Page 108 of The Orc Warrioress and the Elf Lord

Mathrik’s face twitched. “Something wrong with me?”

She groaned, casting her gaze up to the sky. Why was this happening? “There’s nothing wrong with you. It isn’t you. It’s me. I’m a woman, and I don’t like fucking, all right?”

He snorted. “I know that’s not true. I heard things about you.”

“What could you possibly have heard?” She hadn’t even had that many partners.

“I heard things from Gakrod.”

She groaned again. “Oh, please, if you don’t mind—”

“He said you approached him.”

“That’s a lie,” she muttered. “That’s a lie, because he came after me and wore me down, and he was the one who could not keep his fucking prick hard, and I had to stroke him and tell him it was all right and not to worry, and if he’s running around spreading lies about me—”

“You know what I think? I think you think you’re too good for us, because you’re the High Chieftain’s daughter. But you were born on the wrong side of the sheets, so you’re not better than anyone else.”

“Fine,” she said. “I’m not better than anyone else. Are we done? I have to say, after all this, I really could not find you attractive, not anymore.”

His nostrils flared. “That letter? The one your brother wrote? What if I say I’ll tear it up if you don’t please me?”

She gaped at him. He had not just said that. “I would remind you that warrioresses are to be pure, and that if you trespass against me, I am well within my rights to demand your death as punishment. No questions asked. Warrioresses are always believed.”

“They are believed if they are pure, and everyone knows you are not!”

She saw then she was going to have to fight for the stupid letter. “I challenge you, then, Malrith ap Ganck. I challenge you to a fight for possession of the letter my brother wrote. Choose your weapon.”

“I’m not entering into a challenge with a woman.”

“If you don’t want to enter into a formal challenge, we’ll fight without rules,” she said, taking out her dagger.

“You’re some kind of bitch, do you know that?”

She twirled the dagger point against a finger. “Well. Do you accept or not? If you wish, of course, you could simply hand over the letter and we could avoid all this. We’ll just put this behind us and pretend nothing happened. I won’t tell anyone you threatened me and tried to force me to fuck you.”

“Force you?” he said. “You want it.”

“So, you’re refusing the challenge, refusing a fight with honor, and you are leaving yourself open to any attack that I may make? Is that right?”

“I told you already, I’m not entering into a challenge with you.”

She sighed. Then she flipped the dagger hilt up into her fist, leaned over, and drove the blade right into his face. She put it in under his eye. It was the easiest place to get because she was moving so quickly and he was not.

He let out a high-pitched noise.

She twisted the dagger.

He grunted and twitched and bled and then finally, slumped over and it was over.

She pulled the dagger out and her eyes stung.

“No reason to feel sorry for yourself, Gathren,” she breathed.

Oh, but it was awful, wasn’t it, this world, the way she was treated, the way she was never safe, not with her own people, not anywhere.

She swiped at her tears as she cleaned the dagger and went through Malrith’s pockets for the letter.

Oh what was she going to do about his body?