Page 2 of Orc's Mate

“Hello?” I called out.

Only silence greeted me—and the feeling of being watched.

“Get inside,” I hissed. “Ignore whatever it might be.”

With a shake of my head, I pushed open our front door and stepped inside.

“I talked the butcher into lowering his price for a good piece of meat,” I called out happily as I closed the door behind me. “I’ll make soup, and the vegetables I bought on my way home will round out our wonderful dinner.” There was nothing I enjoyed more than cooking Zur a satisfying meal. At eighty, he deserved good food, lots of rest, and plenty of time to chat with his friends. Instead, he spent too much time hunting in the forest to provide for a woman who maybeshould’vebeen left behind to die.

I hurried through the darkened interior toward the tiny kitchen to prepare our meal but stumbled over something big and solid lying across the floor. Falling to my knees beyond it, I gasped as pain shot through my limbs.

The sack containing our meal had split open from the impact, exposing the meat. Blood leaked around it—

I blinked slowly, trying to process what I was seeing.

The circle was too large to have come from our meat.

Gulping, I scrambled away from the horrifying pool, falling onto my side when my right leg couldn’t support my weight.

I swallowed hard while my pulse pounded in my ears. It was all I could do to turn toward the large object I’d tripped over.

Only dim light filtered through the waxed paper window, but it was enough to see.

My gasp echoed in the quiet room.

Zur lay lifeless on the floor, his wide, shock-filled eyes glazing over already. Blood seeped from where someone had sliced through his throat enough to expose his windpipe. A wicked knife lay on the floor beside him, glinting in the flickering light of the whisp lantern he must’ve lit to provide a beacon to guide me home.

The whisp needed someone to blow on it or it would soon go out—such an inane thought to have when my world was falling apart.

My guttural cry of dismay rang out.

“Zur. Please, no.” Tears stabbed the back of my eyes, and I cried out again, my voice hoarse and guttural.

Through the murky window, a flash of movement caught my eye. Whoever it was slithered into the gathering darkness on the side of the alley.

A cackle I’d recognize anywhere echoed in the stillness.

Birgid.

She’d hated me since we were schoolgirls and for such silly reasons.

The teacher called on me instead of her.

I found a coin on the cobblestone street where she’d just passed.

A cute boy winked my way when she wanted him. She’s won him, married him, bedded him even, but that wasn’t enough. She wanted me stomped to the ground. Completely defeated. Thrown out of the village.

I could see where this would soon lead. Panic surged up my throat along with rank bile. I grabbed the cold metal knife and rose to my feet, rushing to the window. I strained to catch a glimpse of her returning, but the alley was clear.

I sobbed as I hurried back to Zur.

“Zur, please wake up.” I dropped to my knees beside him, unable to breathe. But he was too long gone to hear me. My wretched cries filled the room as I mourned his loss.

This man had loved me when no one else did. How would I go on without him?

The door opened behind me, and someone rushed inside. “What’s going on? Zur? Has that woman—”

One of Birgid’s friends groaned and started vomiting, splattering it everywhere. Other villagers crowded into our tidy home, gathering around me and Zur much like the blood that continued to seep into the floorboards I’d washed myself last night.

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