Page 18 of The Orc's Wife

I was a frail, weak woman, and I shouldn’t have dreams above my station. I shouldn’t think I would ever be able to make a difference in the world. That, I should leave to my husband.

No matter how I tried, I couldn’t dull the pain this thought brought me.

But it was true, no matter that it hurt. Why had I been fighting all my life against the truth?

I was bathing when Mina came in, thankfully carrying a tray smelling of food.

“You were invited to the Imperator’s dinner,” she said, putting it on the table. “But before the general left, he made your excuses. Apparently, he ravished you so bad you can’t possibly be expected to walk for the next few days.”

Mina was struggling not to laugh, and I groaned with embarrassment.

“Couldn’t he just say I wasn’t feeling well?”

Mina looked horrified.

“Never say you’re not feeling well! And never admit to sickness! Those monsters will eat you alive.”

I pondered this for a moment, rubbing my arms in the water, which was slowly cooling.

“So, orcs don’t get sick?” I asked, and Mina shook her head. “So this is why Urgan had said it? The only acceptable excuse for someone to reject an invitation is… to be so well mated that she can’t walk?”

Mina laughed, her belly shaking with mirth. I shook my head, but I was smiling, too.

“So,” she said, grinning at me. “This isn’t the real reason why you can’t go to dinner?”

I stared at the water morosely. Truth was, I was grateful that I didn’t have to face the Imperator’s feast and the whole court of orcs on my first evening in the capital. But I was disappointed, too. The feasts must be spectacular. I was missing out on a lot of entertainment.

“If only,” I sighed. “I mean, it would have been true if another orc hadn’t come and pummeled on the door. Apparently, there was something important Urgan had to take care of.”

“It was Durug,” Mina said, nodding. “They are close friends. The general once helped him out when Durug was an officer, and the general was still just a common soldier. It was Durug who helped advance the general’s career.”

Durug… That name rang a bell. I frowned. Oh, yes. That was the name of the orc whom Urzulah had tried to seduce. Urgan had told me this story during our journey.

When Urgan was a young, nameless soldier, Urzulah approached him, saying she wanted him to court her. She was the Imperator’s daughter, so he was thrilled, of course. Then, she gave him a task he had to fulfill according to the orc tradition of courting.

Well, Urzulah told Urgan to kill another orc female. It was the female Durug was courting. When Urgan refused to kill her without a good reason, it turned out Urzulah was actually interested in Durug, not in Urgan. She only wanted to use him to get Durug’s prospective mate killed and make Durug free for her to claim him.

Urgan had been disposable, then. A lowly soldier of mixed blood, with a human grandmother. No wonder Urzulah had thought she could use him with impunity.

Well, Urgan warned Durug, and he and his orc female got mated immediately, putting her under Durug’s protection and making it harder for Urzulah to scheme against them and remain undetected.

So now, Durug was Urgan’s friend. They probably trusted each other. The thing Urgan was called for must be really important.

It gave me a sort of relief, but at the same time, I was worried. What if it wasn’t just important but also dangerous?

I shook my head. Urgan had lived twice as long as I. He was a strong, cunning orc. He would be fine.

I, on the other hand, was starving.

I got out of the water, dried myself and rushed to the table. There was some roasted fowl, charred carrots which tasted surprisingly good, boiled beetroot… and a thick piece of the caraway bread Urgan had fed me when he had been courting me.

The orc bread baked in his oven. The bread only those belonging to his family could eat.

Mina was watching me quietly while I took the bread and sniffed it. My chest tightened, and tears pricked my eyes. I had family now. I belonged to Urgan, and he belonged to me, and it didn’t matter that we had known each other for such a short time, that we had had a fight. That he wasn’t with me now, mating with me to make the excuse he had given to the Imperator’s invitation real.

Urgan and I were a family.

Mina must have sensed my mood, or maybe she had some sentimental thoughts of her own, because her voice was sad when she said: “Usually, Oriana bakes it. This is the one thing orcs never let servants do. Only a member of the family can bake the bread, and the recipes are kept secret.

---