Golden Eyes

3 - Going North

A soldier came to wake Karandra up. He gave her fresh water and a piece of bread. It surprised her how well she was treated by the humans, when Orcs treated her like vermin. She might have spent the night in a prison cell, yet she never had such comfort in her whole life. And could she blame the humans for putting her in a cell?

She ate on the way, following the guard, surprised that she was not enchained, or dragged along roughly. He first brought her to the blacksmith, who removed the chain from her neck. She was then led to the armoury. A soldier was helping Garona put on the pieces of a black and silver armour. She looked around, unsure of where to go or what to do.

"Karandra, come here".

Lothar's voice was gentle and calm. She felt her shoulders relaxed at the sound and she walked to him.

"These should fit," he told her as he pointed to an armour similar to Garona's only it was blue with golden decoration.

She frowned, unsure. She had never worn an armour before. Only the poor excuse of clothes she had. She first put on leather pants, and a black sleeveless leather – again – shirt. Lothar had the decency to look the other way as she changed. Usually she didn't care if someone saw her, but with him it was different. He scared her a bit yet she found his presence oddly comforting.

He motioned for her to put her foot on a table, and once her leg was high enough he tied the piece of armour in front of her shin. He did the same with the other leg, let her put on the boots herself, then helped her with the arm protections. His fingers lightly brushed on her forearm in the process and it took all her willpower not to jump back. This man probably had magic, he could send sparks in her skin!

He turned her so he was facing her back, and helped her with the breastplate. He tied the laces on her back, moving her hair away as he did so. She swiftly turned to face him. They were inches away from each other. She couldn't hold back her shiver as he put his arms around her waist. When she saw he was only securing her belt, she felt... disappointed? Or was it frustrated? She couldn't tell. She couldn't understand.

"No weapon?" she asked when he took a step back.

"I'm here to protect you," he replied in a low voice.

His voice... And that smile... Hell, it was sending her over the edge! She did all she could to hide how flushed she was but he had probably noticed it anyway. She looked up once again and saw his eyes on her. She felt a bigger blush creep on her cheeks.

"Wh-what are you looking at?" she stuttered.

He didn't reply but his grin widened slightly. Then it hit her. She was falling for him. She took two steps back in a rush, appalled. She couldn't. They would kill her. They would kill her anyway, but with that she was exposing herself to be tortured in the most painful ways when they found her. Then she heard him again in her head. "I'm here to protect you". But still, she couldn't. She was not like him. She was a bastard, half-breed, and a slave. She was weak. She was useless.

"Come on Karandra, we have a long road ahead of us," he told her as he grabbed his sword and went into another part of the armoury, oblivious to her mental struggle.

They gathered with Garona, the young human – Khadgar, and two soldiers. She followed them outside. There were horses. Each human went on a mount. Garona and Karandra stood there awkwardly.

"You've never rode a horse?" Lothar asked them with a bit of exasperation in his voice.

They shook their head.

"Garona, climb on that one. Karandra, come with me," he ordered.

"Commander, shouldn't they ride together? The weight for the horse..." one of the soldiers began.