The Ugly Duckling Of The Tiger Tribe-Chapter 319: Meeting the bear craftsman Oryn

Ah, I have to escape before Thalor finds me.

I quickly slipped out of the side exit of the gathering hall, best to avoid Thalor as much as I can, so I don’t get tempted. Even I don’t trust my body.

I had other things to do anyway. I already promised them a nursery by tomorrow, so I have to get everything ready by tomorrow as fast as I can.

My mind was already buzzing with blueprints. If I were going to turn this pack of disgruntled rivals into a functional community, I needed a state-of-the-art neutral ground. A place so impressive that the mothers would be too busy marveling at it to fight, and so fun that the pups would never want to leave.

And to do that, I needed a craftsman.

With directions from the folks, I started walking toward the northern edge of the village, where the scent of fresh pine and the sound of a mallet hitting down with a powerful thud-thud. I must be in the right place.

The craftsmen were at work.

But then, the air grew crisp. That familiar, heart-stopping scent of midnight lilies and cold tide began to swirl around me.

No. Not now. Why does he keep looking for me? Did he become a stalker? Ah, I already thought he was quite fishy.

I didn’t even look back. I quickly ducked behind a stack of wood drying out in the sun, my heart hammering frantically. I could feel him through the crest—a pulling, curious sensation, like a hook snagging on silk. He was close.

"Arinya?" His voice drifted over the wood, melodic and persistent.

I held my breath, pressing my back against the rough pine. Go away, go away, go away. I had a week-long promise to keep, a fated-mate crisis to process, and more than twenty-four wolf pups to house. I did not have the bandwidth for a merman’s soulful longing.

I stayed tucked there for as long as three minutes. It was only after I felt him leaving after standing in front of my hiding spot with no words said that I scrambled out and took a detour through the narrow alleyways behind the granary, practically running until I reached the workshop of the head carpenter, a burly black bear-beastman named Oryn.

"Oryn!" I gasped, leaning against his workbench and startling him so badly that he nearly dropped his wooden mallet and a chisel, which was made out of a material I’m not certain of. But I’m sure it’s not steel.

"Queen Arinya? You look like you’ve been hunted by a ghost," Oryn grunted, wiping his brow.

Ah, he’s huge. Like a giant. And kinda reminds me of Harok. That big and broad frame that makes him seem like a giant, their dark skin, and small, round ears on their heads. Just, Harok is a brown bear, and he is a black bear.

Hm, I wonder if he’s doing well in that snobbish and stupid tribe where it feels like they all sold their brains for a strand of Veyra’s hair. Ugh, it’s been so long since I thought of them, and right now, it just gives me icky goosebumps when I think back.

Best to discard a nasty memory and move on.

"Worse." I said, "A merman and a committee of concubines," I wheezed, then straightened up, snapping my back and still feeling that ache from the ’stretching’ exercise with my husbands at night. "Anyway, it’s nice to meet you. I believe this is our first meeting."

Oryn nodded and did a light bow, like a nod with his head, and then sat down so I wouldn’t keep straining my head just to look at him as we talked. How thoughtful.

"I believe so, Queen. It is nice to meet you." Although he was a black bear beastman, he didn’t look much different from Harok. That spark for creativity was lit wonderfully in his eyes, and I smiled.

"I look forward to working with you," I said. "I have a feeling we’re going to create great things together."

He nodded, giving a smile as well.

"I am always welcome to innovative ideas," he said, and then gestured to the big lump of bark that was smooth. "Please sit. It would be bad to have you stand while I sit."

I nodded and sat down. The bark was bigger than my body, hah. It was definitely made for his use more than for guests.

"Then, what is it that you would like my assistance with?" Though I did say there was just so much similarity between him and Harok, there was one thing that was distinct between the two, aside from their black and brown hair on their heads. Oryn was so formal.

I don’t know if it’s because this kingdom has a clear hierarchy and has rules, as well as educational settings where they learn this and that, but he’s so polite and speaks with me with the respect one would give a royalty, despite him being older than me.

I’d like to tell him it’s okay to drop the formality since we would be doing a lot of business together going forward, but I don’t think it’s all right for me to do that just yet. I have to let my status sink in so I do not give room for disrespect.

"I need wood. A lot of it. And I need your best builders. We’re building something the West Way has never seen and definitely needs."

Though there are ’schools’ which I definitely haven’t seen yet. Wait, there are schools, right? Noah said they have education, so they need schools for that, right? Anyway, even if there are ’schools’, I doubt they have playgrounds.

’The pups will learn on their own once they journey out into the wild. The forest is their playground.’ Yes, that might be true if they were just ’animals,’ but they have intelligence, have a human form, and are civilized. It’s time we change things, even if little by little.

I grabbed a piece of charcoal and began to draw frantically on a smoothed-out plank of oak. I drew a massive, multi-level playhouse and called it the ’Nursery Palace.’ I sketched out things from my old world that didn’t exist here: a set of wooden swings, a spiraling slide made of polished, hollowed logs, and a ’jungle gym’ of interlaced ropes and climbing bars. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

They want to learn how to swing from tree to tree; well, they’ve got it. The jungle gym will do just that.

Oryn leaned over, observing, and his jaw slowly dropped.

"What... What is this? A fortress for squirrels?"

"It’s a playground, Oryn," I said, a grin finally breaking through my exhaustion. "It’s a place where children learn to be a pack before they learn to be warriors. I want soft sand pits here, a sheltered nap area there, and a fence—a very sturdy, very high fence to keep certain... ’Distractions’ out."

Oryn scratched his head, looking from the strange drawings to my determined face. "It is a structure I have not seen before, and given that I will need to have a lot of trial and error process, it will take at least a week, at least. And a lot of manpower."

"A week is too long even for the least," I said, shaking my head. "And I know it’s complex having to build something you don’t fully understand, but I will help you. I will be there to guide the construction every step of the way, so we just need a lot and a lot of wood."

"Queen," he looked at me, puzzled. "You should not be involved in the crafting. It is tedious and..."

"I know exactly what I’m getting myself into," I said. "And I know it is very tedious work but," I stood up, trying to look the bear man in the eye as he sat there. "I have brought the impossible to your doorstep. So it is only right I am here to help make it feel less of a burden and more of an adventure."

He looked at me, unable to refute my words more than that. But there was that admiration in his eyes.

It was like looking at a queen who asked for a throne of gold, but they had no idea what gold was, so the Queen decided to help them make the throne.

A saint.

Not a queen who rules with an iron fist, but firmness and understanding.

"We have from now till tomorrow to get it all ready," I stated, running the calculations in my head. "You have the manpower. But if your men find the task impossible and refuse to get involved, you can tell them that if they don’t help, they’ll have to answer to Talia and twenty-three other angry mothers," I said, shrugging. "It’s out of my hands at that point."

Oryn winced, visibly shuddering, but I wasn’t sure he was shuddering from fear or the excitement that came with this unknown masterpiece. "Understood. We shall start right away."

I smiled.

"Then, let us begin."

"We shall gather as many lumbers as we can, Quen. It shall not take long." I nodded.

"Then, I shall run an errand in the meantime," I said and walked away from the workshop, feeling a rare spark of triumph.

I had the plan. I had the builders. Now, I just had to tell Noah he was about to become the world’s most overqualified babysitter.