Page 43 of The Orc's Wife

“He told Urgan he would use you to gain power, and when he had the throne, he would banish you or even kill you himself. Ragan said even the cubs you gave him would be worthless to him.”

Urzulah let out a bellow of rage that made the hair on my nape rise and stormed out of the room. I only hoped that if she was planning to fight Ragan, she would kill him fast. It would be a disaster if they started talking and he contradicted my words.

Urzulah was gullible. My only hope was that her vanity would make her believe me, and not him.

She came back late, and she was in a foul mood, but she didn’t try to hit me or even speak to me, so I took that as a good sign.

Later that night, Oriana came again, bearing a small sack of wheat seeds.

“Well done,” she said, handing it to me. “Put the seeds in the bowl and pee on them in the morning. If they start sprouting the next day, congratulations, you’re with child.”

I shook my head, taking it from her.

“Shouldn’t you focus on the important stuff?” I asked, miffed that she kept thinking about my possible pregnancy more than I was at that point. I usually pushed the thought out of my mind, because the worry and fear it caused made it impossible to focus on manipulating Urzulah.

“Child,” Oriana said, putting her hand on my shoulder. “When you grow to be as old as me, you will realize that nothing is as important as family. Urgan and you are my only family now. And I long to hold a newborn of my own blood in my hands.”

I nodded, speechless with sobs I refused to let out. They were choking me, trapped in my constricted throat. Family. I was Urgan’s and Oriana’s family. Oriana was fighting for me, too, I realized. And suddenly I understood why: she wasn’t certain Urgan would make it. That was why she was so invested in the pregnancy.

She believed there wouldn’t be another chance for me to be with Urgan. If I weren’t pregnant, he would die without an heir. And she would lose her entire family.

“I had an idea about how to hold the army back a day or two,” I said, my voice hoarse from the unshed tears. “Nat told me there was a brothel with human women in the city.”

I had been thinking hard about another way of delaying the army from returning, because what I wanted to propose was risky and probably not very kind to the women who would be asked to help out. But I just couldn’t think of any other way.

It would be up to them to decide, anyway.

“You could send a few women… Well, more than a few, obviously. You know, as a sort of welcome feast and a reward. The women could entertain them for a day or two, and the villagers in the village where they stop could prepare a feast. They could be stopped even a few hours away from the capital, but if you gave them women and drink…”

Oriana patted me on the shoulder.

“I’ll talk to the girls. Many of them owe me favors. Now, be careful with Urzulah. You only have to last until the Festival of the Fall Moon. Everything will happen then.”

I went back to sleep, tossing and turning, and peed on the seeds first thing in the morning. I was hoping they would sprout and dreading it at the same time.

That day, Urzulah had over her seamstresses, and they were making her a dress of red feathers. The festival of the Fall Moon was two days away. She was so busy preening herself, she paid us no mind, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It wouldn’t be long now. Soon, we would find out one way or another what would happen.

The next morning, I found the seeds had sprouted.

I was carrying a child.

I spent the day trying to keep calm. I hadn’t had any news about Urgan, so I was hoping he was alive. But I knew he was in pain. Would he even be able to get well if we saved him? And had Oriana managed to delay the army? Was her plan going well?

In the afternoon, I was just standing by the window in Urzulah’s bedroom and pretending to be polishing the glass, while in reality, I was looking outside, trying to focus my mind on what I saw. Urzulah was out, tormenting somebody else for a change. Nat was sleeping in Laya’s arms in our room.

Tables were being laid out in the courtyard, roasting pits set up, fires lit. This was where the Imperator and his court would feast tomorrow. Other city dwellers would feast outside the palace walls.

I could see from the clothing and the color of tree leaves that the fall had come. When I had last been outside, it was still hot. Now, I could only imagine the chill in the air, not having been outside for over ten days.

The door opened and I quickly resumed polishing. The door to our room was closed but not locked, and I hoped Urzulah wouldn’t look inside. Nat and Laya were supposed to be helping other servants with the festival preparations, not lying around.

But I needn’t have worried. Urzulah wanted only me.

I cried out when she grabbed my hair and violently yanked it back, making me fall against her. As soon as my body landed against her, she pushed me away. I landed on the floor, turning in the last moment so I wouldn’t fall on my belly.

“You piece of shit!” she screamed, rushing at me, her hand reaching for the short blade at her belt. “You lied to me! You’ve been lying to me all this time!”

She drew the blade, and I scrambled away from her on the floor. I should have tried to stand up, but my instincts were screaming for me to get away, and there was no time to waste for getting up.

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