m sure she just wanted to dress nicely for a good first impression,” Nekra offered, her voice soft.

“Mhm. You girls should take her to the tailor’s tomorrow. Since she only has the one outfit right now,” Grolog said. “Help her learn about Northern fashion.”

That turned into a brief debate about which of the sisters should help me as we walked over to the home. Nekra was apparently tired from cleaning for my arrival yesterday and today. Y’suk was working. While Bikra just… didn’t seem to want to. 

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Which left Zago volunteering enthusiastically and Eka agreeing after a few moments thought.

Something about the way she’d looked at me left me wondering if she’d seen through my disguise. Maybe I was just being paranoid though.

Entering the house itself distracted me, however. It was surprisingly nice. The natural wooden aesthetic reminded me of elven architecture, though it was a bit rougher and more rustic. It was also quite large, both in the amount of rooms I saw as Zago gave me an enthusiastic tour, and spacious in the proportions. 

Which I slowly realised made sense as it was sized for orcs. Even the ‘small’ guest room that they were providing was larger than my own cramped bedroom back in Dha’vin. With a bed I could practically sleep on sideways. 

“Maybe we can find some hand-me-down sleepwear for you,” Eka said, having walked in as I got comfortable on the new bed. “… something Zago’s grown out of, with your thin build.”

That comment had a playful smile added onto it, and left me blushing. Both at the reminder of how tiny I was next to the orcish women and… was I actually getting a crush on the sister most able to snap me in two?

“She’s still taller than I am, though,” Zago said, the youngest sister apparently missing the teasing aspect of the comment, “she’ll probably need something at least my size.”

“Mhm… kids’ clothes usually aren’t as nice anyhow, since they’re meant to be grown out of,” Eka replied. “You’ll probably borrow a shirt from one of us… it should fit you as a nightgown.”

“Not Bikra’s apparently!” Nekra hissed while marching past. “Because someone didn’t actually put her laundry in the hamper when I was doing it yesterday. Now she doesn’t have any shirts… and she’s blaming me!”

Protests from Bikra followed, the two twins bickering out in the hallway. Eka and Zago both rolled their eyes.

“I take it they’re usually like this?” I asked.

“Always,” Zago muttered.

“Well, they’re also both a bit testy-er than usual since they were both looking forward to the arrangement… Nekra likes the idea of finding a husband and Bikra wants a boytoy,” Eka added.

I gave a nervous nod. “And you?”

“Not really in the market for a guy,” she replied. “Nor is big sis Y’suk. We’ve got… other priorities.”

“Ah,” I said.

That made sense. They were both working on their careers, and… since they were probably roughly my age, they were still pretty young too. 

“And I have high standards,” Zago said. “I will only marry a prince. Or some sort of high magical being.”

“Good luck with that,” I said, trying to add in a genuine smile.

“She’s a dork who reads too much,” Eka replied, laughing a bit.

And getting lightly punched on the arm by her sister for that. Well, it seemed soft by their standards, with how Eka just stuck out her tongue in response. It was rough compared to the elven families I had spent time with.

Nothing compared to the things Nekra was yelling that she’d do to Bikra out in the hallway, however. The pair ran past a moment later, Nekra waving an iron frying pan in the air as she chased her twin.

I was an only child, but… that seemed excessive.

Having been distracted by it, I was very surprised when I suddenly found myself lifted off my feet. Turning, I realised it was Eka picking me up into a sort of bridal carry.

I was left quite self conscious of the fact I hadn’t shaved my legs and worried about keeping the skirt of the dress in place… because that could probably put my disguise at risk, obviously.

Even though Eka’s arms were hairier than my legs.

Which I was pretty sure you were supposed to find unattractive on a woman, but… maybe it was due to the paleness of her blonde hair over her green orcish skin?

I was so busy being flust—confused by what was happening that I barely managed to question why it was happening. Eka had sidestepped the twins by the time I managed to form a sentence.

“Why are you carrying me?” I said. Or, more squeaked, still a bit intimidated.

“So those two doofuses don’t trample you and break something,” she replied.

I nodded. That made sense.

Though, I soon realised, it begged a second question. “W-where are we going?”

“Training grounds,” she replied simply. “I want to see what you’re made out of, if you’ll be living here. Trolls. Goblins. Criminal gangs. They all attack towns around here fairly often. Every adult is expected to do something when an attack happens. So I want to see if you can fight.”

“Ah.”

That also made sense.

It also seemed fine until we got to the training grounds, a small clearing marked off by some sort of chalk on the grass. Eka plopped me down, and I stood somewhat awkwardly as she marched over to a small shed. Curiosity got the better of me, and I hurried over to find her sorting through various terrifying weapons.

I was starting to worry my pretty little neck about some of the axes she was shuffling through, before she turned to me with a few leather wrapped wooden training weapons.

“Sorry, Zago didn’t put her training weapons away right. What do you prefer, club, ax, or sword?” she said, holding the three handles my way.

“Sword. I have a bit of sword training from school,” I replied, grabbing the single bladed sword.

Even made of wood, the sword was easily as heavy as any metal elven ones I’d practiced with. Likely from the size of the blade, nearly as long as I was tall and heftier than elven ones, perhaps more related to the wedge of an ax blade than the typical elven blade. 

While I was finding the weight, Eka sorted through a bit longer, before pulling out a padded warhammer of her own. I made my way out to the middle of the training grounds, Eka joining me. We crossed out weapons, took our stances and…

Well, dodging didn’t have to look pretty if it worked. And I was glad that I was light on my feet, as Eka’s hammer left what I was sure you could call small craters each time it landed. 

A few dodges later and the craters were getting bigger while the bloodlest seemed to flare up in her eyes. It seemed the stories I’d heard about orcs being terrifying had some accuracy after all. 

Backpedalling from one of her swings, I realised too late I had lifted my foot poorly and stepped on the skirt of my dress. I let out a (mildly) undignified help as I fell, landing sprawling on my back. 

Eka bent over me, concern in her eyes that didn’t quite undo the vigour with which she seemed to have been trying to kill me earlier. 

In retrospect, I was starting to suspect the way my heart had been quickening around her had been from fear not attraction. Which made sense. Butterflies in your stomach and your fight or flight instincts kicking in weren’t that different of sensations.

“—probably get you better clothes for another match tomorrow,” she was saying as my heart rate lowered enough for me to properly listen.

“S-sure,” I managed.

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