While normally you'd take this opportunity to run, you're pissed enough at the orc for trying to kill you in the first place and grateful enough that this woman just probably saved your life.

You run at the orc with your dagger in hand and manage to get it to the ground in its weakened state. You stab it in the back multiple times and don't stop until the woman calls out to you.

"Okay. I think you killed it." She shouts.

You snap out of your killing trance for a moment and see you've made quite the mess. You stand up breathing heavily.

"Fucking greenskins." You exclaim, kicking the dead body.
"I hope this isn't a possible invasion. We saw another one a few months ago, though he was much smaller and ran off when he saw us. He was nowhere near as big as this one." The woman remarks.
"Fortunately for you that you weren't where I just was, because there was a bunch of orcs that size on horseback about to destroy the Caravan I was part of."

The woman shakes her head.

"I thought the empire was supposed to be making the land safe. So much for their promises, well anyway, thanks for saving my life. I froze up a bit when that orc didn't go down with the second arrow." The woman says.
"You're welcome, but I'd say you saved mine first seeing as that orc would have caved my skull in if you hadn't shown up." You respond.
"Hm, I suppose that's true enough. Guess we helped each other. So where was this Caravan and where were you going?"
"Shit, I don't even know now. I know I was probably north east of here. There was a stone bridge and then I fell into the river and wound up here. I was travelling from Galpatolis and going to Arcanius."

The woman's eyes widen when you say that.

"I see. Why?"
"I got business there. I'd really appreciate it if you could tell me how I could get there from here." You say walking towards her, but then you experience a moment of fatigue and your legs give out causing you to partially collapse to the ground. The woman goes to help you up.

"Hey, you still don't look that great. Look, you're barely in any condition to walk anywhere let along travelling all the way to Arcanius. Why don't you come back with me where you can at least rest and heal up? I mean as I said, you did help me kill the orc. My village isn't that far away."
"Okay, yeah that sounds fine." You say not really wishing to argue since she's right about you not being in the best condition right now.

The woman tells you her name is Keira and her village is Tarvo. She goes on about how it was absorbed by the Empire decades ago and how they used to even have a sizable amount of soldiers there, but eventually they realized the village was never going to be a problem as far as rebellions go. As it stands there are only a few soldiers and a single Galpatis official who probably got sent there because he pissed someone off. As a result he doesn't really enforce many official Galpatian laws other than something obvious like murder or rape and allows everyone to go about their normal lives.

Eventually you get to the village, which is fairly humble. It's probably smaller than your old home of Teckleville.

"Hey Keira, you catch that hunting this time?" some other woman asks and points at you.
"Sort of. He was fighting an orc and we both brought it down together." Keira replies.
"An orc? This close to the village?! Shit. We need to tell the magistrate about that! Not that I really want soldiers stomping about here, but if orcs are going to be a problem then I'd rather we have better defenses then we have!"
"Mm. Well, I need to get back to my home and patch him up."
"Okay, but don't Ardan see you taking another man inside your home! He might get the wrong idea!"

Keira makes a minor laugh and waves at the woman, though you notice Keira also rolling her eyes when she turns her head away.

You soon get to Keira's home which isn't large, but you suppose it's big enough to serve Keira's needs since she's living here alone. She gets a fire started and you welcome the warmth since you've been near freezing since you got out of the water.

"You know you'll get warmer quicker if you get your clothes off. Those are going to need to dry properly anyway." Keira says.
"Um what?" a little taken by surprise.
"What? Is what you got under those clothes so impressive that you think I just won't be able to contain myself? Or perhaps you're just shy?"
"Well, after the day I had, I really wasn't expecting it to end with a pretty woman asking me to take my clothes off. I'm half expecting you to turn into a monster of some sort which would be more in line with my luck lately."

Keira chuckles a bit.

"Well that won't happen, so perhaps your luck is better than you think. Perhaps even Yaz is looking over you."
"Did you say Yag?"
"No, I said Yaz. You know, the god of fortune? I don't suppose he's worshipped in Galpatolis."
"No, but he's called Yag where I come from."
"Ah. Interesting. I suppose divine beings go by many names though. Glad to know you weren't one of those silly people that worships the emperor though I didn't think you were really from Galpatolis since you don't look like you are."
"You could tell just by looking at me?"
"I could tell just by how you speak and act. You speak the language like you only just learned it. You're obviously not a native Galpatian. Where are you from originally?"
"Eh, I'm originally from a small village far to the south. It's so small, nobody really knows it exists."
"Hm, I guess the Empire came and annexed your people too huh?"
"Something like that…ouch!" you say feeling the aches and pains in your body.
"Okay, I think it's time you took your clothes off, you probably got some wounds that need patching up and I can get to them better if you're naked."
"I gotta say, this is still pretty unusual for me. That other woman mentioned someone called Ardan, I mean I don't want your husband…"
"Ardan is NOT my husband."
"Okay, well boyfriend then."
"He's barely that, and if he does come in here, he can just step right back out, because he pissed me off recently anyway. I don't want to talk about that though. Besides, nothing is happening between us anyway. I don't just become involved with strange men I find in the wilderness, so let's get you fixed up."
"Okay then if you insist."

You still feel a bit weird about all this, but honestly with as much pain you're in right now, you really aren't thinking about Keira in that way. (Well at least not immediately)

Eventually Keira stitches up some of your wounds and places some sort of healing salve on them. She then gives you some spare furs to wrap yourself up in while your clothing dries. She tells you that you can stay here for a few days so you can heal up. As much as you're in a hurry to get to Arcanius, it probably would be best if you rested.

As the days pass Keira says with you here, she's probably spent more time in her home than she has since her mother died since she had to be around more to take care of her.

Apparently Keira prefers being outdoors hunting even when she doesn't need to, even sleeping outside under the stars at times rather than coming home. She says that sometimes she'd like to travel, but she says she's never quite had the nerve to do it. She's not sure why exactly seeing as there isn't much to tie her here except Ardan though once again she doesn't speak much more about him.

Keira asks you a few questions about yourself, which you keep vague with half truths, misdirections and outright lies. You don't want to discuss your real situation anymore than she wants to discuss Ardan.

Keira also tells you how to get to Arcanius though she doesn't ask why you're going again. Going by her directions, it's going to still be a long ass trip, especially with no horse or other mode of transportation now. You don't even have any supplies for such a journey though maybe Keira will give you some before you leave.

When you're feeling slightly better you insist on walking about the village which Keira is happy to see since she doesn't feel the need to check up on you.

You wander the village a bit and are mostly met with stares, but nothing more. A few people actually have heard about you since news spread in this village fairly quickly. It's mostly positive, since killing an orc is something to be celebrated here. In fact a few people are so nice they actually give you some free food.

As you're accepting a few of these free gifts, a couple of soldiers approach saying that you're the one they've been hearing about and how the magistrate wants to see you about the orc found near the village since a few people have expressed concern to him about it.

Seeing as you aren't really doing anything better right now and in no condition to resist. You go with the soldiers and follow to a slightly better looking building than the rest of the village.

The magistrate doesn't look like the typical noble that you've seen many times before back in Galpatolis. He's got more facial hair and a general less kept appearance. It's apparent he barely gives a shit about formalities anymore since he gives his nose a quick pick and blows it out before even speaking to you.

The meeting isn't very long. The magistrate just asks you some general questions about yourself and how you came to be in the situation where you were fighting an orc in the first place. You give him the same story you told Keira and he seems to accept that as a suitable explanation. He doesn't even ask why you were going to Arcanius. The man just seems to be fulfilling the basics of his duties.

"I see. So the orc you were fighting was separated from his fellows. Which means these villagers are jumping to conclusions that there is an imminent attack from orc savages. Glad to hear it, since I doubt if those assholes in the capital would bother sending anyone up here anyway. Very well. You're dismissed." The magistrate says.
"Okay. Um, is there any transportation from here to Arcanius?"
"Sure, put one foot in front of the other and start walking. What? Did you think we'd give you a horse for killing a single orc that you apparently lead near here in the first place? I got more important matters to care of. Out."

And with those words, the magistrate's soldiers start escorting you out the office and soon out the building as well.

Well at least the law isn't trying to arrest you for a change.

In any case, you get the strong impression you'll have to steal a horse before you leave this place. Not before at least another day of rest though. You wander the village a bit more before heading back to Keira's home.

When you arrive, she's still not back yet, though she did say now that you're feeling better, she might be gone a little longer. That's awfully trusting of her to just assume some stranger isn't going to take her stuff. You guess thieves aren't a real problem around here since everyone knows one another and she probably believes you to be an upstanding person.

She doesn't have much that you'd want to take anyway, not to mention you'd be quite the scoundrel indeed if you stole from a woman who has done nothing but help you. You aren't quite that much of an asshole.

Still, doesn't prevent you from being a little nosey and you look through some of her belonging that are more out in open.

As you're picking up what looks to be a flute sitting on a small table by her bed, you hear footsteps behind you.

"So you're the guy that killed an orc and has been living here with Keira? You are far less impressive than I heard about." A voice says.

You turn around and see a large older man standing in the entryway with a small axe in his hand. You just can't catch a break.

"And you're Ardan I presume. Surprised I haven't seen you sooner." You say.
"I was out hunting and I come back after a few days only to find that another man is trying to steal MY woman!" Ardan exclaims.
"Okay look, I'm not stealing your woman. She's just letting me stay here until I recover. In fact I should be leaving by tomorrow."
"Oh so you think you can just fuck my woman and leave then?"
"I haven't fucked her! In fact NOTHING has happened between us!"
"Oh we're going to see about that. Come on."
"What?"
"Come on. We're going to both go see Keira. I know her better than anyone and I'll know if she's lying or not when I confront her with you there."
"But she's out hunting."
"So? I know what grounds she prefers and that's where we're going. Now you're coming with me or I'm going to break your legs and drag you out of here."

Ardan grips his axe tightly after threatening you.

Well he's no orc, but you doubt if he'd be an easy fight either. The guy is predictably crazy jealous and you suppose to can understand his view point, but that doesn't change the fact that for all you know he's going to just take you out to a more secluded place and murder you there.

You stay put

You doubt if you're going to go meet Keira and if Ardan's going to kill you, you're not going to make it easy for him by going where it's isolated.

"Yeah, I got a better idea. Let's just wait for Keira to come back home." You say.
"No, this needs to be settled now and I'm not going to wait around." Ardan replies.
"Well if you think I'm going into the woods with you alone, you're sadly mistaken."
"You should have thought about that before you decided to move in on my woman."
"Again, I didn't move in on her!"
"You're living here and you expect me to believe that?"
"Fuck this. Your mind is obviously made up about me, so if you're going to try to kill me, you better just try to do it now, otherwise I'm going to just leave."
"You're not going anywhere."

Ardan now moves towards you and he looks fully intent on using that axe now.

"Well then I guess you've made your choice." You say.
"Guess I have." Ardan answers.

You draw your dagger and then throw a nearby cup on the small table at Ardan. He blocks his face and then swings his axe at you.

In these close quarters its difficult to avoid him, but you're still a lot more agile than him. You honestly don't intend on fighting him, your goal is to get around him and out the door so you can get outside.

Ardan swings a few more times and you duck and roll. You stab Ardan in the leg and while he's fallen to one knee due to that wound, you achieve your goal of getting around him and out the door.

Your next move is to try to find a horse, which as far as you know the few that are in town are near the magistrate building. You run back towards that way, meanwhile Ardan has recovered from his wound and begins shouting.

"STOP THAT FUCKER! HE JUST TRIED TO KILL ME!" he shouts.

Unbelievable.

Hoping that nobody takes him seriously, you continue to run and then you feel a hard force hit you in the back of the head. You fall to the ground and hear screams of people nearby.

Your vision begins to darken as your hands try to feel the back of your head, which of course has Ardan's axe in it.

You then hear several people shouting and then nothing at all.