Redemption

Six

Songbirds pulled her from sleep to the bright morning sun, the cool air of the canyon floor refreshing on her skin. A small fire was burning low, indicating Lane had been up already. She glanced around, but there was no sign of him. Slowly sitting up, she allowed the normally cheerful expression on her face to fade.

Last night returned to her mind, a bittersweet moment that made her want to cry. He knew. Somehow, he felt it, but... explaining would have been impossible. So, she had done the only thing she could. Ignored his questions until he'd grown irritated and sullen, leaving her alone. They slept separately for the first time in weeks, hardly looking at each other.

The moment he opened his eyes after she found him, she knew Lane was no longer the man he was. No spark danced in his eyes. No flicker of recognition greeted her. The future had depended on him. Everything had, so now... her sigh was quiet.

All her hopes had been built on his promise, dreams she had never dared give life to before, thinking them hopelessly out of reach. He had swept into her life like a force of nature, a storm that flattened out everything around it and cleared the land for new growth. His arrival brought seeds of change to her world, sunlight and fresh air. He hadn't seen it then, his eyes blinded by the past, too much hatred and anger in his heart. Over time, though, he had changed. He had risked everything for her, just as she had for him.

Those who left him for dead would still be looking for her, scouring the country for a sign of where she had gone. The man who held her in slavery for the last eighteen years would not give her up so easily, especially before he got what he wanted. He was accustomed to getting what he wanted, by any means necessary. Even if it meant brutal cruelty- physically shaking the thought from her mind, she picked at some of the cooked meat left from the night before, trying to force her mind to more pleasant thoughts.

Bile worked its way up her throat and she coughed, suddenly feeling so dirty she couldn't stand it. Hurriedly tugging free of her shift, Harmony splashed clumsily into the cold water of the pool. A rock rolled underfoot, throwing her forward as she sank. The rush of water against her skin, tingling across her scalp, brought a sense of calm. The water was clear and soft against her eyes as she drifted to the bottom, watching freshwater fish dart away. Here, her tears meant nothing, washed away without a trace.

Looking up through the floating web of her hair, Harmony stared at the surface. How the light played across the water, the sun a soft, beautiful orb of pale yellow. When her lungs began to tighten, she pushed from the sandy bottom toward the surface, her head and shoulders breaking the water with a splash. Panting, she swam to the shore, climbing out with shaky legs.

The rock was warm and dry, so stretching out, Harmony let the moisture evaporate from her skin. A dismal thought crept into her mind, unwelcome and unwanted. Perhaps it would be better to go back, to give herself up to save them both. Even as she considered it, Harmony knew Lane would never allow it. He would go with her, and they'd kill him. Even now, though he was already lost to her, she couldn't do it.

Turning her head, she studied the faint markings on the canyon walls, drawings painted on stone before recorded time. It triggered a series of memories that rushed over her like a flood.

"That one...I want that one, and I'll leave your people alone!" Cold, harsh, his voice was without mercy.

"She is my daughta, not yet a woman. Dere are uddas, dose who already know..."

"Give her to me or your people will die!"

"You will care for hea, keep hea well and happy?" helpless against it, the desperate father objected to giving up his wife's child.