Calanthe

Chapter X

Ranvir
The man straightened in front of Ranvir.

"Who the devil are you?" He spoke in his own language. His eyes held an anger from before they arrived but it was quickly being replaced with indignation at being interrupted.

"We don't want to kill you, as long as you allow me and my party to wait out the storm in shelter." Ranvir said in the man's tongue with a strained force. He didn't want to run into any conflict today. He was tired and hungry and just wanted some respite from the storm outside.

"Well, I suppose that's fine, as long as you don't expect me to leave here in this awful weather." Said the man, obviously taken aback by their presence but still had an irritated scowl on his face despite his hospitality. Ranvir simply nodded in reply before turning to his companions.

"We are allowed here for the storm but the native pig will be staying with us" he addressed his warriors and they all let out a low chuckle at the insult that the other man could not understand. Ranvir was surprised when he looked back at the girl that she also had a shy grin on her face.

Curious, he studied her. She had long blonde hair that fell in waves down and around her face, her hair was damp from the rain making the waves slightly frizz. She had a petite figure and a raggedy dress clung damply to her. But there was something about her eyes that made him pause. They were a deep blue that he seemed to find familiar. Something about them sparked a memory. But he couldn't find the memory. Each time he searched for it, it seemed to fly away.
...

While Ranvir was eating dinner with his companions Bjorn leaned over and said to him "The man and girl, they do not have any food, do we offer them some?" Ranvir thought through the idea before standing up and walking over to the hungry pair in the far corner from them. "Are you hungry?" He said in their native tongue.

"Why?" Said the man in a tone of suspicion.

"We are travelling, we have food packed with us, would you like some of our food?" Ranvir outstretched his hands, palms open holding some bread and cold meat. The girl started to reach out but a hard glare from the man stopped her. Instead, he snatched the food out of his hands. Ranvir waited for some sort of gratitude to fall from the man's mouth. Nothing. Ranvir spun around and strode angrily back to his warriors. He didn't have the patience to make conversation with this rude man.

He sat down in his spot next to Bjorn and pulled out a carrot from his pack and started to eat it.

"Why didn't he give her any food?" Bjorn asked in a confused tone, referring to the man and the girl. Ranvir looked back at the pair to confirm what Bjorn had said.

"Well she is his slave, he does what he likes with her. The man is obviously upset with her, he had struck her just before we arrived." Ranvir supplied.

"But how do you know she is a slave?" Onara piped into the conversation in interest.

Frode gave the answer for Ranvir. "You can tell by the clothes she wears, better than most slaves but still ragged. See the tears in the fabric? And the stains? Her submissive behaviour suggests she has been a slave for some time."

"Shouldn't we rescue her?" This time it was Even that piped in.

"No, a slave is a slave. It is none of our business what the man does with her." Ranvir replied, finishing the conversation. Although seeing the man starve her and hit her made him angry inside. He changed his position so he could watch the girl with the long blonde hair from a more comfortable spot.

...

Calanthe
The leader had been staring at her for a while now. She chose to ignore the prickly feeling of being watched and turned her back on him. It was well into the night and everyone in the barn was asleep except for that man and her. His gaze made her uneasy.

She had to admit to herself that she fancied the leader. He had striking green eyes that she felt a strange connection to. His dirty blonde hair fell into his eyes and just fell short of the tops of his shoulders

Cedric was lying asleep on her other side. She loathed the sight of him but the people across the room scared her more. While Cedric was eating he had told her that they must be Vikings. Terrifying warriors that killed, pillaged and took slaves without a second thought. But this led her to wonder why they had not taken themselves as slaves or killed them. Although grateful for their timely save she was not about to let her guard down.

She closed her eyes and saw Cedric grabbing at her dress and resisting only to be struck across the face. She kept reliving the moment over and over again. Seeing it made her shift around restlessly until a hand on her thigh told her she had awoken Cedric. Calanthe stilled and held her breath.

"Why do you keep moving?" The foul man whispered in her ear.

"I don't like these Vikings being in the same room as me" she whispered in a half truth.

"I won't let them touch you." He replied in a possessive tone before wrapping his arms around her. She stiffened in surprise. His touch was now filled with affection. So different from the anger of earlier. It was hard to understand this man. His mood swings made him dangerous. He was too unpredictable and it scared her. She hated him for what he did but relaxed into his arms anyway. She needed to sleep if she was going to stay alert the next day. The last thing she felt before slipping into a fitful sleep was the gaze of the leader burning into her back.