“I am cold.” Though he had started a fire she felt raw from the tears and the embarrassment. Her bottom was still burning badly, but it did not help the rest of her body. Why had he taken her over his lap so easily? She pushed the thoughts away as he was looking at her. ”May I please have a sip, Sir?” Anna flexed her toes.
The man sat up and brought the flask to her lips. “Take a small sip. It is strong.”
Anna felt it bite the back of her throat and welcomed the flush it sent through her body. She blinked up at him and coughed, “Thank you.”
He lay back down. “It will hit you hard.”
Anna tried to adjust her body against the blanket beneath her but her arms were beginning to ache. The flush had turned to a flame that was licking along her consciousness. “I am in an odd spot.”
He glanced over as he took another sip. “Are you talking about the spot on the ground?”
Anna felt the heat rise to her head and she felt dizzy. “I am in an odd spot in my thoughts, Sir,” Anna huffed, and tried to think. “I was attacked when I was a child. I am physically a woman, but I do not know much about other things.”
“Tell me what happened.”
Anna looked at the man sitting there in front of her. He had followed through with his promises so far, and though she could not tell if he were honorable or not, she felt herself wanting to trust him. If he were truly a wicked man, she believed he would not be so quick to guide her in the right direction. There was a gentle spot in this man. She felt it when he touched her face and saw it when he looked at her. Anna took a deep breath. She had never repeated this story to anyone, as no one had ever asked. “These horrible men came to my village,” she shuddered then and bit her lip. “I do not know if I can continue.”
The man sat up so that Anna could see his face. “Can I assume that this is the first time you are about to tell it?”
“No one has ever asked, Sir.” Her voice was soft and slightly slurred. She took another deep breath and began: “I was working in the barn one night. My sister had just headed back towards my house. I heard something in the distance. It was a strange sound. My father used to tell us about men who would raid from far away villages to gain information, animals, and coin but I always thought they were to scare my sister and me from venturing out at night. My father did not make up these tales, and I immediately knew that something awful was about to occur.” Anna blinked back tears.
She closed her eyes and opened them. “They came in force. I could not tell you how many, but I can remember every thread of the tabard those barbarians wore. It was a golden yellow with a crest done all in black.” Anna sniffled again. “These men came into the barn. I was scared and hiding behind one of the horses. They saw me and pulled me out into the hay.” She blinked several times to try to stop the images that were flooding her. Tears began to flow freely down her cheeks again. “They kicked me. They kicked my legs. They pulled at my arms. I was terrified. I cried out. I screamed. They laughed. I could smell their horrible breath and sweat stench. They were in my face. The louder I screamed, the more they laughed. They were all around me. They went under my skirts.”
Anna sobered suddenly. “They pushed things inside of me. It was deep inside of me. It hurt more than anything I had felt. They used their fingers, the handles of their swords, their manhoods.”
“Do you remember what they looked like?”
Anna nodded. “I remember every detail. I can still picture their hateful eyes and the sneers upon their lips. I could taste the sweat upon their brows as it dripped into my mouth. I hate them!” She could not brush the tears away. “So I screamed. I screamed louder than I ever have and that boy - that boy that you might have killed – he came and he brought help. The men of my village scared them away.” She sobbed harder. “I was still crying long after those men left. No one would touch me. They left me in the barn all alone. My sister came later to bathe me and help me home.” Anna began to cough. “I was destroyed that night. I am no longer worthy of marriage. I am no longer worthy of living.”
“After the story that you have told me, you still believe that I am wrong for taking you away from a village which abandoned you when you needed them the most?” He reached over and cupped her chin.
Anna blinked back at him. “I hate them more than I hate those men.”
“Then I state again, perhaps I did you a favor.” He dried her face with a soft cloth and lay back down.
“We shall see, when you explain your purpose to me.” Anna adjusted herself so that she was mostly lying down again. She did not want him to see the surprise in her features. She wanted to tell him that she was beginning to see something in him, and ask if he had a genuine place for her. “Until then I do not know.”
“Rest, then, and we will continue on tomorrow.”
“Good night, Sir.” Anna curled up as best she could. So much had happened so quickly. He had taken her away from her village, but he did have a point. If her village had cared, she would not be in such a position. He had also treated her as if she belonged to him. Was that so absurd? Anna stretched out her legs. Though her bottom was still tingling, she felt that finally someone was paying her mind.
Chapter Three
Anna opened her eyes. Her arms had been untied from the tree at some point, and were at her sides. She could smell something cooking, and realized that the man had captured a small creature that was roasting on the open fire. She sat up slowly and pulled the blanket around her body. “Are we that far from the next village?”
The man handed her some meat.
“Perhaps we are.”
Anna accepted it. She did not like the taste of whatever rodent it happened to be, but she ate it, nonetheless. “Or do you just like to make a fresh kill in the morning?”
”I will not tolerate your endless questions today.” He stood up and quenched the fire.
“Attend to yourself, and get back here. We have a much ground to cover.”
Anna nodded, and noticed that the rope was loosely knotted around her waist. She could only go so far. So he did not trust her then anymore than she, him. She did what he allowed her to do, and came back.
“Can you remove the rope now?”
He undid the rope and added it to his bag. “Let us be on our way.”
She allowed him to lift her onto the horse, and said nothing. He got on behind her and she made no effort to move away from him. She welcomed the heat from his body, and pondered what he thought of her being so close to him. Could he find her as intriguing as she did him? Yesterday it had bothered her to have him so close, and yet today she could not help but feel protected.
They rode in silence for what felt like hours, until they finally approached a village. He tied the horse up and they walked into the inn.
“You’ve been on quite a trip, Sir,” the woman nodded.
The man nodded back to the woman behind the bar. “It will be completed by tomorrow.”
The woman nodded back and handed him a drink. “Do you want something for the girl?”
Anna frowned. How could this woman talk about her as though she weren’t there?
“I need a meal for her. I also need a room for the night.” He looked over at Anna and back. “Someone to attend to her would be useful.”
The woman nodded and glanced over at her. “I will send my daughter, Eva, in the morning.”
“You have my appreciation.” He set the mug down, and looked back towards the main room. “I have business. Stay here until I come back.”
Anna sat down at the nearest table and watched him go. She looked up and saw each time that the woman was staring at her. She wondered what could be that entertaining about her. She thanked her for the food that was set down and began to eat. She wished above all that she knew this man’s plan. If he truly had a purpose for her, was it pure or vile?
She finished her plate and picked up the mug. She said, as he stopped and looked down at her, “Do you have a plan?”
“My
plans are not any of your concern.” He glanced towards the stairs. “Let us retire.”
Anna sighed, but stood and began to walk towards the landing.
“That companion of yours is certainly a sight for sore eyes.”
Anna froze and turned around slowly.
“My companion is none of your concern, and certainly not for your eyes.” He took her arm then, and pulled her to his side.
The man was tall, thin, and young - not the combination she was expecting.
He smiled then. “I believe, Sir, that she would be quite a welcome sight for them.” He had a dark blue tabard on that showed a silver-colored bird. “I must tell you, though, that my eyes may be looking elsewhere.” He looked Anna over from head to toe.
Anna frowned. Either she was prettier than even she had imagined, or the villages that they had been traveling through had rather unsavory men. “How dare you!”
The two men turned their heads at the same time. The younger man smirked. “A feisty companion, I may add.”
“If you wish to keep those eyes, Sir, I strongly suggest that you move on.” The way the tall man pronounced the title made it sound like he had something bitter in his mouth.
The younger man clenched his fists. “Surely your companion is not worth a quarrel, Sir.”
“You do not know who I am, Sir, and again I strongly suggest we keep it that way.” He gave a slight, be gone with you nod, and he had her go up the stairs first.
She said nothing as he led her inside but she had dozens of thoughts clanging around her head. That made two men who had paid her quite a bit of attention since she had been kidnapped. Why had she caught their eyes?
“You are not to speak unless I address you, is that clear?”
Anna crossed her arms over her chest and tilted her head to the side. She said nothing, but kept her eyes focused on the man.
“Do I make myself clear?” he asked again.
She knew that he expected an answer, and yet the overwhelming emotions that had been making her question everything that she had done and everything that she had thought about her village had begun to take their toll. She wanted to tell him that of course what he wished of her was clear as the sky at noon on a day where you could look outside and see endless blue for miles. Anna nodded.
“What are you thinking about so strongly that the look upon your face from just a moment ago disappeared?”
Anna frowned. “I do not understand what you mean, Sir.”
“For a moment I was certain that you were going to backtalk me.” He raised an eyebrow.
She moved to the very large chair and sat upon the cushion. “Perhaps I have decided that you are not bluffing.” She looked down at her hands.
She heard him walk over and sit down in the chair next to her.
“It is not wise for you to talk to anyone else.”
Anna nodded slowly. “Yes, Sir, I have witnessed why.”
“Try to get some rest.” He touched the top of her hand and moved away.
That was the last he spoke to her. Anna glanced over at him several times, until she finally fell asleep. He had chosen the bed, and she was resigned to the stiff chair. Anna groaned. She could not stay asleep. She got up again and was pacing. On her forth spin around the tiny room she heard him stir.
“What could you possibly be doing up at this hour?” His voice was thick with sleep and an underlying tone of irritation.
Anna stopped walking the length of the room and sat down again. “Do you think those two men actually found me pretty, or do you think that perhaps those men were even more unsavory than you?”
The man let out a deep breath and sat up. “I question why you want to know the opinions of two such unsavory men.”
Anna raised an eyebrow. She had not thought of it in such a manner, and was now unsure of how to continue. “Do you find me pretty, Sir?”
“Did you not just categorize me in the same unsavory fashion as those other two?” He rolled his neck on his shoulders.
“Maybe after what I saw you do tonight, and how you treated me in your possession, I have changed my mind.” Anna pulled her legs up and under her.
“I think that if you can learn to become a proper woman, then you may have more savory men find you pretty.” He gave a small shrug.
“That does not answer my question, Sir,” Anna said very softly. Where were they going? How much longer would it be before they got there? What on earth did he plan on doing with her?
“You have not listened to me yet. I have very little tolerance for a child who cannot respect those above her.”
“I am not a child!” Anna stood and stomped her foot.
The man laughed. “Not a child?” He repeated. “Yet you stand there and stamp your feet like a little babe!”
Anna narrowed her eyes. “I explained to you, Sir, that I am a woman, whether you believe me or not.”
“For any man to see you as anything else than an ignorant babe, you have much to learn.” A small shadow of a smile crossed his mouth. “You have much to learn,” he repeated quietly.
“Where, Sir, shall I learn it then? Are you going to teach me?” She put her hands on her hips.
“Drop your hands.” He stood then, and Anna immediately put her hands down to her sides. “You will not like my methods.”
Anna flopped back down in the chair. She was not in the mood to feel his hands or his belt on her behind again. She shook her head. “It is just that I am having a hard time with what you are asking of me.”
“I have asked you only two things. One is to speak only when I speak to you, and the second is to trust me. You have yet to follow either.” He ran his hand through his hair and moved back to the bed.
“I did not mean to awaken you, Sir.” She pulled her legs back up and laid her head against the arm of the chair. He said nothing as he lay back down and closed his eyes.
Anna was so curious about this tall man. She moved to the second chair so that she could look at him better. He had the deepest, darkest grey eyes that she had ever seen, and she felt warm inside when they focused on her. She felt she could stare at them and into them for hours, if he would ever let her. She watched the rise and fall of his chest and sighed.
He leaned up on an elbow. “Are you going to stare at me all night?”
Anna flushed. “I wish to know more about you, Sir.”
The man sat up slowly and his hair slipped over one eye. “You will only be told what I wish to share with you.”
Anna felt an odd stirring inside of her as she slid off the chair and stepped slowly towards him. “Will you teach me to be more than I am?”
He let out a long sigh. “Come here.” He motioned for her to come closer. Anna sat down on the edge of the bed. “I am not at liberty to tell you my purpose.”
Anna shrugged. “I have never been paid so much attention, Sir.”
He reached for her and pulled her to him. “I hope you remember everything I have told you thus far.”
Anna nodded and settled on his chest. She knew that they should not be lying in a bed together, but for the first time in her life she did not care. She felt safe, protected, and content. He had stood up for her against two very unsavory men, and asked about her story. He finally had her trust. “I am trying to, Sir.”
“Then close your eyes, Little One, and go to sleep.”
She smiled as his arm fell around her shoulders, and she did as he commanded.
***
Anna woke up alone in the room. She smiled anyway as she stretched out her arms and legs. She padded down the hall to relieve herself and returned to the room. Anna thought about last night. It was the first time she had ever been in bed with anyone, save her sister, and she blushed at the thought of his arms around her. Anna also noted that the man had not touched her inappropriately, though she surmised that they had spent several hours together. A part of her brain argued that his hand on her bare bottom was very inappropriate. Anna jumped as the door opened. A young gi
rl entered, and announced that she was here to attend to her. She must be Eva, the innkeeper’s daughter.
Anna had no idea what that meant, until it was occurring. The girl bathed her, dressed her in a dark pink gown, and was now paying more attention to her hair then Anna had ever remembered anyone attending to previously. She began to wonder what the man’s plans involved. How far until their final destination?
Eva led her back down to the main room of the inn. She sat and ate the meal that had already been set for her. She had not yet seen the man and wondered what business he was attending. The innkeeper came over to her table.
“Return to the room that you stayed in last night. He is coming to gather you within the hour.”
Anna nodded, “Thank you.” She did what she was told, but began to pace the length of the room again.
The door opened and she stopped. A much older gentleman was standing in the doorway. He stepped inside, and stood staring at her. She took in the sight of his awful double chin, the dark beady eyes, and the horrible smile on this face, when she saw the tabard. It was black and yellow. She looked at it and shook her head. She remembered that cloth. That same cloth had been touching her cheek the night she had been hurt. She knew every detail in that pattern. It was him. Somehow after all of these years, the leader of the men was standing there in front of her.
Becoming a Lady Page 3
