[THIS STORY WILL BECOME FREE ON THE 5th OCTOBER 2023]
Fara's husband, the Prince of Azura, is murdered and she's enslaved by his killer, Theodan, a warrior fighting a war he doesn't believe in - until her.
...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
She pulled the cloth over her body and moved closer to the fire. Though it wasn't cold - Azura was rarely cold - the ocean's chill was chasing her, seeping under the skirt of the tent and curling around her damp body.
She watched as he moved to a trunk near the door and pulled from it another length of cloth, wrapping it around himself and knotting it at his hip to keep it in place. She bent down to retrieve her soiled tunic when the entrance to the tent opened and three Leoth filed in. Smaller than him. Boys. Wearing not the battledress he and the other Leoth wore, but plain cloth tunics belted at the waist with a thin strip of leather. They looked more like servants. Servant's dressed as monks.
She scrambled back against the wall of the tent to shield herself. So she was to endure the stares of his men upon her nakedness too? Surely even slaves were afforded a small degree of dignity?
The first went to fill his wine cup from the fresh jug he carried, while the other two carried what appeared to be a second pallet above their heads complete with coverings and cushions. Her heart lifted a little. So she wasn't going to be made to sleep on the dirt then? Or worse, beside him.
They spoke a few words to him in their strange language, and he pointed to her, or rather, beyond her. They gave her barely a glance as they passed, setting the pallet down in the corner adjacent to his own. They then began to arrange the modest-looking coverings on top. It wasn't as richly covered as his own, but she was thankful for the mercy. She turned back to find the third standing before her, holding out a small bundle of folded white fabric.
For some reason - instruction perhaps - she glanced at Theodan, who eyed her watchfully as he drank from his refilled wine cup. The low light of the tent hid his eyes, casting half of his face in obscurity. Something that only served to magnify how beastly he looked; deadly eyes hidden in darkness, dark thoughts shrouded in shadow.
'Feel free to remain unclothed if you wish,' he said shifting slightly into the light. 'I would have no complaint about it.' The smirk curved the side of his full mouth as he lowered his cup.
She reached out to take the fresh clothing from the boy Leoth - whom she realised from this distance had only looked like a boy because he was so much smaller than Theodan. She could see clearly now that he was, in fact, a young male of an age to herself - though since the Leothine aged slower than humans, she supposed she could be mistaken about his age. She thanked him with a small dip of her head which he returned.
After handing off the fresh clothing to her, the Leoth set about clearing the small table of the uneaten food. Leaving on it a second refilled jug of wine, the one containing water, and the barely touched platter of fruit.
As he moved to leave, he stopped to ask something of Theodan, something which gave the warrior cause to consider. Something which gave him cause to re-focus his gaze on Fara. A gaze which was studious this time; studious in a way that made her feel like she was being measured up for some task she was not yet aware of. Then he gave the boy his answer; a few softly spoken words in leoth that Fara would have given anything to have understood.
