Unbroken

Chapter 18

Grant launched to his feet in front of me. Ruben easily plowed him over and I pulled the blood soaked dagger free and held it up in front of me. I was frozen as his sword rose above his head. I knew that this was the end because I couldn't fight him. His size made putting up a fight useless and he was driven by a deep fury.  I knew that I was going to die but I was saved by the sound of a trumpet. 

I was shocked to see him stop running at me. He lowered his sword and tucked it into his belt. He shoved a hand through his hair and glanced down at Tarra's body. Then without a word he left the tent. Grant and I looked at each other with wide eyes. I quickly cut the thick ropes that were at Grant's wrists. The second he was free he turned around and pulled me to him. I hadn't realized that I had been trembling until his arms were wrapped around me. I let the dagger fall to the ground as I wrapped my arms around him. 

"What were you thinking?" Grant whispered in my ear.

"I wasn't!" I gasped. "I couldn't kill you."

A guard appeared inside the tent and grabbed Grants shirt to haul him out. Grant kept his arm around me and I stayed at his side. The trumped from earlier blasted again and we were pulled out into the sunshine. 

There was the sound of hooves approaching accompanied with the blaring trumpet. It was chaos. Guards were everywhere hauling slaves behind them and shoving them into groups. Soon the approaching party could be seen and we were lined up to receive them. Instantly I recognized the banner flying overhead the carriage. 

I searched for somewhere to hide but it was useless. We were already surrounded by the group of soldiers on horseback. 

"What's wrong?" Grant asked and I didn't answer him. The carriage rolled to a stop in front of us and  I darted behind Grant's back. "Rose?" He asked and I shushed him.

There was an obvious strain on the wheels of the carriage and on the horses. It bounced with the movements of the passengers inside. The door opened and the passenger emerged. Even though I knew his face I still cringed at the sight of his shining bald head. His face filled with a smile that I knew well. The exposed teeth had a large gap between them. 

"Ruben!" He cried and reached out with stubby arms. Ruben walked towards him and accepted the cringe worthy hug. "How are you my oldest friend?"

Ruben somehow managed to free himself without becoming consumed. "I am well Luther." 

"That is good! That is good!" Luther said as he tugged at the waistband of his trousers to pull them up over his colossal stomach. "What do you have for me this season?" Luther asked and turned to face the group of slaves. "Is this everything?" Luther asked with a disappointed look on his face. 

"That's all I have for you this season, take what you want." Ruben said numbly.

Luther didn't bother to reply as he approached us. 

I clung to Grant's hand and pressed my face against his back. If I could hide behind him I might be able to go unnoticed. I could tell by Grant's posture that he was confused but he didn't move away.

Luther walked towards the group and he nodded his approval. He looked pleased by what he saw. He stood a few paces away from us and I clung all the more tighter to Grant wishing that I could just disappear. He continued to advance towards us and I realized that I had left one nightmare just to step into another. 

Surely he would recognize me and take me for his own. I had thought nothing could be worse than being his wife but as usual I had been wrong. He paused in front of Grant and I was frozen to the spot. He sized him up and nodded then continued on his way looking at the group of slaves that were clustered in around us. 

"Where's that girl of yours?" Luther called to Ruben.

"Which girl?"

"That one of yours, what was her name? Tana?" 

"Tarra?" Ruben replied. 

"Yes, that's the one." 

"She is away visiting her cousin."

Luther nodded. Then he paused in front of a small slave girl and smiled his grin with the gap in his teeth. "You will do nicely." He said and she squeaked. "Take her away." He said and one of his riders reached down and plopped her on his lap up on his horse. Her eyes were full of terror and I wanted to help save the girl from her terrible fate but instead I was a coward and I hid behind Grant's back. 

Luther selected several other slaves to take with him. All of which were young girls and they were now seated with his riders. 

"I think that will be all." Luther said and Ruben waved a hand to dismiss us. I finally had Luther behind me and I thought I was safe when I felt a pudgy hand on my shoulder. I whirled around and came eye to forehead with the man of my nightmares. Grant wrapped his arm around my waist as though he could shield me from Luther. 

"Well what's this that you have here Ruben?" Luther asked and I was frozen to the spot. "A Rose amongst the thorns it would seem." 

"What?" Ruben asked and Luther sighed. 

"This is Princess Roslyn. That spoiled little princess that Queen Laura wanted me to marry. It was all planned out. I would have a princess for a bride. Until she left me on the night of our engagement party." He stood up on his tiptoes to look over my shoulder at Grant. "And for what? Him?" He spat. 

"A princess?" Ruben asked. 

"Yes, a princess. And I imagine she's worth far more than you would have sold her for." Luther's hand still clutched my arm painfully and I tried to pull from his grasp. "Let's have a little chat shall we?" Gurads rushed froward to pull Grant off of me and Luther hauled me away. 

I was pulled yet again into Ruben's tent. Once inside I expected to see Tarra's body in the middle of the floor but she was gone. There wasn't a trace of blood or any sign of what had happened just a few moments ago.  Ruben didn't even glance down at the floor where she had died. 

Luther threw me into a chair and I stayed there. 

"A princess? Really, Luther are you sure?" Ruben asked again.

"Yes Ruben, I'm sure. I would recognize the girl that I was supposed to marry."

"What are you going to do with her?" Ruben asked. 

"I'm going to take her home with me of course. We won't marry but she will get the opportunity to be my slave for the rest of her life."

"My mother won't allow that!" I spat. 

"Your mother already had you declared dead so she could spend your inheritance. She will never know." 

They continued talking back and forth but I didn't hear any of their words. I was numb. I was doomed to spend the rest of my life as Luther's slave. My hope had flickered, sputtered, and then died in the past quarter hour. There was nothing that I could do. Yet again I was powerless and my future rested in the hands of others. I was just a pawn again to be sold for profit. My desperate attempt at escape had been ruined in a moment. If I couldn't even escape from a slave camp I knew that there was no way that I would be able to escape from Luther's home. He would have it under heavy guard. I would become his Tarra. Just a puppet for him to prance around for other people to see. 

I had tried to save Grant and now we would probably never see each other again. he would be sold and I would be trapped, if not killed. I couldn't seem to find a way out of this situation. 

The conversation around me was interrupted by the sound of thundering hooves. 

"You expecting company Ruben?" Luther asked and Ruben shook his head. Then a flaming arrow rained down and tore straight through the thick fabric of Ruben's tent.