Page 121 of The Widow and the Orcs

Andnow, with the camp, she was making her own amends, too.Seekingher own redemption.Helpingthe people her husband had harmed.Wieldinghis death and his land for good.Forpeace.

Andshe wouldn’t give up yet.Shewouldn’t.Shewas strong, she was alive, she was whole.ShewasSkai.Ifear you not.

“Sowhy,Rikard,”Louisabegan, because she had to keep thinking, keep him talking, please. “Whydid you offer to marry me, if you knew — if youknewIkilled your uncle, all this time?”

Andyes, yes, that had been the right question, bringing another smug, superior smile toRikard’smouth. “Iwas giving you achance,Louisa,” he said coolly. “Iknew my uncle was a raging drunk, andIknew he had that horrid pox, too.Iknew he was ill, and not — himself, by the end.Andyou getting rid of him worked quite well for me — or soIthought.UntilIfound out you’d somehow gotten him to split off this piece of land, and leave it toyou!”

AndperhapsLouisawas already delirious with the cold and the blood loss, because she couldn’t hide the grim smile, pulling across her lips.Becauseyes, yes, she’d done that, too.She’ddug deep into the old property records, and discovered that one piece of the property had been added later, and therefore could be separated from the original legal requirements of the entail.Andwhile it had been a very tricky business, she’d again usedScall’sfrequent drunkenness to her advantage, along with — she could admit — his mental confusion from his ever-deepening illness, too.Andthe day they’d had the final meeting with the lawyer,Scallhad thought it had been routine paperwork, rather than him signing a piece of his prized property away.

Ofcourse, it had still been the worst part of the property, and it hadn’t dealt with the debts or the mortgages — and the moneyLouisahad siphoned fromScall’saccounts before his death had vanished very, very quickly.Butit was still legally her land, and it had still given her the space and the freedom she’d desperately longed for.She’dearned this land, and she’d damn well deserved it.

“Sowhat was your plan, then?”Louisamade herself ask, her eyes fighting to focus onRikard’sstill-smiling face. “Withthe marriage proposal?Youwould get the land back, and then wait untilIlet my guard down, and kill me in return?”

Rikard’ssmile thinned — he’d clearly expected to shockLouisawith that revelation, too — and he gave an attempt at a magnanimous shrug. “Maybe,” he said, clipped. “Butif you had shown yourself an adequate, adoring, appropriately grateful wife, and quickly granted me a proper heir, thenmaybeIwould have let you live.Butinstead” — he laughed, hard and mocking — “you’ve repeatedly shown yourself as the greedy, ungrateful,frigidold hag you are!Nowonder my poor uncle was fucking half the town, and drinking himself to death!”

Louisa’sbreath hissed through her clenched teeth, but no, no, she wasn’t rising to his rubbish, not now.Andshe had to keep breathing, keep trying, anything…

“Andhow do you plan to cover upthis?” she asked, with a wincing glance down at her caught ankle, her torn dress, her bloody, aching body. “Mydeath, in your trap, onyourland?”

ButRikardonly laughed, and gave a careless wave of his hand. “Oh,Louisa,” he drawled, smug and infuriating. “Noone is even going tothinkof blaming me!Youwere the one who invited half the town here, to witness all those vicious orcs squatting and brawling with each other onyourproperty!AndI’vealready established that they keep trespassing on my property, haven’t it?It’llbe obvious thattheykilled you.They’llbe the killers here!Again!”

Oh, gods curse this utter swine, and the way he kept laughing, kept touching her knife, like he had every right to it. “Ieven have an orc-forged knife right here,” he said, his tone light, conversational. “It’llbe a nice little gift to leave on your mutilated body, won’t it?”

Louisa’sgrowl burned from her throat, her hands scrabbling, every instinct shouting, screaming, run, attack,run.Butshe was still caught, still trapped, even asRikardsnapped out a hand, clutched a fistful of her hair…

“Andthen,” he continued, “I’llpublicly avenge my dear neighbour’s untimely death.I’llcall for justice, and ensure those trespassing, violent orcs carry all the blame.Iwill personally end that entire peace-treaty,Louisa, and thenIwill destroy those orcs, and finally get my land back!”

No.No.Hecouldn’t.Butdamn it, yes, yes, he would.Hewas a lord, just likeScall.Hewas invincible, he would do whatever he wanted, and he would never face justice, never…

Rikardlaughed again as he graspedLouisa’shair tighter, yanking her head upwards, exposing her throat, to her own damned knife.Andthough she wrenched and writhed and shoved at him, she was too cold and weak, he was too strong, she was going to die —

“Goodbye,Louisa,” he drawled, as he jerked her hair back harder, and raised her knife. “Ihope you enjoy this.”

Louisachoked, swallowed, hauled in one last, sweet breath.Bracedfor the pain, the agony, the end, she’d failed, she’d failed —

Whensomething — crackled.Shifted.Dropped.Streakingdown from the tree above, and landing in a cool, easy crouch.

“Oh, she shall enjoy this, fool man,” croonedKillik’svoice, as his daggers flashed sharp and bright. “Sheshall.”

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Foran instant, the world stopped.Timestopped.Andthere was onlyKillik,Killiksmiling that cool, glittering smile, as he pluckedLouisa’sknife fromRikard’sslack hand, and placed it firmly back into her own numb, trembling fingers.

“Yousaidorcsshall be the killers?”Killikcontinued, still smiling, even asRikardroared, and lunged toward him. “Iken for once you were right, fool man.”

Heleapt backwards as he spoke, easily avoidingRikard’sattack, not betraying even a hitch in his breath. “Ach, andIwarned you,”Killikpurred, as he leapt back again. “Itold you what should come next, if you harmed this woman.”

Rikardwas on his feet, now, breathing hard, and he shot a dark, assessing glance back towardLouisa, his hand slightly raising his sword.Asif he was about to spin and run for her after all, swing that shining blade straight down onto her neck —

Butthen he jolted, his eyes snapped wide, fixed on something besideLouisa— and wait, it was…Ulfarr.Ulfarr,here.Crouchedhuge and hulking beside her, and where had he even come from, and he —

Helooked furious.Malevolent.Deadly.Withhis glinting flashing eyes, his furrowed brow, his bared white teeth.Andhe had a massive, gleaming scimitar gripped in his big hand, while his other hand gently settled againstLouisa’sheaving back, stroked slow and careful against it.

“No,” he growled atRikard, deep and dangerous in his throat. “No.Youshall never touch our womanagain.”

Rikard’smouth contorted, his body skittering backwards, away. “Howdare you orcs threaten me,” he gasped. “Youcan’t doanythingto me.Everyonewill instantly know who did it!Thecamp of killer orcs next door!”

ButUlfarr’sdark expression didn’t waver, andKilliklaughed again, tinkling and amused. “Ach, but as you said, fool man, we are onyourland,” he said. “Withyour own fool traps, scattered all about, where anyone might step.”

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