The royal hall was unusually crowded, not just with the normal courtiers, warriors, servants and noble Orcish ladies that were normally present, but with strong warriors of noble birth and great bravery when in battle that had come, some of them from hundreds of miles away, to seek the hand in marriage of the fair Helen. Tales both of her beauty and, equally important, of her personality had travelled far and wide through all of Grond, and representives from mountain tribes, plains tribes, cave tribes, town- based tribes and even tribes who lived a lot of the time in great ships had come to see her.<br/>They had preformed feats of strength, and also did a lot of friendly talking with her-and listening to what she had to say.<br/><br/>They were fine strong warriors and whilst a few had the odd scar from a sword wound in battle, these small scars showed that these Orcs were not afraid to fight, and could win even when wounded. Amongst Orcs of all classes from royal lines down to the poorest, someone’s personality was seen as very important, indeed the most important thing in a marriage. Beauty could fade through age or battle damage but inner beauty lasted as long as the mind did. When the King was ready to make his choice, the hall fell silent. And when Prince Trevon stepped out from behind the throne of swords, bones and skulls, there was angry muttering all through it.<br/><br/>Apart from the King and Queen, every Orc present, be they noble or not, was horrified and felt deeply sorry for the beautiful Orcish princess who was to be given to this…this elderly, fat, ugly, human!!! Instead of a brave, noble warrior Orc who would show her love and respect, take her into battle with him during times of war and provide her with healthy Orcish babies who when they grew into children, teenagers and then full adults sharing the Orcish values-she would be shackled to this ugly, weak man who could neither satisfy her in the bedroom, nor give her Orc children. Half Orcs were looked down on by most humans and Orcs alike and could not hold senior roles in either society, and not very many wanted to date or marry them. They watched as the smile on her face turned to a scowl and then a frown, and the gorgeous yellow eyes darkened to hazel, to brown, and then went as black as ink. She snorted, and her nails cut into her skin as she was gripping her hands so hard into fists.<br/><br/>“You cannot be SERIOUS!!!” Her anger was clearly justified from the viewpoint of Orcs as she pointed out all the time she had spent courting and talking with great and (mostly) handsome Orc warriors. Whilst the royal Orcs were born to their role, the nobility at least partly earned theirs through bravery in battle, taking the heads of foes and other such feats. She had made a short list of the seven that she most liked and seemed the most compatible with her, yet her up until now beloved father wanted to marry her to this beast. Green blood dripped from her palms to the floor and her hands hurt.<br/><br/>After naming some of those she had been courting and saying how good they were, she openly called Prince Trevon a pig to his face. Turning to her mother, Queen Mellsende she pointed out that their children would be outcasts and that she would be dethroneing herself and her offspring and making herself into no more then a royal concubine.<br/><br/>The Queen knelt before her husband and said “See how upset you have made our daughter. You have humiliated her in front of all Orcdom. I beg you to let her choose her husband freely, it is the least you can do for her or more me.”<br/><br/>He answered “Sometimes even we Orcs need peace and Prince Trevon insisted on marriage to our daughter. Helen,go to your room before I send you to the dungeon instead.”<br/><br/><br/>