Page 44 of The Orc's Wife

“You can’t kill me!” I yelled.

She gave me a nasty grin, raising the blade high, light glinting off its hard edge.

“No one needs you anymore. Urgan is dead.”

Chapter 13

Urgan

The pain lost its sharp edge. It became fuzzy, filling his whole body with a dull throbbing, making it seem like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere. From many years spent waging war and watching his brothers in arms die of wounds and blood poisoning, Urgan knew it couldn’t be good, but he was past caring.

Let death come and claim him. There was no hope left. If he didn’t get proper help right now, he would die, no matter what happened.

If only he could see Una once more, he would die happy.

“I’m here, my love,” whispered a voice. Gentle hands caressed his grimy, bloodied face, a soft voice whispering words of love.

“…Una?” he asked, his voice so faint he was sure she wouldn’t be able to hear him. Had she come to see him off? Was he dead already, or was he dreaming?

The hands on his face stilled, followed by a surprised intake of breath.

“Is she the one you’re thinking of?” said the voice, baffled. Something was itching at the back of Urgan’s skull, an urgent thought. He knew that voice. He shouldn’t trust it.

But the hand touching his face was so warm. He pressed his cheek into the comforting touch, or maybe he only thought he did. He couldn’t move much, and his whole body was numb from pain and the loss of blood.

So comforting was this hand. It was so good to be touched with love. And there was only one person who could touch him with love despite seeing him like this: weak, filthy… Defeated.

“Una,” he said again, relief flooding him. She was here. He could see her one last time. He could say goodbye. “My love.”

With an enormous effort, he raised his head. His shoulders and neck were hurting now. His hands were chained behind his back and raised high, and they were numb from spending too much time in this position, making his whole upper body stiff. Every movement jarred the inflamed joints, hurt his mangled muscles.

But he managed to raise his head and crack his swollen eyes open. He was willing to make the effort if it meant he could see her just once.

But it wasn’t Una’s face he saw. It was Urzulah’s.

For a moment, he didn’t react. Slightly swaying on his feet, which were numb, too, from over ten days of standing up, he just looked at her without comprehension. She looked… confused. And then, hurt.

And then, angry.

“You never loved me, did you?” she spat, her face twisted into a hideous grimace. When Urgan didn’t react, she slapped his face, but that didn’t hurt at all. After what he had been through, a slap was like a caress.

“Answer me!” she screeched, and Urgan let his head fall, closing his eyes. He had wasted precious energy on looking up at her, and now was all the more tired. All the closer to the end. And he still hadn’t said goodbye to his love.

“Una…”

“You filthy human lover!” Urzulah shrieked, kicking him in the knee. Urgan’s leg gave, and he fell to the floor, the sharp pain in his shoulders making him scramble to get his legs under him so he could stand up and relieve the painful pull of the chains on his shoulders.

“You’ll pay! You’ll pay, you mongrel!” she kept screaming and kicking him, making it impossible for him to keep standing. Soon, he was just hanging, held up by the chains, the pain in his shoulders becoming a dull throbbing, and Urzulah was hitting and kicking him.

But he was past caring. It was time for him to go. With a sigh of relief, Urgan let the darkness claim him.

Chapter 14

Una

Iwas completely frozen to the spot. Only Urzulah’s flair for the dramatic saved me. She was now grinning down at me, her eyes feverishly bright, the knife in her hand a point of silver light drawing my gaze.

“Yes, he’s dead,” she hissed, relishing whatever it was that she saw in my face.

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