Thunder boomed across the plains, for a moment drowning out the sounds of metal on metal. Ghruz rammed their shoulder into the human assailant in front of them, sending them both tumbling to the ground. The man scrambled for his weapon, a hair’s breadth away, before seeing it kicked away by a rough iron boot.

Ghruz grabbed him by the neck, snarling viciously, as they tightened his windpipe. The human desperately clawed and tugged at the orc’s hand, his strength waning. He looked over Ghruz’s shoulder, smirking before his body went limp and lifeless.

They turned around to see their village being overrun by the enemy, the huts on fire and the walls collapsing. Ghruz fell to their knees, and began to weep.

Ghruz sat up hastily, pain shooting through their side. They placed a hand on the bandages, hesitating for a moment before they realised where they were. They wiped the sweat off their brow, and placed their feet on the marble floor. On a table nearby lay their tunic and pants. They dressed themselves quickly before heading out of the guest room.

On the other side of the door stood an elvish soldier, a head shorter than the orc. He flinched slightly before speaking up.

“The queen requests your audience in the dining hall,” he spoke plainly.

Ghruz cocked an eyebrow.

“Right. Why are you here?” Ghruz was starting to feel like a prisoner, but with any luck, they were hoping to go back to their home today.

“After the attempt on your life, the queen assigned me to guard your room. She was worried another attempt would happen.”

The orc nodded slowly.

“Of course. Well, I’m going to go find Titania then. Thanks for watching my back.” Ghruz slapped the soldier on the back with a hearty laugh, and jutted their head up in respect.

Taking the same route, the orc wandered through the golden halls, finding the two doors already open when they arrived. At the head of the table, Titania sat, delicately working a knife through a bright orange fruit in her palm. She looked up, her lips spreading in a grin.

“Ghruz, I hope your sleep was restful?” She placed a slice of the fruit in her mouth, nodding to the seat to her left.

Ghruz sat down beside her, looking at the vast platter of fruits, most completely alien.

“Please, help yourself,” she continued. “Many of these bounties are from vast and distant lands, and some… are even harder to acquire. I hope they are to your taste.”

Ghruz nodded, selecting a crimson orb, and biting into it roughly. The queen placed down her knife, and looked at Ghruz expectantly, smiling when she received a nod.

“I have a proposition for you.” She spoke, her song like voice carried by the hall. The orc put down the fruit and made eye contact with those enchanting silver eyes.

“Yeah?” they said hesitantly. They had a feeling they would be seeing more of the queen than they intended. They were beginning to think it wasn’t such a bad thing, seeing more of such an enchanting beauty...

“I’m planning on leaving the kingdom again. I need to visit Dradinhir; my contacts have informed me that the kingdom is rather jealous of our prosperity. I must go and smooth things over. War is such nasty business, and I’d rather not have to needlessly lose the lives of any of my citizens. I would like you to accompany me as a personal bodyguard.” Titania offered.

Ghruz frowned for a moment.

“Why me?” They replied bluntly. The queen grinned.

“Because after seeing your fight, I think I’d rather like you in my company. Even when you were caught off guard, you still gained the upper hand.” She started, before giving a devilish look. “Which means you are unpredictable, and I find that very interesting. I don’t think I could be bored with you around.”

Ghruz went red, casting their gaze to the side. The queen was the one who was unpredictable.

Titania continued, “You are not above showing mercy either, a rare trait amongst elves. We can be ruthless when we want to. I think you could teach my people a thing or two about courtesy.” The queen sat back in her chair, looking into the orc’s blood red eyes for an answer.

The orc sighed in resignation.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be bored with you. Fine. I’ll be your bodyguard.” The orc sat back in their chair, trying to read the queen's face. They could only dream of what lay behind those beautiful eyes. Ghruz felt like the queen was more unpredictable than anyone else.

“You are most entertaining, Ghruz. Good. You will be paid appropriately of course, and I shall have armour made by our greatest smith. You will not find a finer craftsman across the lands.” said Titania. The orc nodded, and the two continued to eat breakfast.

After the meal had been concluded, Titania assigned Silviana to Ghruz, and told her to show the orc around her city.

The pair walked in silence for a while, the hustle of the giant forest city largely ignoring them, stepping out of their way. It was Silviana that broke the silence between them.

“I’m sorry.” She spoke meekly. Ghruz looked down at her, and nodded.

“Don’t apologise. We fought it out. No hard feelings.” The orc grinned at her, receiving a smile back. The pair continued to walk through the city, before stopping in front of a tower that rivaled the height of the palace.

“This is our national library, one of the queen’s greatest treasures, and she is gracious enough to share it with all of us.” Silviana beamed. “Do you read, Ghruz?” She looked up with expectation. Ghruz shook their head.

“We only had need for writing for stock. Orcs tell their stories around the fire instead,” they said plainly. Silviana looked down in disappointment.

“That is okay. Come, let me show you where your armour will be made.” Silviana spun on her heels, the crowd moving aside as they saw the queen’s personal attendant being trailed closely by a giant orc. Ghruz was starting to get accustomed to all of the dirty looks they were getting.

They arrived at a small stone building on the edge of town, in front of which a human toiled away in front of his forge, the sounds of metal against metal ringing into the air. The man looked up at the pair walking towards him, wiping the brow with a filthy cloth and offering a grin.

“Silviana. I’m honoured.” His eyes darted between the elf and the orc. “You know you got a pig behind you, yeah?” he stated plainly.

Silviana frowned. Tilting her head to the side to show a bruise on her temple. “Last time I called her that, she did this. I recommend not insulting the queen’s personal bodyguard.”

The human man sighed and nodded. He walked up to the orc and held his hand out to Ghruz.

“Sorry, don’t do well talkin’ to others. I’m Anton.” Ghruz clasped him by the wrist and shook.

“I’m Ghruz. Well met. They are right, though. I won’t stand for being called ‘pig’.”

The man sighed and shook his head.

“Noted. So what are you two lovely ladies doing ‘ere?”

Silviana walked forward, and handed him a slip of parchment. “The queen requests you fit her in armour worthy of being her bodyguard.”

The blacksmith cocked an eyebrow. “I thought you elves didn’t like women being warriors.” Ghruz stepped forward, their head held high.

“I’m not a woman, I’m an orc.” Ghruz spoke as if it were obvious. The blacksmith laughed and slapped the orc’s shoulder.

“Well said. When’s it need to be done by? I got a bunch of orders piled up.”

“It needs to be done by the 17th,” Silviana stated plainly. The blacksmith’s eyes bulged.

“Three days? That’s not enough time.”

Silviana rolled her eyes.

“Oh don't play coy, I know you can have it done. No haggling; you will be paid four platinum for the work.” The blacksmith’s facade fades and he boomed out a laugh.

“That’ll feed my family for the rest of the season. Fine, come back in two days.” Anton nodded at Ghruz. “I’ll need her measurements, then you can be on your way.”

The orc stepped forward. There was no escaping their situation now.