There were several factors that were working against me at once. I was in a strange place completely surrounded by men. At least one of them had recognized me as a female; I did not know how the others would react. I was still processing that my mother was dead and that I had buried her myself.
And then…
My new commander's breath was a distraction all its own. I had listened to him strip away all his armor while I pretended to be asleep. He blew out the candle and the cot creaked lightly as he lay down. I listened to his breath change and began to wish I was nearer to him—God only knows why. Silent tears spilled down my cheeks. Was this to be my curse? Would I always want to be near such a beastly and ruthless man? There were several things running through my mind at once. I was shivering, though from fear, stress, or cold, I did not know. Maybe I just wanted to share in his warmth.
Now that I was sure he was asleep, I rolled over to look at him. I blinked past the blurriness in my eyes. It was nearly pitch black in here, but there was just enough light to see him.
He did not look so fierce in sleep. His mouth was slightly open, but I couldn't see the filed down points of his teeth. He looked several years younger and I wondered if the war had aged him. I imagined his strong arms around me again just as they had been when we rode up to camp. It wasn't so hard to sleep then…I felt myself drift off.
After what seemed like only seconds, I felt someone shaking me roughly. I groaned and tried to move away from the intruding hands.
"If you value your life, you will get up right now," the voice said firmly in my ear. Adrenaline shot through my veins and I sat up, heart pounding.
"Good, you're awake. Come."
Puzzled, I looked around. It wasn't even dawn yet.
"You have to be joking," I protested.
I yelped when his big hands seized me and pulled me onto my feet.
"All right, all right!" I whimpered, seeing that he was dead serious and getting impatient. I stuffed my feet into my boots and smoothed my clothes out.
I had been under the impression that my job was to take care of the horse. I didn't realize that I would be taking care of the horse in addition to several other things. As I gathered firewood and water, Luthias was dragging the others out of bed. We were going to move out today, apparently. I was in the middle of making breakfast when someone seized me from behind. Drunken breath soured my nose and I turned my head away.
"Pretty…almost like a girl…" the voice teased. Out of instinct, I elbowed my assailant in the gut.
"Let me go!" I snarled, almost forgetting my accent in my irritation. The man grunted and his friends laughed. He wrapped both arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides.
My sausage is burning, dammit… I thought, trying to squirm my way out of his arms.
My attacker whispered something in German. I didn't understand at first, but I felt his hand inching towards my nether regions. Terrified, my teeth snapped into one hand as one leg jerkily kicked at his shin. He was forced to drop me but he wasn't giving up. A flash of movement caught the corner of my eye. Heinrich leaped over me and slammed his fist into the other man's jaw. The others were enjoying the scene.
"Es reicht!"
We froze. The crowd parted like the Red Sea for Luthias. I was still trying to peel the drunk soldier off of Heinrich. Heinrich was getting absolutely pummeled under the other man's beefy fists. Luthias seized both of them by the back of their shirts and yanked them apart. Heinrich rolled away, submitting to the will of his leader. The drunken man, however, was actually stupid enough to laugh at Luthias.
