CHAPTER 2 — Impulse Buys #4
Ulda is talking over her, eyes fixed on me, hard, “—and you belong to our husband now. You will be his fourth wife.”
I stare at all of them, imploring them to understand. “I get that it was a lot of money. But it wasn’t my bride price! I don’t have a bride price! And no offense, but I don’t want to be your husband’s fourth wife.”
Ulda gently pats Opkug’s back and gives me a look that could kill.
“You’re a wife, kept and cared for with love, or you’re a slave.
If neither of those sound appealing to you, you could pursue a profession where you offer your body to any male with coin.
” She pauses knowingly and arches a brow, her lips pursed around her set of four sharp tusks.
“I think, if you were wise, you’d choose to be a cherished wife over either of the latter options. ”
“Cherished?” I choke out.
All three of them frown at me. Joktepitha leans forward, inquiring. “Yes. Explain your tone. Is that skepticism?”
“Yeah, it is. And oh, I don’t know—because your husband has three of you? When a guy gets a fourth wife for his birthday present, I highly doubt he’s got much ‘cherishing’ left in him.”
Namak?ga rears back a little. “I didn’t tell you that. How did you know it was his birthed day?”
I blink at her. At all three of them. “I-I don’t.
” They don’t look like they believe me. “Guys, where I’m from, we say snarky things all the time.
So I was kind of snarking that it’s a hell of a thing to buy a wife for your husband, and since the big gifts tend to come on birthdays or Christmas…
never mind. Here’s the thing. I’m like the most monogamous person ever—and I expect the man I’m with to be the same.
Monogamous. So your husband already being married?
” I transfer my stare to each one of the trio in a very pointed fashion. “This is a huge problem for me.”
Ulda sighs, her hand leaving Opkug’s back long enough to reach out and whack me upside the ear. “Shut up. You’re making my head hurt.”
Hands flying up to protect myself, I cry, “What the crap was that?! You just made my head hurt!”
She gives me an unimpressed glower. “Sounds to me as if we’ve balanced the scales.”
Joktepitha holds out a hand, her fingers together and her thumb folded under them, like a sock puppet without the sock. “Let me make certain I understand. You aren’t saying you want to take Roarg from us—you simply don’t want to be in a harem? It’s the harem aspect you’re panicking over?”
“YES,” I exclaim with relief, and try to choose my next words with caution.
I rub my ear and snap a glance at Ulda before meeting Joktepitha’s eyes.
“Exactly—the problem isn’t you guys. I just have no interest in a foursome-sort of relationship.
It turns out, although this has never ever come up in my life before, harems are just not my thing. At all.”
“And you aren’t competitive?” Joktepitha pushes.
I blink at her, thrown. “I’m terrible at sports—”
“I’m not talking about sports. Well, bed sports I suppose.”
“WHAT?!”
Babies murmur unhappily, disturbed, and two of the Orc women pin me with threatening looks. Namak?ga makes a soothing gesture at me and explains, “With us. Joktepitha is attempting to feel out if you’ll become competitive with us for Roarg’s affections.”
“NO,” I say too loudly, making the babies fuss again. “Sorry,” I say quickly, eyes darting from upset green babies to unhappy tusked mothers.
Joktepitha eyes me critically, then slides a look at Namak?ga and Ulda. “I’m not sensing any siren characteristics to her nature.”
“Siren?” I try to laugh, but the sound is so weak, I just cough. “I’m basically the exact opposite of a siren—you don’t even know!”
Ulda makes an unimpressed face and rolls her gaze between her fellow sisterwives. “I believe that.”
“Well,” Namak?ga sighs, hand going to her back again, rubbing, “no matter where you came from or how you arrived here, the fact of the matter is, you were about to forfeit your life, and it took an absurd sum of coppers to keep you from that fate, or worse.” She looks me dead in the eye. “You belong to us now.”
When she sees I’m about to lose it panicking, Joktepitha soothes, “Be reasonable. If not here, where else in the kingdom would you go? You’re wearing our house tattoo—”
My hand flies to my face.
“You’ve come with no money, I expect?”
My credit card should still be in my pocket, but it’s less than useless here. I shake my head, feeling sick.
She shrugs sadly. “You might get some coin for your jewelry, but not enough to survive on.” She eyes me up and down. “You’ll end up selling yourself, unless you are skilled in a trade and can sell other services?”
Dread filling my insides like icy cold water, I shake my head again.
She gives me a gentle smile. “Then our house is not only your most decent option, it’s also simply a good option. Roarg will treat you very well. You’ll see. Give him a chance.”
Panting, I sputter, “B-but I—”
Ulda has had enough though. Looking no sweeter even though she’s rocking a sleeping baby on her shoulder, she points to a set of stairs flanked by freaking tree trunks. Beside the stairs is a door. “Go. Take off those otherlander clothes. You will bathe—”
“But I don’t want to marry your husband!” I cry.
Ulda sighs like I’m being a real pain—and she cuffs me on the ear, again, too fast for me to duck or block, making me howl.
“You will wash. You will get dressed in something fine. And then you will climb in his bed and excite Roarg with your strangeness and you will please yourselves until morning. Do I make myself clear?”