“No,” the woman replied to me in a slightly insulted tone. “Women are not allowed in the training camp. We are a distraction,” she admonished me for even suggesting such a thing and I found myself apologising, unsure exactly what for.
I liked Karisha and I did not want to ruin the bond we had created, so I kept things light after that and asked questions about food preparation, purchasing and transport, keeping my hidden agenda to myself and absorbing any information that might prove useful in the future.
The leather slippers I had been provided with knocked against the rocky terrain with every step, making my feet hurt, so after a few hours, I was starting to dread this breath of freedom, which I had started to choke on. Karisha didn’t have that problem, although she too wore the same design as everyone else, but, when I took a while longer to gaze at her steps, I spotted a thick sole that protected her feet, same as all the other women in the camp seemed to have.
I even looked back at Sylam, who continued to trail us through the camp to observe that he too, wore the same protectiveness.
Were my shoes designed to prevent my escape? And if so, how many other things were they keeping hidden from me?
The day started to taste sour in my mouth and just when I wanted to ask the tribe lady if we were going back at some point soon, commotion pointed my attention towards the southern side, where the noisy arrival of bloodied men caught everyone’s attention.
A round of applause followed their arrival, the women and other camp guards receiving them as if they were warriors returning victorious from the battlefield.
Karisha, by my side, released a cheery sound and started to run towards the men. Towards one, especially, I soon realised as I spotted the only man that wore a blue tunic among the bare-chested bodies. Her mate, Markos.
I looked around in wonder, unsure of why this was such a celebration and to my surprise, Sylam, who hadn’t said a single word to me all day, was the one to clarify my misunderstanding.
“Many perish in the training camp. Surviving another day is always a celebration.”
Nodding in thanks, I watched in wonder how bloodied men returned from the training day. Some had deep cuts on their bodies, some covered limbs with tourniquets and others carried mountains of weapons. Each walked with pride and dignity. Among them all, however, there was one that stood taller.
Stronger.
Undefeated.
I didn’t think Dahr would recognise me, let alone walk to me in the sea of people, all of them bowing at the waist in his presence, as though he was a god amongst men. I even wanted to say hi to him, but his ruthless expression stopped me.
“Take her home,” Dahr pinned his sharp gaze on me, annoyed by my presence for whatever reason. He moved his attention just slightly to ensure that Sylam knew this order was addressed to him, before he returned his attention to me. As he did so, the entire camp stopped breathing at his words.
“Now.”
“What am I supposed to do all day?”
Snapping at Dahr was the epitome of our long conversation, which had lasted over twelve hours, ever since he returned to the tent after I had my dinner.
I had started slowly, offering my gratitude for the day and for the garments I had received, which proved a lot more comfortable than I had initially thought. Except the shoes. Those, I absolutely despised.
Then, I made sure to ask about his day and give him the opportunity to share any developments with me, to which he only grunted and made himself busy with maps and notes that were waiting for him on the table. I hadn’t realised those had appeared there while I was gone and made a mental note to check any information he left behind as soon as the next opportunity presented itself.
After doing his best to ignore me until it was time for bed, Dahr physically had to chase me around the tent, since I blatantly refused to be tied up again.
I was ashamed of myself.
I thought I would have presented more of a challenge for the man and clearly overestimated my sneak-around capabilities, because it took him a total of three tries to grab hold of my waist and throw me over his shoulder to then release me at the side of the bed and bind my hand once more.
“Why can’t I sleep in my own bed?” I snapped as soon as he situated himself on the mattress, throwing the towel on the day and turning off the small lamp he had on the other side of the bed, where I couldn’t reach.
That had been a new addition, I hadn’t noticed it before in the past days and it was also the first night where Dahr had used the lamp to illuminate the tent. I initially thought he needed it for the worktable and to read the maps, but it stayed on the side of the tent I had been placed on. Confined into was a better word for the situation I was in.
“You proved to me time and time again that you are not to be trusted, March. If you wish to return to the bed that was allocated to you, I will have to satisfy your wish, but that will also come with your return to the shackles. Is that what you want?” Dahr rasped at me, without even turning to face me from where he was lying on the bed, his back turned to me.
“I didn’t think so,” he added with a sass I hadn’t expected to encounter from him.
“Excuse you…” I snapped back at him. “It’s not like I was taken away from my home and my entire life. Forgive me if I want some sense of normalcy back,” I retorted but he didn’t bother to reply.
So I kept asking him question after question, out of pure ambition and the need to annoy him and get a reaction out of him.
“Maybe you can finally tell me why you took me away from my home?” I tried initially, with a slightly sweeter tone.
