A Warrior's Redemption

  *****

  I knocked on the door briefly and heard a muffled reply to enter. Not only had she changed, but she had done a quick cleanup of the room and was now sitting curled up on the sofa again.

  Oh, darn it all! She looked so desirably cute in the shapeless oversized robe she was wrapped up in. It didn’t matter what she wore, she was simply irresistibly attractive to me. It was going to be a long night to say the least.

  I sat the food trays down in front of her and watched her descend on them with a healthy appetite, while I sat back and let my eyes feast on her instead. Glancing up she saw my gaze on her and her eating slowed down to a halt.

  Wiping her mouth free of crumbs she cleared her throat slightly before asking, “Why did you stop? Sebastian was serious when he said you had his permission to enjoy me however you wished. I know that you want me.”

  She was still so beautiful even in her shapeless frock, it hurt to look at her and do nothing. Pausing as I tried to collect my impassioned thoughts and find the words that I needed to I said, “I’ve been a slave. I know what it’s like to be held against your will and taken advantage of. I promised myself I would never treat anyone like that, least of all you.”

  Krista grappled with the shocking admission that he had been a slave. He was nothing like any slave man she had ever encountered. He had nothing of a subservient nature about him at all.

  It must have been hard for him to be a slave. Remembering his emphasis on her in the last part of his statement she asked, “Why me in particular?”

  He was looking back at her steadily out of strong brown eyes, when he said the words that brought memories of the past streaming back into her consciousness.

  “I was the one who gave you those,” he said, indicating the scar lines on her cheek.

  Her breathing froze as she stared at her childhood rescuer from years ago. Speechless, she stared at the boy who had become a man. So that was what the familiarity had been with this man. She had known he was different from the other men somehow and now she knew why. She relaxed inwardly and dropped her eyes from his.

  “What is it like to be free?”

  Thinking about it for a moment I responded, “In some ways it’s great and in others it feels overwhelming. Would you like to hear my story, seeing as we have some time to kill?”

  She gazed back up at me and smiled a little, “I would like that.”

  “Okay, then let’s see… I was born.”

  Krista smiled outright at the silly beginning to my story and I was glad to see her fully relaxed. It was easy to talk to her as she keenly listened and showed interest in her face throughout the telling of my story. I talked on and on, giving her a synopsis of my life.

  I talked of my parents, my days in the arena, my newfound faith and the Valley Lands. I noticed after a while that her eyes were getting heavy and her posture had slumped slightly into the sofa. I kept my tone modulated and even and before long I watched her eyes close all the way shut. I stopped talking and simply watched her sleep. She was so beautiful that all I wanted to do was reach out and touch her to see if she was real or not, but I knew that wouldn’t be a good idea.

  I got up and grabbed a blanket from the bed and carefully laid it over her. She stirred slightly but then went back to sleep, clutching the blanket to her chin. I smiled at the childish gesture. Going back to the chair I sat down. I slouched down in the chair and tried to get somewhat comfortable, which just wasn’t going to happen no matter how I tried.