A meeting with the infant prince's true father.

So, Isolde, with fear in her soul, is forced to follow where these orcs.

The carriage quickly moves toward the southern border of the Kingdom Eborvair.

As they approach the kingdom's border, a detachment of orcs fires arrows at the border outpost. Through the carriage window, the terrified queen sees a pair of armored warriors, pierced by arrows, fall from a small turret surrounded by a palisade, dropping small crossbows.

Again...

Again, these steppe orcs-nomads are killing the subjects of her kingdom...

These warriors from the border outpost, unsuccessfully attempting to attack a mobile detachment of orc-wargriders with crossbow fire...

And before that: the mounted guardsmen who had accompanied the queen's carriage since leaving the capital.

Isolde tries to calm her frightened, crying infant son, holding him to her warm chest.

At the same time, she thinks about how the number of dead mounted guardsmen was less than the original number of the carriage escort.

"This means that at least a few of the Horse Guards managed to escape... Putting aside the question of valor and cowardice, this flight means that soon news of my abduction will reach the capital... The queen and her young son, the prince, have been kidnapped by a tribe of orc-nomads... This news will send shockwaves through the palace, and King Eadric will have to react... And not just the king... Oh, gods, I have a terrible premonition about the future..." - queen's thoughts are depressing.

Meanwhile, the carriage leaves the kingdom...

A whole day passes on the road through the steppes...

The orcs simply ignore Isolde's requests for food and drink.

Obviously, they received a clear order in advance to hurry...

Realizing who exactly gave this order, the queen experiences conflicting feelings: fear, shame, and even... a certain excitement. As late evening approaches, exhausted by the events that have transpired and the hardships of the journey, Isolde and the infant Kael fall asleep in each other's arms.

During this restless night, the queen dreams of a variety of disturbing images, the meaning of which is vague and mysterious.

She sees herself in her early youth, when her father shows her the vastness of the ancestral castle, which rises among the mountains...

Yet, for some reason, the sky above the mountains has an unnatural black-red hue and is completely cloudless. Then Isolde sees herself naked on her marriage bed...

The first wedding night on the day of her wedding to King Eadric...

He drank a lot of strong ale and... didn't bother too much with giving sexual pleasure to his beautiful young wife...

The marble walls of the luxurious royal bedroom, for some reason, begin to shake and crack...

Then a new turn in the disturbing spiral of dream scenes: Isolde sees herself seated on the throne next to King Eadric.

Only the crown on her head feels unusually heavy...

This heaviness intensifies to such an extent that streams of warm, scarlet blood begin to flow from her forehead down her face more and more...

Finally, awakening from a troubled dream, the queen wakes.

Loud crying...

The baby Kael is clearly hungry.

The queen is forced to breastfeed him again. Meanwhile, the carriage continues to travel across the steppe.

However, after about an hour's journey, the carriage stops.

The Queen, holding her infant son (who continues to suckle at her nipple), carefully steps out of the carriage.

And she sees a camp of orcs-nomads: tents, yurts, carts, cauldrons of food, smoke, the hubbub of orcs, the howling of wargs.

A realization quickly dawns on Isolde: "This nomad camp is too large... There are clearly more than just Moundroamers here!"

A group of armed orcs clad in light leather armor leads the queen to a large tent in the center of the camp.

Stepping inside, the queen sees something that makes her heart beat faster and harder.

Chieftain Gruk, naked from the waist up and displaying the splendor of his powerful muscles, stood near a wooden table, surrounded by several orcs who... looked too imposing to be his subordinates.

Isolde had been raised from childhood to recognize by appearances and behavior whether someone possessed authority or was merely a subordinate.

And these three orcs, standing next to Gruk and looking distrustfully at her and her child, clearly fell into the category of "persons in authority." These are obviously chieftains of other steppe orc tribes.

"So, everything happened exactly as I said! Now you see that my words weren't empty boasting! This is the queen, and she holds her son, the prince, in her arms... The prince is the heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Eborvair... And it's obvious to anyone with sight that this infant is my son!" - half-orc Gruk utters these grandiose words with a satisfied grin.

The orc chieftains next to him are conversing in a language unknown to the queen.

And Isolde herself is struggling to control her trembling and hold back her tears...

Judging by the orcs' smiles, she and her child will be used for something beneficial to these nomads.