War

Hey guys, thank you all for the wonderful praise and compliments. I LOVE THEM ALL! This chapter is a little shorter than the others but I can't do a twofer. Starting to post faster than I write, mainly b/c I've been fighting with my boyfriend lately, haven't really felt much like writing. But I saw him today and we're ok now, so I think I can pick it up again full throttle. No fears, it shall continue =). Enjoy!



7
Azel took her lightly by the arm, she didn't struggle, she had a feeling if she did his grip wouldn’t be so light anymore. She went down the stairs and to the bar area where money traded hands and Wallace received ten silver from Azel.

"Take her on down to Stephon right now and he'll get her collared for you."

Azel nodded to his friend and led Catherine out the door and onto the busy world she had watched for two days now. She had never seen such a fast transformation of a town. Two tent rows down from the inn was a man, heavily scarred and bandaged. Tara was there with her new keeper, a thin strip of white wet sinew stitched around her neck. It fell to just above her collarbones. Azel greeted the man kindly.

"Good day Stephon, looks like the battle had its effect on you." The man grunted, a small smile on his face.

"Looks like it had one on you too." He referred to Catherine with the jut of his thumb, Azel paid him no mind.

"I won't charge this one for you boy, I'm sure you paid good money for her." Azel graced him with a smile as thanks; it was, after all, a rare gift.

He crooked this finger at her for her to bend down to his height, she blinked at him but did so, seeing that Azel didn’t seem bothered by the proximity he was making. From a warm bucket of water over hot coals he slipped out a wet and white strip of sinew. He slid the slimy thing about her neck and quickly stitched the ends with even thinner and already dried sinew string. She straightened herself when he was finished and inspected the strange thing about her neck. It struck her then, the women she had seen before with tight leather around their throats were already bought slaves. She let the limp wet collar drop as Azel urged her forward. He led her to the outside of town, past row after row of tent until it seemed they spread out more. They were close to the tree line, and could see the lights of the town by the time he stopped.

She inspected the place she would call home for a while. A simple white linen tent, small, but tall enough to stand in. A fire burned before it, and a few pieces of wood rested next to it to feed it when the flames die down. The leaves, rocks and twigs had been scraped away from the area, and a log became a makeshift seat next to the fire. Azel made himself at home quickly, sitting down onto the log and building the fire up again. She stood there stupidly for a moment until his stare was on her again.

"What's your name?" She stared at him a moment before dropping her gaze.

"Catherine." He looked back to the fire with an approving nod.

"Catherine." Her name coming from his mouth sounded strange to her, it wasn't the right sound for him.

"My mother called me Cat." She wished she had just left her mouth shut, he looked back to her again, a mocking smirk on his face.

"Cat is it? I can see why." She furrowed her brow in a bit of confusion and anger, but he seemed disinterested and went back to playing with his fire.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

His gray stare shot back at her, something almost like anger underlying his cool composure but his words and actions didn’t reflect that.

"It means you're very balanced and composed until you realize you can't land on your feet."

She grunted at his comment and walked past him towards the trees angrily. That was NOT how she was. She reached the tree line and was surprised he hadn't tried to stop her. She jumped and nearly fell backwards as a knife pierced the tree she was standing next to. She turned back to see that Azel hadn't moved, he still sat on his log, composed as could be.

"Bring me back my knife, and I'll lay out some ground rules."

Fear trickled down into her core, if he had really wanted to, he could have killed her with that knife. She wrapped her fingers around the leather-clad hilt; it was still warm from him. It took a bit of strength but she successfully pulled it from the tree and walked it back to Azel. He took it, and it disappeared back into his boot.

"Sit." She didn't quite trust the man, and decided to sit on the dirt across the fire from him rather than on the log in arms reach.

"I simply ask you to do as you're told. Disobey me and there will be consequences. I'm trusting you to stay where I tell you to stay, so for now, you have free rein and no restraints." His eyes met hers and it was enough to make her shiver.

"Betray that trust and I'll loop that collar and tie you up for good. Understood?" She nodded to him and he dropped his cold glare. Her voice was dead in her throat, she couldn't speak after that.

"I see your shoulder is doing fine."

She glanced at her old wound she had forgotten. He had been there when she had fallen, it was nearly gone now. After a moment of silence she gathered her courage as best as she could and tried to think of the best way to ask him what her life with him would entitle. He bought her after asking her if she could do simple tasks for him, but was he expecting…more? She smiled lightly as a perfect question came to her; she hid it quickly from him and swallowed hard to work her voice back to life.

"My Lord?"

Azel looked up at her, a small twinge of anger in his eyes as she realized she had messed up already. Two words out and she had made him angry. He looked back to his fire before he answered her, letting his temper seethe out.

"Yes?" She swallowed and hardened her resolve. She would speak to him and she would do it well.

"Where am I to sleep tonight? There's only the one tent and it looks small." He seemed disinterested in her but a smirk found his lips again as he pulled out his knife to sharpen it.

"You're small, I don't think you'll take up much space in there."

Catherine felt her face flush the deepest red she was sure ever existed. She crossed her arms with a frustrated grunt and decided the dirt was more interesting to look at. Silence lasted only a moment before Azel gave in to his boredom.

"I'm going into the town, you can go to bed if you'd like. Stay near the tent."

Catherine opened her mouth to protest but something told her to keep silent as he walked away from her. She looked about herself and towards her sparse neighbors. Several of the other soldiers were looking at her, not just looking, staring. She sighed in dismay and looked towards the tent. There was NO WAY he was making her sleep with him. She swallowed hard, but what if he forced her? A glance to the sky told her she would have to decide what to do soon. The stars were showing clearly now, the sun was entirely from the sky and the moon was beginning to rise. She sighed and walked over to the tent. She only wanted to look inside and see if they could even fit inside together. She gasped and suddenly felt bad. Inside the tent were two prepared sleep rolls. There was barely enough room for them, and they were side by side but he had prepared a bed for her to sleep on. She looked out of the tent, following the path he had taken into town.

It was such a thoughtful gesture, but she didn't trust him. She wouldn't sleep in the tent with him, what if he expected more from her than she was willing to offer? She pulled the blankets from her roll and dragged them around the fire. She wrapped herself up in them until she was satisfied that nothing could penetrate them before settling down and staring at the fire. It was then that the loneliness clutched her whole-heartedly. Her mother was gone, her friends sold off, everything she had known and had called familiar gone from her forever. All she was left with was a cold-hearted, emotionless rebel that would leave her alone while others around her stared her down like a meal. She sighed and pulled absentmindedly at her collar. It was a little tighter, harder, and darker of color. She decided it wouldn’t be fully dried until morning. The sky turned from a dark blue to a black as more stars came out to play. Insects swarmed the light of the fire only to be burned to death by its heat. She stared off into the trees and realized that running away was always an option. She yawned and snuggled deeper into her warm blankets, she was too tired to run; she could sleep one night with her keeper before running away. Boisterous laughter rose up around her as the soldiers gathered at fires for meals and ale. She herself was feeling a little famished, but she dared not move with all the commotion.

"I can't believe you're sleeping out here."

Catherine turned over to see Azel standing over her disapprovingly. She cringed under his hot gaze and hoped he wasn't the abusive type. He moved past her though without doing her harm and worked at killing the fire.

"You're lucky no one carted you off the way you're lying out here. Some of these men are too poor to buy a woman Cat, they'd steal you if they thought they could get away with it."

She looked to him, her brows furrowed as she processed what sounded to her to be worry in his voice. A sad smile touched her lips as she looked off in the direction of one of the closer camps.

"I guess they didn't think they would get away with it."

She felt his eyes on her but she couldn’t look at him, a cool sadness was rising in her. Others would fear her because they feared him. She would have no one.

"Why do you think that?"

The complete innocence of the question forced Catherine to look at him. She opened her mouth to answer and then closed it before looking away again. She couldn't tell him what she really thought if she was to serve him. How did she even know he wouldn't punish her for her ignorance? Azel finished putting out their fire before changing seats. Catherine stiffened from the closeness he chose, his body only inches from hers as he crouched over her.

"Why would you think something like that?"

His voice commanded an answer from her then. She almost wanted to cry, she was afraid of him, or was she afraid of disappointing him? What would he do if he didn't like what he heard? She swallowed hard, her mouth was dry.

"I know they wouldn't harm me."

She hoped he wouldn’t pry, she prayed it was all he would ask of her. She didn't want to tell him how she felt about him, but she had a feeling he could read it in her tensed body already. She hated him being so close, something about him SCREAMED danger to her.

"How could you know something like that Cat?" She couldn't stand it any longer; her patience and want of him to leave her defeated her fear, if only for a moment.

"Because they're scared of you. You're cold and cruel and dangerous to be near. You kill men with ease as if they're blades of grass but turn a friendly hand towards your men only because they're on your side." She paused, her fear rising in her again as her stomach did a flop at his unaffected gaze, but only for a moment.

"You're terrifying."

She couldn’t describe why, but a tear fell down her cheek in a warm rivulet. A lump had developed in her throat and cut off her air. He stared at her only a moment longer before moving away. He looked down at his hands that rested in his lap and spoke to her lightly, without punishing her with his heavy gaze.

"I scare you? You're terrified of me?"

Catherine watched him process what she said carefully, coolly, without emotion. But there was something underlying in his behavior. She had struck something deep but wasn't sure what. He looked at her again and she suddenly felt ridiculous. She was wrapped like a child in her blankets as tears ran down her reddened cheeks. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but each attempt made it lodge harder and deeper. Azel stood quickly and lithely, striding over to Catherine with a warriors grace. As he neared, a choked sob left her throat, it was the violent side of him she had struck. He bent down towards her, his callused hands reaching for her to hurt her, to beat her. She tried to struggle out of her blankets to get away, but she was trapped in her own wrap of comfort. He balled his fists into her blankets, the muscles standing out on his arms as he lifted her from the ground. She gasped and squirmed to get away from him, it was then she realized he was holding her bridal style in his arms. She looked up at him in confusion as he walked her to the tent. He wasn't hurting her? He wasn't angry that she called him scary? Once in the tent he set her down gently, almost too gently for a soldier, and moved away to let her settle in as she wanted. He closed the tent flaps securely before moving over to his blankets.

"I can't let you sleep outside Cat, it's too dangerous around here. So you'll have to sleep next to me." She studied his face as he spoke, there was something different there she hadn't noticed before, he wouldn’t meet her gaze.

"You can sleep soundly, I won't touch you I swear."

He kicked his boots off and slipped off his shirt before sliding under his own covers. His physique was impressive, and even in the confusion of reading his body language and trying to understand what just happened, she had to admire him. He was all lean and hard muscle and sinew. He wasn't too bulky but had build enough to be defined. His body rippled with every movement he made and his chest was broad and muscled. She stared at his collar bones curiously as he turned to face her, eyes closed for sleep. They created the perfect dip below his throat and Adam's apple. A light growth of stubble was visible on his strong jaw line; it would be even darker by morning. She noticed then how high his cheekbones were, and he had a very romanesque nose. Pale white scars littered his chest and shoulders and back, she almost wanted to cry again thinking how he had endured each pain.

"Go to sleep." She blushed deeply as she realized she was staring and he had been the one to catch her in the act. She closed her eyes immediately and slowly drifted off to sleep.



tada! R&R pweeeezzzeee! Next update on Mon or Tues. See you all then!