Page 1 of The Widow and the Orcs

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IfLouisawasn’t careful, she was going to end up murdering her vile lord neighbour.

“LordRikard,” she said to the surly, stumpy, dark-haired man now hovering before her. “Towhat doIowe this… call?”

She’dbeen out on her usual evening stroll over her lands, attempting to find a few moments’ peace in the cool quiet air — so of course,LordRikardhad apparently decided it was an excellent time for some trespassing.AndLouisa’sclammy hand was already gripping the knife at her belt, her heart thundering ominously through her chest, as her rational brain shouted distant, dire warnings, deep in her skull.

No.No.Sheneeded to stay calm, and control her temper, and extract herself as quickly as possible.Rikardwasn’t her odious departed husband, even if the resemblance became more pronounced with every passing day.LordScallwas dead.Dead.

“Aren’tyou going to invite me to walk with you?”Rikardsnapped, casting a brief, disdainful glance down towardLouisa’sshabby riding dress. “Sowe can discuss this matter together, like civilized relations?”

Louisaclutched her knife tighter, and dragged down a deep, shaky breath. “No,I’mafraid not,” she said, clipped. “Youcan tell me whatever you need to say right here.”

Rikard’swhite face flushed with red, his broad chest puffing out against his beautifully tailored waistcoat. “Typical,” he hissed. “Look, we need to discuss the orcs,Louisa.Theorcsyou’vebeen allowing to illegally camp on your property.Formonths!”

Theorcs.Louisacouldn’t quite suppress her wince, andRikardlurched closer, jabbing his thick finger toward her. “It’sa disgrace,” he continued sharply. “It’sfoolish, it’s dangerous, and it’s afrightfulliability!Totolerate those thieving, bloodthirsty beasts on your lands?Squattingthere with their feral little spawn?Onlya few furlongs away frommyproperty?”

Louisadrew down another deep, gulping breath, and fought the rising, overpowering urge to shout that if the realm’s laws were fair, she would still be the rightful owner of said property, its beautiful house, and all its associated income.AndRikardwould still be scuttling about in a cramped filthy townhouse in the city, just like the poisonous vermin he was.

“Remindme,Rikard,”Louisasaid instead, as smoothly as she could, “how you are even aware of what might be transpiring on my property, at any given moment?Icertainly haven’t been confiding in you, and surely my staff haven’t been sending you reports?”

Rikard’swet mouth spasmed, because he knew — just as well asLouisadid — that her much-reduced staff complement would never betray her trust in such a way.Noteven after the house had grown colder and colder these past months, and the meals smaller and smaller.Noteven after —Louisaswallowed, lifted her chin — she’d had to tell them, just today, that their monthly wages would be late.Again.

“YouthinkIdon’t notice what’s happening in my own neighbourhood?”Rikarddemanded. “Mostof all when those dreadful squatting orcs are crossingmylands to get to yours?!”

Thetriumph rang through his voice, jangling deep and powerful intoLouisa’schurning gut, because — damn it.Damnit, were those orcs truly crossingRikard’sland to access hers?Surelythey couldn’t be that foolish?Surelythey’d at least heard rumours ofRikard’spettiness, and his widely proclaimed public opposition to that tenuous peace-treaty between humans and orcs?

Evenso,Louisacouldn’t help an uneasy glance southward, toward the thick forest that covered the entire bottom half of her property.Thegroup of orcs had been camping there for almost a year now, near a hidden cave opening that she strongly suspected was, in fact, a tunnel.Atunnel that undoubtedly led — her gaze shifted further south — toOrcMountain.

Asalways, the orcs’ huge home loomed grey and craggy on the horizon, pouring its steady streams of black smoke into the sky.Itwas a sight that had once struck fear into a youngLouisa’sbreast, when her decades-older lord husband had first brought her here to his ancestral lands.Butthe moreLordScallhad raged about the foul orcs, and hurled his ill-gotten coin toward that endless war against them, the moreLouisahad begun to doubt the entire damned proposition.Untilfinally, the year afterScallhad passed, she’d become unwittingly entangled in an orc-related mess, and thereby had discovered…

“Doyou have any proof of the orcs trespassing?”Louisaloudly asked, over that deeply disorienting thought. “Haveyou or your staff personally witnessed any orcs crossing your lands?Orhave they left prints?Refuse?Remnantsof fires?”

Rikardbetrayed a brief but highly telling grimace, andLouisa’sshoulders sagged, her sweaty grip loosening on her knife-hilt.OfcourseRikardhadn’t personally seen the orcs.Becausein truth,Louisahad scarcely caught sight of them herself, either — and so far, they’d shown themselves to be surprisingly clean and conscientious, and even helpful.They’dcleared out an entire swath of invasive buckthorn, they’d installed a sturdy little bridge over the worst part of the swamp, and one day,Louisahad come home to find her latrines freshly dug out.Afoul and expensive task she’d been putting off for months, and here it had been fully finished, in a single damned afternoon.

Butmost crucial of all, the orcs had begun to leave food, too.Choicecuts of fresh venison and boar meat in the kitchen, and mushrooms and vegetables in the root cellar.Andgiven the appalling state ofLouisa’sever-dwindling accounts — and the multiple mortgages her fool husband had piled onto his properties during his lifetime — it had felt like a gift from the gods.Ahandful of orcs on her land was a small price to pay, in order to keep her loyal staff housed and fed, and offer them a clean latrine to empty their bowels in.Right?

“Idon’t need towitnessthose trespassing orc bastards,”LordRikardsaid now, his voice rising. “I’veset up traps.Snares, that onlyIcan decipher!Andthose great ugly beasts have betrayed themselves, again and again!”

Louisa’shead was beginning to ache, the frustration crackling behind her tired eyes, and she couldn’t bite back her harsh, high-pitched laugh. “Oh, you’ve set secretsnares,” she drawled at him. “Why, those must be utterly infallible!Ican’timaginethat a wandering deer or fox might have set one off!And” — she waved irritably toward the southwest — “didn’tIhear that you just hosted a boar-hunting party a few days ago?Surelythat alone would have lain utter waste to any top-secret snares you might have managed to cobble together?”

Rikard’seyes flashed with furious dislike, his little mouth opening and closing. “Wedidn’t hunt anywherenearthere,” he shot back. “Iknow my own property,Louisa.Andmy poor lord uncle would be rolling in his grave to hear what you’ve done with his lands!Landsthat by rights, ought to have beenmine!”

Louisabarked another incredulous laugh, and gave a reflexive roll of her eyes.Becauseyes,Scall’sdeath had granted her the ill-maintained, heavily mortgaged dowager house, and a few leagues of dense, swampy forest — but since she hadn’t been able to bearScalla son, his fool nephewRikardhad gotten all the rest.Thebig beautiful manor, the fields, the barns and livestock, and over a dozen leagues of prime forested hunting grounds.Rikardwas now a very rich man, whileLouisagrew poorer with every passing day, and had been reduced to relying onorcsfor her suppers.

“LordScall’srotting corpse can do acrobatics in his grave, for allIcare,”Louisasnarled back. “Thesearemylands now,Rikard, so by law, whatyouthink about them has no bearing on me whatsoever!Andif you want to speak of trespassing” — she drew in a deep breath — “perhaps you can explain to me why the hellyou’rehere, rudely interrupting what was supposed to be my peaceful evening walk!”

Shewaved a furious hand towardRikard, and then toward the small creek that marked this part of the property line, a good thirty paces behind him.Butpredictably,Rikard’sglower only deepened, his lip curling with distaste. “Ifelt it was only fair to attempt to address this matter with you directly,” he replied. “Butyou’d best believeI’llbe taking steps to defend my valuable property in future,Louisa.AndI’mwarning you, if you keep sheltering those trespassing orcs here” — he jabbed his finger toward her — “youwillregret it!”

Youwill regret it.Acold ripple snaked upLouisa’sback — wasRikardthreateningher?Butthen she shook her head, tightened her grip on her knife.No.No.Rikardwas just a foolish blustering boor, a petty minor lord who didn’t even have a seat on the realm’s rulingCouncil.Hewasn’tLordScall, she’d escapedLordScall,LordScallwas dead…

“Look,I’llmake sure the orcs respect the property lines,Rikard,”Louisabit out, through gritted teeth. “Now,Isuggest you do the same!”

Withthat, she spun around, and strode off down the path, her eyes fixed straight ahead.Herbreaths already coming steadier, she just needed some air, some space to think, some peace —

Andthen — something grasped her arm from behind.Someone.Dangerous.

Itwas pure instinct that whirledLouisaaround again, her knife gripped in her fist.Itsblade shoving straight back towardRikard, toward that pale sweaty throat.Findingit, there,here, sharpened steel prodding cold and hungry into soft meaty skin —

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