Page 13 of The Orc's Stolen Shepherdess

Oh,I was inhugetrouble.

Or maybe it was that my trouble washuge.

My heart hammered as I hurried up the darkened streets to my home. The looming wall of oaks that surrounded our town and gave our village its name felt both comforting and suffocating. The branches twined together tightly to make an impenetrable barrier that no predators could break through. The foliage had turned red and yellow and was quite beautiful against the dark evening sky.

I wondered if Caivid was still right outside those walls or if he’d already made it back to Rove Wood Clan.

He wasn’t at all like what I’d been told about the warrior orcs. My fellow villagers would haveme believe they were angry, dangerous beasts, dead set on taking the vulnerable women of Oakwall as conquests and siring sons on us, whether we agreed or not.

Instead, he’d come to my rescue so fast I hadn’t even thought to be afraid of him. The memory of his arms around me, so strong and warm, made my muscles relax. It had felt so incredible to be wrapped up, like nothing could ever hurt me again. . .

The way he’d exhaled on my neck had lit up my body like an inferno. My stomach still felt all fluttery, and my steps quickened as my mind raced.

Maybe. . . being a conquest wouldn’t be so bad?

I smacked the thought away before even considering it. Women in my village played conquest to an orc in exchange for boons, and I had everything I needed already. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to continue my duties as a shepherdess while heavily pregnant.

And I wouldnotgive up the duty to someone else. I would never allow myself to be trapped within the walls of my overcrowded village. The woods were where my heart and soul belonged and I’d rather the Fades strike me down than give it up.

“Susara! I cannot believe you were out solate.”

The heaviness of exhaustion pitted in my stomach as I morosely watched Waston flounce over to me. Her graying hair was done up just so, and her shirt looked freshly mended.

“A girl like you ought to be settled down in her husband’s home.” Waston clicked her tongue. “Not out in the woods every day.”

I barely withheld a sigh of frustration. Oakwall Village was a peaceful place, set in its traditional ways. Fighting against them was often a headache.

Before she asked anything, I said, “Is that a new blouse? It’s lovely.”

“Oh, well,thankyou, dear. But no, it’s the same one as always. I’m not fond of the hem work Nalina did to fix it up this time. It looks crooked to you, doesn’t it? I hope she doesn’t do as shoddy a job on the things I left with her today.”

“It looks perfect to me, Waston.” I wondered just how tired poor Nalina must be from repairing the same shirt over and over again. I noted to pay her a visit once I was done checking in with my father.

“Well, it’s not like you have a fashionable eye.” She looked down her narrow nose at my mud-covered gownand I rolled my eyes so hard it nearly sparked a headache. “What happened to you? Don’t tell me those orc brutes got you? Did you see them today? I’ve been told they’ve started patrolling the woods!”

“No, Waston,” I said dryly, feeling absolutely no remorse about lying. “Just like yesterday and the day before that, and for the last half-moon, none of the warrior orcs have bothered me.”

“Well, you tell me if they do, and I’ll report it right to Headman Gerald. Honestly, those menaces have some nerve attending our trades already. If they start terrorizing our walking trails, I’ll stop atnothingto get them banished from our beautiful forest.”

My brow pinched as I tried to remember the last time Waston had taken a stroll outside the village walls.

“I bet you they’re going to start sniffing around here. Our walls are high, but not so high they cannot climb them. I guarantee it’s only a matter of time before one of our poor girls is stolen away.”

I jolted with shock and glanced about, making sure this heinous rumor hadn’t been heard by anyone. “Waston, how can you say something so horrible? Where is this lunacy evencoming from?”

“Lunacy? How dare you!” Her eyes flashed with anger, and in that moment, I realized she wasserious, and my skin went cold. “Those all-male brutes are drooling for our women! Especially since so many of us have finally seenreasonand stopped attending the trades. Mark my words, theyaregoing to become desperate and start snatching.”

“No orc of Rove Wood has ever forced a woman to bear their child.Ever,” I said firmly. “And speaking this way is only going to cause strife between our communities.”

“As it should! Weshouldbe causing strife after they forced us to accept these awful warriors at our trades.”

“We allow them to come because they bring usfood.” I thought back to the elk meat the warrior orcs had provided at their first trade. A whole bull to every family. Many were still raving about it. “Waston, have you forgotten that we depend on the orcs for survival as much as they depend on us? They may need us to bear their sons, but they also growallour produce and supply most of the meat in return.”

“We can survive without them just fine.” She sniffed. “We’ve got mutton and beef and all the fish we could ever want from the streams.”

“Our village is almost athousandstrong.” She really had gone raving mad. “Our flocks and herds could never sustain everyone long term.”

“We’ll get more.” There was something in her eyes, some odd gleam of triumph that made my chest tighten.

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