Page 1 of The Orc's Wife

Chapter 1

Una

It took every last bit of my self-control to keep myself from gawking when we rode into Dogar Val, the orc capital.

I was riding with Urgan, sitting in front of him in the dragon-like horse’s saddle. The wound below my collarbone, the bloody mark of the mating bond Urgan had given me just three days before, was still throbbing with pain. But it was healing. Soon, only a puckered, red scar in the shape of Urgan’s teeth would remain.

The mark that I was forever his.

My orc mate’s large, hard body behind me was now my only source of reassurance. My anchor, keeping me safe – and focused. It was very important that I make the right impression today. Urgan and his officer and friend, Grikh, who was now following us on his horse, had coached me on the proper manner and behavior that would be expected from the general’s mate.

They had tried very hard to distill the sort of knowledge that orc females in the Imperator’s court absorbed over a period of many years into two days of intense lessons.

It hadn’t gone well.

I couldn’t remember all the ridiculous details of the orc palace protocol, and even if I could, Urgan and Grikh weren’t orc females. They had admitted that there were many intricacies of the female culture they did not know or notice.

Finally, after I failed another manner test they had designed for me, in which Grikh was pretending to be a military officer’s female mate, Urgan put his arm around me and smiled, his fangs gleaming sharp.

“If all else fails, do what you usually do when you want to hide your fear. Be haughty and cold, with your back straight and you head high. It’s a manner fit for my mate. And for the future Empress.”

Yes. Because Urgan was planning a military coup. He wanted to overthrow the Ruler of All Orcs and become the Imperator himself. With me by his side.

I forced my face to remain blank and unaffected, but it was difficult to hide my emotions. The orc capital was not what I had expected. I had to constantly remind myself not to let my astonishment show, as I’d never seen such a crowded place, with so many tall, imposing buildings.

Then again, before Urgan snatched me away from my backwater village, I hadn’t seen much of the world.

Dogar Val was the largest community of orcs and people in the Empire, and it was constantly growing. Hours before we had entered the capital, we started encountering villages, which grew in size the closer we got to the city.

The city itself kept swallowing the villages closest to it, and they became new neighborhoods, quickly incorporated into Dogar Val.

The primeval forests which covered most of the Empire were thin around here, their wood used up for building new structures and for heating. In place of the forests, fields were cultivated, usually by humans.

Urgan had explained there were many more fields and pastures on the other side of the city, and new ones were being started seemingly every week. Dogar Val was constantly hungry for more and more food.

The human servants, or rather, slaves, kept animals, grew crops, and supplied the capital with textiles, candles, and an abundance of other resources. In return, they could live in peace. The Imperator’s law officially protected them from harm.

But I knew the law was full of loopholes. It was clear humans and orcs weren’t equals.

As Urgan’s mate, I would be safe, though. That is, as long as I behaved the right way and didn’t offend anyone with my ignorant manners. Apparently, if I overstepped protocol, the insulted party could challenge me to a duel.

For me, a duel with an orc would be a death sentence.

But I shouldn’t worry, Urgan had said the day before, when we were sitting by the fire, his hand dipping under my dress to distract me from my rising panic. As my mate and a member of my family, he could fight my duels for me. And he’d never lost a fight.

Now, I took a deep breath, forcing my shoulders to remain relaxed, focusing on the feel of Urgan’s body behind me. My back was pressed to his hard abdomen chiseled with muscle, his bulge a pleasant reminder of our last mating before this journey.

In front of me, Urgan’s large, green hands were loosely holding the reins. I touched one of his claws, which was short and blunt. Before he had taken me for his mate, Urgan had considerately cut three of his claws so he could pleasure me without causing me harm.

That memory made me smile, pushing anxiety out of my mind. I raised my head higher, looking at the city around us.

We were now riding over a wide road paved with uneven stones, one of the two central avenues crossing Dogar Val. It was so wide that four carts drawn by the formidable orc horses could ride along it side by side.

Right now, everyone was giving us a wide berth. Traffic stopped around us, human and orc riders moving to the sides of the road respectfully. They stopped – and bowed for us.

For Urgan.

The Imperator’s general was back, having won another war. Grizzled orcs with innumerable scars, their powerful bodies clad in armor or tough leather, their belts heavy with weapons, bowed deep when Urgan passed, respect shimmering in their eyes.

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