Kalli didn't need to send Adir a message; she simply went to the manor garden after she finished her work for Miriam, knowing he would be there. He was tucked away, sitting on a bench in a little grove of trees.
He didn't look up as Kalli sat beside him. "Did your father hurt you again?"
"No, of course not," she answered.
Adir gave a bitter laugh. "And would you tell me if he had?"
"Adir ..." Kalli protested softly.
Adir finally meet her eye. "Kalli you promised me, you swore, that you would let me help you if he ever hurt you physically."
Kalli stayed silent unable to dispute her broken promise.
"You called the Prince by his first name," Adir said.
"He gave me permission," Kalli answered, even more uncomfortable than she had been a moment ago.
"You think that's what worries me?" he asked.
"The Prince was there when my father struck me; he stopped my father from really hurting me," Kalli explained.
Adir shook his head. "And now he's your best friend."
Kalli couldn't believe the tone he was taking with her. "Of course not, he's been kind to me, and I've spent some time with him. He even promised not to let my father know that we're visiting."
"Oh, and he's doing this out of the goodness of his heart?"
Kalli had never heard Adir sarcastic before.
"What's your problem with him?" Kalli asked, surging to her feet. "He's kind to me."
Adir also stood. "I thought you had more sense than this Kalli." He was a passionate as she. "You know the Prince's reputation. He's a playboy, his woman are the flavour of the week. He uses them and then leaves them hanging out to dry."
Kalli turned away from Adir with tears in her eyes. "It's not like that."
Adir took her gently by the shoulders and turned her to face him. Cupping her cheek he guided her face up so that he could see her eyes.
"I just don't want to see you get hurt Kalli," he said softly. "And if you get too close to the Prince, that's exactly what will happen."
Kalli covered Adir's callused hand with one of her own. "I know his reputation Adir, and maybe he deserves it. But he deserves the chance to show us that he's someone different. I'll be careful. I promise."
Adir gave her a rueful smile. "That's one of the beautiful but dangerous things about you Kalli, you give your heart much too freely." He took a step back. "Do you honestly think that the Prince can protect you?" Adir asked serious to the bone.
"Better than either of us," Kalli answered. "He can damage my father politically, and we both know that would hurt my father more than anything else."
"I guess," Adir said. "Do you have more time to visit? Or is comfort for my worries all I'll get tonight?"
# # #
Kalli returned to sit on the bench, and Adir joined her. "I can visit for a little bit, actually I had a question."
"Really?" Adir asked, not quite trusting the look in her eyes.
"I was wondering if you would teach me to shoot a plasma rifle," Kalli said.
"Why?" choked out Adir, completely blindsided by the request.
"It seems like a useful skill to have," Kalli answered. "Besides I still remember the basic theory that you taught me when we were kids."
YOU ARE READING
Sacrifice
Teen FictionKalli wants to make her own decisions, something that's frowned upon when you're a young lady of noble birth in the Imkan Empire. She's thrilled when she manages to enroll in the local University's astrophysics program; it's her first step towards...