Egyptian Night

Evening Talk

Lifting her gaze up to the soldier's face Jasmine tried to study his emotions and possibly any shred of his personality she could find. The light stubble that dusted his face was the first thing that drew her attention and showed the lack of a razor he'd had in the last couple days. Apparently raiding a village didn't leave much time for personal care. The next thing she noticed was the chalky dirt that had mixed with the sweat and blood on his face. The wasn't much blood, though, as he only had a couple small cuts on his face, which he probably got from one way or another during the fighting. Maybe when he'd been killing the innocents that didn't quite make it as slaves. What a sick soldier, but she had to admit that he hadn't been rough on her like she'd some of the other soldiers be. It was as if they were taking their problems out on their captives.

When he offered her the bag of water she couldn't stop herself from quickly taking the liquid and putting it to her parched lips.

"Thank you," she whispered gratefully between gulps of the water.

When she'd drained the bag she took the bowl of gruel a bit slower. "How long until we get back to Egypt?" She asked in a slightly raspy tone, sipping her gruel slowly as the luke warm food attempted to ease the gnawing in her stomach. The shocked look on his face showed that he didn't expect her to talk so much, or he was uncomfortable with it.

"If we keep up such a good pace it should only take us till tomorrow late afternoon, possibly early evening," he answered her, shifting uncomfortably in his crouched position he'd leaned down to give her food in.

"What's your name?" He asked, probably going against all the rules of this kind of situation.

Her name? Why would he care? "My...my name's Jasmine," she finally answered him, despite her own hesitations. Maybe becoming friendly with a soldier might help her? "What's yours?" She asked back before She could stop herself. It must of relieved him when she returned the gesture, though, as he soon gave her a strong reply. "Derek."