Enna drapes my cloak over my shoulders, and I exit the tent. My two human companions are arguing nearby, I should stop this before it becomes a problem, maybe even send Grant home.

I step over to them, I miss the sound of my claws tapping on the road back home. "Hey, I've secured the allegiance of the orcs."

Sarah turns and gives me a genuine smile, "That's great, Ren. Thank you for sparing them."

Returning her smile, I give her a quick hug, "I still follow Earth rules, sometimes. Don't kill people if you don't have to and stuff."

The Hero laughs and ruffles my hair, "Earth rules, I like that."

Grant scowls down at me, "You betrayed my trust, Vess Queen." His gaze snaps to Enna, afraid of getting strangled again.

I sigh and pull my cloak tighter, shivering a little, "I'm not going to argue or justify myself to you. I am queen. Deal with it. Do I have to remind you of all your friends and family that have homes now thanks to me?"

"Is that a threat?" The adventurer growls.

"What?" I deadpan. "If I wanted to threaten you, Enna would have her hand around your neck again." The wind cuts through my cloak sending a new wave of shivers through me.

Sarah pulls me into another hug, "What our queen is trying to say, is that she isn't threatening you. I know this isn't what you had in mind, but there isn't anything you can do about it now. Will you still help us rescue the families?"

I snuggle my face into Sarah, so warm.

Now that I can't see the angry man, he quickly becomes much less important. I don't really pay attention to the back and forth between the hero and the adventurer, Sarah is much better suited to handling this.

Reaching out with my senses, I connect to my vess. I send scouts to watch the border between North and South Tarenbaum, and order the rest of my vess closer towards the border too. The drones will dig a war hive near the conflict zone, allowing my vess to burrow underneath the enemies to ambush them, this gives them an easy way to retreat as well.

The elder gave me the basics. South Tarenbaum are the defenders with an army five thousand strong, dug into trenches all along their border with some rudimentary forts made from earth magic. The North have around five thousand troops as well, the two kingdoms are around the same size, with similar resources. I can see why the North wanted to control the orcs so badly, they really needed something to swing the war in their favor. Otherwise, this could turn into a long and bloody conflict.

Set'latar assumed neither side would want to risk their high-level soldiers right away, so there should be a juicy window for me to strike and do irrecoverable damage. I think I'll leave the rest of the tactics to Enna and Sarah.

What I still can't figure out is why North Tarenbaum ordered the orcs to raid Karnakan villages. What are they going to do with the captives? Is it simple slavery? Apparently, slavery is legal in the North and is the reason why the South split from them.

How are we even going to find the Karnakan prisoners? We are probably going to need to make contact and work together with South Tarenbaum, ugh more diplomacy.

Sarah squeezes me, "Ren? You there?"

"Mmm." I nod.

"What's next?"

I take a step back and blink up at the hero, "Ah, Set'latar is having a meal prepared for us back in the big tent. He wants to talk strategy or something." Using my most innocent smile, I beam up at the hero, "Aaannnd I was hoping you'd take care of all of that. I really want to eat a bunch of meat and take a nap."

Sarah rolls her eyes with a smile, "Okay, okay. Big sis will take care of everything."

Despite the cold, I can feel the heat of a blush crawling up my neck. "Thanks…"

Grant clears his throat, but I ignore him. "Can we go back into the big tent? I'm cold."

"Sure." Sarah easily agrees, "You good, Grant?"

"Yeah." Grant mutters back.

I find myself back in the nice warm tent, sitting on the comfy cushion with a bowl of meat in my hands. Skewering a chunk on a claw, I pop it in my mouth and hum in contentment. This is much better.

Sarah sits to my right, eating something far more cooked. She is talking animatedly with Jet'latar who is in charge of the orc warriors. They are hashing out some kind of plan that won't risk too many orc lives. My vess are far superior for combat anyways.

My tail sways happily.

Set'latar chuckles around his spoon, "Enjoying your meat, Ver'kar?"

I make sure to swallow my food before responding, "Ver'kar?"

"The word for vess in our language." Explains the elder.

"Mmm." I nod, licking some blood off my claw, "Hey, I was thinking. Our generals are handling the war stuff, let's figure out the peaceful stuff."

Another dry laugh makes it out of the old orcs throat before he descends into a coughing fit. He gulps down some water, before coughing some more. Eventually he settles enough to speak, "Forgive me, Ver'kar. Orcs do not age gracefully."

"Is there anything I can do to help? Do you need medicine or something?" I ask, reaching over to touch his arm.

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The elder smiles a wrinkly, grateful smile, "Do not worry about me, it is no sickness, just a body that has lived far too long."

"Okay…Well, while you're still with us, let's talk about the future of your people."

Set'latar nods and motions for me to go ahead.

I set my bowl aside and clasp my hands in my lap, only for Enna to pull them back out and start cleaning them with a damp cloth. "Ennaaaaa." I whine.

My complaining gets me nowhere as Enna moves on to my face. I scrunch my eyes shut and wait for her to finish, whipping my tail unhappily.

Finally, it's over and I open my eyes, "A-anyway, as I was saying." Ugh Set'latar is giving me the 'you are so adorable' look, I'd know it anywhere. "My vess can help construct homes very quickly, and I can spare some soldiers to protect them as well. I also have hunters who are very good at their name, so I can help to feed your people too if you need. I was thinking we could move everyone closer to the mountains, further away from the fighting and closer to my main hive."

A look of honest relief sits comfortably on the clan head's face. "Yes, thank you. This is more than I could have asked for."

I blink, "Just like that? Do you need anything else or have any concerns or…" My voice trails off.

The elder just shakes his head, "No, we don't need much."

"Okay, sending the orders out now. My main army of vess are just now arriving in the plains, I'll have some stay behind and begin to construct homes, ah, or the material for them at least. Humans don't feel comfortable around vess made stuff, so I figure the orcs might be similar."

Set'latar bows, "Your concern is welcome. I think my people would prefer to build in the style of our homeland."

"You could even trade with and travel to the human village on the other side of the mountains. If you want, just ask the vess and they will help you." I try to think of anything else but come up blank. A yawn slips out before I can stop it.

"Would you like to rest? I've had a tent prepared for you and your 'general'." The elders dry voice carries a hint of humor.

Even the orcs tease me, another yawn demands that I rest, "Yes, thank you Set'latar." I get up and smooth the wrinkles out of my dress.

A female orc steps up to me, shooting Enna a curious glance before returning her attention to me, "Hello, Ver'kar. I am Fia'oh, the Matron of Ice.

The Matron has light blue skin, and her tusks are twice as long as most of the other orcs. Red winding tattoos peek out from underneath her tunic. Even without an inspect ability, I can tell she radiates power.

"Hi." I yawn, "Sorry, I'm getting really tired."

Enna gives my head a fond pat and introduces herself, "I am Enna, the Royal Caretaker. Her grace often needs rest after a meal."

Oh no. The Matron has that look in her eye.

"Don't worry," Fia'oh offers me her hand, her voice way too gentle, "Childcare is a part of my duties. I've helped deliver every single one of these people, nursed my fair share too."

I gulp and my face goes pale. At least I won't be nursed, that would make this a very different kind of story. Still, I need to be extremely careful around this one.

Cautiously, I take her hand to appease her. I keep my face neutral and hold myself confidently as we start walking.

The Matron giggles, "Well aren't you serious. Reminds me of my youngest, I'll have to introduce you two, you'd get on well. How old are you anyway little Ver'kar?"

I look up at Enna and practically beg her through our connection to save me.

Enna, in the ultimate act of betrayal, reveals my age, "Her grace is one year old." Of course, she doesn't bother explaining that I age differently than other races.

"Adorable." Fia'oh coos, "Enna, how many children do you have of your own? A woman with a body like yours," The Matron eyes my caretaker, "must have had many suitors."

… Is the Matron hitting on my caretaker? Looking at Enna, it's obvious she is sexy, but no one ever comments on it so I forgot. Humans must have enough survival instinct to not hit on the twelve foot tall woman with deadly sharp claws and glowing red eyes. Why is my caretaker so sexy? I hope I can look like her someday. My body has come a long way, I got a few inches taller, fully grown horns sprout from my forehead and curve to point behind me, and a tail as long and thick as my arm sways behind me, but my bust remains disappointingly… small. I think I'm an adolescent right now? Last time I evolved my class, I had a growth spurt, hopefully my next one propels me into adulthood.

Enna's laugh sounds almost like a gentle sigh, "All the vess are my children, in a way. I have not born any myself, however. This one keeps me far too busy."

Fia'oh looks shocked, "Seriously? Do the vess have stricter beliefs on mating? If an orc has a strong seed, he is encouraged to spread it over as many fields as he can."

I just stare straight ahead and pretend this conversation isn't happening. At least I'm not expected to 'mate'. My age is a blessing sometimes, I guess.

Enna must sense my distress, but she continues anyway, "The vess do not mate like a human or an orc might. All life comes through our goddess."

That's one way to put it, is she trying to hide the fact that I summon them all? She did allude to the fact that I could be considered a goddess to the vess before.

The Matron's look of shock turns to sadness, "Damn! That sounds awful." She looks down at me, "What about the little one? Will she have to choose a king someday?"

My caretaker scoffs, "There is no such expectation. If her grace desires a mate to play with, she shall have it. Do not misunderstand, there has never been and never will be a king of the vess."

"Wow." The orc is impressed, looking at me with an expression of newfound respect, "A proper matriarchy. You know, our clan used to be a matriarchy."

"What happened?" I look up at the Matron. She is huge and powerful, I could easily see her leading instead of weak old Set'latar.

Fia'oh ruffles my hair, "Ah, I didn't feel like leading anymore. After my fifth child, Jet, I stepped down. Old Set was much younger then and led our people through many perils. It was the right choice and blessed by the Frost Wyrm too."

I blink up at Fia. She looks young, I have no idea how orcs age, but I would have assumed she was in her late twenties. I leverage my child status to ask a rude question, "How old are you?"

The Matron winks, "Two hundred and twenty this winter."

"Is that normal? Do orcs really live so long?"

Fia continues to humor me, "No, honey. Most orcs live for around one hundred years. For me, high levels in certain classes give powerful blessings."

I stumble on an uneven patch of dirt, but before I can fall, I am swept up into the Matron's ridiculously muscular arms. She settles me on her hip, "There. Probably should have done that from the start, but I know better than to fight a kid when she wants to walk."

Enna radiates approval, "Her grace has a strong will. Even now, she continues to consume human food when she knows she shouldn't."

"It was just tea!" I whine, "Orc tea!"

"Tell me about her dietary needs, I'll do my best to provide." The Matron sounds very serious; she's not going to let this go.

I groan and lay my head down on her shoulder. It's easier to just let them do whatever they want.

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