Page 51 of The Orc's Wife

I hoped Ragan would die a drawn out, gruesome death.

No one else came by to see Urzulah. When Laya and Nat came at noon, they told me all the gossip. Everyone believed Urzulah was sulking. The Imperator had been furious when she had come to him after visiting Urgan. She had been given a stern talking to.

After that, the Imperator decided it didn’t matter, after all. He would show Urgan’s dead body to his soldiers, and it would break their loyalty to their general. No one could follow a dead orc.

We ate a meal the girls had procured from the kitchens, sitting in the mess of Urzulah’s bedroom. We were all tense, waiting for our cue to leave this miserable place for good.

An hour later, Oriana came to see us in broad daylight. She was wearing a servant’s cape and a shawl wrapped around her hair.

“They deserve what’s coming,” she said instead of a greeting. “It’s like they don’t have eyes. I’ve been running around the palace even though there is a bounty on my head. But since they can’t smell my scent, they don’t think I’m here, and no one looks twice at a woman dressed as a servant.”

I nodded. Oriana dressed in a servant’s garb didn’t look like herself. She was just another elderly woman, one of many.

“Now, the good news. Urgan’s regaining his strength. He won’t be fighting anyone soon, but he can stand up and claim the throne after the Imp falls dead. He wants you by his side when he does.”

My heart was beating with a heady, overpowering joy. Urgan would live. He was healing. And soon, we would be together. Then, I shook my head, focusing on the important things. I could sag in relief later, after we had all lived through this.

“Is that wise?” I asked, frowning. “He’s already weak. If he has me by his side, he will look even weaker.”

Oriana got hold of my ear, so fast I couldn’t react, and yanked on it. I hissed in pain.

“Use your brain, girl. He’s going to unite our races. He’ll free humans from servitude. Of course you must stand by his side when he becomes the new Imperator.”

I rubbed my ear, watching Oriana resentfully, but I had to acknowledge her logic.

She looked around the messy room.

“I don’t think anyone will come looking for Urzulah now that everyone is so excited for the festival. Leave, lock the door from the outside, throw away the key. Take part in the preparations. And be there when the dusk falls and the army marches inside the walls. Urgan’s officers will be invited to the feast within the palace walls. The court will drink to their victory, and we have poisoned the best mead that will be poured at the Imperator’s table.”

“What about the guards?” I asked.

“As soon as Urgan makes an appearance, his army will deal with them. Grikh is leading the troops, and, by the way, your plan worked. More than half the girls from the funhouse set out to entertain the soldiers. They were thoroughly delayed.”

She grinned, and then barked out a sharp laugh. “I adore those girls. They have exquisite taste. Only the chosen few can truly appreciate a nice orc cock.”

That startled me into laughter, and I was laughing so hard tears were streaming down my face. Oriana patted my hand and let me be until my fit of hysteria finally quietened.

Then, I paced around the room, tired of all the talking, the planning, the scheming… Sitting on my bottom all the time. I wanted to do something, so when we finally left Urzulah’s quarters behind and went outside, into the chilly October afternoon, I was almost bouncing with impatience.

I threw myself into the preparations, which were not much different from everything that had happened in my village before a feast for the orcs. Only here, it was on a much larger scale. There were so many roasting pits, with entire hogs and pigs cooking over fire. I snagged a job chopping vegetables, and lost myself in the work.

Soon, I would see Urgan. And when it was all over, I would tell him I was with child.

I longed to tell him as soon as I saw him, because a part of me couldn’t shake off the fear he wouldn’t survive this revolution. And if he didn’t… I thought he deserved to know he would have an heir.

Chapter 17

Urgan

He could stand but barely. His legs were still too weak to support him. He had lost a lot of muscle after the weeks of starvation, and the damage he had sustained had weakened him further. And there was something very wrong with one of his knees. It exploded with pain every time he put weight on the leg.

If the only thing he would have to do was stand and speak, he would be fine. Anything else was out of his reach.

Oriana had helped him wash and dress, but his old clothes hung loose around his thinner frame. The only weapon he could carry was his sword, and he needed to buckle it on the other side of his belt so it wouldn’t touch his bad knee.

He was a mess. Definitely not material for the new Imperator. And now, after the torture, after his almost dying, Urgan wasn’t hungering for power anymore. The one thing he wanted was Una by his side. A home with her. Sharing bread every morning.

And yet, he had to step up. There was no one else but him.

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