Page 2 of The Orc's Bride

“I won’t marry her,” he said.

He wouldn’t be used like this. Urgan served the Imperator because, this way, he had plenty of opportunities to fight. To lead armies. But he wouldn’t be tricked into giving up his freedom.

“You will refuse the Imperator’s generous gift?” asked Grikh.

Urgan shook his head. Of course, he couldn’t do that and live.

Would he really have to marry the female who had once set fire to her own room in a fit of bad temper and then ran away? Refusing to face the consequences of her actions was Urzulah’s vilest weakness. He would rather be banished than have a partner whose spirit was so weak.

“Are you certain of this?”

Grikh nodded solemnly, and Urgan believed him. He trusted his friend implicitly.

There had to be a way to avoid marrying Urzulah without giving up his position.

Suddenly, the solution became obvious.

“I will have to be married already,” he said. “The Imperator can’t force Urzulah on me if I already have a wife.”

He was ready to rise and go looking for a bride then and there. Urgan was an orc of action. If there was a solution, he wouldn’t delay. He would solve the problem.

His future wife would have to be smart and fearless – he had no time to be picky about anything else. These, however, were the qualities he had to have in a partner.

Grikh bashed the table with his fist, acknowledging that it was a good solution.

“Yes. But where will you find a willing bride? No orc female in her right mind will marry you fast enough. You will have to court her for months, and in that time, the Imperator will make it known you’re intended for Urzulah.”

Of course. Orc females expected a long courtship. They enjoyed testing their future husbands, having them kill their enemies for them or sending them on long quests to find a special plant or craft a superb weapon.

Urgan didn’t have time for all that. And sacrificing his time and resources just to satisfy a female’s shallow whims was odious to him.

Thinking hard about another way out, he let his eyes wander.

They fell on the human woman, who was pouring mead for his warriors. Such a short female, her head barely higher than the heads of seated orcs. Soft. Too soft – she looked like she would break if he squeezed her.

One warrior, Druzan, tried to cup her bottom. Some orc males were drawn to human females, and now, after the last battle, most of his men were probably going crazy with lust. And she was the only female in sight.

The girl saw Druzan’s hand just in time. She dashed away, fast like a mountain stream, and bashed his hand playfully with an empty jug. Druzan grinned at her and she wagged her finger in front of his face.

There wasn’t even a trace of fear about her. Unusual. Most humans trembled in terror when faced with an orc. But not her.

Urgan’s blood was also running hot and lusty after the fight. He took in her lithe body, his eyes drawn to the small swell of her breasts, the arrogant sway of her hips, the imperious way she was holding her head.

An instinct to hunt and possess her made his blood run faster. Urgan bared his teeth, his mind already made. This woman was his.

“You’re right,” he said. “An orc female won’t agree for a quick union. But a human female might.”

Chapter 2

Una

Icarried the empty jug back to the provision tent we had set up for the feast. The other girls weren’t in sight, probably scared of the orcs. I sighed. Who could blame them for being afraid?

Those beasts were bloodthirsty warriors who had just been in a fight. Of course, they were getting rowdy. The other girls didn’t want to deal with rowdy orcs.

But that meant I had to serve the orcs all by myself. There were over thirty, most of them officers and the most distinguished warriors. They were chugging mead without restraint.

And I was scared, too.

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