MLiW Chapter 10 (Patreon)

Arthas and his army were headed back this way anyway so I just tagged along with them. In the process, I had to reveal my face to eat and I did so in front of Prince Arthus, Uther, and Lady Jaina. It was just easier to do it this way and all of them acted how I expected them to. 

Jaina covered her mouth in surprise that the person who helped save so many humans was an orc. Arthas might have attacked me as he grew furious at my deception and Uther managed to cool him down and reign in his more bombastic tendencies. I was the sole reason the city had survivors and the dreadlord was slain, so I got some leeway.

Jaina thought I was a half orc which made the other two think that as well and I didn’t correct that distinction she made. I figured it was better to be part human than for them to see me as full orc. We sat in silence eating before Arthas asked. “So… I don’t want to pry but… How’d it happen?” Confused I asked. “How’d what happen?”

Jaina’s eyes went up in surprise as Arthas kept pushing ahead. “Well, how did your parents… You know?” I couldn’t help but laugh as I had to make up a lie on the spot but… I could paint humans in a bad light to let them see humans were just as bad, if not worse than the orcs they despise. “Well… My mother is and was a slave. A lord took a liking to her and me and my brother were born.”

Eating another spoonful of the potatoes I kept going. “The lord wanted to make a warchief out of his sons but I was born… Small, at least smaller than my brother. My mother got sick of him constantly… You know, it wasn’t consensual between the two, so she hurt him, and he nearly killed her. That was the last day I saw her as he sold her away to someone else.”

We ate in silence for a few more bites before I kept going. “Even as his blood, we were treated like the other orc slaves he had under him. He was training my brother to be a cunning strategist as well as a menace on the battlefield. Perhaps that’s why he didn’t care for me. I was relegated to learning from the priesthood, which thankfully I excelled at. Even with the clergy of priests working against me I managed to attain my class.”

Another bit of silence before Jaina mentioned. “So… Did you ever figure out where your mother went?” This was why I lied in this specific direction. “No… I’m still looking for her but the way I look I have to be careful about who sees me. Someone might think I’m an orc and I’d be chased out of whatever city I’m in. But where was I in my story? Oh, right. It went like that for years, my father caring for my brother far more than me… Until my brother couldn’t live up to his insane standards.”

I took in a deep breath as I sighed and continued. “He had my brother fight in a gladiatorial arena ever since he was ten years old, and with every success, it pushed my brother further off the edge. The final match he took part in was ten battles in a row. He made it to the final match but even then it wasn’t enough for my father. He beat my brother almost to death for losing to an ogre, my healing ability was possibly the only reason my brother wasn’t crippled.”

They all looked on in horror at my story. It was actually very close to the truth, that’s what made stories more believable… Did I keep going or end it here though? I could paint Aedelas out even worse but was there any reason to? Yes… He was a sick and depraved man who would force himself on anyone. “The only friend I had was a local farm girl… My father tried to force himself on her and… That’s when I became a champion. You’ve seen how my weapon works. It can only harm those who have done evil and when I struck my father he died instantly. Me and my brother escaped and made our way out of the village he owned and my new goddess guided me to help you.”

The group just looked on in shock at my story as I was the only one who kept eating. “So now I’m going to go look for my mother, hopefully buy her freedom, and then visit the zoo.” Jaina asked. “The zoo, why do you want to head there?” I chuckled before saying. “Well, I overheard from some of the men I had to take care of that Lordaeron had a nice zoo. One of the guys said he took his girlfriend there and she really liked it. So it’s more out of curiosity at seeing a bunch of animals I never have before.”

The trip back to the capital only took a day as the main force used wagons while the rest of the army escorted back the civilians. I was important enough to get to ride in the caravan, being chums with the crown prince meant I got to eat three times a day. They had to explain breakfast to me… And lunch. Most of the time I got a loaf of bread and a bucket of water before I went to sleep.

I heard about breakfast and lunch but it was like knowing dragons exist and actually seeing a dragon. I never got to eat sausages, pork chops, or steak until today but now I know they exist because the delicious food is in my belly. If I was ever lucky enough to get a piece of meat it was mixed into a stew, in such small amounts you’d only get one or two pieces in a giant bowl of the soup. Then we got to eat venison and rabbit, but they didn’t have any seasonings. I knew meat could taste better but the difference in having a chef prepare dinner compared to what we had made one of the first stops in the city the cooking trainer.

I still wasn’t sure what my other professions would be. I liked the idea of fishing but didn’t have any money. I sheepishly asked Jaina… “Umm… Can I get some money? I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to purchase my mother but having enough to buy food until I can get a job will go a long way. I’m not even sure my mother is in the city but it’s my best guess.”

I was playing up my patheticness in front of her. Everyone at Durneholde Keep knew to not trust me. I managed to talk many people out of doing tasks until everyone caught on that I was using them. Aedelas went out of his way to point it out to everyone I had tricked, that was after he would punish any who I befriended before. The conman tendencies were the difference between me and my pure brother. He was strong enough to beat his problems with his fists but I needed to trick people to not get hurt.

She handed me a sack of who knows how much money. It felt like a lot and pulling it out my eyes went wide at the gold luster. What!? The guards got paid a gold a week, this was possibly a year's worth of work to a normal guard. Was she rich or something? With shaking hands, I put it in my inner pocket on my robes before we made it to the gates of the city. I couldn’t help but gulp at the size, there was no escaping from here if they closed these. My escape will have to be perfectly planned before I put any escape plans into play.