She’d called him ‘master’. Since he’d arrived in this strange new world he’d almost gotten used to people calling him that. Orc society was a hierarchy based on challenges ofbat. If two orcs disagreed or one orc thought he deserved something that another one owned then they would simply fight for it. The winner would thereafter be the master and the loser the ve. Orc very was much different to human ideas on such matters since practically every orc was in some way enved to another. This meant that ill treatment of a ve by a master was practically a ticket to get a severe beating by other orcs who didn’t want their masters getting any ideas.


    Shortly after entering the camp he’d found Jte and had challenged the orc merchant who had captured her. He’d won and therefore as well as taking Jte he now owned everything the merchant had, including the merchant himself. Gregory therefore concluded that this woman had probably been one of the merchant’s human ves and he now owned her too.


    “The warchief calls for your presence, master. Bolut asked me to take you there if it is your will.” She bowed her head submissively and then looked down to Gregory for his response.


    “Who’s Bolut?” Gregory began to wiggle his way out of the grip of his two lovers. It was not an easy task, especially since he didn’t want to wake them and even in their slumber they didn’t want to let him go.


    “Bolut is the name of your ve, master. He is the one who you challenged yesterday.” She seemed a little worried, as if she might have somehow gotten the wrong person.


    “Right, ok. Um, could you turn around?” He finally managed to slip from Algra’s grip and stand up.


    “Yes master, of course,” she obeyed.


    “Thanks.” He began to fish around for his pants. “So what does the warchief want?”


    The warchief was the leader of the orc encampment. An enormous male even for one of his kin; he also happened to be Algra’s uncle. He was definitely not someone that Gregory wanted to keep waiting. Finding his loose cargo pants, he frowned at the broken zipper and popped button. Algra had been very eager to y with what rested behind those particr hindrances and in her enthusiasm she’d ripped the front of his pants apart. Gregory improvised by wrapping his heavy hooded sweater around his waist as a makeshift belt. He tactfully covered the hole in their front with the folded arms of the garment. Once that was done he slipped on his t-shirt and turned back.


    Algra and Jte had sleepily slipped into each other’s arms in his absence and they certainly made a pleasant sight for tired eyes. Algra had possessively wrapped her leg around Jte’s thigh and their arms had slid into an embrace. Their breasts squeezed together as their heads fell against each other’s shoulders and they continued to snooze. The messenger was still turned away and Gregory tore his eyes away from the nude pair to look at the cloaked figure.


    “I’m ready, let’s go.”


    “Yes master.” Thedy turned and looked him over, she obviously found his dress sense interesting, if slightly perplexing. Humans that she knew tended to wear simple linen garments or medievally tailored clothing.


    Gregory offered her a small smile and slipped out of the tent, holding therge entrance p open for her to emerge beside him.


    “Thank you, master,” she politely remarked on his manners before leading the way for him toward the warchief’s home. “Is it eptable for me to give you a message from Bolut?”


    “Hm? Oh. Yeah, ‘course it is.” Gregory was slightly distracted as he smothered a tired yawn.


    “He wishes for an audience with you today. Yesterday he was very happy that you allowed him to keep his things but I think he wishes to know what you intend to do now.”


    Him and me both. Gregory silently thought to himself.


    Suddenly remembering the cause of his trip from Earth to this new world, he reached into the pocket of his pants and felt the cold touch of the ring there. He didn’t pull it from the pocket and he was careful not to let the thing slip onto his finger. Thest time Jte had done that they had both been teleported from Ennd along with her psychotic ex-boyfriend. He needed to get home but he knew something very important about magic rings and that was simply that he didn’t know anything at all about magic rings. Sure, it had transported them here this time but that didn’t mean putting it on again would take them back. Maybe they’d end up somewhere else, somewhere without oxygen or somewhere that was just an endless ocean. The thought wasn’t exactly encouraging.


    “What’s he like? Bolut, I mean. Is he kind to you?” Gregory tried to keep his mind on the present rather than pondering his other troubles.


    It was clear from her reaction that she certainly hadn’t been expecting him to ask such a question. Her pale green eyes widened and she turned her head sharply to look upon him. It wasn’t fear upon her face but rather a simple moment of shock followed by a note of confusion and then an answer.


    “He is not kind. Kind is not the right word. I would say that he is good,” she affirmed with a satisfied nod.


    “What do you mean by that?”Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org.


    She took a calcting breath, her apparently timid nature obviously conflicting with putting forward her own views.