Paper Cranes

Orizuru

Her POV:

"What are you doing?" Kiepan asks me, sounding more irritated than curious.

"Making an orizuru for our lord," I say simply, pausing to look over my shoulder at her.

She scrutinizes me for a moment before lowering herself to sit on the other side of the wives' quarters.

I narrow my eyes right back at her, turning my nose up at her leathered skin. I do not blame her for hating me, but that doesn't mean I cannot hate her too.

As the youngest wife, I would traditionally pose a threat to the other wives. I am no threat to our lord's attention though, him having given up all interest in me after I did not get pregnant the first three times he bed me.

It's been months since then. Only by a good stroke of luck would our lord's other three wives die tragically, so I could once again obtain his affections.

Being many years younger than him, my attraction towards him is based on the knowledge that he is not only a man and an honorable warrior, but the wife he favors most gets to sleep in his bed on occasion.

Having been his favorite wife for the first two weeks—which I am convinced was only due to being the 'new toy' as Lillica put it— I know being the favorite was worth the harsh braiding.

To some, the tough tugging would seem as a punishment. I know though our lord is purposely tougher on his favorite, to train them so it doesn't hurt them as much when he has to take us into town.

"Our lord is with , he has no interest in your offering," Kiepan snaps bitterly.

Well at least I am not the only one bitter about it...

"Where is Lillica?" I ask Kiepan, leaving my verbal hostility out of my inquiry. She may not be the first or favorite wife, but if our lord hears of bickering, he will birch us all again—which is something all of his lord's wives can agree we would not like to receive.

"Where do you think she is?" Kiepan retorts in irritation.

I look over my shoulder to see her fiery gaze burning into me.

It is undesirable to bed our lord while another wife is there, but our lord finds great pleasure in having us watch him bed his favorite, or have one of us join them both.

Being bedded while others are present was something I was never told of. Our lord would never take the time to speak to one of us of course—being a man, he rarely does. I had expected my mothers, or at least the women who raised me to tell me of this.

Perhaps if they had warned me, I would have not freaked out and pushed our lord away, starting my descent into the least favorite of his four wives when he had tried.

"You didn't join them?" I tease Kiepan, smirking at her from over my shoulder. None of us are unaware of our abhorrence for the other wives. Kiepan is simply more blatant about it, refusing to partake in bed while another wife is present.

How our lord doesn't birch her for it?

Lillica hypothesizes that he doesn't give her a thrashing for it because she was his second wife, now the earliest wife to still be alive.

I however, believe Kiepan gets away with so much because she bore his favorite son, Azurros. If our lord were to have anything acute to a tender spot in his heart for any of us, it would be Kiepan. Mikaio is our lord's favorite, but he is both most harsh at times, but also most tender with Kiepan, often overlooking things I would get a birching or thrashing for.