Tusktaker's Secret Part 14

	Radha sighed as she packed up the last of the dishes. It had been a week since Jor'ak's disastrous first meeting with Thomas. He'd been surprisingly quiet, but she could tell her husband was still furious under his cool facade. There was always an air of tension between him and the rest of the family when he came back from a hunt. In her nineteen years of marriage, Radha had never seen her husband like this.

After finishing up in the kitchen, Radha got ready for bed. She still shared the same bed with her husband, but he had becoming distant since the incident. He hardly said anything, and he hadn't touched her since the incident…which was especially unnerving considering how much he loved to cuddle with her. It made her feel unwelcome in her own home.

Jor'ak came out of the bathroom and crawled into his side of the bed. He snorted and then muttered a good night before closing his eyes. Radha turned off the light and slide next to her husband in the darkness.
She tried closing her eyes but she just couldn't sleep. Too much was weighing on her mind.
“Husband, are you awake?” she whispered.

“Yes”

“Can I talk to you?”

He let out a heavy sigh. “Yes.”

“Are you still mad at me?”

“Very.”

 “Do you still love me?”

Jor'ak turned to face her, disbelief in his eyes. “What? What are you talking about? Of course I still love you!”
“You've just been so quiet lately, I…”

Jor'ak wrapped his arms around his wife and pulled her into a hug. “I would never stop loving you, Radha. I said that in our wedding vows.” Radha felt her anxiety melt away in her husband's arms.  She breathed a sigh of as she rested her head on her husband's chest. He ran his fingers through her hair as he comforted her. “Did you really think I'd hate you because of something like this? “He asked.

“I was really afraid you would. I'm sorry. I should have been upfront about what was going on.” She told him.

“Agreed.” he said without a hint of spite. “I'm sorry I got so angry Radha. I shouldn't have lashed out at you or Lorka like that.”

Radha should have let the issue rest for now, but she couldn't help herself. Maybe she could clear the air. “Is Lorka dating a human
really that bad?”

Jor'ak grimaced but Radha could tell he was making an effort to not get emotional about the issue. “He’s a bad influence on our daughter. She starts dating him and then she gives me this whole spiel about how I've never understood Lorka her entire life? Please. I think I know my own daughter better than some snot-nosed little kid. Maybe I need to sit down with her, explain why it's such a bad idea.”

“He isn't a bad person, husband. I think you would like him more if you got to know him. Lorka told me he used to hunt with his father.”
Jor'ak snorted. “What did he hunt, rabbits?”

“Deer. She said he managed to kill a buck.”

“Impressive. Maybe next time he could hunt something worth killing. Jor’ak muttered, his words dripping with sarcasm. “Why did he stop anyway?”

“She said his father died when he was in middle school.”

“Damn…that's really rough.”

“Yeah. He's a sweet boy. I hate to think of what it did to his mother.” Radha paused a moment before continuing. “He's also been learning orcish. When I greeted him at the door, he used an old formal greeting. It was cute.”

Jor'ak snorted. “I don't even want to think of what orcish sounds like coming from a humie.”
“Husband…”

“Can we just not talk about this right now? I really don't want to bring up all this crap. I just want to enjoy my wife's company after a long week.”

Radha wanted to say more, but she felt like this was going to be uphill battle. Better to reconcile and work through their problems slowly instead of forcing the issue and causing Jor'ak to lash out. Besides, she loved her husband. Even if he could be a stubborn idiot.

“I missed you, Husband.”

Jor'ak gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I missed you too, Wife.”